The 1997 Nokia Sugar Bowl was the 63rd edition to the annual

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

game and served as the

Bowl Alliance The Bowl Alliance was an agreement among college football bowl games (specifically the Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls) for the purpose of trying to match the top two teams in a national championship game and to provide quality bowl game matchups ...

's designated national championship game for the 1996 season. It matched No. 1

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 ...

of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) against No. 3

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 ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC). Florida defeated Florida State in convincing fashion, with a final score of 52–20, and with the victory earned its first-ever consensus national championship. This was the only National Championship game to feature two teams from the same state.

Teams

The game was a bowl rematch of a regular season game, as Florida State had defeated Florida, 24–21, in a game played in

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

on November 30. Third-ranked Florida was invited to the designated national championship game because the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

champion was contractually obligated to play in the

Rose Bowl Game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

, and unavailable to participate in the

national championship game. As a result, second-ranked

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, the Pac-10 champion, played the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

champion, fourth-ranked

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, in the

1997 Rose Bowl The 1997 Rose Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Arizona State Sun Devils of the Pacific-10 Conference and the Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference. The game was the 83rd edition of the annual Rose Bowl Game, held ...

. When Ohio State defeated Arizona State in the Rose Bowl on January 1, the Sugar Bowl winner was all but assured of being named the consensus national champion.

Florida Gators

The Gators were led by their

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

-winning quarterback,

Danny Wuerffel Daniel Carl Wuerffel (born May 27, 1974) is a former college and professional American football quarterback. Wuerffel attended the University of Florida, where he was a prolific passer for the Florida Gators under head coach Steve Spurrier. Wuerf ...

. They completed their regular season schedule with a 10–1 record, then defeated No. 11

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

in the 1996 SEC Championship Game.

Florida State Seminoles

Top-ranked Florida State entered the bowl with an undefeated 11–0 record, led by quarterback

Thad Busby Thad Busby (born November 25, 1974) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and played professionally in the Regional Football League and Arena Football League. Biography Busby attende ...

and running back

Warrick Dunn Warrick De'Mon Dunn (born January 5, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12th overall in the 1997 ...

Game summary

After a halftime score of 24–17 in favor of Florida, Florida State closed to 24–20 with a third quarter field goal. Florida then outscored Florida State 28–0 for the remainder of the game, for a 52–20 final. Gator quarterback Danny Wuerffel threw three touchdown passes to

Ike Hilliard Isaac Jason Hilliard (born April 5, 1976) is a former American football wide receiver Who most recently served as the wide receivers coach for the Auburn Tigers (NCAA). He played college football for the University of Florida, and earned All-A ...

in the game, and ran for another score. Wuerffel became the second Heisman Trophy winner in four years to win a national championship, following

Charlie Ward Charlie Ward Jr. (born October 12, 1970) is a former American professional basketball player. Ward was an exceptional football player as well, winning the Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award, and College Football National Championship while quart ...

of the 1993 Florida State team.

Scoring summary

;First quarter :Florida: TD

9 pass from

(Bart Edmiston kick) 9:48 ::Florida 7–0 :FSU: FG

Scott Bentley Scott L. Bentley (born April 10, 1974) is a former American football placekicker. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for parts of four seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, the Denver Broncos, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Washingto ...

43 7:49 ::Florida 7–3 :Florida: FG Bart Edmiston 32 2:44 ::Florida 10–3 ;Second quarter :Florida: TD Fred Taylor 2 run (Bart Edmiston kick) 11:28 ::Florida 17–3 :FSU: TD E.G. Green 29 pass from

(Bentley kick) 7:28 ::Florida 17–10 :Florida: TD Ike Hilliard 31 pass from Danny Wuerffel (Bart Edmiston kick) 5:18 ::Florida 24–10 :FSU: TD

12 run (Scott Bentley kick) 0:40 ::Florida 24–17 ;Third quarter :FSU: FG Scott Bentley 45 10:24 ::Florida 24–20 :Florida: TD Ike Hilliard 7 pass from Danny Wuerffel (Bart Edmiston kick) 5:43 ::Florida 31–20 :Florida: TD Danny Wuerffel 16 run (Bart Edmiston kick) 0:13 ::Florida 38–20 ;Fourth quarter :Florida: TD Terry Jackson 42 run (Bart Edmiston kick) 8:52 ::Florida 45–20 :Florida: TD Terry Jackson 1 run (Bart Edmiston kick) 2:12 ::Florida 52–20 Source:

References

{{1996–97 NCAA Division I championships navbox

Sugar Bowl Bowl Alliance Florida Gators football bowl games Florida State Seminoles football bowl games