The 1985 Gator Bowl game was a post-season college football

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 Subdivi ...

between the

Florida State University 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

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National Col ...

, and was played on Monday, December 30, 1985, at Gator Bowl Stadium in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. It was the 41st edition of the bowl game.

Game summary

Freshman

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Chip Ferguson threw for 338 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Tony Smith added 201 yards rushing as Florida State defeated Oklahoma State, 34–23, in the 41st annual Gator Bowl. FSU, which entered the game without its top three receivers, tricked Oklahoma State's defense by throwing on 15 of its first 20 plays. Derek Schmidt field goals of 23 and 39 yards, and a 39-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

catch by Herb Gainer sandwiched in between, gave FSU a 13–0 halftime lead. Oklahoma State got on the scoreboard following the intermission when a 63-yard drive ended in a 33-yard field goal by Brad Dennis. Ferguson, who was named Florida State's MVP, went back to the air, taking the Seminoles 73 yards on the next series before handing off to senior fullback Cletis Jones for a three-yard touchdown run. An interception by Deion Sanders gave the ball back to FSU, and Ferguson used just five plays before hitting Gainer with a 19-yard touchdown pass. That made the score 27–3, Florida State. Oklahoma State didn't give up with Cowboy quarterback Ronnie William passing 29 yards to All-America tailback

Thurman Thomas Thurman Lee Thomas (born May 16, 1966) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He was selected by the Bills in the second round of th ...

for an Oklahoma State touchdown. Following a Ferguson fumble, Williams handed off to Thomas, who threw back to the quarterback for a 12-yard touchdown that closed the score to 27–17. Early in the fourth quarter, Ferguson scored from one yard out to give the Seminoles a 17-point cushion. The Cowboys added a late touchdown on a 31–yard pass from Williams to Hart Lee Dykes. Sophomore wide receiver Randy White, who had never caught a pass at FSU, grabbed four passes for 87 yards in the first half while Gainer, who had caught just five during the regular season, hauled in seven for 148 yards and two touchdown. Smith's 201 rushing yards came on 24 carries. The Seminole defense held Thomas in check the entire game, limiting him to 97 yards on 26 attempts. Florida State finished the season with a 9–3 record.

References

Gator Bowl Gator Bowl Florida State Seminoles football bowl games Oklahoma State Cowboys football bowl games 20th century in Jacksonville, Florida December 1985 sports events in the United States 1985 in sports in Florida {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub