The Daily Nole

FSU’s 1993 National Title Team’s Silver Anniversary — Part III: A Defense Competing for Every Blade of Grass

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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.

During Florida State’s rise to greatness in the late-1970s and then again in the late-1980s, one of the signatures of its success was great defenses. The Seminoles had to deal with the loss of Butkus Award winning linebacker Marvin Jones and a couple of key preseason injuries in the secondary, but Mickey Andrews, who was in his 10th season as defensive coordinator, wasn’t going to settle for less.

“It started with a bunch of experienced guys who had been in the trenches,” said linebacker Todd Rebol, who was a sophomore and a first-year starter on the 1993 team. “Derrick Alexander, Ken Alexander, Derrick Brooks — those were all really good guys to have anchoring your defense.”

Not a single team had scored more than 24 points against Florida State during the 1992 season, but the Seminoles were looking to take their play on defense to the next level. Although Jones, Carl Simpson and Dan Footman were gone, FSU was returning five starters.

“Our offense stole the show that year, but we wanted to prove that we were darn good, too,” said Brooks, a junior and the team’s returning leading tackler in 1993. “We followed the toughness of Mickey Andrews as our leader. We competed for every blade of grass.”

The front three for FSU was anchored by junior defensive end Derrick Alexander, who earned All-American status for the first time. John Nance manned the interior for FSU while an experienced Toddrick McIntosh played the other end position. The Seminoles were a deep, talented group with names like Tyrant Marion filling in as reserves.

Rebol and Brooks made up half the linebacking corps. Joining those two sophomores were redshirt junior James Roberson and Ken Alexander, a senior. Eric Smith and Chris Cowart were among the key reserves for the unit.

Although injuries hampered the Seminoles in the secondary, that unit was nothing shy of outstanding. Senior Corey Sawyer and junior Clifton Abraham manned the cornerback spots while senior Richard Coes and junior Devin Bush were the starting safeties. FSU added rotational players who made an impact such as Sean Hamlet, James Colzie and Byron Capers.

“We were close-knit and we refused to lose,” Abraham said. “We were never outcoached. Mickey Andrews could make adjustments on the sideline if he saw something. We didn’t need to wait to get into the locker room.”

For the 1993 season, the Seminoles gave up an average of 284.5 yards per game. FSU pitched four shutouts and held seven of its 13 opponents to 10 points or less. Only two Florida State opponents scored more than 20 points.

“We were very confident,” Brooks said. “Our offense scored quick and a lot, so were going to see a lot of snaps. We wanted to dominate every game.”

Both Ken and Derrick Alexander hit the 100-tackle mark for the Seminoles in 1993. Ken Alexander led the team with 122 total stops. Derrick Alexander topped the team with nine tackles for loss. Brooks and Rebol were next on the tackles list with 77 and 75 total, respectively. Cowart, a redshirt junior reserve outside linebacker, led the team with 7.5 sacks.

After recording a team-high seven interceptions in 1992, Sawyer led the Seminoles with six interceptions in 1993. The FSU defense was not only known for its ability to keep teams off the scoreboard, but it could put points up itself. For the season, FSU scored five defensive touchdowns.

“We wanted to get every bit as much notoriety as the offense,” Abraham said. “We wanted to score, too.”

Three of those belonged to Brooks — two interception returns and one fumble. Abraham scored three non-offensive touchdowns with one interception return and a pair of blocked punt recoveries for touchdowns.

“There were multiple games that season where our defense alone outscored opponents,” Rebol said. “We were a confident group of guys who kind of just flew around and made plays. We wanted to be great and we knew we could be.”

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

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