FSU's 1989 win over Miami might have been best ever inside of Doak
There's never been a start quite like the one that night in October 1989.
Florida State was ranked No. 9 in the country. Miami was ranked No. 2. And the energy from the fans and players inside Doak Campbell Stadium was so intense that it seemed like the whole place might burst into flames.
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On the first play of the game, Miami freshman quarterback Gino Torretta, starting in place of the injured Craig Erickson, rolled to his left and was hit by linebacker Kirk Carruthers as he let go of a pass.
Florida State All-America defensive back LeRoy Butler intercepted it at the FSU 37-yard line.
Then on the Seminoles' first play from scrimmage, senior tailback Dexter Carter -- thanks to a great block by fullback Edgar Bennett -- sped around left end and raced untouched for a 37-yard touchdown. (The crowd was so intense that the television camera actually shook as Carter was running into the end zone.)
Two plays, and Florida State was up 7-0.
It was a magical night for a magical team.
The Seminoles started off that season by losing their first two games. Both were essentially home games, too. FSU dropped the opener to Brett Favre and Southern Miss in Jacksonville and then fell the following week to Terry Allen and Clemson in Doak.
The defense, for whatever reason, was struggling to do much of anything positive early in the year. Favre threw for 282 yards and the Golden Eagles racked up 427 yards of total offense in the opener. Then, the next week, Allen ran for 130 yards and three TDs as Clemson rolled to 255 rushing yards and 34 points in Doak Campbell Stadium.
Florida State, which had lost just two games the previous two seasons, was 0-2 for the first time since Bobby Bowden's first season in 1976. The Seminoles were ranked No. 6 to start the 1989 campaign. After the loss to Clemson, they were unranked and off the radar.
All FSU did the rest of the season was go 10-0, with wins at No. 21 LSU, No. 17 Syracuse, No. 11 Auburn at home, No. 2 Miami at home and then No. 6 Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.
And that win over the Hurricanes was the one that will always stand out the most.
Because Miami was absolutely loaded in 1989. Essentially the entire Hurricanes defense would go on to be drafted, including defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy (the No. 3 pick in the 1990 NFL Draft) and Russell Maryland (the No. 1 overall pick in 1991), and the Hurricanes wound up beating No. 1 Notre Dame by 17 points a few weeks later on their way to the eventual title.
But that night in Tallahassee, with the FSU fan base at a fever pitch after watching the Hurricanes cost the Seminoles the national title each of the last two years, Miami scored just one touchdown. Torretta threw four interceptions, including two to Carruthers, and the Seminoles and their fans celebrated through the night as Florida State knocked off one of the greatest teams to ever play in Doak Campbell.
Carruthers had one of the best games an FSU linebacker has ever had that night, racking up 16 tackles, the two aforementioned interceptions and a critical fumble recovery in the third quarter. His recovery came at the FSU 1-yard line and set up one of the defining drives of the Dynasty era.
Florida State led 14-10 at the time, but the Hurricanes' defense has turned into a brick wall after the first quarter and was giving Peter Tom Willis and the Seminoles fits. So, even though Miami had just squandered a scoring chance, it seemed inevitable that the Hurricanes were going to get the ball right back a few moments later.
Bowden and Willis said, "Not so fast."
Willis, who was sensational that season but was only 7 of 20 that night, faked a handoff on first down and rolled to his right. He then set up about two yards from the back of the end zone and launched a spiral toward a streaking Ronald Lewis. The senior hauled in the pass at the Miami 48 for a 51-yard gain.
Lawrence Dawsey got 18 yards on a reverse on the next play, and then Bennett and Amp Lee took turns running the ball down Miami's throat, with Lee getting into the end zone for a 21-10 lead.
The Hurricanes never seriously threatened again, and Florida State won its sixth straight game, 24-10, to burst back onto to the national scene. The Seminoles wound up finishing second in the country that season to Miami, which won the title with one less loss.
Carter finished the night with 142 yards rushing and a touchdown on 21 carries. And his early touchdown might not even be the most memorable play of that night. That would come later in the game when he dropped a flag on Miami linebacker Bernard Clark's head after Clark was called for an illegal block on an Hurricanes interception.
The Seminoles' defense, meanwhile, completely dominated a Miami offense that came into the game averaging 41.7 points per game. The Hurricanes wound up turning the ball over six times and tallying just 337 yards on 81 plays from scrimmage.
Meanwhile, even though Willis struggled against that terrific Miami defense, the Seminoles still scored more points on the Hurricanes than anyone else that regular season. Only three teams scored more than 10 points against Miami all year. Only one more than 20.
Florida State's backs ran for 243 yards on 49 carries in the game. No other offense came close to those numbers against the 1989 Hurricanes.
Even the Seminoles' streaky freshman punter, a kid named Charlie Ward, had a great night. The future Heisman Trophy winner averaged 44 yards on five punts, helping flip field position even when the FSU offense couldn't put together a scoring drive.
It was an all-time great game. From an all-time great team. Against an all-time great opponent. And when the clock ticked down to triple zeroes, the Seminoles had proven to the nation that despite the 0-2 start, they were indeed one of the best teams in the United States.
On that night, they were the very best.
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