The 1992 Cotton Bowl Classic featured the Florida State Seminoles and the

Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname " Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Agg ...

Background

The Aggies were the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

champions for the first time since 1987, and they had done it with a perfect 8-0 record in conference. A Tulsa loss early in the season was their only one in the regular season as they bounced back to play in the Cotton Bowl for the first time since

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

. The Seminoles were the preseason #1 team, and they had stayed #1 until their loss to Miami. A loss to Florida the next week dropped them to #5, but the Seminoles looked to finish strong in their first Cotton Bowl Classic and 8th consecutive bowl season.

Game summary

Rain turned out to be the enemy for the Aggies, who could only muster a safety after Quentin Coryatt sacked

Casey Weldon William Casey Weldon (born February 3, 1969) is a former professional American football player. Weldon is best known for being the quarterback for Florida State in the late-1980s and early-1990s. During his senior season in 1991, Weldon finishe ...

five minutes into the game. But the Seminoles responded eight minutes later with a Weldon touchdown run that had been set up by a fumble recovery by

Clifton Abraham Clifton Eugene Abraham, Jr. (born December 9, 1971) is a former American and Canadian football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons. He played college football for Florida State University, ...

. The game was marred by missed opportunities and 13 turnovers, which tied a bowl record. With 2:40 to go, Gerry Thomas would seal A&M's fate with a 27-yard field goal, making the final score 10-2. This was the first Cotton Bowl Classic to have a team's only score be a safety since the

1981 Cotton Bowl Classic The 1981 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 45th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, January 1. Part of the 1980–81 bowl game season, it matched the ninth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tid ...

. Sean Jackson rushed for 119 yards on 27 carries for the Seminoles and Chris Crooms had two interceptions for A&M, and both were named MVP.

Aftermath

The Seminoles would move to the Atlantic Coast Conference and was in position for another shot at the championship before another loss to Miami knocked them out of contention. A&M would go to three more Cotton Bowls before the decade ended but lose all three.

Statistics

References

Cotton Bowl Classic

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

Florida State Seminoles football bowl games Texas A&M Aggies football bowl games January 1992 sports events in the United States 1992 in sports in Texas 1990s in Dallas 1992 in Texas {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub