93 days to go ...
Finally not wide: After several agonizing close calls, Bobby Bowden and Florida State finally earn a national championship in the 1993 season with a win over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (10-9-93) --- For the first time in three years, the outcome of the annual show down between Florida State and Miami did not come down to a field goal attempt in the game's final minute. FSU did not let it come to that, using a pair of big plays early to derail the Hurricanes, 28-10.
Both of FSU's big gainers went for touchdowns, and both came in the game's opening quarter. Before the Doak Campbell Stadium record crowd of 77,813 could settle into their seats, tailback Sean Jackson swept around right end and raced 69 yards to the end zone to give FSU the lead just 3:43 into the game.
The third ranked 'Canes answered seven minutes later when Donnell Bennett capped a 9 play, 80 yard drive with a 6-yard TD reception from Frank Costa.
With the score knotted at seven, FSU's Fast Break Offense took just three plays to give the Seminoles the lead for good. On third and 10 from the FSU 28, Charlie Ward broke out of the pocket and scrambled to his right. On the run, he lofted a ball over two UM defenders to a streaking Matt Frier in stride for a 72-yard score.
Ward gave the Seminoles a 14 point halftime advantage when he scrambled into the end zone from two yards away early in quarter number two. The touchdown was made possible by a key play on the only third down of the drive. On third and seven from its own 43, freshman tailback Warrick Dunn lined up next to Ward in the shotgun. Instead of snapping the ball back to Ward, FSU center Clay Shiver hit Dunn with a direct snap that surprised the Miami defense. Twenty seven yards later, Dunn picked up a first down at the UM 30, and Florida State was on its way to a touchdown.
Thanks to strong play by the two defenses, two Florida State fumbles and a missed field goal by Miami, the score remained 21-7 until early in the fourth quarter. Then, Miami kicker Dane Prewitt narrowed the margin to 21-10 with a 23-yard field goal. The kick ended a 16 play, 74-yand drive that ate up 8:06 and had the Campbell Stadium faithful fearing another Hurricane comeback.
The Miami defense stiffened, forcing an FSU punt. But UM got nowhere on its next possession. The Seminoles took almost 2:30 off the clock on its next drive, but a punt gave Miami the ball at its own 23.
From there, Florida State strong safety Devin Bush, a Miami native, snatched a Frank Costa pass and went 40 yards for a score to provide the final margin. The interception was the first of Bush's career.
Its spirit broken, UM was unable to move the ball on its next try, and Florida State ran out the final 4:21.
On the day, the Seminoles rolled up 450 yards of total offense and averaged 7.4 yards per play, while the FSU defense limited the potent Miami air attack to just 193 yards, despite playing most of the second half without All-American Derrick Brooks and the third quarter without leading tackler Ken Alexander. The victory stopped Miami's three game series winning streak and was Florida State's second in its last nine tries against the Hurricanes.
SOUTH BEND, IN (11-13-93) --- College football's most anticipated regular season game lived up to its billing in 1993. Charlie Ward's final pass was knocked down at the goal line by Shawn Wooden as time expired, giving second ranked Notre Dame a thrilling 31-24 victory over top ranked Florida State in Notre Dame Stadium before 59,075 and one of the largest television audiences to ever see a college football game.
The loss ended FSU's 12 week run as the nation's top team and also stopped the Tribe's school record tying winning streak at 16.
The Seminoles looked like they might have an easy afternoon the first time they touched the football. Opening at the FSU 11, Ward drove his team 89 yarils in 10 plays, capping the drive with a 12 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Knox.
The Irish struck right back. Adrian Jarrell raced 32 yards around right end on a reverse to even the score at seven.
Notre Dame won the game in the second quarter. Tailback Lee Becton, who ran for 122 yards on the day, broke a 26 yard scoring run over the left side to put the Irish on top. The drive was characterized by missed tackles by the FSU defense and superior blocking by the Notre Dame offensive line.
The Irish capitalized on Ward's second interception of the year, and his first in 159 attempts, to go up 21-7. From his own 6, Ward rolled right and lofted the ball toward Kevin Knox, who had run past the ND secondary. But a strong wind held the ball up and John Covington intercepted to give the Irish excellent field position. Four plays later, ND's Jeff Burris went in from six yards out to give his team a 14 point advantage with 7:48 left in the half.
After an exchange of punts, FSU started to drive behind the running of Sean Jackson and William Floyd. But Knox fumbled after a completion, halting Florida State's momentum and leading to another exchange of punts before halftime.
Notre Dame stretched the lead to 24-7 early in the third period. Kevin Pendergast booted a 47 yard field goal, the longest of his career, five minutes into the half.
The Tribe cut the lead to 10 on its next possession. Ward hit Warrick Dunn in the left flat and the freshman scampered into the endzone from six yards out.
With 10:40 to play, Scott Bentley sliced the margin to a touchdown (24-17) with a 24 yard field goal. Ward found Kez McCorvey four times for 38 yards on the drive, in which he completed 7 of 8 passes.
