The 1964 Florida State Seminoles football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

as an independent during the 1964 NCAA University Division football season. In their fifth season under head coach

Bill Peterson William E. Peterson (May 15, 1920 – August 5, 1993) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. His career included head coaching stops at Florida State University, Rice University and with the Houston Oilers of ...

, the Seminoles compiled a 9–1–1 record, were ranked No. 11 in the final UPI Coaches Poll, defeated

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

in the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

, and outscored opponents by a total of 263 to 85. After five losses and a tie in the first six games of the

Florida–Florida State football rivalry The Florida–Florida State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the teams of the two oldest public universities of the U.S. state of Florida: the University of Florida (UF) Gators and Florida State University (FSU) ...

, the Seminoles defeated

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

for the first time. The next day, the sports editor of ''The Tampa Tribune'' wrote: "Yesterday, on a technicolor afternoon of brisk wind and refreshing chill, in a stadium that maybe squeaked with an overload, FSU ceased to be the OTHER school, became the football team in this state in the year of 1964, will hereafter claim equal time in all things." The team's statistical leaders included

Steve Tensi Stephen Michael Tensi (born December 8, 1942) is a former professional American football quarterback in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Diego Chargers (1965–1966) and the Denver ...

with 1,986 passing yards, Phil Spooner with 682 rushing yards, and

Fred Biletnikoff Frederick S. Biletnikoff (born February 23, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He was a wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons and ...

with 1,179 receiving yards and 90 points scored (15 touchdowns). Biletnikoff led the country in receiving yards and also with 100 receptions, and was a consensus first-team end on the 1964 All-America team.

Schedule

Roster

*WR

, Sr. *QB

* Phil Spooner

Season summary

Miami (FL)

9 Rec, 165 Yds

Florida

Florida State accepted the Gator Bowl bid following the victory. NoleFan.org
Retrieved 2016-Dec-18.

References

{{Florida State Seminoles football navbox

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

Florida State Seminoles football seasons Gator Bowl champion seasons

Florida State Seminoles football The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of American football. The Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Colle ...