Florida St. 31
Nebraska 28

Jan. 1, 1988 • 12:30 p.m. Central
Fiesta Bowl • Tempe, AZ • NBC
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Florida St.0213731
Nebraska01401428
First Quarter
NU: Keith Jones 3 run (Chris Drennan kick) 9:31
NU: Dana Brinson 52 punt return (Drennan kick) 1:15
Second Quarter
FS: Herb Gainer 10 pass from Danny McManus
   (Derek Schmidt kick) 10:30
FS: Dayne Williams 4 run (Schmidt kick) 4:48
FS: Gainer 25 pass from McManus (Schmidt kick) 0:44
Third Quarter
NU: Steve Taylor 2 run (Drennan kick) 11:41
FS: FG Schmidt 32, 7:49
NU: Tyreese Knox 4 run (Drennan kick) 0:40 
Fourth Quarter
FS: Ronald Lewis 15 pass from McManus (Schmidt kick) 3:07

A-72,112
                        FSU      NEB
First downs ............ 26       20
Rushes-yards ........ 29-82   54-242
Passing yards ......... 375      142
  Comp-Att-Int .... 28-51-1   7-14-1
Total Offense ...... 80-457   68-384
Sacks by .............. 0-0      1-7
Punts-Average ...... 4-29.5   4-35.5
Punt Return Yards ...... 12       89
Interceptions-Yds ..... 1-3     1-35
Fumbles-lost .......... 2-1      4-2
Penalties-yards ...... 2-20     9-78
Possession time ..... 31:07    28:53
Third-down conv. ..... 9/17     4/11
Fourth-down conv. ..... 2/2      1/1

RUSHING
FSU: Sammie Smith 9-28, Danny McManus 5-26, Edgar Bennett 7-16, Dayne Williams 3-5, Dexter Carter 4-4, Marion Butts 1-3.

NEB: Keith Jones 15-80, Steve Taylor 20-75, Tyreese Knox 13-62, Dana Brinson 2-16, Micah Heibel 3-7, Bryan Carpenter 1-2.

PASSING
FSU: Danny McManus 28-51-1-375.
NEB: Steve Taylor 7-14-1-142.

RECEIVING
FSU: Herb Gainer 5-89, Pat Carter 5-54, Carter 4-89, Ronald Lewis 4-59, Edgar Bennett 4-47, Terry Anthony 2-29, Lawrence Dawsey 1-17, Sammie Smith 1-5, Dayne Williams 1-(-7), Marion Butts 1-(-7).

NEB: Morgan Gregory 3-49, Todd Milikan 2-32, Tom Banderas 1-48, Micah Heibel 1-13.

Missed field goals
FSU: Schmidt 43.

MORE STATISTICS

Coverage

Recap

Fumble sparks Seminoles’ rally in 4th quarter

Florida State won a heart-stopping Fiesta Bowl, 31-28, when quarterback Danny McManus hit flanker Ronald Lewis with a fourth-down, 15-yard touchdown pass on fourth and goal with 3:07 left in the game.

McManus’ third TD pass of the day capped a 97-yard, 11-play drive that started just after the Huskers failed to deliver the knockout blow.

Leading by 28-24 midway in the fourth quarter, Nebraska had driven from its 26-yard line to the FSU 2, where alternate I-back Tyreese Knox appeared headed for the end zone and a clinching touchdown. But a Seminole defender reached up and stripped the ball loose.

After FSU’s go-ahead score, Nebraska and quarterback Steve Taylor still had life. Starting at his 20, Taylor completed passes to Morgan Gregory for a 10 yards and Todd Millikan for 12, then came up with what would have been the play of the game. However, his 56-yard pass to Gregory to the FSU 2 was called back because Nebraska had lined up with not enough men on the line of scrimmage.

The Husker loss came in spite of an early 14-0 lead set up by the kicking game. A 27-yard punt return by Richard Bell led to an 18-yard scoring drive in the first six minutes of the game. Later in the period, Dana Brinson ripped the Seminoles with a 52-yard punt-return touchdown.

1988 Fiesta Bowl, Ronald Lewis winning catchRonald Lewis makes the game-winning catch on fourth down. · Florida Today · Newspapers.com
Omaha World-Herald*
Florida Sources
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Tallahassee Democrat
Florida Today
Daily Nole
Tomahawk Nation
More Sources
Lincoln Journal Star
Big Red Report
Chicago Tribune*
Washington Post*
New York Times*
ESPN.com
FiestaBowl.org
Photos/Audio/Video
Photos
Video
Pregame & team info
Program cover
1987 schedule
04/25Reds 33, Whites 28
09/05Utah St.W 56-12
09/12UCLAW 42-33
09/26@ Arizona St.W 35-28
10/03South CarolinaW 30-21
10/10KansasW 54-2
10/17@ Oklahoma St.W 35-0
10/24Kansas St.W 56-3
10/31@ MissouriW 42-7
11/07Iowa St.W 42-3
11/21OklahomaL 7-17
11/28@ ColoradoW 24-7
01/01Florida St.L 28-31
* Article may require subscription