This one started out sloppy in the beginning, but ended up being a Noles domination

Florida State won big in its 36th consecutive bowl appearance, defeating Southern Miss 42-13 in Shreveport’s Independence Bowl on Wednesday afternoon. This game felt pretty weird at the beginning, with FSU looking a bit out of sorts.

The Noles had a five penalties in the 1st quarter, a missed extra point, and nearly had a 25-yard loss. But despite USM scoring the first touchdown to take an early 6-0 lead, the Noles proved to be way more talented, and completely overpowered the Golden Eagles as the day went on, eventually winning by 29. The 2017 season as a whole was quite weird for FSU, but it must feel nice for Nole fans to cap it off with a big bowl win and move on.

Final score

Florida State 42, Southern Miss 13

Fourth quarter

07:32, Florida State 42, Southern Miss 13

This one’s over — Florida State puts in back-up quarterback JJ Cosentino, and the Noles tack on a field goal to further extend their lead. ALso, please enjoy this extremely lit Nole fan:

13:34 Florida State 39, Southern Miss 13

James Blackmon finds Auden Tate again for a touchdown to extend the Noles’ lead. A bad snap though causes FSU to miss the extra point.

Third quarter

00:44, Florida State 33, Southern Miss 13

USM shows life and scores a touchdown to cut the deficit a bit.

3:25, Florida State 33, Southern Miss 6

USM’s defense has no answer for Nole running back Jacques Patrick, who scores a touchdown to give FSU an even bigger lead.

8:05, Florida State 26, Southern Miss 6

USM ended up having to punt anyway, but the Golden Eagles successfully executed this nice fake punt form deep in their own territory.

10:45, Florida State 26, Southern Miss 6

The Noles get on the board first in the second half with a 39-yard field goal from Robert Aguayo. The Golden Eagles have some catching up to do if they want to get back in this game.

Halftime

Florida State leads USM 23-6 at the half.

Second quarter

1:33, Florida State 23, Southern Miss 6

James Blackmon finds Auden Tate in the end zone to give the Noles a confortable lead before halftime.

Primetime Deion Sanders is in the house!

7:48, Florida State 16, Southern Miss 6

Roberto Aquayo redeems himself after the missed XP with a 29-yard field goal to extend FSU’s lead.

12:38, Florida State 13, Southern Miss 6

James Blackmon finds Cam Akers for another TD, and then the Noles gloriously DOINK the extra point.

Oh, and FSU has five penalties for 50 yards so far today.

First quarter

5:20, Florida State 7, Southern Miss 6

The Noles respond with a 20-yard touchdown pass from James Blackmon to Auden Tate to take their first lead of the day.

Before this score, FSU nearly had a 25-yard loss, but it was negated by a Southern Miss offsides penalty.

Oh also, there have been seven penalties in this game already! Four of them were for USM going offsides four times in one drive, and FSU’s had a pair of special teams penalties already.

11:05, Southern Miss 6, Florida State 0

The Golden Eagles strike first on a five-yard touchdown run from quarterback Kwadra Griggs, but they miss the extra point.

USM’s first drive was kept alive thanks to an unfortunate running into the kicker penalty by FSU.

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The Florida State Seminoles believe they are a better team than their 6-6 record indicates, and it’s safe to say that nobody on that roster thought they’d be playing the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in the Independence Bowl, trying to secure a winning season. But it’s where they’re at, and all they can do from here is try and win that game, which is set for 1:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, broadcast on ESPN (live streaming via WatchESPN).

For the Seminoles, they want to end things with a win to carry some momentum into the offseason. They will be expected to be back among the elite teams a year from now, but they’re a far way from coming into the year ranked No. 3.

They’re also fighting to secure their 40th consecutive winning season, an important goal for any school that cares about its football program. Losing that streak and having it go down as, officially, a losing season, is actually a fairly big deal.

Things have been rough on the coaching staff, as Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M, and Willie Taggart left Oregon to join Florida State.

Southern Miss, on the other hand, won three straight games to close its season, and it’s close enough to home that the game in Shreveport might as well be considered a home game.

Below is all you need to know to watch the action.

Time, TV channel, and streaming info

• Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
• Location: Independence Stadium, Shreveport, La.
• TV: ESPN
• Streaming: WatchESPN
• Odds: Florida State opened as 14-point favorites over Southern Miss

Florida State vs. Southern Miss news:

• There was a lot of doubt as to whether Florida State was even bowl eligible this year. The school has come out and said that it is, though it was going to play in Wednesday’s game regardless.
• These two schools just played ... on the basketball court. In their final non-conference game of this season, FSU dominated Southern Miss in basketball. Is that a preview of what will happen on Wednesday?

Florida State vs. Southern Miss prediction:

It’s been a nightmare season for the Seminoles, but they are a much better team than Southern Miss, and they should get away with a win on Wednesday, ending things on a high note.

Be sure to check out all our bowl predictions here.

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College football's first bowl game was almost its last