Florida State Seminoles football

The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University in college football. The Florida State Seminoles compete in NCAA Division I-FBS and are members of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Florida State has won two national championships (1993 and 1999) and finished in the top five of the AP Poll for 14 straight years from 1987 through 2000. The team has produced two Heisman Trophy winners: quarterback Charlie Ward in 1993 and quarterback Chris Weinke in 2000. The current head coach of the team is Jimbo Fisher. Longtime Head Coach Bobby Bowden retired following the Seminoles' win in the 2010 Gator Bowl. The team plays its home games at Doak Campbell Stadium, located on-campus at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Florida State College Eleven
Florida State University traces the origins of its modern American football team to 1947, after the school became coeducational following more than forty years as a white women's college. However, football had been played at the school prior to its 1905 reorganization as a women's college. The sport was played at the school, which was known as the West Florida Seminary until 1901 and as Florida State College from 1901–1905, prior to 1902. However the early games were intramural between students, and not played against outside teams.

In 1902 Florida State College students, supported by president Albert A. Murphree, organized the school's first official football club to play against other schools and teams. The team was known as the "Florida State College Eleven" and W. W. Hughes, professor of Latin and the head of men's sports at the school, served as the first coach. They played their first game against the Bainbridge Giants, a city team from Bainbridge, Georgia, defeating them 5–0. The team then played back-to-back matches against Florida Agricultural College (which later merged into what is now the University of Florida) one week apart, winning the first 6–0 and losing the second 0–6. The following season student enthusiasm grew even more, and the Eleven arranged a full schedule of six games. They competed against teams such as the University of Florida in Lake City (as Florida Agricultural College was then called), Georgia Tech, and the East Florida Seminary (another school that merged into the University of Florida), and finished the season by competing against Stetson College in Jacksonville for The Florida Times-Union's Championship Cup. The following year Jack Forsythe replaced Hughes as coach, and the Eleven won the state championship by defeating Stetson in Tallahassee.

This would be the Eleven's last season, however, as the Florida State Legislature passed the Buckman Act, which reorganized the state's colleges, and Florida State College became the Florida Female College (later Florida State College for Women), a school for white women. Four other institutions (including the University of Florida in Lake City and the East Florida Seminary) were merged into the new white men's-only University of the State of Florida in Gainesville. Many of Florida State's male students, including members of the fraternity system and the football team transferred to the new university. In 1906 the new school established its first official football team led by former Florida State College coach Jack Forsythe. Several former FSC players transferred to Grant University (now the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga), with five joining Grant's football team. In 1909 several veterans of the FSC Eleven founded a city team named the Tallahassee Athletics, but this folded after one season. Except for this, until 1947 Tallahassee's only organized or collegiate football team were the team from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes (now Florida A&M University).

Early years
The end of World War II brought enormous pressure on the university system in Florida, which saw an influx of veterans applying for college under the GI Bill. The Florida Legislature responded by renaming the Florida State College for Women the Florida State University and allowing men to attend the university for the first time since 1905. Football then returned to Florida State University, beginning in the 1947 season. From 1948 through 1959, the Seminole football program achieved much success under coaches Don Veller and Tom Nugent. In 1950, Veller led the Seminoles to an 8-0 record, the first unbeaten season ever for any Florida college. Nugent gave the Noles their first win over an SEC opponent with a 10-0 victory against Tennessee in 1958.

Bill Peterson era (1960-1970)
With the arrival of Bill Peterson in 1960, the Seminoles began their move to national prominence. Under Peterson's direction, the Seminoles beat the Florida Gators for the first time in 1964 and earned their first major bowl bid. Peterson also led the Seminoles to their first ever top ten ranking. During his tenure as head coach, Peterson also gave a young assistant by the name of Bobby Bowden his first major college coaching opportunity.

In the summer of 1967, Peterson also engineered another first for the Seminole program when he decided to begin the recruitment of African American football players. Apparently, he did so without approval from either the school president or its athletic director. On December 16, 1967, the Seminoles signed Ernest Cook, a fullback from Daytona Beach. Several months later, the Seminoles would sign running back Calvin Patterson from Dade County. Ultimately, Cook decided to switch his allegiance to Minnesota where he would become an All-Big Ten running back. In the fall of 1968, Patterson would become the first African American student to play for the Seminoles as a starter for the Florida State freshmen football team. In the fall of 1970, J. T. Thomas would become the first black to play in a varsity game for the Seminoles.

