The Daily Nole

Most Thrilling Wins in FSU History: Fourth Quarterfinal

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Our series where you pick the most thrilling victory in Florida State football history has moved past the first round and into the quarterfinals.

Sunday’s winner was the 2014 BCS National Championship victory over Auburn — our No. 2 seed — which received 99 percent of the vote over the seventh-seeded 2014 victory over Notre Dame. The BCS title contest will move on to face the winner of the next match-up.

Monday’s match-up features a pair of victories over Clemson. The No. 3 seed in our series is from the 1988 contest where the Seminoles used a fake punt to beat the Tigers. That win received 74 percent of the vote over the 2007 upset of Boston College — our No. 14 seed.

It’ll be taking on the 2010 walk-off home victory over Clemson. That was the No. 11 seed in our series which upset the sixth-seeded 2003 double-overtime victory over North Carolina State by receiving 73 percent of the vote.

No. 3: Florida State 24, Clemson 21
Sept. 17, 1988

Against third-ranked Clemson in Death Valley, Florida State was up for the challenge most of the day. After trailing 14-7 at halftime, the Seminoles stormed ahead with a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown by Deion Sanders early in the third quarter and a short Dayne Williams touchdown run three minutes later. With just over two and a half minutes left in the contest however, Clemson drew even at 21. After the Seminoles went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, it looked as though the best FSU could hope for was a tie as head coach Bobby Bowden sent out the punt team. Rather than kicking the ball back to Clemson however, Bowden decided to take a chance — a chance he called “puntrooskie”. From the punt formation, the snap went to FSU’s up-back and a slew of Seminoles took off to the left. Unnoticed by Clemson, FSU’s LeRoy Butler took the ball from between the up-back’s legs and ran right. Butler went for 78 yards to the Clemson 1-yard-line. The Tigers were able to keep Florida State out of the end zone, but with 32 seconds remaining, Richie Andrews knocked home the game-winning field goal as the Seminoles won 24-21.

No. 11: Florida State 16, Clemson 13
Nov. 13, 2010

Florida State and Clemson each needed a win to keep their ACC title hopes alive when the teams met at Doak Campbell Stadium late in 2010. With quarterback Christian Ponder injured, the Seminoles were forced to turn to experienced backup E.J. Manuel, but it was the defenses that dominated most of the night. Jamie Harper scored from 26 yards out on Clemson’s opening drive, but both offenses would fail to find the end zone over the next two quarters. With FSU trailing 10-6, the Seminoles temporarily asked Manuel to forget about making plays with his arm and use his legs to march FSU down the field. With just over 10 minutes to play, Manuel’s 8-yard touchdown run capped an 85-yard drive and put the Seminoles ahead, 13-10. With time ticking away, Clemson drove deep into FSU territory, but was forced to settle for a Chandler Catanzaro field goal with 53 seconds remaining. The game appeared headed for overtime, but with just seconds to play, Manuel found Rodney Smith for an 18-yard gain to the Clemson 37-yard-line. With three seconds remaining, kicker Dustin Hopkins trotted on to the field to attempt a 55-yard field goal. Hopkins’ kick split the post as time expired and FSU walked away with an improbable 16-13 victory.

Make Your Pick

To pick which contest was more thrilling, click below to vote in our Twitter poll. If you do not have a Twitter account, you can vote by emailing TDN editor Mike Ferguson at Mike@TheDailyNole.com. You can also vote in the comment section below. The winner will be announced with the first semifinal match-up.

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