1993 Florida State vs. Notre Dame football game

The 1993 Florida State vs. Notre Dame Game was a regular season college football game between the unbeaten Florida State Seminoles (ranked #1 in the nation), and the unbeaten Notre Dame Fighting Irish (ranked #2 in the nation). The game took place at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The game is one of the 20th-century college football games to be coined a "Game of the Century."^[1]

The build up

Florida State entered the game as the #1 team in the country, led by quarterback Charlie Ward who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy that season. Notre Dame came into the game ranked #2 in the country. Though Notre Dame was home they entered the game as the underdog to a powerful Bobby Bowden-led Florida State Squad. Notre Dame was led by head coach Lou Holtz. This was the fourth time that Notre Dame had taken part in a Game of the Century. Notre Dame's 1935 showdown with Ohio State was their first appearance in one of these historic games. Their 1946 match up against the Army Black Knights was the second instance and their 1966 match up against the Michigan State Spartans was the third.

Television coverage

NBC had exclusive rights to all Fighting Irish home games, and marketed the game as a "Game of the Century." The media coverage leading up to the game was so intense that ESPN decided to broadcast College Gameday on-location at Notre Dame Stadium for the first time in its history. ESPN also showed footage in the week leading up to the game of FSU players touring the Notre Dame campus wearing green hats with shamrocks and gold-embroidered FSU initials on the front.

The game

Notre Dame outplayed Florida State the entire game to the tune of a 31-17 lead in the fourth quarter. The offense had hung its shoulders around their junior back Lee Becton who had yet another 100+ yard afternoon. With 1:39 left, Ward drove Florida State down the field and hit Kez McCorvey on 4th-and-20 for a touchdown. The pass bounced off of Notre Dame safety Brian McGee and into McCorvey's hands. Notre Dame then went three-and-out on their next possession, giving Florida State one last shot. In just three plays, Ward led Florida State to the Notre Dame 14 with three seconds to play. On the last play of the game, Ward rolled out and had his final pass attempt batted down by Notre Dame cornerback Shawn Wooden, giving the Irish a 31-24 victory.

Aftermath

Notre Dame found itself atop of the polls after the victory, and would only need to defeat #12 Boston College in the next week to earn a berth in the Fiesta Bowl. Its opponent in the Fiesta Bowl would have been Florida State, which only dropped to #2 in the polls.

The rematch would never took place though, as Boston College stunned Notre Dame 41–39 on a David Gordon 41-yard field goal as time expired, knocking the Irish from #1 and out of the national championship picture. After the loss, Florida State retook the #1 spot in the poll and Nebraska became the new #2, setting up a #1 vs. #2 matchup for the National Championship in the Orange Bowl. Florida State would go on to win the game 18-16 on a last second field goal miss by Nebraska.

Notre Dame fans felt stifled by the polls, claiming that the Irish should have been given the Orange Bowl berth because of their win over Florida State despite the fact that Notre Dame lost at home to a 9-3 Boston College team in its last game of the regular season. Notre Dame accepted a berth in the Cotton Bowl where it would defeat #6 Texas A&M 24–21 and finish second behind the #1 Florida State Seminoles in the polls.

References

↑ Fighting Irish Win Game of the Century The Tech (MIT newspaper) Mike Duffy and Andrew Heitner. Volume 113, Issue 59 : Friday, November 19, 1993

Florida State Seminoles football

Venues	Doak Campbell Stadium

Bowls & rivalries	Bowls Florida Cup Clemson Florida Miami Virginia (Jefferson–Eppes Trophy)

Culture & lore	Osceola and Renegade The War Chant Marching Chiefs FSU Hymns Sod Cemetery Wide Right I Wide Right II 1993 'Game of the Century' Choke at Doak/The Fifth Quarter in the French Quarter Bob Crenshaw Award

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

Venues	Cartier Field (1889–1928) Soldier Field (1929) Notre Dame Stadium (1930–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Emerald Isle Classic Army Boston College: Holy War Michigan Michigan State Navy Northwestern Pittsburgh Purdue Stanford USC

Culture & lore	All-time series results History Band of the Fighting Irish Irish Guard Notre Dame Box Notre Dame Leprechaun "Notre Dame, Our Mother" "Notre Dame Victory March" Play Like a Champion Today Subway Alumni T formation Tall Grass Game 1946 "Game of the Century" 1966 "Game of the Century" Catholics vs. Convicts 1993 "Game of the Century" Bush Push Navy ends the drought Knute Rockne, All American Notre Dame Football on NBC Rudy

People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks Four Horsemen NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

Notre Dame Football on NBC

Current commentators	Dan Hicks (play by play) Doug Flutie (analyst) Kathryn Tappen (sidelines) Liam McHugh (pregame host) Dhani Jones (pregame analyst)

Past commentators	Todd Christensen Cris Collinsworth Bob Costas Don Criqui Randy Cross Dick Enberg Alex Flanagan Pat Haden Tom Hammond Lewis Johnson Charlie Jones Jim Lampley Mike Mayock Craig Minervini Jimmy Roberts Hannah Storm Jonathan Vilma Hines Ward

Lore televised by NBC	1993 "Game of the Century" 2005 "Bush Push" 2007 "Navy ends the drought"

Bowls broadcast by NBC	Cotton Bowl Classic Fiesta Bowl Gator Bowl Orange Bowl Rose Bowl

Related topics	Bayou Classic College Football on NBCSN commentators College football on television Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

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