Bobby Bowden era (1976-2009)
Under head coach Bobby Bowden, the Seminole football team became one of the nation's most competitive football teams, greatly expanding the tradition of football at Florida State. The Seminoles played in five national championship games between 1993 and 2001, and claimed the championship twice, in 1993 and 1999. The FSU football team was the most successful team in college football during the 1990s, boasting an 89% winning percentage. FSU also set an NCAA record for most consecutive Top 5 finishes in the AP football poll – receiving placement 14 years in a row, from 1987 to 2000. The Seminoles under Bowden were the first college football team in history to go wire-to-wire (ranked first place from preseason to postseason) since the AP began releasing preseason rankings in 1936. On December 1, 2009 Bowden announced that he would retire from coaching after the Seminoles' upcoming bowl game on New Year's Day 2010 against West Virginia in the Gator Bowl.

The dynasty (1987–2000)
The best years of Florida State football came in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. The Seminoles had 14 consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins and a top five finish. They had a record of 152–19–1 between these years (11 of their 19 losses were decided by seven points or less). FSU's accomplishments in these 14 seasons included 11 bowl wins, nine ACC championships in nine years, two Heisman Trophy winners, and two national championships.

Jimbo Fisher era (2010-present)
On January 5, 2010, Fisher officially became the ninth head football coach in Florida State history. Fisher's ascension helped lead Florida State to a top-10 recruiting class in 2010 and the #1 and #2 recruiting class in the country, according to ESPN and Rivals. In his first season as head coach, Florida State went 10-4 with a 6-2 record in ACC conference play. The Seminoles went to their first ACC Championship Game since 2005, losing to Virginia Tech 44-33, and had their first ten win season since 2003. Fisher's first Florida State team notably beat the Miami Hurricanes 45-17 and the Florida Gators 31-7, en route to capture the Seminoles' first "state championship" since 1999. Florida State would go on to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, where they would beat Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks, 26-17.

Historical ranking
In terms of winning percentage, Florida State ranks as the 3rd most successful team in the past 25 years (as of the 2010 season) with a 77% win rate (231-69-2) and 12th over the last half century (1955–2010) with 67%.

The College Football Research Center lists Florida State as the 10th best college football program in history (ahead of rivals Miami and Florida, at #15 and #18 respectively). Seven Florida State squads were listed in Billingsley’s Top 200 Teams of All Time (1869–2010), and after the 2008 season, ESPN ranked Florida State the 9th most prestigious program in history.

The Associated Press poll statistics show Florida State with the 7th most appearances in the final AP Top 5 (with 15). Since the Coaches Poll first released a final poll in 1950, Florida State has 32 seasons where the team finished ranked in the top 25 in the Coaches Polls.

Notable moments

 * 2010 - The Golden Toe -- In the first ever walk-off, game winning kick in school history, Dustin Hopkins booted a 55-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Seminoles to a 16-13 victory over Clemson. Just a week prior, Hopkins missed a potential game winning field goal with 7 seconds left in a 37-35 loss to North Carolina.


 * 2005 - The Miami Muff -- In 2005, the Florida State Seminoles finally gained some redemption for the past Wide Right heartbreaks. Trailing 10-7, the Hurricanes drove down the field to set up a game-tying field goal with 2:16 left. When the ball was snapped, it was mishandled by holder Brian Monroe and the ball never reached the kicker's foot. This ultimately led to a Florida State victory


 * 2003 - Rix to Sam -- Florida held a 34-31 lead in the fourth quarter when Seminole QB Chris Rix hit WR PK Sam for a 52 yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds remaining, giving the Seminoles a 38-34 win. Before the winning score, Rix had completed a 17-yard pass on 4th and 14 deep in Seminole territory to keep the drive alive.


 * 2000 - FSU Wins Second National Championship -- Florida State scored first and took advantage of a blocked punt for a touchdown, giving the Seminoles a 14–0 lead in the first quarter. Virginia Tech, led by QB Michael Vick, answered with a touchdown drive of its own before the end of the quarter, but Florida State scored two quick touchdowns to begin the second quarter. Virginia Tech scored a touchdown before halftime, but halfway through the game, Florida State held a 28–14 lead. In the third quarter, Virginia Tech's offense gave the Hokies a lead with a field goal and two touchdowns. Tech failed to convert two two-point conversions, but held a 29–28 lead at the end of the third quarter. Florida State answered in the fourth quarter, however, taking a 36–29 lead with a touchdown and successful two-point conversion early in the quarter. From this point, the Seminoles did not relinquish the lead, extending it to 46–29 with another touchdown and a field goal. With the win, Florida State clinched the 1999 BCS national championship, the team's second national championship in its history.


