Wins for Florida State under legendary head coach Bobby Bowden were far from rare. Although the game that took place on this day 40 years ago isn’t remembered all that fondly by most of the fan base, it was a significant one.
On Dec. 23, 1977, Florida State played its first bowl game under Bowden as the Seminoles squared off with Texas Tech in the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando. FSU came in ranked 19th in the country and had little trouble with the Red Raiders in a 40-17 victory.
Things started off slowly as the contest was tied 3-3 early in the second quarter. That’s when Larry Key took the game over for the Seminoles.
Following a field goal to get Texas Tech on the board, Key returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to put the Seminoles ahead for good, 10-3. Key would finish the day with team-highs of 83 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving for an FSU offense that put up 540 total yards.
FSU was able to extend that lead to 27-3 by the midway point in the third quarter, thanks to touchdown passes from Jimmy Jordan to Grady King and Mike Shumann and a second field goal from Dave Cappelen. Jordan would finish the contest with 311 yards passing while FSU went for over 450 as a team.
Wally Woodham would come in to relieve Jordan, only to throw a pair of touchdowns of his own to Roger Overby and Chip Sanders in the final quarter, which followed scores by Texas Tech’s Brian Nelson and Billy Taylor.
Nat Terry and Bobby Butler each had interceptions for an opportunistic FSU defense that forced four turnovers. The victory gave FSU its first-ever 10-win season and a top 15 national ranking to close the year — its first ranked finish since 1968.
As for bowl games, Bowden would win plenty, finishing with a record of 21-9-1 in bowls. His first however, and just the third in school-history at the time came on this day 40 years ago.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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