1991 Florida State Seminoles football team

1991 Florida State Seminoles football
Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 10–2 vs. Texas A&M
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	11–2
Head coach	Bobby Bowden (16th season)
Offensive coordinator	Brad Scott (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	I formation, pro set
Defensive coordinator	Mickey Andrews (8th season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Kirk Carruthers Errol McCorvey Casey Weldon
Home stadium	Doak Campbell Stadium
Seasons ←  1990 1992  →

1991 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 9 East Carolina			–					11	–	1	–	0
No. 4 Florida State			–					11	–	2	–	0
No. 3 Penn State			–					11	–	2	–	0
No. 21 Tulsa			–					10	–	2	–	0
Louisiana Tech			–					8	–	1	–	2
No. 13 Notre Dame			–					10	–	3	–	0
Akron			–					5	–	6	–	0
Memphis State			–					5	–	6	–	0
Army			–					4	–	7	–	0
Cincinnati			–					4	–	7	–	0
Southern Miss			–					4	–	7	–	0
South Carolina			–					3	–	6	–	2
Southwestern Louisiana			–					2	–	8	–	1
Louisville			–					2	–	9	–	0
Northern Illinois			–					2	–	9	–	0
Tulane			–					1	–	10	–	0
Navy			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1991 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University as an independent during the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 16th-year head coach Bobby Bowden, the Seminoles compiled a record of 11–2 with win in the Cotton Bowl Classic over Texas A&M. Florida State played home games at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

Florida State finished the season ranked No. 4 in both polls. TheSeminoles started the season ranked atop of the polls and stayed at No.1 until losing to the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes on November 16, in a game known as Wide Right I. The Seminoles offense scored 449 points while the defense allowed 188 points. Quarterback Casey Weldon was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

This was Florida State's final season as an independent as the Seminoles joined the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 1992.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 29	9:00 p.m.	vs. No. 19 BYU	No. 1	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, CA (Pigskin Classic)	Raycom	W 44–28	38,363
September 7	7:00 p.m.	Tulane	No. 1	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	PPV	W 38–11	61,801	[1]
September 14	7:00 p.m.	Western Michigan	No. 1	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	PPV	W 58–0	60,913
September 28	12:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Michigan	No. 1	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	ABC	W 51–31	106,145
October 5	3:30 p.m.	No. 10 Syracuse	No. 1	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ABC	W 46–14	61,231
October 12	1:00 p.m.	vs. Virginia Tech	No. 1	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL	JPS	W 33–20	58,991	[2]
October 19	2:00 p.m.	No. 7 (I-AA) Middle Tennessee	No. 1	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 39–10	60,202
October 26	7:40 p.m.	at LSU	No. 1	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	ESPN	W 27–16	71,019	[3]
November 2	8:00 p.m.	at Louisville	No. 1	Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY		W 40–15	34,270
November 9	12:00 p.m.	South Carolina	No. 1	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	JPS	W 38–10	60,244
November 16	12:00 p.m.	No. 2 Miami (FL)	No. 1	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 16–17	63,442
November 30	12:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Florida	No. 3	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 9–14	85,461	[4]
January 1	1:30 p.m.	vs. No. 9 Texas A&M	No. 5	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	W 10–2	73,728
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

Further information: 1991 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	1 (49)	1 (54)	1 (53)	1 (47)	1 (48)	1 (56)	1 (58)	1 (56)	1 (56)	1 (53)	1 (53)	1 (53)	3	3	5	4
Coaches	1 (42)	1 (43)	1 (51)	1 (47)	1 (49)	1 (55)	1 (55)	1 (55)	1 (53)	1 (47)	1 (47)	1 (47)	4	4	6	4

Game summaries

BYU

See also: 1991 BYU Cougars football team and Pigskin Classic

Tulane

See also: 1991 Tulane Green Wave football team

Western Michigan

See also: 1991 Western Michigan Broncos football team

Michigan

#1 Florida State at #3 Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
•Seminoles	19	12	6	14	51
Wolverines	10	13	0	8	31

• Date: September 28
• Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
• Game attendance: 106,145
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Bob Griese, (sideline reporter) Jack Arute

See also: 1991 Michigan Wolverines football team

^{[5] [6]}

Syracuse

See also: 1991 Syracuse Orangemen football team

Virginia Tech

See also: 1991 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

Miami (FL)

#2 Miami (FL) at #1 Florida State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
•Hurricanes	7	0	0	10	17
Seminoles	3	7	3	3	16

• Date: November 16
• Location: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, FL
• Game start: 12:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 63,442
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Bob Griese

   

Scoring summary

1		MIA	Stephen McGuire 2-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 7-0
		FSU	Gerry Thomas 25-yard field goal	MIA 7-3
2		FSU	Paul Moore 1-yard run (Thomas kick)	FSU 10-7
3		FSU	Gerry Thomas 31-yard field goal	Tied 13-7
4		FSU	Gerry Thomas 20-yard field goal	FSU 16-7
	9:48	MIA	Carlos Huerta 45-yard field goal	FSU 16-10
	3:01	MIA	Larry Jones 1-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 17-16

