The 1988 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl was the 17th edition of the
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...
played at
Sun Devil Stadium
Sun Devil Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the southwestern United States, on the campus of Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona. It is home to the ASU Sun Devils football team of the Pac-12 Conference. The s ...
in
Tempe, Arizona
, settlement_type = City
, named_for = Vale of Tempe
, image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg
, imagesize = 260px
, image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...
on Friday, January 1. Part of the
1987–88 bowl game season, it matched the
third-ranked independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
Florida State Seminoles
The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...
and the #5
Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...
of the
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...
. Favored Florida State rallied to win 31–28.
Teams
Florida State
Nebraska
Game summary
Kickoff was just after 11:30 a.m. and underdog Nebraska scored first on a three-yard run by senior halfback
Keith Jones with 9:31 left in the first quarter. With 1:15 left in the opening stanza,
Dana Brinson
Dana Brinson (born April 10, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the eighth round of the 1989 NFL Draft. He played ...
fielded a punt and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown and Nebraska
Florida State got on the board in the second quarter when quarterback
Danny McManus
Danny McManus (born June 17, 1965) is a former professional American football and Canadian football quarterback who passed for over 53,000 yards in seventeen seasons in the Canadian Football League and currently serves as the Assistant General Man ...
threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Herb Gainer. With under five minutes left in the first half, running back Dayne Williams scored from four yards out to tie the game at fourteen. With 44 seconds left in the half, McManus connected with Gainer on a 25-yard touchdown pass, marking their second hook-up of the game, and the Seminoles took a advantage into halftime.
Just over three minutes into the third quarter, Nebraska quarterback
Steve Taylor
Roland Stephen Taylor (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, music executive, film maker, assistant professor, and actor. A figure in what has come to be known as Christian alternative rock, Taylor enjoyed ...
notched the equalizer, rumbling in from two yards out to tie the game at 21. Florida State settled for a field goal for a lead. With forty seconds left in the quarter, running back Tyreese Knox scored on a four-yard run, giving Nebraska a
In the fourth quarter, Nebraska got the ball back on its 26-yard line. Following a methodical drive, they managed to move all the way to the FSU two-yard line for a first and goal. Knox took the handoff, looking for a sure touchdown, when a defender forced a fumble at the goal line, recovered by Florida State. Ten plays later, Florida State had advanced to the Nebraska 15 and McManus threw a touchdown pass to Ronald Lewis for the clinching
Scoring
;First quarter:
*Nebraska –
Keith Jones 3-yard run (Chris Drennan kick), 9:31
*Nebraska –
Dana Brinson
Dana Brinson (born April 10, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the eighth round of the 1989 NFL Draft. He played ...
52-yard punt return (Drennan kick), 1:15
;Second quarter:
*Florida State – Herb Gainer 10-yard pass from
Danny McManus
Danny McManus (born June 17, 1965) is a former professional American football and Canadian football quarterback who passed for over 53,000 yards in seventeen seasons in the Canadian Football League and currently serves as the Assistant General Man ...
(Derek Schmidt kick), 10:53
*Florida State – Dayne Williams 4-yard run (Schmidt kick), 3:48
*Florida State – Gainer 25-yard pass from McManus (Schmidt kick), 0:46
;Third quarter:
*Nebraska –
Steve Taylor
Roland Stephen Taylor (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, music executive, film maker, assistant professor, and actor. A figure in what has come to be known as Christian alternative rock, Taylor enjoyed ...
2-yard run (Drennan kick), 11:41
*Florida State – Schmidt 32-yard field goal, 7:49
*Nebraska – Tyreese Knox 4-yard run (Drennan kick), 0:40
;Fourth quarter:
*Florida State – Ronald Lewis 15-yard pass from McManus (Schmidt kick), 3:07
:
Statistics
:
:[
]
Aftermath
Florida State climbed to second in the final AP poll and Nebraska fell
References
External links
*http://huskerpedia.com/games/1987/12floridastate.html
{{Nebraska Cornhuskers bowl game navbox
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...
Fiesta Bowl
Florida State Seminoles football bowl games
Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games
January 1988 sports events in the United States
1988 in sports in Arizona