Rankings FSU Football all-time wins in Labor Day games

FSU football will again be in the bright lights that come with being the only game played during the holiday – and we look at the best showings they’ve had.

Heading into the 2004 season, the FSU football team was going to do something that no Seminoles team had done before: the Noles were set to open the season against the rival Miami Hurricanes on Labor Day night – a night of the week fans in garnet and gold had watched before, but never had an actual rooting interest.

That game would never happened as Hurricane Frances forced the game to be delayed four days – but the Seminoles would get their chance to play during the holiday the following season in the second scheduled holiday showdown against the Canes. In the 12 seasons since that first Labor Day game, the Seminoles have spent almost half of those working during the holiday.

All time, FSU football has a 4-2 record during the Labor Day holiday – and while we’d rather not talk about the two losses (the 2007 loss to Clemson and a 2009 loss to Miami on the final play of the game) those four victories are more than open for discussion.

Here’s a look at how we ranked the four victories on Labor Day for the Seminoles.

No. 4 – FSU 13 Miami 10 (2006)

Yes, it’s the Seminoles and the Hurricanes and that will always mean something – but even I will admit it was one of the most boring games I have ever been to because this might have been two of the worst teams to meet up in this matchup in the last two decades – and a game the Seminoles were lucky to leave the old Orange Bowl stadium with a win.

No. 3 – FSU 10 Miami 7 (2005)

I know that this one was lower scoring than the yawnfest that took place the following season, but FSU football had lost six in a row to the Canes heading into this game and for those who were in school during this time, getting a victory would have been just as sweet if the score was 2-0.

What was even sweeter about this one was the fact that after years of Wide Rights and even a Wide Left thrown in there, the Canes lost in a game where they muffed a field goal attempt that would have sent the game into overtime.

No. 2 – FSU 45 Ole Miss 34 (2016)

On paper, this was the biggest one out of the group because both FSU football and the Rebels were ranked in the top 11 nationally and it was going to be a battle between two of the top teams from maybe the best power conferences in the FBS.

If you are a fan of the Seminoles, the last 31 minutes of game action were some of the best in program history when the Noles outscored Ole Miss 39-6 over that span to complete one of the biggest comebacks in program history – while also giving one of the final moments of greatness in the tenure of our former head coach.

No. 1 – FSU 41 Pittsburgh 13 (2013)

While the college football world will always remember this FSU football team as one of the best to play the sport, people tend to forget that the 2013 Seminoles were not supposed to be among the best ever – with some people even saying the Panthers might have a shot in this one with the Noles starting a redshirt freshman quarterback named Jameis Winston.

After Pitt scored an opening drive touchdown, the Seminoles outscored them 41-6 the rest of the game while Winston threw for four touchdowns and ran for another as the defense held the Panthers to under 300 total yards – setting the stage for what would be a memorable season both in Tallahassee and in the college football record books.