Seventh Day Adventure: Encore Performances Await for Seminoles, Chanticleers
On November 26, 2022, in the dying seconds of an up-and-down campaign, Kyle Vantrease dropped back to the 35-yard line and hurled a pass to the end zone. It could have been his last pass as a college football player in a career already extended by COVID-19 and the transfer portal, and a regular-season finale extended into double overtime. But three hours and 30-nine minutes after the start of a special, winner-goes-bowling edition of the Deeper Than Hate rivalry, Vantrease's pass landed in the hands of Georgia Southern receiver Ezrah Archie, clinching a postseason bid one year after a 3-9 season. He raced to the end zone and joined the throng of celebrating players as a crowd of over 18,000 fans rushed the field.
Vantrease is one of countless players for whom bowl season now serves as a final send-off for their long, storied college careers. Sure, some players are opting out, but many who have NFL hopes (or are headed to the transfer portal) will deliver farewell performances in the next week. Wake Forest's A.T. Perry, Coastal Carolina's Grayson McCall, and Florida State's Jammie Robinson and Jared Verse are among the biggest names set to play their last games at their current stop this week, and there are plenty of smaller ones such as Vantrease who are worth watching. That's not to mention the players who will return in 2023—most notably quarterbacks Bo Nix (Oregon) and Michael Penix Jr. (Washington), who both spurned the NFL Draft after contending for the Heisman Trophy this season.
The players who won't appear in this slate will, inevitably, be a topic of discussion. How different might the Guaranteed Rate Bowl look, for example, if starters Graham Mertz and Spencer Sanders weren't transferring away from the teams involved? Would the Liberty Bowl have been a true offensive shootout if more of KJ Jefferson's targets were available? Would Sean Tucker's final FBS game have made the Pinstripe Bowl a must-watch affair, and would Bijan Robinson's have done the same for the Alamo Bowl?
It's easy to dwell on these what-ifs, but they shouldn't distract us from the reality of the postseason we have. Some of the brightest stars have already bowed out, and others are taking their talents elsewhere, but for every player such as Mertz, Sanders, Tucker, and Robinson, there are dozens such as Vantrease, McCall, Penix, and Jefferson enjoying the chance at another chapter in their college careers.