Michigan LB Peppers misses bowl with injury

MIAMI GARDENS — Michigan All-American linebacker Jabrill Peppers was a last-minute scratch from Friday night’s Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium.

Shortly before kickoff, Michigan announced Peppers would not play due to a hamstring injury suffered in practice. A junior, Peppers had 66 tackles, three sacks and an interception. He is expected to skip his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. Last year Peppers missed the Citrus Bowl because of a hand injury.

Peppers was replaced in the starting lineup by Josh Metellus, a freshman from Flanagan.

Peppers, one of five finalists invited to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation, also returned punts and kicks for the Wolverines this year and had 27 rushes for 167 yards and three touchdowns. After finishing fifth in the Heisman voting, he is projected to be a top five draft pick next spring.

Peppers, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, practiced the entire week but didn’t participate in any media interviews or attend Michigan’s bowl-related events. He has yet to speak publicly since LSU running back Leonard Fournette and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, a pair of first-round prospects, decided to skip bowl games to prepare for their futures.

When the team arrived in South Florida, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was asked if any players planned to choose not to play. He responded by saying, “No. Stop it. OK, question answered.” Harbaugh later said there were a few injured players who didn’t the make the trip.

Michigan also lost senior tight end Jake Butt, the Mackey Award winner, to an apparent knee injury in the first half Friday. He was the Wolverines’ leading receiver at halftime with three catches for 28 yards.

Florida State lost sophomore receiver Auden Tate to a shoulder injury in the first half. He had the second-most receiving touchdowns on the team for the season with six.

No meaningless games

With the playoff system seemingly taking away some of the luster from other bowl games, both Orange Bowl coaches said they felt there is no such thing as a meaningless game.

“If you’re keeping score, it’s not meaningless,” Florida State coach Jimbo

Fisher said ahead of the game. “You play your tails off. It’s competition. That’s your job. That’s what you’re supposed to do. I don’t get the meaningless part, either. There’s no such thing as meaningless bowl games.”

Harbaugh said they still place a strong emphasis on bowl games.

“To win a championship, to win a trophy, what I just explained, to want to go out and give it your very best,” he said. “You want to give it your all. You want to have dignity and pride, and you’ll have that in doing your very best. But you also want to win. That’s a lot, isn’t it? Don’t you think? I think it is.”

Renegade takes a tumble

The game began with what seemed like a bad omen for Florida State when its horse mascot, Renegade, fell shortly after crossing midfield during pregame festivities.

After the brief tumble, the horse regained footing and trotted off the field. Florida State officials tweeted later that Renegade is OK.

It didn’t affect the Seminoles, who scored on their first drive for an early lead.

Line shift

Florida State made a shift in its starting offensive line with redshirt freshman

Cole Minshew getting the start at right guard. Redshirt junior Wilson Bell, who got the final four starts of the year at the position, warmed up as Minshew’s backup.

Captains

FSU’s captains were a quartet of seniors: DeMarcus Walker, Freddie Stevenson, Marquez

White, and Sean Maguire. A pair of draft-eligible juniors, running back Dalvin Cook and offensive lineman Rod Johnson, were situated just outside the coin-toss circle, possibly serving as a sign of each of their NFL decisions.