Saturdays are better when they involve college football. While this Saturday doesn’t fit the bill, it also marks 93 days until Florida State football returns. As part of the offseason, we’re doing a countdown that highlights players, games, and specific moments from FSU football history.
On Friday, it was the 94-yard interception return for a touchdown by Terrance Smith in the 2014 FSU-Florida contest.
Today, it’s the 1993 national championship season, where Florida State broke through and won its first-ever national title.
Head coach Bobby Bowden had come very close in prior years. The Seminoles were a program on the rise for much of the 1980s, which culminated in four major bowl victories and six seasons with 10-plus victories by 1993. Despite its growing reputation, Florida State had been unable to win it all.
A magical 1993 season changed all of that. Florida State opened the year at No. 1 and defeated five ranked teams on the way to an 11-1 regular season record. That includes victories over both of its in-state rivals, with each ranked in the top 10. The Seminoles’ only blemish was a 1-score loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend in a contest dubbed “The Game of the Century”.
Thanks to a Notre Dame loss the very next week to a Boston College team coached by a guy named Tom Coughlin, who developed a knack for ruining perfect seasons, Florida State regained the No. 1 ranking and set itself up for a national championship match in the Orange Bowl against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
In a sloppy but tight game, the Seminoles emerged victorious 18-16. The Gatorade poured on to Bowden as the team rushed the field — including once prematurely — celebrating the momentous occasion. Florida State was no longer on the outside looking in. It had achieved what no FSU team before it had done.
The Seminoles went ahead for good in Miami on a short field goal by Scott Bentley with under a minute to play. Nebraska managed to get into field goal range for Byron Bennett, but his 45-yard attempt sailed wide as time expired.
The 1993 team was filled with FSU greats. Quarterback Charlie Ward won a laundry list of awards, with the most notable being the Heisman Trophy. He was helped out on offense by running back Warrick Dunn and wide receiver Kez McCorvey. On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Derrick Brooks was a unanimous All-American, while cornerback Corey Sawyer was a consensus All-American. Defensive end Derrick Alexander also received recognition.
Perhaps no team impacted Florida State’s future more than the 1993 national championship squad. They set out to prove that the Seminoles were one of the “Big Boys” of college football — and they now had the jewelry to prove it.
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