Best FSU Football bowl game for December 28th: 1990 Blockbuster

FSU football isn’t playing in a bowl game this season, so we’re taking a look back at some of the best postseason games for the Seminoles by date.

For decades now, the city of Miami has been both good and bad for the FSU football team – while it has produced some great talent for the Seminoles and was the site of their first national title win, it has also been the site of too many losses to the Miami Hurricanes in games that included blowouts and too many missed kicks to count.

Of course, most of the horror came at the former Orange Bowl stadium and not at once was once called Joe Robbie Stadium in the northern part of the county. Originally just home of the Miami Dolphins, the stadium now called Hard Rock has also become home to the Orange Bowl game and the Miami Hurricanes – meaning it also sees a lot more of the Seminoles.

Since its opening in 1987, the stadium saw FSU football win eight of the first 11 games they played inside the Miami Gardens location before losing by one point to Miami this year – including the first ever bowl game played there featuring two of the best coaches in the history of the game.

Here’s a look at the best FSU football bowl game the program has played on December 28th.

1990 Blockbuster Bowl – Florida State 24 Penn State 17

After losing earlier in the season to Miami inside the old Orange Bowl stadium and the following weekend at Auburn, the FSU football team traveled south for just the third time in program – but this time, it was for a new bowl game inside a nearly new stadium against another powerful Independent team at the time.

Early on in this battle between iconic coaches Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, the Seminoles got the early edge when Fort Lauderdale native Richie Andrews got an early field goal and Amp Lee ran in for a touchdown. After Penn State got a touchdown, Lee would score a touchdown in the second half while quarterback Casey Weldon lumbered in for a score in the third.

The Nittany Lions would not go down quietly as they kicked a field goal in the third quarter and scored on a long pass in the fourth to pull within one possession. Penn State would have one last chance, but the Noles would intercept a pass as John Davis saved the day and the Seminoles remained unbeaten for the ninth straight bowl game.

Stats wise, it doesn’t get much more even as both teams ended the game with 400 yards of offense while FSU football came up with three interceptions and two sacks as the Nittany Lions had two and one respectively.

The seven point victory gave the Seminoles their fourth straight double digit win season and another top five finish in the polls – and set the stage as the youngsters on this team were the ones who ended up leading the Seminoles to the Orange Bowl game in the 1992 season and a national title in the same bowl the following year.