The legend of Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward began in Death Valley on Sept. 12, 1992. That was the scene for one of the more exciting iterations between the Seminoles and ACC rival Clemson Tigers.
Florida State entered the contest with a No. 5 ranking and a quarterback who had started just one game the week prior against Duke. Meanwhile, Clemson was at the No. 15 spot and hoped to pull off the upset over Bobby Bowden. The last time the two teams had met in Clemson, the Seminoles pulled off the “Puntrooskie” trick play that helped propel them to victory.
The game started out in Florida State’s favor. After exchanging turnovers and punts, Charlie Ward passed for 54 yards and rushed for another 34 to help set up a William Floyd touchdown run. FSU forced an interception on the next drive that allowed FSU to add three more to the scoreboard.
Clemson wasn’t done yet. Just before halftime, the Tigers drove down the field and kicked a field goal for three points. It was a tight 10-3 affair at the break.
The Tigers came out roaring in the second half. Two interceptions by Ward allowed Clemson to take the lead, 13-10. Ward never lost confidence however. He found Matt Frier in the end zone to retake the lead 17-13 as the third quarter ended.
Momentum swung back to Clemson early in the fourth quarter as the Tigers drove 76 yards and were able to jump ahead 20-17 after a huge touchdown pass from Richard Moncrief.
The two offenses then stuttered for the next few drives. Finally, Ward and the Florida State offense got the ball with 5:26 left in the game. He proceeded to chew up the clock and lead the team down the field for the game-winning touchdown pass to Kevin Knox.
Clemson attempted to respond with the two minutes it had remaining, but FSU’s John Davis intercepted Moncrief’s final pass to end the game. The Seminoles escaped Death Valley with a 24-20 victory.
Florida State would go on to only lose one game that entire season: against the Miami Hurricanes in “Wide Right II”. Despite winning their final six contests and beating five ranked teams, the Seminoles were left out of the national championship. They instead went to the Orange Bowl, where they defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers by a score of 27-14.
Clemson stumbled a few more times on its schedule. The Tigers lost to Georgia Tech the week after Florida State, won their next three games (including a victory over No. 10 Virginia), and then went 1-4 in their final five contests. They finished the year 5-6 overall and unranked.
As for Ward, the day he overcame a 4-interception performance to lead a winning drive at Clemson is the day he legend would begin. The 2-sport star would go on to win the Heisman Trophy the following year as a senior before leading FSU to its first national championship. His first trip into FSU lore came on this day 25 years ago.
Clint Eiland is a staff writer at The Daily Nole. Follow Clint on Twitter @ClintEiland. Tune in to 89.7 FM on Monday nights at 7 p.m. EST to hear Clint co-host the sports talk show Tomahawk Talk.
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