Garnet and Great

Flashback Friday: The Noles upset no. 2 Boston College on a wicked night in Beantown

As the Noles travel to Boston with all the oddsmakers on their side, it's good to remember that upsets do happen in this series. In 2007 Boston College was undefeated, no. 2 in the country and heavily favored against a 5 and 3 Florida State team. Even the weather was against the Noles on a chilly, wet night in November.

But Drew Weatherford, playing perhaps his best game as a Nole, engineered a 27-17 upset. Weatherford completed 29 of 45 for 354 yards, Preston Parker hauled in nine catches for 93 yards and a TD, while De'Cody Fagg caught six for 111 yards and a TD.

Matt Ryan, who later would be third overall pick in the NFL draft, threw three interceptions on the night. FSU sealed the deal when Geno Hayes swiped a Ryan pass with 1:10 to play, running it in for a 38-yard score. 

Ryan's poor performance was widely believed to have lost him the Heisman Trophy that year. Today, he's one of the NFL's hottest signal callers. And Weatherford? He left football for the business world after a few seasons in the Arena Leauge. But on a nasty night in New England, it was Drew who looked like the QB that NFL scouts were drooling oveer.

FSU—Bethune-Cookman Game Gallery no. 2 by Chris Holder

Seminoles - Wildcats Game Gallery by Chris Holder

25th Anniversary of the "Puntrooskie" and the punt return that rocked Death Valley

It's been hailed as the greatest trick play in college football history. Even Seminole fans who weren't born yet look back in awe at the audacity of Bobby Bowden for calling it, and dramatic performances by Dayne Williams and Leroy Butler who carried out the trickeration. 

With FSU in punt formation, Williams, lines up as a blocker, takes the snap instead of the punter and hides it between his legs. The sneaky Butler grabs the football and takes off on a 78-yard run. Too bad Leroy slows down (maybe breathless from the excitement) and is pushed out of bounds just shy of the goal line. With time running out, Richie Andrews kicked a 19-yard field goal and the Noles won a 24-21 nailbiter.

Somewhat lost in the hoopla of the famed "Puntrooskie"is this spectacular 3rd Qtr. punt return by Deion Sanders. Legend has it that Deion -- who epitomized the swagger of the era -- pulled a Babe Ruth while waiting to field the punt. Much like Ruth pointed his bat at the bleachers where he planned to knock the next pitch, Sanders gestured downfield toward the goal line while reportedly yelling to the Clemson bench, "This one's coming back." He was a man of his word.

Noles-Wolf Pack Game Gallery no. 2 by Chris Holder

Seminole greats soak in the applause before FSU-Nevada kickoff

Jamal Reynolds, Myron Rolle, Larry Key, Rudy Maloy (1973-76), and Sammie Smith.

FSU-Nevada Game Gallery by Chris Holder

Derrick Brooks: "We wanted to kill a mosquito with an axe"

This is number one in a series celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Florida State's first national championship.

By Bob Ferrante

The 1993 season began with plenty of anticipation and excitement at Florida State. A preseason No. 1, the Seminoles opened up against Kansas in a kickoff classic game at East Rutherford, N.J.

And the season certainly started off on the right foot on Aug. 28. Yes, FSU ran for 248 yards and had four touchdowns. And Charlie Ward had a good day in passing for 194 yards en route to a 42-0 win.

But what you remember about that day — or the clips you’ve seen on YouTube (video here) — are from the goal-line stand that FSU had.

Twelve times, Kansas snapped the ball inside FSU’s 10-yard line. And 12 times, after a number of penalties went against FSU, the Seminoles came up with stop after stop.

It was an exhausting performance for the ages — coaches had to help a number of defensive players to the sideline as temperatures on the turf field were well above 100 degrees.

But this was also a goal-line stand that set the stage for how the defense would perform in 1993 — four shutouts in total and the Miami Hurricanes were held to just 10 points.

Former FSU linebacker Derrick Brooks reflects on the opener against Kansas and the 1993 season in the first of our series that looks back on the Seminoles’ first national title.

Did you feel going into the 1993 season that it would be a special one?

BROOKS: We definitely felt that. The offense had figured out what was its strengths with Charlie at quarterback. Defensively we were the young kids coming up that were more athletic, smaller, quicker. We were now the leaders of the team. The coaches felt good about the defense that year.

That summer, really, I believe, we came together as a team because we all stayed in Tallahassee and worked out. It was about 80 percent of the football team. When you saw that type of commitment, we really felt good about our team. The one hiccup you knew we had to overcome was Miami, we had them at our place and we felt that all the arrows pointed for us to go wire-to-wire as national champions.

What did that goal-line stand mean not just to beat Kansas but for the defense the rest of the season?

BROOKS: That goal line stand represented a lot for our football team. That was our mental attitude. We wanted to kill a mosquito with an axe. That’s the analogy of not letting Kansas score. Clearly the game was a blowout, but we felt the message had to be sent. We were striving for attention defensively because our offense was the poster child. They were getting all the praise.

Defensively we were a little jealous. We wanted to show that we were just as good if not better than our offense. That was the internal competition that goes on within a team. We wanted to show our mental makeup that we were not the Florida State of all those years past that was just satisfied with just winning. We wanted to dominate. That’s what the goal-line stance was all about. Finishing, dominating.

FSU had four shutouts that year (Kansas, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest). Nobody loved to get a shutout more than DC Mickey Andrews.