Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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The 'Other' Games The Seminoles have beaten the Irish four times in six meetings, including a 31-26 victory in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1996. In addition to the 1993 showdown with No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Notre Dame, there have been five other meetings between the Seminoles and Irish. Oct. 10, 1981: Florida State 19, Notre Dame 13 It was Tradition vs. Nouveau Riche. Notre Dame was the traditional superpower that was 148-33-5 (.809 win- ning percentage) with three consensus national titles under head coaches Ara Parseghian (1964-74) and Dan Devine (1975-80) — but dropped to 2-3 in 1981 under first-year head coach Gerry Faust after this loss to the Seminoles. Conversely, Bobby Bowden was becoming FSU's version of Knute Rockne. Florida State hadn't even started football until 1947, and it was 4-29 from 1973-75 before Bowden was hired in 1976. Bowden led the program to its first top-25 finish in 1977 and first top-10 finish in 1979. In 1981, Bowden scheduled a Rockne-like barnstorming tour with con- secutive road games at Nebraska, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Pitt and LSU, and Florida State came out 3-2 from that gauntlet. The victory at Notre Dame occurred when Florida State quarterback Rick Stockstill found running back Mike Whiting for a five-yard touchdown with 7:41 left in the game. The Irish had only 256 yards of total offense and were embroiled in a quar- terback controversy between sophomore Blair Kiel and fifth-year senior Tim Koegel, who had played for Faust at Moeller High School. Koegel finished 3-of-9 passing for 24 yards with one interception, and Kiel connected on 2 of 9 throws for 17 yards with an interception. Nov. 12, 1994: Florida State 23, Notre Dame 16 In Orlando, Fla., No. 8 Florida State outgained unranked and 5-3 Notre Dame 517 yards-221 — yet the Irish tied the score at 16 on an 11-yard touch- down pass from quarterback Ron Powlus to wideout Derrick Mayes with 5:17 left in the game. However, kicker Scott Cengia missed the extra point. The Seminoles answered by driving 74 yards in nine plays, capped by run- ning back Warrick Dunn's five-yard touchdown run with 2:53 remaining. Rock Preston rushed for 165 yards for Florida State, while Dunn added 163. www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS Jan. 1, 1996: Florida State 31, Notre Dame 26 Playing without injured quarterback Ron Powlus, No. 6 and 9-2 Notre Dame took a 26-14 lead with 11:43 remaining in the Orange Bowl when backup Tom Krug found tight end Pete Chryplewicz for a five-yard score. Earlier in the contest, Krug connected with wideout Derrick Mayes on 39- and 33-yard touchdowns. No. 8 Florida State rallied to victory on touchdown passes from quarterback Danny Kanell to E.G. Green and Andre Cooper, plus a late safety. Florida State improved to 13-0-1 in bowls since 1982 and finished in the Associated Press top four an NCAA-record ninth straight year. Oct. 26, 2002: Notre Dame 34, Florida State 24 The Irish reached their zenith under first-year head coach Tyrone Willing- ham, whom Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden referred to as Notre Dame's "Black Moses." On Notre Dame's first play from scrimmage, quarterback Carlyle Holiday delivered a 65-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Arnaz Battle to stun the Doak Campbell audience of 84,106. Running back Ryan Grant added 94 yards rushing and three- and 31-yard scoring runs to push Notre Dame's lead to 34-10 over No. 11 FSU. Notre Dame also won the turnover battle, 4-0. The Irish improved to 8-0, and were elevated to No. 4 in the country and No. 3 in the BCS. Nov. 1, 2003: Florida State 37, Notre Dame 0 In one of the worst home performances ever by an Irish team, the Semi- noles took a 17-0 first-quarter lead while dominating from start to finish. FSU wideout Craphonso Thorpe set a single-game receiving record against the Irish with 217 yards on seven catches, including two touchdown grabs. Notre Dame freshman quarterback Brady Quinn attempted 52 passes, com- pleting only 20 for 175 yards with three interceptions. At that time, only a 40-0 victory by Oklahoma in 1956 ranked as a larger margin of victory in Notre Dame Stadium against the Irish. — Lou Somogyi JANUARY 2012 33