85 Days Until FSU Football: Seminoles Break Records in 1985 Contest vs. Tulsa

Sunday marks 85 days until Florida State football takes the field for the 2018 season. As part of the offseason, we’re doing a countdown that highlights players, games, and specific moments from Florida State football history. On Saturday, it was Ron Sellers and his 86 receptions in the 1968 season.

Today, it’s the 1985 contest vs. Tulsa and the numerous records broken against the Golden Hurricane.

The 1985 Florida State football season isn’t particularly notable in the grand scheme of things. The Seminoles went 9-3 with a solid Gator Bowl victory and top-15 poll ranking to end the season. The highlights include an upset victory over the No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers in Memorial Stadium, while the lowlights feature blowout losses to Auburn and Florida.

But perhaps no game was more interesting than the 76-14 win over Tulsa.

Photo by Phil Sears/Tallahassee Democrat/Archived by Garnet and Great

Before FSU began steamrolling opponents with regularity, this was the performance that raised eyebrows. Tulsa was a decent member of the Missouri Valley Conference, who happened to get scheduled as one of Florida State’s cupcake games.

The result? At least three broken records, including the most points scored by FSU in a single game (surpassed in 1995 vs. NC State), the longest interception return touchdown in school history, and the most consecutive made field goals in a row (surpassed by multiple kickers since).

Recounting the 76 points from FSU would be excessive. Some interesting bits remain, like the fact that it was freshman Deion Sanders who broke the interception return record, or that FSU only completed eight passes in the entire contest. Oddly enough, wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff was the previous holder of the interception return record — he achieved it whilst playing defense during the 1963 season. Derek Schmidt was the kicker who set the new field goal record at the time.

Such blowouts typically become forgotten soon after they happen, for obvious reasons. It’s still intriguing to see the names and numbers that pop up when examining FSU football history.