Friday has arrived, meaning there are just 87 days until Florida State football returns against Virginia Tech. As part of the offseason, we’re doing a countdown that highlights players, games, and specific moments from Florida State football history.
Today, it’s former running back Travis Minor and his 87-yard touchdown in his starting debut against the Virginia Cavaliers.
Minor came in the 1997 recruiting class as a highly touted running back from Catholic High in Baton Rouge, Louisiana — the alma mater of FSU great Warrick Dunn. Minor wasted no time after he got on Florida State’s campus, impressing the coaching staff so much that he received reps as a true freshman. He got his first start in the seventh game of the 1997 season against the Virginia Cavaliers.
On the very first play from offense, Minor took the hand-off and ran 87 yards for a touchdown. The run can be seen at about the 3:45 mark in the video below.
The initial run was a forecast of things to come. Minor finished the game against Virginia with 157 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, 72 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown. Florida State easily coasted to a 47-21 victory.
Keep in mind that this was a decent Virginia team who went 7-4 overall. Minor completely dominated the Cavaliers as a true freshman in his first ever career start.
It’s hard to improve on such a masterful performance. Minor never did reach the yardage totals against any future opponent, but he would still go on to have a fruitful career with the Seminoles. He totaled more than 3,000 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns from 1997 to 2000, as well as chipping in 800 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Minor currently stands at No. 4 all-time in FSU career rushing yards and No. 6 in career rushing touchdowns.
Minor would later get selected in the third round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He spent eight years in the league with the Dolphins and St. Louis Rams.
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