1993 Florida State Seminoles football team


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.
The season gave the Seminoles their first national title as well as their first Heisman winner in quarterback Charlie Ward.

Season

FSU beat its first five opponents by an average score of 46–3, during which linebacker Derrick Brooks outscored all five opponents combined. The Seminoles' first real 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 points. After that game, Notre Dame was voted #1 and FSU was voted #2.
However, #1 Notre Dame lost at home the following week to #17 Boston College 41–39 on a 41-yard field goal as time expired. The voters returned the Seminoles to the #1 spot, and they were matched against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Florida State rallied late to eke out an 18–16 win, as Nebraska missed a potential game-winning 45-yard field goal on the game's final play. After the bowl games, 12–1 Florida State was voted #1 and 11–1 Notre Dame was voted #2 in both polls.

Schedule

Roster

Starting lineup

Offense

PosNumberNameClass
QB17Charlie WardSR
RB35Sean JacksonSR
FB44William FloydSR
WR80Tamarick VanoverSO
WR88Kez McCorveyJR
WR12Matt FrierSR
LT67Juan LaureanoSO
LG66Lewis TyreSO
C53Clay ShiverSO
RG69Patrick McNeilJR
RT60Marvin FerrellSR

Defense

Special Teams

Rankings

Season summary

Kansas

at Duke

Clemson

at North Carolina

Georgia Tech

Miami (FL)

Virginia

Wake Forest

at Maryland

at Notre Dame

NC State

at Florida

vs. Nebraska (Orange Bowl)

Awards and honors

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

The following would play in the NFL in later years.