# 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 ever national title as well as their first Heisman winner in quarterback Charlie Ward. Ward, who threw for 3,032 yards and completed 70 percent of his passes, became the first player to win the Heisman Trophy and the national championship in the same season since Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett in 1976. FSU topped college football in both scoring defense and scoring offense, with its defense giving up an average of 9.4 points per game and its offense scoring an average of 43.2 points a game. In a testament to just how difficult the Seminoles' schedule was during its championship run, the final top 5 football rankings for the season were occupied by FSU at #1, and three of its opponents, including Notre Dame at #2, Nebraska at #3, and the University of Florida at #5.

## Season

FSU beat its first five opponents by an average score of 46–3, during which linebacker Derrick Brooks outscored the Noles' first five opponents combined. These victories included a 57-0 win over #17 Clemson and a 33-7 win over #13 North Carolina. The Seminoles' first competitive 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. The Noles then regained possession at their own 37-yard line with just 51 seconds left in the game. Three consecutive passes by Ward quickly led Florida State to the Notre Dame 14. On the last play of the game, Ward rolled out and had his pass attempt batted down in the end zone, leaving the Irish with a 31–24 victory. After that game, Notre Dame was voted #1 and FSU was voted #2.
The following week, #1 Notre Dame lost at home to #17 Boston College 41–39 on a 41-yard field goal as time expired, while the Seminoles beat NC State 62-3. The voters returned the Seminoles to the #1 spot in the AP poll, and they rose to #2 in the coaches' poll while Notre Dame fell to a ranking of fourth in both polls. The week afterwards, FSU travelled to Gainesville to face the 7th-ranked Florida Gators -- that season's SEC champions -- and defeated them 33-21. FSU finished the regular season #1 and was matched against #2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. In a hard-fought contest, Florida State rallied late to defeat Nebraska 18–16 after the Cornhuskers tried and missed a 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 #2 in both polls.
During the 1993 season, the Seminoles faced four teams in the top seven of the AP rankings when FSU played them -- #3 Miami in week 6, #2 Notre Dame in week 11, #7 Florida in week 13, and #2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl -- and they went 3-1 against those teams, while playing only one home game in those four contests. The Noles also defeated three other top 25 teams that filled out their schedule, with Clemson ranked 17th, North Carolina ranked 13th, and Virginia ranked 15th when the Noles played them. By the end of season, FSU had faced six of the teams in the final AP top 25 poll, going 5-1 against them. These teams were #2 Notre Dame, #3 Nebraska, #5 Florida, #15 Miami, #19 North Carolina, and #23 Clemson. By the end of Notre Dame's season, the Irish had faced two teams ranked in the final AP top 25: #1 Florida State and #19 Michigan. In their Cotton Bowl meeting with #7 Texas A&M, Notre Dame won 24-21.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 28 | 12:00 p.m. | vs. Kansas* | No. 1 | Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ (Kickoff Classic) | ABC | W 42–0 | 51,734 |
| September 4 | 7:00 p.m. | at Duke | No. 1 | Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC | PPV | W 45–7 | 26,800 |
| September 11 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 17 Clemson | No. 1 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL (rivalry) | JPS | W 57–0 | 74,991 |
| September 18 | 7:30 p.m. | at No. 13 North Carolina | No. 1 | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | ESPN | W 33–7 | 54,100 |
| October 2 | 12:00 p.m. | Georgia Tech | No. 1 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | ABC | W 51–0 | 74,611 |
| October 9 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 3 Miami (FL)* | No. 1 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL (rivalry) | ABC | W 28–10 | 77,813 |
| October 16 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 15 Virginia | No. 1 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL (Jefferson-Eppes Trophy) | ESPN | W 40–14 | 76,607 |
| October 30 | 2:00 p.m. | Wake Forest | No. 1 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | | W 55–0 | 66,666 |
| November 6 | 12:00 p.m. | at Maryland | No. 1 | Byrd StadiumCollege Park, MD | JPS | W 49–20 | 36,255 |
| November 13 | 1:30 p.m. | at No. 2 Notre Dame* | No. 1 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry, College GameDay) | NBC | L 24–31 | 59,075 |
| November 20 | 7:30 p.m. | NC State | No. 2 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | ESPN | W 62–3 | 73,123 |
| November 27 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 7 Florida* | No. 1 | Ben Hill Griffin StadiumGainesville, FL (rivalry) | ABC | W 33–21 | 85,507 |
| January 1 | 8:00 p.m. | vs. No. 2 Nebraska* | No. 1 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL (Orange Bowl) | NBC | W 18–16 | 81,536 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 1 (42) | 1 (47) | 1 (50) | 1 (59) | 1 (57) | 1 (58) | 1 (61) | 1 (61) | 1 (62) | 1 (62) | 1 (62) | 1 (62) | 2 | 1 (33) | 1 (42) | 1 (42) | 1 (46) |
| Coaches | 1 (47) | 1 (54) | 1 (56) | 1 (59) | 1 (59) | 1 (58) | 1 (57) | 1 (58) | 1 (59) | 1 (59) | 1 (59) | 1 (60) | 3 | 2 (11) | 3 (10) | 3 (13) | 1 (36) |

