FSU’s touchdown
Huskers fall just short of national championship
Byron Bennett’s 45-yard field goal attempt with one second left sailed wide left, and Florida State won an Orange Bowl thriller, 18-16, for the Seminoles’ first national title.
Nebraska, 17½-point underdogs entering the game, 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, Florida State 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 Seminole kickoff 23 yards. Frazier missed tight end Trumane Bell at the sidelines 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.
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 FSU No Gain Lost Net LG TD Floyd 7 53 0 53 34 1 Dunn 1 3 0 3 3 0 Ward 8 36 39 -3 23 0 Jackson 8 4 10 -6 3 0 NU No Gain Lost Net LG TD Frazier 14 94 17 77 32 0 Phillips 13 71 7 64 17 1 C. Jones 9 28 0 28 9 0 Makovicka 2 7 0 7 5 0 Benning 5 10 5 5 5 0 Dixon 1 2 0 2 2 0 PASSING FSU Att Cmp I Yds LG TD Sks Ward 43 24 0 286 41 0 5-39 NU Att Cmp I Yds LG TD Sks Frazier 24 13 2 206 34 1 1-4 C. Jones 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 RECEIVING FSU No Yds LG TD Vanover 6 48 14 0 Knox 5 99 41 0 McCorvey 5 70 22 0 Frier 5 46 13 0 Dunn 2 30 21 0 Floyd 1 -7 -7 0 NU No Yds LG TD Bell 4 75 29 0 Dixon 3 50 26 0 Johnson 3 40 25 0 Baul 1 34 34 1 Muhammad 1 14 14 0 C. Jones 1 -7 -7 0 MORE STATS
