Florida State Scores Last 17 Points To Edge Notre Dame, 31-26, For 10th Straight Bowl Win
MIAMI, FL--Danny Kanell threw four touchdown passes, including three to
Andre Cooper, as Florida State scored the final 17 points and
continued its postseason dominance with a 31-26 win over Notre
Dame in the Orange Bowl at Miami.
Eighth-ranked Florida State (10-2) won its 10th straight bowl
game and is unbeaten in its last 14 at 13-0-1. The Seminoles won
at least 10 games for an NCAA record ninth straight season.
"I was afraid of Notre Dame," said Florida State coach Bobby
Bowden. "I was afraid of Notre Dame, especially Lou Holtz. He
is a master at preparing his team. Our kids rose up. This team
was so close to having the year we were supposed to have -- we
had two bad quarters all year."
Sixth-ranked Notre Dame (9-3) had its six-game winning streak
snapped and fell to 5-4 in bowl games under Lou Holtz.
"Florida State is a great football team," said Holtz. "They
played as well as they have all year. We have no alibis, I felt
we had a chance until the very end. It was an outstanding
game."
Kanell threw a pair of touchdowns in a 3:38 span of the fourth
quarter to erase a 26-14 deficit. He found E.G. Green for an
11-yarder with 9:47 left.
Kanell completed 20-of-32 passes for 290 yards.
"We wanted to win it for Coach Bowden so badly because at the
end of the season we struggled a little bit," Kanell said. "I
just kept my head. I wanted to come out strong. There was a lot
of pride on the line. This was my last game so I wanted to come
out and play strong win or lose. They were an excellent team,
we knew that. We knew it was going to be a battle to the end."
On the next possession, Green caught a 21-yard pass on 4th-and-5
to the 4-yard line and Kanell later followed with a 2-yard scoring
strike to Cooper, who set an Orange Bowl record with his third
touchdown catch. Cooper, who had just four receptions in the
game, then caught the two-point conversion pass. The touchdown
followed a 41-yard punt return by Dee Feaster to the Irish 30.
The 17-0 run concluded when Tom Krug of Notre Dame was called
for intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety.
Warrick Dunn of the Seminoles carried 22 times for 151 yards,
including 98 in the first half. The four touchdown passes by
Kanell are also an Orange Bowl record.
Krug threw three touchdown passes, including two long strikes to
Derrick Mayes. Krug connected on passes of 39 and 33 yards to
Mayes, who beat defensive back Samari Rolle each time, and added
a five-yarder to tight end Pete Chryplewicz.
"I didn't think we had the game wrapped up," Krug said. "We knew
they were capable of coming back quickly. We tried to keep
scoring and keep scoring since we knew they could come back and
score. You throw the ball up in an area and you know he's going
to bring it down. It's a great feeling when you know you can
relax back and throw and 99 percent of the time he's going to
catch it no matter where it is."
Mayes outleaped Rolle for his second score with 8:04 left in the
third quarter to give the Irish a 17-14 lead. Krug kept the
drive alive with a four-yard run on fourth-and-three to the
Seminole 32.
Krug was 14-of-24 for 140 yards while Mayes had six receptions
for 96 yards.
Notre Dame tacked on a safety early in the fourth quarter. A
44-yard punt by Hunter Smith was downed at the 1-yard line and
Kanell then stepped out of the end zone while rolling out to
pass. Notre Dame moved downfield after the ensuing free kick and
the drive ended with the touchdown pass to Chryplewicz.
Kanell threw a pair of touchdown passes to Cooper to help
Florida State post a 14-10 halftime lead.
Cooper made a leaping catch over two defenders in the end zone
with 2:30 left in the half to give the Seminoles their first
lead at 14-10. The flanker also caught a 15-yard scoring strike
from Kanell midway through the first quarter to tie the game at
7-7.
Notre Dame struck first when Mayes beat Rolle with 8:27 left in
the first quarter. Scott Cengia added a 20-yard field with two
seconds in the first quarter.
Mayes returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown early in the
second quarter, but the score was called back by an illegal
block.
"I wish all the scores could have been traded for a win," said
Mayes. "I came here to be a winner, hopefully the younger guys
could pick up where I left off."
Game Statistics
At The Orange Bowl
January 1, 1996
Attendance: 72,198
Florida St (8) 7 7 0 17 - 31
Notre Dame (6) 10 0 7 9 - 26
ND--Mayes 39 pass from Krug (Cengia kick)
FSU--Cooper 15 pass from Kanell
(Bentley kick)
ND--FG Cengia 20
FSU--Cooper 10 pass from Kanell
(Bentley kick)
ND--Mayes 33 pass from Krug (Cengia kick)
ND--Safety. Kanell stepped out of end zone
ND--Chryplewicz 5 pass from Krug
(Cengia kick)
FSU--E Green 11 pass from Kanell
(Bentley kick)
FSU--Cooper 2 pass from Kanell
(Cooper pass from Kanell)
FSU--Safety
(Krug, intentional grounding in end zone)
FSU ND
First downs 26 17
Rushes-yards 37-188 45-256
Passing yards 290 169
Sacked-yards lost 3-24 1-11
Return yards 60 35
Comp.-Att.-Int. 20-33-2 15-26-1
Punts 3-44.0 5-42.4
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 7-59 7-55
Time of possession 28:13 31:47
RUSHING:
Florida St.-Dunn 22-151, Preston 6-55,
P. Williams 2-7, Abdullah 2-2,
Kanell 5-minus 27.
Notre Dame-R. Farmer 7-93, A. Denson 11-67,
Edwards 14-55, Krug 11-45, M. Thorne 1-4,
Sollman 1-minus 8.
PASSING:
Florida St.-Kanell 20-32-2-290,
Dunn 0-1-0-0.
Notre Dame-Krug 14-24-1-140,
D Smith 1-1-0-29, Edwards 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING:
Florida St.-Messam 6-103, E Green 5-99,
Cooper 4-38, Dunn 2-19, P Williams 2-17,
Abdullah 1-14.
Notre Dame-Mayes 6-96, Chryplewicz 3-18,
Edwards 2-25, Stafford 2-14, Mosley 1-13,
R. Farmer 1-3.