 * 1996 - #1 vs #2 -- The #1–ranked and undefeated Gators came in to Tallahassee favored against the second-ranked Seminoles. The 'Noles got off to a quick start when Peter Boulware blocked the Gator's first punt of the game, resulting in a touchdown. Florida's eventual Heisman Trophy winner quarterback Danny Wuerffel threw three interceptions in the first half, and FSU had a 17–0 lead after one quarter of play. Wuerffel got on track after that, throwing for three touchdowns. The last one (to WR Reidel Anthony) cut the Florida State lead to three points with just over a minute left to play. The ensuing onside kick went out of bounds, however, and the Seminoles held on for the 24–21 upset win.


 * 1994 - The Choke at Doak -- In the greatest fourth-quarter comeback of the series, the Gators led the Seminoles 31–3 after three quarters. However, the Seminoles scored 28 points in the final fifteen minutes to tie the game at 31-31. The Seminoles then won a rematch in the Sugar Bowl 23–17, referred to as "The Fifth Quarter in the French Quarter."


 * 1994 - FSU Wins First National Championship -- This 60th edition to the Orange Bowl featured the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and the Florida State Seminoles. Florida State came into the game 11-1, and ranked first in the nation. Nebraska came into the game undefeated at 11-0, and with a number 2 ranking. Late in 4th quarter, FSU's Heisman trophy winning quarterback Charlie Ward drove the Seminoles all the way to the Nebraska 3 yard line. The Huskers held and forced Scott Bentley to kick his fourth field goal of the night, which was good, and FSU led 18-16 with just 21 seconds remaining. Florida State players and coaches went wild on the sidelines, and were penalized for excessive celebration, costing them 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff. As a result, the Huskers were able to get a decent return and began their final possession at their own 43 yard line. As time ran down, Tommy Frazier hit tight end Trumane Bell for a 29 yard gain to the FSU 28 yard line. The clock ticked down to 0:00, setting off more chaos on the FSU sideline, complete with the compulsory Gatorade bath given to FSU coach Bobby Bowden. However, referee John Soffey ruled that Bell was down with 1 second left on the clock, and ordered the field cleared, allowing Nebraska placekicker Byron Bennett an opportunity to kick the game winning field goal. But the 45 yard kick sailed wide left, preserving the 18-16 win for the Seminoles.


 * 1993 - Ward to Dunn -- The Seminoles came into The Swamp ranked No. 1 and looking to play for the national championship. Florida had clinched the SEC East championship and were themselves ranked in the top five. Early on it looked to be a Florida State rout, as the Seminoles took a 27–7 lead into the fourth quarter. However, Florida scored two quick touchdowns to make the score 27–21. With six minutes remaining, the Seminoles faced third down at their own 21-yard-line. In what many people consider the greatest play in Florida State history, Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Charlie Ward hit freshman Warrick Dunn up the sideline for a 79-yard game-clinching touchdown run and a 33–21 FSU win.


 * 1991 - Big Win at the Big House -- In the their trip ever at Michigan Stadium, Florida State would beat the #3 Michigan Wolverines 51-31 behind quarterback Casey Weldon's 268 yards and 2 TDs and Amp Lee's 122 yards rushing. One of the most memorable plays in Florida State history occurred in the 1st quarter when cornerback Terrell Buckley returned an Elvis Grbac interception for a 40 yard touchdown.


 * 1988 - Puntrooskie -- Florida State had a 4th down and 4 to go at its own 21 yard line with about a minute and a half to go in the 4th quarter at Clemson. They lined up to punt but the ball was snapped to an up back who handed it to Leroy Butler who ran down the left side of the field all the way to the Clemson 4 yard line. Florida State wound up kicking a field goal to win the game, 24-21.


 * 1964 - FSU's First Win Over UF -- Florida State had never beaten Florida, gaining only a 3-3 tie in six tries, all at Gainesville. Since 1947, when Florida State College for Women became Florida State University, its athletes have endured "girl school" taunts. During the week Florida players wore stickers on their helmets in practice reading "Never, FSU, Never." The thrust may have added considerable fuel to FSU's already blazing fire. FSU's aggressive defense helped force five Florida fumbles, and the Seminoles claimed four of them. The Tribe intercepted two passes. FSU lost two fumbles and had one pass intercepted. Steve Tensi connected on 11 of 22 throws for 190 yards. Fred Biletnikoff, a decoy much of the way and well covered by Florida, caught only two, for 78 yards and a TD. The 16-7 win ended six years of FSU frustration against the Gators and left Florida with a 5-3 record. FSU ended its regular season with a 8-1-1 chart, a showing exceeded only by an unbeaten 1950 season which came at a time when the Tribe was playing in a lesser league.

