FSU Football’s Best 15 Games Of The Last 40 Seasons: No. 4

Here’s a look at one of the best 15 games over the last 40 seasons of FSU football.

For the four decades, two men have led FSU football: Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher. Over that span, the Seminoles have gone from a football program that seemed to be just weeks from being cancelled to one of the top teams in the country and a known brand across the country and all over the world.

There has been everything from big road wins that set the tone for FSU football’s “play anyone at anytime” attitude to rivalry wins against Florida and Miami. The 34 seasons with Bowden at the helm saw two national titles won and one of the greatest dynasty eras in the history of the sport take place. The last six seasons under Fisher have seen the ‘Noles bring another title to Tallahassee and restored FSU football’s place as one of college football’s elite teams.

Of all the games over the past four decades, which are the ones that meant the most to where FSU football is today? Let’s take a look at the best games over the past 40 seasons the ‘Noles have taken the field.

No. 4 – Florida State 31 Florida 31 (November 26, 1994)

To partially quote Rosie Perez’s character from the movie White Men Can’t Jump:

"“…sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose.”"

No better quote would describe what took place inside Doak Campbell Stadium during the final regular season game of the 1994 season, as the Florida State Seminoles welcomed the rival Florida Gators to town.

For FSU football, defending their national championship won the season before turned out to be easier said then done. A mid-season loss to another rival, the Miami Hurricanes, had set them back and the Seminoles looked to be out of the race for a repeat. Florida, meanwhile, had an outside chance and had the advantage of having one more game on their schedule (the SEC Championship against Alabama). Though the Gators were ranked higher coming into the game, Florida still needed a win over a top ten FSU football team to get themselves in position to play for their first national title.

For the first three quarters of action, Florida was more than in control. A 31-3 lead had FSU football fans wondering how they were going to show their faces at work or school on Monday. Then, Zach Crockett ran in a touchdown and it was 31-10…after that, quarterback Danny Kanell found Andre Cooper to make it 31-17. Kanell would later lumber into the end zone to make it 31-24, which was followed by Rock Preston’s four yard run with under two minutes to go that made it 31-30. Head coach Bobby Bowden made the decision to kick the game tying extra point instead of going for two, deciding that a comeback like that (which would tie a NCAA record) shouldn’t be ruined by a one point loss.

Ultimately, the tie would be broken over a month later when the two teams would meet in the Sugar Bowl, dubbed “The Fifth Quarter in the French Quarter”. This time, it was FSU football who jumped out to the early lead, including a halfback pass from New Orleans native Warrick Dunn to Omar Ellison in the second quarter that paced a 23-17 win for the Seminoles.