1991 Florida State Seminoles football team

1991 Florida State Seminoles football
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 →

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.

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

Florida State finished the season ranked No. 4 in both polls. The Seminoles 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

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

Tulane

Western Michigan

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

^[5] ^[6]

Syracuse

Virginia Tech

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

^[7]

At Florida

#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

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

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

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

[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.

[1]


1		MIA	Stephen McGuire 2-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 7-0
1		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