The 1998 Sugar Bowl was played on January 1, 1998. This 64th edition to the Sugar Bowl featured the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tre ...

, and the Florida State Seminoles. Ohio State entered the game ranked number 10 in the nation at 10–2, whereas Florida State was ranked at fourth in the nation with a 10–1 mark. Ohio State scored the first points of the contest with a 40-yard field goal from kicker Dan Stultz, giving the Buckeyes an early 3–0 lead. Later in the first quarter, 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 atten ...

threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver E. G. Green, giving the Seminoles a 7–3 lead. In the second quarter, Busby scored on a 9-yard touchdown run increasing the Seminole lead to 14–3. William McCray also scored for the Seminoles, pounding it in from one yard out, to increase Florida State's lead to 21–3 at halftime. Stultz kicked his second field goal of the game, cutting the margin to 21–6. Ohio State later got a safety on Florida State pulling them within 21–8. Early in the fourth quarter,

Sebastian Janikowski Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former American football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college football at Florida State ...

kicked a 35-yard field goal, increasing Florida State's lead to 24–8. Quarterback

Joe Germaine Joseph Berton Germaine (born November 16, 1975) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft after playing college football at Ohio State. Germaine earned a Super Bow ...

threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to John Lumpkin. The ensuing two-point conversion failed, and the score was 24–14. Florida State capped the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run from McCray, making the final margin 31–14. This was another Sugar Bowl appearance for Bobby Bowden and his 'Noles, who would appear in five of them over a nine-year span (3-2). FSU was in the midst of an all-time dominant run that we have arguably never seen before. FSU finished in the final top 4 of the AP and or Coaches Poll in every season from 1987-2000. This was the 11th season in a row in which we saw FSU finish near atop the polls. Ohio State would get back to the Sugar Bowl the following season and win their matchup against Texas A&M. The Buckeyes would end up finishing second in the final polls, one spot ahead of FSU, who lost in the inaugural BCS national championship game against Tennessee.

References

External links

USA Today recap of the game
Sugar Bowl Sugar Bowl Florida State Seminoles football bowl games Ohio State Buckeyes football bowl games Bowl Alliance January 1998 sports events in the United States 1998 in sports in Louisiana 1990s in New Orleans {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub