FSU Football: Ranking Every Noles Bowl Win (Nos. 1-5)

There’s no doubt that despite being a late arriving program that played its first game in 1947, Florida State has become one of college football’s blue bloods.

The Seminoles have three national championship, numerous top-10 finishes and plenty of Consensus All-Americans. What FSU also happens to have is 27 bowl wins, which ranks eighth all-time. Technically, the Seminoles have 26 because the 2006 Emerald Bowl was vacated because of ineligible players, but the contest still took place.

In a new series, we’ll count down and rank each of the Seminoles’ 27 bowl wins. We rank the victories based on the way FSU won and the magnitude of each game. We round out the series with the five biggest bowl wins in Florida State history:

5. 1995 Sugar Bowl: Florida State 23, Florida 17
Jan. 2, 1995
The contest dubbed as the “Fifth Quarter in the French Quarter” was seen largely as a continuation of the 1994 regular season finale. In that contest, Florida State erased a 31-3 fourth quarter deficit on its home field with 28 unanswered points to force a 31-31 tie. After Florida defeated Arkansas in the SEC Championship, the teams met again in the Sugar Bowl to determine supremacy in the rivalry. After a 3-3 first quarter, the Seminoles gained control in the second with a 73-yard touchdown pass from running back Warrick Dunn to Omar Ellison and a 16-yard strike from quarterback Danny Kanell to Kez McCorvey. Florida however, would not go away. Gators’ quarterback Danny Wuerffel passed for a touchdown and rushed for another and with under a minute to play, Florida had the ball with a chance to go in front. That’s when linebacker Derrick Brooks intercepted a Wuerffel pass to cement the victory.

4. 1988 Fiesta Bowl: Florida State 31, Nebraska 28
Jan. 1, 1988
For many Florida State fans, it was this win that cemented the Seminoles’ place as a national power. Against fifth-ranked Nebraska in the 1988 Fiesta Bowl, FSU fell behind 14-0 early, but rallied to take a 21-14 halftime lead behind two touchdown passes from Danny McManus to Herb Gainer with a Dayne Williams touchdown run in between. McManus would pass for 375 yards and he would need everyone of them as the contest saw three second half leading changes. With the Cornhuskers clinging to a 28-24 advantage, McManus’ third touchdown pass of the day — a 15-yard toss to Ronald Lewis — put FSU ahead for good. Deion Sanders had an interception and Paul McGowan recorded 10 tackles for the Seminole defense. The win began what would be a streak of 14 straight top-5 finishes.

3. 2000 Sugar Bowl: Florida State 46, Virginia Tech 29
Jan. 4, 2000
Looking to complete his first perfect season as FSU’s head coach, Bobby Bowden’s No. 1 Seminoles entered New Orleans as favorites against Frank Beamer and the No. 2 Virginia Tech Hokies in a contest for the national championship. Things went as planned for FSU early on as the Seminoles stormed to a 28-7 lead behind special teams touchdowns by Jeff Chaney and Peter Warrick and two long touchdown passes from Chris Weinke to Warrick and Ron Dugans. The Hokies however, stormed back with 22 unanswered points to take a 29-28 lead into the final quarter. Weinke’s second touchdown pass to Dugans three minutes into the final quarter put FSU ahead for good before Warrick’s third touchdown of the night — a juggling 43-yard grab from Weinke — put the Hokies away. Warrick finished with 220 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns to earn MVP honors. Weinke passed for 329 yards in the win while Bradley Jennings and Jamal Reynolds combined for five of FSU’s eight sacks on dynamic freshman quarterback Michael Vick. The victory completed a 12-0 season and gave Bowden his second national championship and first perfect season.

2. 2014 BCS National Championship: Florida State 34, Auburn 31
Jan. 6, 2014
Aiming for its first national championship in 14 years, Florida State faced No. 2 Auburn in what would be the final BCS National Championship. The Tigers had knocked off defending national champion Alabama in the regular season finale before beating Missouri for the SEC Championship. In each of the previous seven seasons, the winner of the national championship had come from the SEC and by taking a 21-3 second quarter lead, the Tigers made it look like that trend would continue. FSU however, was determined not to let one of the most dominant seasons in college football history end in despair. A fake punt run for a first down by Karlos Williams late in the first half sparked a streak of 17 unanswered points for the Seminoles. After an Auburn field goal put the Tigers ahead 24-20 in the fourth quarter, FSU retook the lead on the ensuing kickoff on a 100-yard touchdown return by Kermit Whitfield. Auburn running back Tre’ Mason would put the Tigers back in front with a spectacular 37-yard touchdown run with 1:19 to play, but that would be too much time for FSU’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jameis Winston. Winston took the Seminoles 79 yards in 1:06 and capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown toss to Kelvin Benjamin. The connection would result in the winning score as FSU won its first national title in 14 years and snapped the SEC’s streak of seven consecutive national championships.

1. 1994 Orange Bowl: Florida State 18, Nebraska 16
Jan. 1, 1994
No. 1 Florida State was a big favorite for its Orange Bowl match-up against No. 2 Nebraska for the 1993 national championship, but the Cornhuskers gave the Seminoles all they wanted and more. FSU trailed 7-6 at the break, but took a 15-7 lead into the final quarter thanks to a short touchdown run by William Floyd and a Scott Bentley field goal. In the final period however, Nebraska returned the favor. After Lawrence Phillips’ 12-yard touchdown run cut the lead to two, Byron Bennett knocked home a 27-yard field goal with 1:16 remaining. With the help of a tough fourth down run from Floyd and the shiftiness of freshman running back Warrick Dunn, Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Charlie Ward marched the Seminoles inside Nebraska’s 10-yard-line. Bentley’s 22-yard field goal with 21 seconds left looked like the nail in Nebraska’s coffin, but the Cornhuskers weren’t done yet as quarterback Tommie Frazier hit a streaking Trumane Bell, who reached FSU’s 28-yard-line as time expired. With FSU head coach Bobby Bowden already drenched in Gatorade, officials put a second back on the clock and Bowden was forced to watch Bennett attempt a 45-yard field goal on the same field where a missed kick would cost Bowden’s Seminoles a title shot the year before. This time, the kick sailed wide left and Florida State prevailed.