1993 Florida State Seminoles football team

FSU beat its first five opponents by an average score of 46–3, during which linebacker Derrick Brooks outscored the Noles' first five opponents combined. These victories included a 57-0 win over #17 Clemson and a 33-7 win over #13 North Carolina. The Seminoles' first competitive contest didn't come until October 9, when the third-ranked Miami Hurricanes came to Tallahassee with a 31-game regular season win streak. That game was sealed when FSU safety Devin Bush picked off a Frank Costa pass and ran it back 40 yards for a Florida State touchdown, making the score 28–10 with 4:59 to play.

On November 13, 1993, Florida State played Notre Dame in a matchup of unbeaten teams in an away game at Notre Dame Stadium, on a day where 20 mph winds created extra adversity for the pass-happy Noles. FSU was ranked #1 and Notre Dame was ranked #2. In a matchup hailed as the "Game of the Century", the Seminoles' bid for a perfect season fell short as Notre Dame prevailed, 31–24. The Irish had leads of 24–7 and 31–17 before the Seminoles scored late to cut the final margin to seven. The Noles then regained possession at their own 37-yard line with just 51 seconds left in the game.^[16] Three consecutive passes by Ward quickly led Florida State to the Notre Dame 14.^[16] On the last play of the game, Ward rolled out and had his pass attempt batted down in the end zone, leaving the Irish with a 31–24 victory. After that game, Notre Dame was voted #1 and FSU was voted #2.^{[citation needed]}

The following week, #1 Notre Dame lost at home to #17 Boston College 41–39 on a 41-yard field goal as time expired, while the Seminoles beat NC State 62–3. The voters returned the Seminoles to the #1 spot in the AP poll, and they rose to #2 in the coaches' poll while Notre Dame fell to a ranking of fourth in both polls. The week afterwards, FSU travelled to Gainesville to face the 7th-ranked Florida Gators -- that season's SEC champions -- and defeated them 33–21. FSU finished the regular season #1 and was matched against #2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. In a hard-fought contest, Florida State rallied late to defeat Nebraska 18–16 after the Cornhuskers tried and missed a 45-yard field goal on the game's final play.^[17] After the bowl games, 12–1 Florida State was voted #1 in both polls, while 11–1 Notre Dame fell to #2 and 11-1 Nebraska dropped to 3rd in the polls respectively.

During the 1993 season, the Seminoles faced four teams in the top seven of the AP rankings when FSU played them -- #3 Miami in week 6, #2 Notre Dame in week 11, #7 Florida in week 13, and #2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl -- and they went 3–1 against those teams, while playing only one home game in those four contests. The Noles also defeated three other top 25 teams that filled out their schedule, with Clemson ranked 17th, North Carolina ranked 13th, and Virginia ranked 15th when the Noles played them. By the end of season, FSU had faced six of the teams in the final AP top 25 poll, going 5-1 against them. These teams were #2 Notre Dame, #3 Nebraska, #5 Florida, #15 Miami, #19 North Carolina, and #23 Clemson. By the end of Notre Dame's season, the Irish had faced two teams ranked in the final AP top 25: #1 Florida State and #19 Michigan. In their Cotton Bowl meeting with #7 Texas A&M, Notre Dame won 24–21.

• Charlie Ward, Heisman Trophy^[18]
• Charlie Ward, Johnny Unitas Award
• Charlie Ward, James E. Sullivan Award^[19]
• Charlie Ward, Walter Camp Award
• Charlie Ward, Maxwell Award
• Charlie Ward, Davey O'Brien Award

The following were selected in the 1994 NFL draft.

^[20]

The following played in the NFL in later years:

• Derrick Brooks
• Sam Cowart
• Kez McCorvey
• Warrick Dunn
• Derrick Alexander
• Tamarick Vanover
• Clay Shiver
• Danny Kanell