Stadium
The stadium, named after former Florida State President Doak S. Campbell, hosted its first game against the Randolph-Macon College Yellowjackets on October 7, 1950 with the Seminoles winning the game 40–7. At that time the facility had a seating capacity of 15,000. Florida State first began play at Centennial Field during the team's inaugural 1947 season and would continue to play there for the following two years (1948 and 1949). Doak Campbell Stadium, with its original capacity of 15,000 in 1950, was built at a cost of $250,000. In 1954, the stadium grew to a capacity of 19,000. Six thousand more seats were added in 1961. During the Bill Peterson era (1960–70), the stadium was expanded to 40,500 seats, and it remained at that capacity for the next 14 years. Since that time, the stadium has expanded to almost 83,000, largely due to the success of the football team under head coach Bobby Bowden coupled with the ever growing student body. It now is the largest football stadium in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Aesthetically, a brick facade surrounding the stadium matches the architectural design of most of the buildings on the university's campus. In addition to the obvious recreational uses, The University Center surrounds the stadium and houses many of the university's offices. The field was officially named Bobby Bowden field on November 20, 2004 as Florida State hosted intrastate rival Florida.

Head coaches
^ Bobby Bowden's record does not include 12 wins that were vacated that would otherwise make his record 316-97-4.

Conference championships
Conference Affiliations
 * 1947: Independent
 * 1948–1950: Dixie Conference
 * 1951–1991: Independent
 * 1992–present: ACC

Divisional championships
Divisional play began in the Atlantic Coast Conference at the start of the 2005 football season following the addition of Boston College. Coincidentally, in both years, they had the same 5–3 record as Boston College. In 2005, Florida State won at BC, whereas BC won at Florida State in 2008.

Conference championship games
Florida State has appeared in the ACC Championship Game as the winner of the Atlantic Division twice, defeating Virginia Tech of the Coastal Division in the inaugural game in 2005, and losing to Virginia Tech in 2010.

State Championships
A "State Championship" refers to when the Florida State University Seminoles, the University of Florida Gators, or the University of Miami Hurricanes beat the other two teams from the state of Florida in the same season.

Year-by-year results
1- Five (5) 2006 season wins vacated due to using ineligible players

2- All Seven (7) 2007 season wins vacated due to using ineligible players

All-time bowl record
Florida State has played in 40 bowl games in its history and owns a 24–14–2 record in those games. Florida State's two most common opponents in bowl play have been Oklahoma and Nebraska. The Seminoles are 1–3 against Oklahoma in bowl games and 4–0 against Nebraska. Florida State's most common bowl destination has been the Orange Bowl (8 trips). Its second most common bowl destinations have been the Sugar Bowl and the Gator Bowl (6 trips each). The Seminoles also hold the longest active Bowl Appearance record at 30 appearances (after the 2011 season) only being surpassed in the all-time record by Nebraska with 35 appearances. 1 - Bowl win vacated due to using ineligible players

Rivalries
Florida State's traditional rivals have been the University of Florida Gators and the University of Miami Hurricanes.

Since 2002, the Florida Cup has been awarded to Florida State, Florida, or Miami if one team defeats the other two teams in the same season (it is not necessary for the two losing teams to have played each other). Five Florida Cups have been awarded, with Miami winning three, Florida State winning one, and Florida winning one. Florida State won the Cup in 2010 by beating Miami and Florida, even though Florida did not play Miami that season.

Florida
Florida State and Florida have played each other 56 times. The Gators hold a 33–21–2 all-time lead against the Seminoles. During the Bobby Bowden Era, FSU barely lost out at 17–18–1. Current Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher is 2-0 against University of Florida.

Miami
The Miami-Florida State rivalry dates to 1951, when the Miami Hurricanes defeated the Seminoles 35–13 in their inaugural meeting. The schools have played uninterrupted since 1966, with Miami holding the all-time advantage, 31–25.

During the 1980s and 90s, the series emerged as one of the premier rivalries in college football. Between 1983 and 2002, the Hurricanes and Seminoles combined to win 7 national championships (5 for Miami, 2 for Florida State) and play in a whopping 13 national championship games (83, 85, 86, 87, 89, 91, 92, 93, 96, 98, 99, 00, 01). The rivalry has been popular not only because of its profound national championship implications and the competitiveness of the games but also because of the immense NFL-caliber talent typically present on the field when the two teams meet. The famous 1987 matchup featured over 50 future NFL players on both rosters combined.

The games have been characterized by remarkable team speed, big plays, hard hitting, and missed field goals. In 2004, the intensity of the rivalry was dialed up another notch when Miami joined the Atlantic Coast Conference and the teams became intra-conference rivals.