With Florida State mounting a rally, the Irish needed to regain momentum. ND did just that with a classic 9 play, 80 yard, 3:47 drive that culminated in Burris' 11 yard run to paydirt.
Down 31-17 with 4:05 to go, Ward and his teammates would not quit, marching to the Notre Dame 5 yard line. But after a pair of penalties, the Seminoles faced fourth and goal from the 20. Ward spotted McCorvey in the back of the endzone, but did not see ND safety Brian Magee. Fortunately for the Seminoles, Magee tipped the ball into McCorvey's grasp, making the score 31-24 with 2:26 to play.
After a failed onside kick, the Tribe defense stiffened and forced an Irish punt after three plays. Jarrell's kick was held up in the wind and netted just five yards, giving FSU possession at its 37 with 51 seconds left.
Ward opened the final drive by scrambling, then flipping the ball to McCorvey just as he was being tackled for a gain of nine. The quarterback then hit Dunn for four yards before finding McCorvey twice in a row for a pair of 18 yard gains, putting the ball at the ND 14 with 10 seconds left. Ward's first shot at the endzone was batted down at the line, leaving three seconds on the clock. The miraculous Florida State raily ended one play and 14 yards short when Wooden knocked Ward's final pass down at the goal line.
Ward finished the day with 31 completions in 50 attempts for 297 yards and three scores, while McCorvey caught 11 passes, nine in the second half, for 138 yarils to earn NBC Player of the Game honors.
MIAMI, FL (1-1-94) --- The 60th Annual Orange Bowl game proved indeed to be a "Classic" as the nation's top two teams battled to the last second for the 1993 National Championship. When Florida State kicker Scott Bentley's field goal with 21 seconds left in the game split the uprights and Cornhusker Byron Bennett's last second kick sailed wide left, the Seminoles stood as 18-16 victors over number one Nebraska.
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Both teams started slow offensively, failing to score in the first quarter. In all, the teams combined for five punts and a missed field goal in the period. And while defense continued to dominate in the second stanza, FSU took a 3-0 lead on Bentley's 34 yard field goal after marching 63 yards. The big play in the FSU drive was a 31 yard pass from Charlie Ward to Kevin Knox, while a pass interference penalty on Nebraska gave Florida State a first down on third and six.
It took less than two minutes for the Cornhuskers to counter. When FSU's Devin Bush tipped a pass from Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier into the hands of receiver Reggie Baul, NU had a 34 yard touchdown completion and a 7-3 lead.
Florida State and Nebraska traded possessions before FSU was able to add another three. Seminole quarterback Ward showed the skills that won him the Heisman Trophy, scrambling for 23 and passing for 39 of the 71 yards on the drive. Bentley nailed a 25 yard field goal with 22 seconds left and as the half ended, the heavily favored Tribe trailed, 7-6.
FSU regained the lead after taking the second half kickoff and driving 67 yards. Ward, the game's Most Valuable Player, set up William Floyd's 1 yard TD plung with a 41 yard pass to Knox before his two point conversion attempt fell incomplete. Nonetheless, the Seminoles took a 12-7 lead.
One possession later, FSU increased its lead. After taking over at its own 12, Florida State looked to junior fullback Floyd for a spark. He obliged with a career long 34 yard run to the FSU 46 yard line. Six plays later, Bentley's third field goal of the night, this one from 39 yards out, put the Seminoles up 15-7 with 3:06 remaining in the third.
Nebraska held the ball for the rest of the quarter, and on the first play of the final period, Lawrence Phillips ran to the right for a 12 yard touchdown. A two point conversion attempt to tie the game at 15 failed when Frazier was knocked out of bounds at the one.
Florida State was unable to advance past the Nebraska 45 on its next drive, so the Cornhuskers once again took over. Their march deep into Seminole territory came to a sudden end when Richard Coes intercepted a pass at the FSU nine. But the Seminoles went three and out, turning the ball over to the Cornhuskers with 4:39 left in the game.
Nebraska drove from its own 20 to the FSU 4 after Liss' 42 yand punt. Phillips ran for l7 yards on the first play of the drive, while Frazier gained 32 yards on another rush. But the Seminole defense stiffened from there. Three runs netted minus five yards and Bennett kicked a 27 yard three pointer from the five, giving the 'Huskers a 16-15 lead with 1:16 to play.
Starting at the 35 yard line after Bennett's kickoff went out of bounds, Ward took over. Aided by a pair of penalties against Nebraska, a 15 yard late hit after a 21 yard Warrick Dunn pickup, and a 15 yand pass interference call, Ward led FSU to the Nebraska five with 21 seconds left. Bentley's 22 yard kick on second down sailed through the uprights and gave Florida State an 18-16 edge with 21 seconds left.
But Nebraska was not ready to call it a day. On second down from the Nebraska 43, Frazier completed a 29 yard pass to Trumane Bell. The Seminoles celebrated as time apparently expired on the play, but the Cornhuskers had called a time out with one second remaining. As Bennett's last second attempt sailed wide left, the Seminoles wrapped up their first 12 win season and earned Florida State's first football national championship.