## Game summaries
### Miami (FL)

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miami (FL) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Florida St | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida
* Date: October 9
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Partly cloudy, 74 °F (23 °C)
* Game attendance: 77,813
* Referee: John Soffey
* TV: ABC
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
FSU – Sean Jackson 69-yard run (Scott Bentley kick), 11:17. Florida St 7–0. Drive: 3 plays, 80 yards, 1:04.
MIA – Donnell Bennett 6-yard pass from Frank Costa (Dane Prewitt kick), 4:09. Tie 7–7. Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 4:36.
FSU – Matt Frier 72-yard pass from Charlie Ward (Scott Bentley kick), 2:46. Florida St 14–7. Drive: 3 plays, 72 yards, 1:23.
Second quarter
FSU – Charlie Ward 2-yard run (Scott Bentley kick), 13:37. Florida St 21–7. Drive: 8 plays, 59 yards, 2:56.
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
MIA – Dane Prewitt 23-yard field goal, 14:07. Florida St 21–10. Drive: 16 plays, 74 yards, 8:06.
FSU – Devin Bush 40-yard interception return (Scott Bentley kick), 4:59. Florida St 28–10.
Top passers
MIA – Frank Costa – 21/43, 193 yards, TD, INT
FSU – Charlie Ward – 21/31, 256 yards, TD
Top rushers
MIA – Donnell Bennett – 21 rushes, 75 yards
FSU – Sean Jackson – 10 rushes, 98 yards, TD
Top receivers
MIA – C.T. Jones – 7 receptions, 86 yards
FSU – Matt Frier – 2 receptions, 81 yards, TD :

### At Notre Dame

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Seminoles | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
| • No. 2 Fighting Irish | 7 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 31 |

