The 1993 Florida State Seminoles football team 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 ...

and were the national champions of the

1993 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State crowned national champions, in both the AP and Coaches poll. Under the Bowl Coalition, undefeated Big 8 champ and No. 2 ranked Nebraska hosted ACC champ and No. 1 ranked Florida State ...

. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium. The season gave the Seminoles their first national title as well as their first Heisman winner in quarterback Charlie Ward.

Season

FSU beat its first five opponents by an average score of 46–3, during which linebacker

Derrick Brooks Derrick Dewan Brooks (born April 18, 1973) is an American former football outside linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brooks played college football at Florida State, wh ...

outscored all five opponents combined. The Seminoles' first real 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 (on a pass tipped in the end zone) to cut the final margin to seven points. 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season#Final rankings After that game, Notre Dame was voted #1 and FSU was voted #2. However, #1 Notre Dame lost at home the following week to #17 Boston College 41–39 on a 41-yard field goal as time expired. The voters returned the Seminoles to the #1 spot, and they were matched against Nebraska (now #2) in the Orange Bowl. Florida State rallied late to eke out an 18–16 win, as Nebraska missed a potential game-winning 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 was voted #2 in both polls.

Schedule

Roster

Starting lineup

Offense

Defense

Special teams

Rankings

Season summary

Kansas

at Duke

Clemson

at North Carolina

Georgia Tech

Miami (FL)

Virginia

Wake Forest

at Maryland

at Notre Dame

NC State

at Florida

vs. Nebraska (Orange Bowl)

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 The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Mar ...

. The following would play in the NFL in later years. *

Sam Cowart Samuel Cowart III (born February 26, 1975) is a former American college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for Florida State University and w ...

Kez McCorvey Kezarrick Montines McCorvey (born January 23, 1972) is a former professional football player. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He played for six years as a wide receiver and special-teams player, spend ...

* Warrick Dunn * Derrick Alexander *

Tamarick Vanover Tamarick Vanover (born February 25, 1974) is a former professional American football wide receiver. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Las Vegas Posse of the Canadian Fo ...

Clay Shiver Spencer Clay Shiver (born December 7, 1972) is a former American football center in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. He played college football at Florida State University, where he was a member o ...

References

{{Atlantic Coast Conference football champions Florida State Florida State Seminoles football seasons College football national champions Atlantic Coast Conference football champion seasons Orange Bowl champion seasons Florida State Seminoles football