FSU football has had plenty of amazing moments in their history, but was a thrilling comeback victory over the Tigers the best out of all of those wins?
Throughout the first 72 seasons of the FSU football program, there have been plenty of amazing moments that made us all proud to be fans of the Seminoles: from title game wins to huge rivalry victories over both Florida and Miami to monumental achievements on the field that set the standard for the program for seasons to come.
First and foremost for many fans of the Seminoles would be the three national title wins for the program: a closer than it should have been Orange Bowl win over Nebraska to win the 1993 title, a blowout win over Virginia Tech to take the 1999 crown and the most recent coming in the BCS title game to close out the 2013 season.
In a game that will go down in FSU football history as one of the best moments in program history, the Seminoles came back from 21-3 down with an amazing second half that finished with a Jameis Winston to Kelvin Benjamin touchdown pass that sealed the 34-31 victory and brought home title number three to the Florida State University campus.
Florida State Seminoles Football
But, was it the best win in the history of the program? According to one outlet, yes it was.
As part of their continuing series ranking the best 50 players, teams or moments from the state of Florida before the 150th season of college football, the Tampa Bay Times ranked it as the second best game played involving a Sunshine State team and the greatest game in FSU football history.
"No. 1. Miami 31, Nebraska 30, Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 1984)No. 2. FSU 34, Auburn 31 BCS National Championship (Jan. 6, 2014)No. 3. Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2OT), Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 3, 2003)No. 4. Miami 26, FSU 25 (Oct. 3, 1987)No. 5. FSU 31, Florida 31 (Nov. 26, 1994)No. 6. Boston College 47, Miami 45 (Nov. 23, 1984)No. 7. UCF 49, USF 42 (Nov. 24, 2017)No. 8. Miami 17, FSU 16 (Nov. 16, 1991)No. 9. Florida 52, FSU 20, Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 1997)No. 10. FSU 18, Nebraska 16, Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 1994)"
Aside from establishing the dominance that FSU football has over the other teams in the state when it comes to these polls – with six games listed involving the Seminoles, ahead of five games for the rival Hurricanes – it does start a debate about whether the win over the Tigers truly was the best.
As far as what it meant for the program, it doesn’t get much better than winning a national title game – and in the Seminoles’ previous three title game losses (1996, 1998 and 2000 seasons) they weren’t even close to getting a win. So, coming back from 18 points down right before the half is a huge plus for this game.
From Kermit Whitfield’s kickoff return for a touchdown to the classic Winston to Benjamin play, it was a game that cemented the 2013 Seminoles in the discussion as one of the best college football teams of all time – an argument I would personally say the Noles win without question.
So, yes…the 2013 season’s title game win over Auburn was the best win for the Seminoles in the history of their program.