1988 Fiesta Bowl

1988 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl
Florida State Seminoles Nebraska Cornhuskers (10–1) (10–1) 31 28 Head coach:  Bobby Bowden Head coach:  Tom Osborne AP Coaches 3 3 AP Coaches 5 5 1 2 3 4 Total {{{Visitor School}}} 0 21 3 7 31 {{{Home School}}} 14 0 14 0 28
Date	January 1, 1988
Season	1987
Stadium	Sun Devil Stadium
Location	Tempe, Arizona
MVP	Danny McManus (QB, FSU) Neil Smith            (DL, FSU)
Favorite	Florida State by 3½ points
Attendance	72,112
United States TV coverage
Network	NBC
Announcers:	Charlie Jones, Jimmy Cefalo
Nielsen ratings	7.9
Fiesta Bowl  < 1987  1989 >

The 1988 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. It was the 17th edition of the Fiesta Bowl and matched the independent #3 Florida State Seminoles and the fifth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference.

Game summary

Kickoff was just after 11:30 a.m. MST, and underdog Nebraska scored first with a 3-yard touchdown run from senior halfback Keith Jones with 9:31 left in the first quarter. With 1:15 left in the opening stanza, Dana Brinson fielded a punt and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown and Nebraska led 14–0.

Florida State got on the board in the second quarter when quarterback Danny McManus threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Herb Gainer. With 4:48 left in the first half, running back Dayne Williams scored from 4 yards out, to tie the game at fourteen. With 44 seconds left in the half, McManus connected with Gainer on a 25-yard touchdown pass, marking their second hook-up of the game, and the Seminoles took a 21–14 advantage into halftime.

With 11:41 left in the third quarter, Nebraska quarterback Steve Taylor notched the equalizer, rumbling in from two yards out to tie the game at 21. Florida State settled for a field goal for a 24–21 lead with 7:49 left in the quarter. With just 40 seconds left in the quarter, running back Tyreese Knox scored on a four-yard run, giving Nebraska a 28–24 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Nebraska got the ball back on its 26-yard line. Following a methodical drive, they managed to move all the way to the FSU 2-yard line for a first and goal. Knox took the handoff, looking for a sure touchdown, when a defender forced a fumble at the goal line, recovered by Florida State. Ten plays later, Florida State had advanced to the Nebraska 15 and McManus threw a touchdown pass to Ronald Lewis for the clinching 31–28 score.

Florida State climbed to second in the final AP poll and Nebraska fell to sixth.

Scoring

First quarter

• Nebraska – Keith Jones 3 run (Chris Drennan kick)
• Nebraska – Dana Brinson 52 punt return (Drennan kick)

Second quarter

• Florida State – Herb Gainer 10 pass from Danny McManus (Derek Schmidt kick)
• Florida State – Dayne Williams 4 run (Schmidt kick)
• Florida State – Gainer 25 pass from McManus (Schmidt kick)

Third quarter

• Nebraska – Steve Taylor 2 run (Drennan kick)
• Florida State – Field goal, Schmidt 32
• Nebraska – Tyreese Knox 4 run (Drennan kick)

Fourth quarter

• Florida State – Ronald Lewis 15 pass from McManus (Schmidt kick)

Source:

Statistics

Statistics	Florida    State	Nebraska
First Downs	26	20
Rushes–yards	29–82	54–242
Passing yards	375	142
Passes	28–51–1	7–14–1
Total yards	457	384
Punts–average	4–30	4–36
Fumbles–lost	2–1	4–2
Turnovers by	2	3
Penalties-yards	2–20	9–78
Time of possession	31:07	28:53

Source:

External links

• http://huskerpedia.com/games/1987/12floridastate.html