Main article: Wide Right I

See also: 1991 Miami Hurricanes football team and Florida State–Miami football rivalry

^[7]

At Florida

See also: 1991 Florida Gators football team and Florida–Florida State football rivalry

#3 Florida State Seminoles (10–1) at #5 Florida Gators (9–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida St	0	3	0	6	9
Florida	0	7	7	0	14

at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

• Date: November 30
• Game attendance: 85,461
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Bob Griese
• Recap/Box

Game information

First quarter No scoring Second quarter FSU – Gerry Thomas 19-yard field goal, 8:31. Florida St 3–0. Drive: UF – Errict Rhett 3-yard run (Arden Czyzewski kick), 3:11. Florida 7–3. Drive: Third quarter UF – Harrison Houston 72-yard pass from Shane Matthews (Arden Czyzewski kick), 7:32. Florida 14–3. Drive: Fourth quarter FSU – Amp Lee 25-yard pass from Casey Weldon (pass failed), 5:24. Florida 14–9. Drive: Top passers FSU – Casey Weldon – 24/51, 305 yards, TD, INT UF – Shane Matthews – 13/30, 208 yards, TD, 3 INT Top rushers FSU – Amp Lee – 9 rushes, 24 yards UF – Errict Rhett – 24 rushes, 109 yards, TD Top receivers FSU – Kez McCorvey – 6 receptions, 89 yards UF – Harrison Houston – 2 receptions, 76 yards, TD

Texas A&M—Cotton Bowl

Main article: 1992 Cotton Bowl Classic

See also: 1991 Texas A&M Aggies football team

Roster

1991 Florida State Seminoles football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Clyde Allen OL Robbie Baker WR Shannon Baker RB 22 Edgar Bennett Sr OL Johnny Clower G 73 Reggie Dixon Sr WR 'Omar Ellison QB Kenny Felder OL John Fiath FB 44 William Floyd So WR 12 Matt Frier So OL 61 Eric Gibbs Jr RB Felix Harris TE Warren Hart RB 35 Sean Jackson So QB 14 Brad Johnson Sr TE Lonnie Johnson WR Kevin Knox RB 42 Amp Lee Jr OT 67 Kevin Mancini Sr WR 88 Kez McCorvey Fr OT 76 Eric McGill Jr RB Tiger McMillon OL 69 Patrick McNeill Fr RB Paul Moore G 60 Mike Morris Sr RB Jason Peirce RB Marquette Smith OL Robert Stevenson WR Eric Turral QB Charlie Ward QB 11 Casey Weldon Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB Clifton Abraham LB Kevin Adams LB Ken Alexander LB Derrick Brooks DB 31 Lavon Brown Jr CB 27 Terrell Buckley Jr LB 46 Kirk Carruthers So DL James Chaney DB John Davis LB Howard Dinkins DL Dan Footman DB Leon Fowler LB 97 Reggie Freeman Jr LB 55 Marvin Jones Fr DB Errol McCorvey DL Toddrick McIntosh DL Henry Ostaszewski LB Sterling Palmer DB Corey Sawyer DL Carl Simpson	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 9 Dan Mowrey Fr K 15 Gerry Thomas So	Head coach Bobby Bowden Coordinators/assistant coaches Chuck Amato (DL) Mickey Andrews (DC) Wally Burnham (LB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Awards and honors

• Terrell Buckley, Jim Thorpe Award ^[8]
• Casey Weldon, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ^[9]

Team players in the NFL

The following Seminoles were selected in the 1992 NFL draft after the season. ^[10]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
1	5	Terrell Buckley	Cornerback	Green Bay Packers
2	45	Amp Lee	Running back	San Francisco 49ers
3	73	Howard Dinkins	Linebacker	Atlanta Falcons
4	102	Casey Weldon	Quarterback	Philadelphia Eagles
4	103	Edgar Bennett	Running back	Green Bay Packers
9	227	Brad Johnson	Quarterback	Minnesota Vikings

References

1. "Seminoles ride past Green Wave". The Tampa Tribune. September 8, 1991. Retrieved February 8, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Ugly win for No. 1 Seminoles". Fort Myers News-Press. October 13, 1991. Retrieved February 3, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Seminoles' rally buries LSU, 27–16". The Tampa Tribune. October 27, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Florida finally solves slumping Florida State". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 1, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Florida State Is Much Too Mighty for Michigan". The New York Times . September 29, 1991. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
6. NoleFan.org. Retrieved 2018-Nov-03.
7. "MIAMI BEATS FLORIDA STATE OUT OF TOP RANK, 17-16". The Washington Post . November 17, 1991. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
8. "Do You Know Which Team Has the Most College Football Championships?". Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
9. "NCAA College Football Awards - ESPN".
10. "1992 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2023.