55-Year Nole Anniversary: FSU Thumps Oklahoma in Gator Bowl to Cap First Ranked Finish

The 1964 season was one that saw Florida State soar to new heights. That year, the Seminoles would finish ranked for the first time at No. 11 in the UPI Poll and beat rival Florida for the first time, 16-7.

That campaign was capped on this day 55 years ago as No. 11 FSU took it to Oklahoma in the Gator Bowl, 36-19. The Seminoles came into Jacksonville on Jan. 2, 1965 with a record of 8-1-1 and was taking on an Oklahoma team that was 6-3-1, but had began the year ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll and gone 5-0-1 over its previous six games with an upset of No. 4 Nebraska.

FSU drew first blood less than four minutes in as Howard Ehler returned a Bobby Page interception 69 yards for a touchdown, but the Sooners led 7-6 after a quarter, thanks to a short touchdown run from Jon Kennedy. From the second quarter on, the passing tandem of FSU quarterback Steve Tensi and Fred Biletnikoff would prove to be an unstoppable combination.

Tensi would finish the day with 303 yards passing and five touchdown passes. Biletnikoff was on the receiving end of four of those touchdowns as he ended the day with 13 catches for 192 yards.

In the second quarter, the two hooked up for three touchdowns on scoring strikes of 15, 14 and nine yards as FSU led 24-7 at halftime. Without kicker Les Murdock, the Seminoles were unable to convert any of their conversion attempts, but at the end of the day, it wouldn’t matter all that much.

Oklahoma twice made it a 2-score game, but each time, FSU had an answer. After a short touchdown run by Tommy Pannell cut the FSU lead to 24-13, Tensi answered with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Don Floyd on the final play of the third quarter.

With more than 11 minutes to play in the contest, the Sooners set a Gator Bowl record when Ronnie Fletcher found Ben Hart for a 95-yard touchdown to cut the lead back to 11, but Tensi and Biletnikoff would fittingly put Oklahoma away with a 6-yard touchdown connection with less than five minutes to play. The FSU defense put the exclamation point on the victory with a goal line stand as time expired when Dick Hermann stopped Oklahoma running back Larry Brown short of the end zone.

The Seminoles finished the day with 520 yards of offense to 283 for the Sooners. Oklahoma did force six turnovers in the loss, including four interceptions of Tensi with two coming from Rod Crosswhite. FSU also finished with more than 200 yards on the ground with Phil Spooner leading the way with 125 yards on 27 carries.

The victory served as the first bowl win since topping Wofford in the Cigar Bowl 15 years prior. The Seminoles also clinched a new program record for wins in a season by finishing 9-1-1.

FSU would not best its No. 11 national ranking for another 15 years when it went 11-1 and finished No. 6 in the AP Poll under then fourth-year head coach Bobby Bowden. Interesting enough, the Seminoles have also gone winless in six tries against Oklahoma since. The first meeting however, was a marquee moment for FSU as a football program and it happened on this day 55 years ago.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson. Like The Daily Nole on Facebook. To pitch an idea, author a post or to learn more about The Daily Nole, email Mike Ferguson at Mike@TheDailyNole.com.