It was the first of three Top 10 battles the Florida State football team would play that season.

In the second week of the Seminoles' famed "Wire to Wire" national championship in 1999, they took on the No. 10 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on a humid night in Doak Campbell Stadium.

The result was a 41-35 shootout that Mark Richt still remembers to this day.

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Richt was the offensive coordinator for the No. 1 Seminoles at the time. He had a lot of weapons at his disposal, of course, but he knew first and foremost that No. 9 in garnet need the ball in his hands. A lot.

Peter Warrick caught eight passes for 142 yards and a touchdown that night and also added a 17-yard TD run in the first quarter on a quarterback draw.

"We knew [going into the 1999 season] that we had to have more plays that we knew for certain would get him the ball," RIcht said. "It was just a handful of things to make sure he got it."

Even with Warrick's exploits, the Seminoles could never get any real separation from Joe Hamilton and the Yellow Jackets. The Georgia Tech quarterback was 22-of-25 on the night for 387 yards and four touchdowns. He was 14-of-14 in the second half, cutting the Seminoles' lead to just six points with a 22-yard touchdown strike with 1:35 remaining.

But Florida State recovered the ensuing onside kick and continued its march toward an undefeated season.

"Most of the time, we didn't have to score 50 a game to win," said Richt, who joined Warchant for this week's "War Chat" discussion. "You didn't have to score 40 a game to win. We didn't have to score 30 in a game to win. Or even 20 sometimes, you know? So it was very rare that we had to score that many points to win a game because our defense was so good."

On that night, though, the Seminoles' defense was saved by the offense.

Starting late in the first quarter on Warrick's touchdown run and culminating with his 26-yard TD catch early in the third, Florida State scored touchdowns on five straight possessions.

Quarterback-turned-fullback Dan Kendra had a 3-yard TD catch, Travis Minor scored on an 18-yard run, and backup tailback Jeff Chaney took a swing pass from quarterback Chris Weinke and scored from 29 yards out.

The problem was Georgia Tech kept scoring, too.

In the second quarter alone, the teams combined for five touchdowns. All told, they combined to score TDs on seven straight drives.

Florida State extended a 28-21 halftime lead to 35-21 in the third, but naturally Georgia Tech answered right back.

The biggest difference in the second half for the Seminoles was the defense pressuring Hamilton a bit more (Jamal Reynolds had two sacks alone) and the Polish kicker with the thunderbolt for a left leg.

Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 45-yard field goal and a 46-yarder in the second half to give the Seminoles the cushion they would need to hold on for a six-point victory. The Seminoles finished with 444 yards of total offense. Georgia Tech finished with 501.

Weinke was 16-of-29 for 262 yards and three touchdowns, while Minor finished the night with 122 yards on 22 attempts.

And most importantly, although it was far from easy, all the Seminoles finished that night one step closer to the 1999 national championship.

Editor's Note: To hear Richt speak specifically about Warrick, Weinke, Minor and especially Janikowski -- Richt has some great Janikowski stories -- watch the video at the top of this story.

WATCH PREVIOUS WAR CHATS:

* DB Bobby Butler -- 1980 victory over No. 3 Pitt

* WR Marvin 'Snoop' Minnis -- 1999 win over the Gators

* WR P.K. Sam -- Game-winning catch at Florida in 2003

* QB EJ Manuel -- Reliving FSU's 2012 win over Clemson

* LB Kirk Carruthers -- FSU's 1989 win over Miami at Doak

* QB Danny Kanell -- Remembering the 'Choke at Doak'

* Florida State's historic win at Michigan in 91

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