### At Florida

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida St | 7 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 33 |
| Florida | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
at Ben Hill Griffith Stadium, Gainesville, Florida
* Date: November 27
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Cloudy, 75 °F (24 °C)
* Game attendance: 85,507
* Referee: Dayle Phillips
* TV: ABC
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
FSU – Tamarick Vanover 5-yard pass from Charlie Ward (Scott Bentley kick), 14:57. Florida St 7–0. Drive: 11 plays, 57 yards, 4:04.
Second quarter
FSU – Scott Bentley 23-yard field goal, 14:57. Florida St 10–0. Drive: 13 plays, 72 yards, 5:39.
FSU – Scott Bentley 22-yard field goal, 7:20. Florida St 13–0. Drive: 14 plays, 70 yards, 5:30.
UF – Willie Jackson 11-yard pass from Danny Wuerffel (Judd Davis kick), 4:41. Florida St 13–7. Drive: 7 plays, 65 yards, 2:39.
Third quarter
FSU – Kez McCorvey 7-yard pass from Charlie Ward (Scott Bentley kick), 11:27. Florida St 20–7. Drive: 10 plays, 65 yards, 3:53.
FSU – Kez McCorvey 16-yard pass from Charlie Ward (Scott Bentley kick), 0:21. Florida St 27–7. Drive: 3 plays, 35 yards, 0:55.
Fourth quarter
UF – Willie Jackson 13-yard pass from Terry Dean (Judd Davis kick), 11:48. Florida St 27–14. Drive: 11 plays, 65 yards, 3:33.
UF – Jack Jackson 31-yard pass from Terry Dean (Judd Davis kick), 5:58. Florida St 27–21. Drive: 11 plays, 94 yards, 2:44.
FSU – Warrick Dunn 79-yard pass from Charlie Ward (pass failed), 5:28. Florida St 33–21. Drive: 3 plays, 79 yards, 0:30.
Top passers
FSU – Charlie Ward – 38/53, 446 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
UF – Terry Dean – 14/33, 259 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
FSU – Sean Jackson – 19 rushes, 48 yards
UF – Errict Rhett – 7 rushes, 7 yards
Top receivers
FSU – Warrick Dunn – 8 receptions, 140 yards, TD
UF – Willie Jackson – 7 receptions, 140 yards, 2 TD :

### Vs. Nebraska (Orange Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 1 Seminoles | 0 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 18 |
| No. 2 Cornhuskers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 16 |

## Personnel
### Starting lineup
#### Offense

| Pos | Number | Name | Class |
| QB | 17 | Charlie Ward | SR |
| RB | 35 | Sean Jackson | SR |
| FB | 44 | William Floyd | SR |
| WR | 80 | Tamarick Vanover | SO |
| WR | 88 | Kez McCorvey | JR |
| WR | 12 | Matt Frier | SR |
| LT | 67 | Juan Laureano | SO |
| LG | 66 | Lewis Tyre | SO |
| C | 53 | Clay Shiver | SO |
| RG | 69 | Patrick McNeil | JR |
| RT | 79 | Forrest Conoly | JR |

#### Defense

| Pos | Number | Name | Class |
| LB | 10 | Derrick Brooks | JR |
| LB | 37 | Todd Rebol | SO |
| LB | 36 | Ken Alexander | SR |
| DE | 94 | Toddrick McIntosh | SR |
| DE | 90 | Derrick Alexander | SO |
| NG | 57 | John Nance | SR |
| CB | 2 | Clifton Abraham | JR |
| CB | 8 | Corey Sawyer | JR |
| FS | 16 | Richard Coes | SR |
| SS | 11 | Devin Bush | SO |

### Special teams

| Pos | Number | Name | Class |
| K | 3 | Scott Bentley | FR |
| P | 29 | Sean Liss | FR |
| KR | | | |
| PR | | | |

## Awards and honors

* Charlie Ward, Heisman Trophy
* Charlie Ward, Johnny Unitas Award
* Charlie Ward, James E. Sullivan Award
* Charlie Ward, Walter Camp Award
* Charlie Ward, Maxwell Award
* Charlie Ward, Davey O'Brien Award

## 1993 team players in the NFL

The following were selected in the 1994 NFL draft.
| Player | Position | Round | Overall | NFL team |
| William Floyd | Running back | 1 | 28 | San Francisco 49ers |
| Lonnie Johnson | Tight end | 2 | 61 | Buffalo Bills |
| Corey Sawyer | Defensive back | 4 | 104 | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Sean Jackson | Running back | 4 | 129 | Houston Oilers |
| Kevin Knox | Wide receiver | 6 | 192 | Buffalo Bills |
| Toddrick McIntosh | Defensive tackle | 7 | 216 | Dallas Cowboys |
The following played in the NFL in later years.
* Derrick Brooks
* Sam Cowart
* Kez McCorvey
* Warrick Dunn
* Derrick Alexander
* Tamarick Vanover
* Clay Shiver