FSU’s 1993 National Title Team’s Silver Anniversary — Part II: The Fast Break Offense a Well-Oiled Machine

It’s been 25 years since Florida State claimed its first national championship. The 1993 team delivered FSU college football’s ultimate prize for the first time. In a multi-part series commemorating the silver anniversary of Florida State’s first title team, we’ll be remembering that season with five former players who played a prominent role in the team’s success.

The offensive side of the football was the phase of the game where Florida State was expected to see the biggest improvement as the 1993 season got set to begin and it certainly did. The face of that offense was redshirt senior quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward.

Ward’s skill set prompted head coach Bobby Bowden, offensive coordinator Brad Scott and the rest of the offensive staff to shift to Ward’s strengths in a system that came to be known as the “Fast Break Offense”. For the early parts of his time as a starter however, Ward was turnover prone. In his first seven starts, Ward had thrown 15 interceptions in 1992.

FSU was able to go 8-0 in ACC play and win the conference in its inaugural year as a member, but turnovers from the quarterback position would force the Seminoles to rally for road wins at Clemson and at Georgia Tech. Over the final four games of the 1992 season however, Ward had reduced his interception total to just three as FSU put up an average of nearly 53 points in those four games.

“The last couple games of 1992, we just dominated,” said Kez McCorvey, FSU’s leading receiver in 1993. “The thing that changed in Charlie was the confidence in what he was doing. His demeanor was the same all the time. You could just see the change and how confident he was.”

In each of Ward’s first two starts in 1992, he was intercepted four times. In 1993, that’s what he threw the entire year while finishing with 3,032 yards passing and 27 touchdowns. He added four rushing touchdowns and led the nation with a 69.5 percent completion rate. During the 1993 season, Florida State averaged better than 41 points per game and was held below 30 just three times.

“In 1992, we had to get acclimated to the shotgun offense, but by the end of the year, we were a well-oiled machine,” said Clay Shiver, a redshirt sophomore in 1993 and returning starter at center. “Coach Scott and (quarterbacks) Coach (Mark) Richt were committed to run our offense as fast as we could.”

Ward was the straw that stirred the drink for the 1993 national title team’s offense, but the Seminoles were far from a 1-man show. Senior Sean Jackson and freshman Warrick Dunn formed a talented tandem at tailback with Marquette Smith also getting in on the action. Jackson rushed for a team-high 825 yards while Dunn added 868 yards of total offense and a team-high 10 touchdowns from scrimmage. William Floyd, a senior, was arguably the nation’s best at fullback while Pooh Bear Williams was a short yardage specialist at the position.

Ward was also blessed with a talented array of pass-catchers led by McCorvey, but Kevin Knox, Matt Frier and leading returning receiver, Tamarick Vanover, all brought different skill sets. McCorvey’s 966 receiving yards would lead the team, but each of the four would finish with at least 500 yards receiving. Ward also had a dependable tight end target in Lonnie Johnson.

“There’s a difference between being chased by the pack and chasing the deer,” McCorvey said of the internal competition for catches. “We were all trying to be the first ones there. We had great coaches, great players and we were all just performing at a high level. We just really meshed as an offensive unit.”

As for those tasked with protecting Ward, the offensive line was still relatively young, but not inexperienced. In 1992, both Shiver and guard Lewis Tyre started as redshirt freshmen while Patrick McNeil, the other guard, started all 12 games as a redshirt sophomore. Right tackle Juan Laureano, a redshirt sophomore in 1993, started five games the year prior. Marvin Ferrell, the team’s left tackle, was the veteran of the group as a redshirt senior who had started seven games the year before.

“We had a young offensive line in 1993, but an experienced one,” Shiver said. “As a unit, we really felt that we could be dominant and help this program take the next step.”

Throughout the course of the season, FSU scored at least 40 points in eight of 13 games. The Seminoles also hit the 50-point mark four times and scored a season-high 62 points in a Senior Day victory over North Carolina State. FSU did so while averaging an ungodly 548 yards per game.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson