The Daily Nole

FSU’s 1993 National Title Team’s Silver Anniversary — Part VI: Kanell Shines in Ward’s Absence

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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.

As the season hit the midway point, No. 1 Florida State showed little signs of slowing down. After a 28-10 win over No. 3 Miami, the Seminoles notched yet another easy victory over a ranked team. Against No. 15 Virginia in Tallahassee on Oct. 16, 1993, FSU cruised to another blowout, winning 40-14, to improve to 7-0.

Heisman Trophy frontrunner Charlie Ward passed for 322 yards and three touchdowns — all to different receivers — while rushing for another in the win. Tamarick Vanover finished with a season-high 129 yards receiving as the Seminoles built a 30-0 halftime lead en route to the easy win.

After a bye week, Florida State remained home to take on Wake Forest. There was never any threat of an upset as the Seminoles raced to a 34-0 halftime lead before cruising to a 54-0 win for their fourth shutout of the season. The contest on the eve of Halloween against the Demon Deacons however, did bring a scare.

Just before halftime, Ward went down with a rib injury putting his future status up in the air.

“Charlie wasn’t a real hype guy; he barely talked,” said Clay Shiver, the team’s starting redshirt sophomore center. “But everyone knew this thing kind of hinged on him. We all knew it was a real issue.”

The ground game propelled FSU as Warrick Dunn rushed for 162 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries. Sean Jackson added another 116 rushing yards. On defense, Clifton Abraham scored his third touchdown of the year on a 29-yard interception return for a score.

“I wasn’t worried,” Abraham said of the injury to Ward. “You just hope everything is all right for Charlie’s sake. The defense was just so prepared. We knew we had a capable backup in Danny Kanell.”

FSU was 8-0 after the win, but it was the injury to the Heisman Trophy frontrunner that stole the headlines.

“We were kind of humorous about it,” linebacker Derrick Brooks said. “That was the first time we ever saw a player rushed to the hospital with a police escort. We gave Charlie a little bit of a hard time after that. We hoped for the best for Charlie, but our goals hadn’t changed. We were confident in Danny Kanell.”

“When you have battle-tested leaders, everyone said that we weren’t going to put this all on Danny,” said Todd Rebol, a sophomore linebacker at the time. “Charlie was not only an outstanding player, but our leader. The entire team was going to bear the responsibility of losing Charlie Ward.”

Kanell, a redshirt sophomore, was tabbed as the starter in Ward’s absence after playing well early on in relief. In what had been mostly mop-up duty, Kanell had been 8-for-11 passing for 158 yards and two touchdowns.

“We really didn’t think it was that threatening of an injury,” wide receiver Kez McCorvey said. “We had a team full of really good football players. Danny came out and played very well.”

For more than a half on that first Saturday in November, Maryland kept pace with the No. 1 Seminoles. What the Terrapins had no answer for was Danny Kanell.

In a debut for the ages, Kanell finished 28-for-38 passing for 341 yards and five touchdown passes to four different players, including two to Kevin Knox. McCorvey led the Seminoles with 122 yards receiving. Sean Jackson finished with 110 yards of offense and two total touchdowns.

With less than 10 minutes to play in the third quarter, Maryland was down just eight at 28-20. From there however, the defense would buckle down as Florida State cruised to a 49-20 victory. Brooks and Ken Alexander each recorded 13 tackles to lead the defense.

“It does something to you to know you have to step it up,” Shiver said. “The defense knew it had to step it up. Maryland was a good offensive team. Danny just had an awesome game and by the end of the game, it ended up being a lot of fun.”

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

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