There are four days left until Florida State football starts the 2018 season. As part of the offseason, we’re highlighting players, games, and specific moments from FSU football history.
For the third straight day, it’s a single-game record and for a second straight day, it comes against Wake Forest. Today, it’s Mario Edwards’ four interceptions against the Demon Deacons in 1998.
The Seminoles were a heavy favorite in Winston-Salem on Nov. 14, 1998, but were breaking in a quarterback making his first career start in Marcus Outzen. Outzen was in for the injured Chris Weinke, who suffered a season-ending neck injury the week before. On a cold, wet night, the first-time starter was looking for a little help from his defense and got just that from Edwards in a 24-7 victory.
The first of the four picks for Edwards came with about 10 minutes remaining in the first half to give FSU the ball near its own 40-yard-line. The pick would set up the game’s first score as Outzen punched it in from a yard out.
Edwards’ second interception came with 4:30 remaining in the half and gave the Seminoles the ball inside the Wake Forest 45-yard-line. The ensuing drive would result in a Sebastian Janikowski field goal.
Pick No. 3 came with over 10 minutes to play in the third quarter and the Seminoles nursing a 10-7 lead. That interception would set up Travis Minor’s 1-yard touchdown run to cap a 71-yard drive.
The final pick came with less than 13 minute to go in the game and Wake Forest in FSU territory. Edwards returned the interception inside the Wake Forest 25-yard-line. Minor would cap the scoring with a 22-yard touchdown run on the very next play.
Edwards’ four interceptions led to all 24 FSU points in the victory. The first three interceptions came at the expenses of Wake Forest senior starter Brian Kuklick. Ben Sankey came in to relieve Kuklick, but was responsible for throwing the fourth pick of the night for the Demon Deacons. The FSU defense as a whole held Wake Forest to just 179 yards of offense.
Edwards’ career night surpassed the school-record for interceptions in one game of three held by six different players. Prior to Edwards, Corey Sawyer was the most recent Seminole to grab three picks when he accomplished the feat against NC State in 1992.
That night in November 1998 in Wake Forest saw Edwards account for two-thirds of his six career interceptions. Edwards would spend five years in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is also the father of former standout FSU defensive end Mario Edwards, Jr., who played for the Seminoles from 2012-14. Edwards currently works as an analyst for the FSU program.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole and former editor of Noled Out. Mike has more than seven years experience as a sports writer including the last four in print and online media. Mike graduated from Florida State University in 2009 with a Bachelors in Religion and a minor in Communications. Mike provided press coverage of Florida State's run to the 2013 BCS National Championship. Mike is also a news reporter at Polk County's newspaper, The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida. and contributes to Athlon Sports and ACCSports.com. Mike has been featured on sites as prominent as Yahoo Sports, FoxSports.com, Associated Press and the front page of SI.com while interviewing athletes as high profile as 2013 National League MVP, Andrew McCutchen. Email Mike at Mike@TheDailyNole.com. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson.
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