Byron Bennett’s 45-yard field goal try with one second left sailed wide left, and Florida State won an Orange Bowl thriller, 18-16, for the Seminoles’ first national title.
Nebraska, a 17½-point underdog, earned the nation’s respect and finished No. 3 in both polls, its highest final ranking since 1983.
Set up by Lawrence Phillips’ 17-yard scamper and Tommie Frazier’s 32-yard sprint to the 4-yard line, Bennett appeared to have kicked the game-winning field goal with 1:16 remaining. But with Nebraska up 16-15, FSU began its game-winning drive at its own 35, and Scott Bentley kicked his fourth field goal of the game with 21 seconds left to give FSU an 18-16 lead.
Nebraska’s final drive started at its 43 with about 15 seconds on the clock after Barron Miles returned the FSU kickoff 23 yards. Frazier missed tight end Trumane Bell at the sideline but hit Bell on a second try over midfield for a 29-yard gain to the FSU 28. Nebraska immediately called time out as one second remained.
Bennett waited to set up for his second field goal of the game as officials cleared the field of those who thought the game was over, but his kick was wide left.
Nebraska was defeated, then victorious, then defeated. It was as good a football game as most of the Cornhuskers were capable of playing. It is a game it will take them a lifetime to forget.
FS: Bentley 25 field goal, 0:29 Third quarter FS: Floyd 1 run (pass failed) 12:50 FS: Bentley 39 field goal, 3:06 Fourth quarter NU: Phillips 12 run (run failed) 14:55 NU: Bennett 27 field goal, 1:16 FS: Bentley 22 field goal, 0:21 NU FSU First Downs ............... 20 22 Rushing .................. 8 4 Passing ................. 11 12 Penalty .................. 1 6 Rushes-Net Yards ...... 44-183 24-47 Yds Gained Rushing ..... 212 96 Net Passing Yards ........ 206 286 Att-Comp-Int ....... 25-13-2 43-24-0 Total Offense ......... 69-389 67-333 Avg. Per Play .......... 5.6 5.0 Return Yards .............. 18 21 Fumbles-Lost ............. 2-0 0-0 Penalized-Yards ....... 11-115 10-69 Interceptions-Yards ...... 0-0 2-21 Punts-Average ......... 7-38.4 6-45.2 Punt Returns-Yards ...... 4-18 0-0 Kickoff Returns-Yds .... 5-111 3-81 Possession Time ........ 32:57 27:03 Third-Down Conv. ........ 7-16 1-12 Fourth-Down Conv. ........ 0-0 1-1 Sacks By-Yards Lost ..... 5-39 1-4 Attendance: 81,536 (Orange Bowl game record) RUSHING FS: Floyd 7-53, Dunn 1-3, Ward 8-minus-3, Jackson 8-minus-6. NU: Frazier 14-77, Phillips 13-64, C. Jones 9-28, Makovicka 2-7, Benning 5-5, Dixon 1-2. PASSING FS: Ward 24-43-0 286. NU: Frazier 13-24-2 206; C. Jones 0-1-0 0. RECEIVING FS: Vanover 6-48, Knox 5-99, McCorvey 5-70, Frier 5-46, Dunn 2-30, Floyd 1-minus-7. NU: Bell 4-75, Dixon 3-50, Johnson 3-40, Baul 1-34, Muhammad 1-14, C. Jones 1-minus-7. MORE STATS
