1993_Florida_State_Seminoles_football_team

1993 Florida State Seminoles football team

1993 Florida State Seminoles football team

American college football season


The 1993 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University and were the national champions of the 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Quick Facts Florida State Seminoles football, Consensus national championACC championOrange Bowl champion ...
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The season gave the Seminoles their first ever national title as well as their first Heisman winner in quarterback Charlie Ward. Ward, who threw for 3,032 yards and completed 70 percent of his passes, became the first player to win the Heisman Trophy and the national championship in the same season since Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett in 1976.[1] FSU topped college football in both scoring defense and scoring offense, with its defense giving up an average of 9.4 points per game and its offense scoring an average of 43.2 points a game.[2] In a testament to just how difficult the Seminoles' schedule was during its championship run, the final top 5 football rankings for the season were occupied by FSU at #1, and three of its opponents, including Notre Dame at #2, Nebraska at #3, and the University of Florida at #5.[3]

Season

FSU beat its first five opponents by an average score of 46–3, during which linebacker Derrick Brooks outscored the Noles' first five opponents combined. These victories included a 57-0 win over #17 Clemson and a 33-7 win over #13 North Carolina. The Seminoles' first competitive contest didn't come until October 9, when the third-ranked Miami Hurricanes came to Tallahassee with a 31-game regular season win streak. That game was sealed when FSU safety Devin Bush picked off a Frank Costa pass and ran it back 40 yards for a Florida State touchdown, making the score 28–10 with 4:59 to play.

On November 13, 1993, Florida State played Notre Dame in a matchup of unbeaten teams. FSU was ranked #1 and Notre Dame was ranked #2. In a matchup hailed as the "Game of the Century", the Seminoles' bid for a perfect season fell short as Notre Dame prevailed, 31–24. The Irish had leads of 24–7 and 31–17 before the Seminoles scored late to cut the final margin to seven. The Noles then regained possession at their own 37-yard line with just 51 seconds left in the game.[4] Three consecutive passes by Ward quickly led Florida State to the Notre Dame 14.[4] On the last play of the game, Ward rolled out and had his pass attempt batted down in the end zone, leaving the Irish with a 31–24 victory. After that game, Notre Dame was voted #1 and FSU was voted #2.[5]

The following week, #1 Notre Dame lost at home to #17 Boston College 41–39 on a 41-yard field goal as time expired, while the Seminoles beat NC State 62-3. The voters returned the Seminoles to the #1 spot in the AP poll, and they rose to #2 in the coaches' poll while Notre Dame fell to a ranking of fourth in both polls. The week afterwards, FSU travelled to Gainesville to face the 7th-ranked Florida Gators -- that season's SEC champions -- and defeated them 33-21. FSU finished the regular season #1 and was matched against #2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. In a hard-fought contest, Florida State rallied late to defeat Nebraska 18–16 after the Cornhuskers tried and missed a 45-yard field goal on the game's final play.[6] After the bowl games, 12–1 Florida State was voted #1 and 11–1 Notre Dame #2 in both polls.

During the 1993 season, the Seminoles faced four teams in the top seven of the AP rankings when FSU played them -- #3 Miami in week 6, #2 Notre Dame in week 11, #7 Florida in week 13, and #2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl -- and they went 3-1 against those teams, while playing only one home game in those four contests. The Noles also defeated three other top 25 teams that filled out their schedule, with Clemson ranked 17th, North Carolina ranked 13th, and Virginia ranked 15th when the Noles played them. By the end of season, FSU had faced six of the teams in the final AP top 25 poll, going 5-1 against them. These teams were #2 Notre Dame, #3 Nebraska, #5 Florida, #15 Miami, #19 North Carolina, and #23 Clemson. By the end of Notre Dame's season, the Irish had faced two teams ranked in the final AP top 25: #1 Florida State and #19 Michigan. In their Cotton Bowl meeting with #7 Texas A&M, Notre Dame won 24-21.

Schedule

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[20]

Rankings

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Game summaries

Kansas

At Duke

Clemson

At North Carolina

Georgia Tech

Miami (FL)

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#3 Miami (FL) Hurricanes (4–0) at #1 Florida State Seminoles (5–0)

at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida

  • Date: October 9
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 74 °F (23 °C)
  • Game attendance: 77,813
  • Referee: John Soffey
  • TV: ABC
  • Box Score

Virginia

Wake Forest

At Maryland

At Notre Dame

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NC State

At Florida

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#1 Florida State Seminoles (10–1) at #7 Florida Gators (9–1)

at Ben Hill Griffith Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

  • Date: November 27
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 75 °F (24 °C)
  • Game attendance: 85,507
  • Referee: Dayle Phillips
  • TV: ABC
  • Box Score

Vs. Nebraska (Orange Bowl)

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Personnel

Roster

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Starting lineup

Offense

Heisman winner Charlie Ward
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Defense

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Special teams

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Awards and honors

  • Charlie Ward, Heisman Trophy[21]
  • Charlie Ward, Johnny Unitas Award
  • Charlie Ward, James E. Sullivan Award[22]
  • Charlie Ward, Walter Camp Award
  • Charlie Ward, Maxwell Award
  • Charlie Ward, Davey O'Brien Award

1993 team players in the NFL

The following were selected in the 1994 NFL Draft.

PlayerPositionRoundOverallNFL team
William FloydRunning back128San Francisco 49ers
Lonnie JohnsonTight end261Buffalo Bills
Corey SawyerDefensive back4104Cincinnati Bengals
Sean JacksonRunning back4129Houston Oilers
Kevin KnoxWide receiver6192Buffalo Bills
Toddrick McIntoshDefensive tackle7216Dallas Cowboys

[23]

The following played in the NFL in later years.


References

  1. "1993 NCAA Division I-A football season", Wikipedia, December 9, 2023, retrieved December 13, 2023
  2. 1993 Team ncaa.org
  3. "1993 NCAA Division I-A football rankings", Wikipedia, August 19, 2023, retrieved December 13, 2023
  4. "November 16, 1993 Football Polls | College Poll Archive". www.collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  5. "Jayhawks crash and burn in 42–0 thrashing". The Kansas City Star. August 29, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "FSU rises above the muck". St. Petersburg Times. September 5, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  7. "No. 1 Florida State layes waste to Clemson, 57–0". The Baltimore Sun. September 12, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "No. 1 Seminoles blow past Tar Heels". The Commercial Appeal. September 19, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Florida State crrushes Tech; now for Miami". Star Tribune. October 3, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  10. "It's FSU at last; Seminoles drop Miami 28–10". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. October 10, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  11. "No. 15 Virginia can't Ward off Seminoles". The State. October 17, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Ward hurts ribs as No. 1 FSU steamrolls Deacs". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 31, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Lackluster Florida State clinches first in ACC". The News and Observer. November 7, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Irish knock off No. 1 'Noles!". The Indianapolis Star. November 14, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  15. "FSU makes its points vs. North Carolina St". South Florida Sun Sentinel. November 21, 1993. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Ward, Seminoles survive 'The Swamp'". The Times and Democrat. November 28, 1993. Retrieved November 16, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  17. "So, who's #1? Freshman kicker gives FSU leg up, win over Nebraska". Chicago Tribune. January 2, 1994. Retrieved February 4, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  18. "1993 Florida State Seminoles Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  19. "Heisman.com - Heisman Trophy". Archived from the original on September 16, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  20. "AAU Sullivan Award". Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  21. "1994 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2018.

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