The rivalry is a television ratings bonanza, accounting for the two highest rated college football telecasts in ESPN history. The 2006 game between Miami and FSU was the second most-viewed college football game, regular season or bowl, in the history of ESPN, averaging 6,330,000 households in viewership (6.9 rating). It trailed only the 1994 game between Miami and FSU, which notched a 7.7 rating.

Clemson
Florida State has a lesser rivalry with Atlantic Division foe Clemson University Tigers. Florida State leads the all-time series 17–8. Florida State dominated the contests through most of the 1990s but 1999 marked a milestone as the hire of Bobby Bowden's son Tommy led to the first meeting, in 1999, which was the first time in Division I-A history that a father and a son met as opposing head coaches in a football game. During the time Tommy coached at Clemson the game was known as the "Bowden Bowl" Bobby won the series in the 9 years it played before Tommy's resignation, winning 5–4 with all four losses within the last five seasons. Tommy's four wins in the series remain the only times the son has ever beaten the father when facing off as head coach in any of America's four major sports..

One sticking point in the rivalry remains that a proud Clemson Tiger program that was strong in the 1980s had won 6 of the past 11 ACC titles from 1981–1991. 1991 would be the last ACC Championship the Tigers would ever win as Florida State entered the ACC in 1992 and proceeded to win the next 9 ACC Championships in a row, and 12 of the next 14 in the series. The Tigers advanced to the 2009 ACC title game for the first time since its inception in 2005 but a late Georgia Tech victory lengthened the Tigers' title drought.

Academic cheating scandal
In Spring 2007, several FSU athletes including football players were accused of cheating in an online music history class. The NCAA ruled that Florida State was guilty of major violations, announced that it would reduce scholarship limits in 10 sports and force Florida State to vacate all of the victories in 2006 and 2007 in which the implicated athletes participated and placed the university on probation for four years. Florida State appealed parts of the decision.

On January 5, 2010 the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee denied FSU's appeal and ruled that all penalties, including vacating up to fourteen wins during the 2006–2007 seasons would remain in effect. FSU officials responded that they were surprised and disappointed by the NCAA decision and felt that their own investigation and self-imposed penalties were sufficient. The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee responded that "the cooperative efforts of the university in the academic cheating scandal involving 61 Florida State athletes failed to outweigh the aggravating factors in the case." The games to be vacated will be determined by certifying in which of the 14 games any of the 25 ineligible players competed. 12 wins were eventually vacated in all.

Players

 * Heisman Trophy
 * Charlie Ward - 1993
 * Chris Weinke -2000


 * Maxwell Award
 * Charlie Ward - 1993


 * Walter Camp Award
 * Charlie Ward - 1993


 * '''Davey O'Brien Award
 * Charlie Ward - 1993
 * Chris Weinke - 2000


 * '''Dick Butkus Award
 * Paul McGowan - 1987
 * Marvin Jones - 1992


 * '''Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
 * Casey Weldon - 1991
 * Charlie Ward - 1993
 * Chris Weinke - 2000


 * '''Jim Thorpe Award
 * Deion Sanders - 1988
 * Terrell Buckley - 1991


 * '''Lombardi Award
 * Marvin Jones - 1992
 * Jamal Reynolds - 2000


 * '''Lou Groza Award
 * Sebastian Janikowski - 1998, 1999
 * Graham Gano - 2008

Coaches

 * The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award
 * Bobby Bowden - 1994


 * Broyles Award
 * Mickey Andrews - 1996

Retired jerseys

 * #2 - Deion Sanders, DB, 1985–88
 * #10- Derrick Brooks, LB, 1991–1994
 * #16 - Chris Weinke, QB, 1997–2000
 * #17 - Charlie Ward, QB, 1989–93
 * #25 - Fred Biletnikoff, WR, 1962–64
 * #27 - Terrell Buckley, DB, 1989–1991
 * #28 - Warrick Dunn, RB, 1993–96
 * #34 - Ron Sellers, FL, 1966–68
 * #50 - Ron Simmons, NG, 1977–80

Other famous players

 * Fred Biletnikoff - Pro Football Hall of Fame Wide Receiver
 * Lee Corso - Retired college football head coach, ESPN College Gameday analyst
 * Burt Reynolds - Actor
 * Ron Simmons - A football legend in his own right when he played at Florida State, Simmons would later go on to fame as a professional wrestler under his own name and under the name Faarooq after a short stint with the Cleveland Browns
 * T. K. Wetherell - former President of Florida State University
 * Mack Brown - current head coach of the Texas Longorns football team.