Notre Dame 31, Florida State 24
SOUTH BEND, IN, November 13, 1993 - College football's most anticipated regular season game lived up to its billing in 1993. Charlie Ward's final pass was knocked down at the goal line by Shawn Wooden as time expired, giving second ranked Notre Dame a thrilling 31-24 victory over top ranked Florida State in Notre Dame Stadium before 59,075 and one of the largest television audiences to ever see a college football game.
The loss ended FSU's 12 week run as the nation's top team and also stopped the Tribe's school record tying winning streak at 16.
The Seminoles looked like they might have an easy afternoon the first time they touched the football. Opening at the FSU 11, Ward drove his team 89 yarils in 10 plays, capping the drive with a 12 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Knox.
The Irish struck right back. Adrian Jarrell raced 32 yards around right end on a reverse to even the score at seven.
Notre Dame won the game in the second quarter. Tailback Lee Becton, who ran for 122 yards on the day, broke a 26 yard scoring run over the left side to put the Irish on top. The drive was characterized by missed tackles by the FSU defense and superior blocking by the Notre Dame offensive line.
The Irish capitalized on Ward's second interception of the year, and his first in 159 attempts, to go up 21-7. From his own 6, Ward rolled right and lofted the ball toward Kevin Knox, who had run past the ND secondary. But a strong wind held the ball up and John Covington intercepted to give the Irish excellent field position. Four plays later, ND's Jeff Burris went in from six yards out to give his team a 14 point advantage with 7:48 left in the half.
After an exchange of punts, FSU started to drive behind the running of Sean Jackson and William Floyd. But Knox fumbled after a completion, halting Florida State's momentum and leading to another exchange of punts before halftime.
Notre Dame stretched the lead to 24-7 early in the third period. Kevin Pendergast booted a 47 yard field goal, the longest of his career, five minutes into the half.
The Tribe cut the lead to 10 on its next possession. Ward hit Warrick Dunn in the left flat and the freshman scampered into the endzone from six yards out.
With 10:40 to play, Scott Bentley sliced the margin to a touchdown (24-17) with a 24 yard field goal. Ward found Kez McCorvey four times for 38 yards on the drive, in which he completed 7 of 8 passes.
With Florida State mounting a rally, the Irish needed to regain momentum. ND did just that with a classic 9 play, 80 yard, 3:47 drive that culminated in Burris' 11 yard run to paydirt.
Down 31-17 with 4:05 to go, Ward and his teammates would not quit, marching to the Notre Dame 5 yard line. But after a pair of penalties, the Seminoles faced fourth and goal from the 20. Ward spotted McCorvey in the back of the endzone, but did not see ND safety Brian Magee. Fortunately for the Seminoles, Magee tipped the ball into McCorvey's grasp, making the score 31-24 with 2:26 to play.
After a failed onside kick, the Tribe defense stiffened and forced an Irish punt after three plays. Jarrell's kick was held up in the wind and netted just five yards, giving FSU possession at its 37 with 51 seconds left.
Ward opened the final drive by scrambling, then flipping the ball to McCorvey just as he was being tackled for a gain of nine. The quarterback then hit Dunn for four yards before finding McCorvey twice in a row for a pair of 18 yard gains, putting the ball at the ND 14 with 10 seconds left. Ward's first shot at the endzone was batted down at the line, leaving three seconds on the clock. The miraculous Florida State raily ended one play and 14 yards short when Wooden knocked Ward's final pass down at the goal line.
Ward finished the day with 31 completions in 50 attempts for 297 yards and three scores, while McCorvey caught 11 passes, nine in the second half, for 138 yarils to earn NBC Player of the Game honors.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=1><TBODY><TR><TH width="21%"></TH><TH width="6%">1st</TH><TH width="6%">2nd</TH><TH width="6%">3rd</TH><TH width="6%">4th</TH><TH width="6%">Total</TH></TR><TR><TD>Florida State</TD><TD><CENTER>7</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>0</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>7</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>10</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>24</CENTER></TD></TR><TR><TD>Notre Dame</TD><TD><CENTER>7</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>14</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>3</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>7</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>31</CENTER></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
First Quarter
FSU - Kevin Knox, 12, pass from Charlie Ward (Scott Bentley, kick), 7:09
ND - Jarrell, 32, run (Pendergast, kick), 4:30
Second Quarter
ND - Becton, 26, run (Pendergast, kick), 10:42
ND - Burris, 6, run (Pendergast, kick), 7:48
Third Quarter
ND - Pendergast, 47, field goal, 9:41
FSU - Warrick Dunn, 6, pass from Ward (Bentley, kick), 4:45
Fourth Quarter
FSU - Bentley, 24, field goal, 10:40
ND - Burris, 11, run (Pendergast, kick), 6:53
FSU - Kez McCorvey, 20, pass from Ward (Bentley, kick), 2:26
TEAM STATISTICS
FSU ND
First downs 26 20
Rushes-yards 27-96 49-239
Passing 307 108
Comp-Att-Int 32-53-1 9-18-0
Total Yards 80-403 67-347
Punts-Avg. 6-36.8 7-34.0
Punt Returns 19 8
Interception Returns 0-0 1-7
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 7-70 4-38
Third Down Conv 5-14 4-13
Time of Possession 29:40 30:20
Attendance 59,075
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
FSU: Ward 11- 38
Floyd 5- 31
Jackson 7- 18
McCorvey 1- 9
Dunn 3- 0
ND: Becton 26- 122
Zellars 11- 44
Jarrell 1- 32
Burris 3- 19
McDougal 6- 12
Failla 1- 10
Kinder 1- 0
Passing
FSU: Ward 31-50-1-297
Jackson 1- 2-0- 10
McCorvey 0- 1-0- 0
ND: McDougal 9-18-0-108
Receiving
FSU: McCorvey 11-138
Jackson 5- 26
Frier 4- 46
Vanover 4- 30
Dunn 3- 18
Knox 2- 30
Floyd 2- 9
Ward 1- 10
ND: Becton 2- 39
Miller 2- 30
Johnson 2- 22
Dawson 2- 20
Zellars 1- -3
