Reliving the Choke at Doak: Kanell joins our chat on memorable game

At the time, it was the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in college football history.

And even though it was not technically a win for Florida State that November afternoon in 1994, it sure felt like one.

Down 31-3 to the arch rival Florida Gators at home, quarterback Danny Kanell engineered a 28-point outburst that tied the game and still resonates with Florida State fans more than a quarter-century later.

Kanell, who sat down with Warchant.com for a 40-minute video discussion about the game, remembers just about everything from that day during his junior season. He definitely recalls what it felt like walking off the field at halftime, with the No. 4 Gators holding a 24-3 lead over the No. 7 Seminoles.

"I remember getting booed going through the tunnel," Kanell said. "And they're like, 'You suck.' And of course, there are always fans there that are going to voice that opinion. It doesn't bother me, but I remember that.

"And I remember thinking, 'This sucks. This is awful.'"

Don't miss our great FSU sports coverage. Get your 30-day FREE trial

When he got to the locker room, Kanell saw offensive coordinator Mark Richt and head coach Bobby Bowden having in an in-depth conversation away from the players. He thought they were going over adjustments and game-plan changes for the second half.

Not quite.

"I came to find out later, like that was the conversation that was deciding, 'Do we stay with Danny or do we go with Thad Busby to start the second half?'" Kanell said. "After they have this meeting, Mark Richt comes over to me and says, 'We're not going to bench you. But we need to play better or you're going to be.'

"And thankfully, they kind of let me ride out the storm."

The Seminoles put together a terrific opening drive to start the second half, but it stalled inside the Florida 15-yard line. Dan Mowrey then missed a 30-yard field goal. Florida went right back down the field and scored to take a 31-3 lead with 4:34 left in the third quarter.

At that point, Kanell said, he was just hoping to make the score respectable.

"I didn't really think a comeback was reality," he said. "I just thought, 'Let's try not to embarrass myself.'"

Up until that point, that's exactly what it had been: Embarrassing.

Florida State didn't lose at home back then. During the previous seven years, the Seminoles had lost a grand total of three home games: Two were one-point losses to Miami ( in 1987 and 1991), and another was to Clemson in September 1988.

That was it.

And there Kanell and the Seminoles were, trailing Steve Spurrier and the Gators by 28 points on their home field as the game went into the fourth quarter.