Ward To Dunn: 1993 #1 Florida State Seminoles at #7 Florida Gators
November, 24 2023
Things were looking good for Florida State The top-ranked team in the nation, the Seminoles had built a 27-7 fourth-quarter lead over the Florida Gators, quieting the 85,000 fans at Florida Field, also known as “The Swamp.” Charlie Ward, the presumptive favorite for the Heisman, tossed three touchdown passes, two to Kez McCorvey in a dominant third quarter. His counterpart, fellow Hall of Famer and 1996 Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel, had been forced out of the game by a ferocious Florida State defense that badgered and battered him and All-American running back Errict Rhett.
However, Steve Spurrier’s “Fun ‘n’ Gun” offense found its footing behind reserve quarterback Terry Dean. It also found a lot of luck. Dean’s pass to Jack Jackson near the end zone was tipped by FSU cornerback Clifton Abraham. The ball then caromed toward Seminole safety Mack Knight. Inexplicably, the ball ended up in the hands of Jackson. The serendipitous 30-yard touchdown cut the lead to 27-21 with just under six minutes to play. The previously quiet Swamp erupted. The eternally snakebit Bobby Bowden could feel that yet another chance at a national championship was slipping away from him. “We were in big, big trouble,” Bowden said. “Our national championship dream could’ve become a nightmare in The Swamp.”
Charlie Ward could sense the national title and Heisman being lost. “The momentum had changed,” Ward told the St. Petersburg Times. “It wasn’t looking good for us.”
Florida State could ill afford to give the ball back to the suddenly hot Gators. Passes on first and second down from their own 21-yard line fell incomplete. With momentum and a now deafening sellout crowd on the side of the Gators, Ward knew he needed a big play.
What he got is still referred to in Tallahassee thirty years later as simply Ward to Dunn.
Ward dropped back to pass, looking first for McCorvey, but his first option was covered, and Gator defensive lineman Ellis Johnson was closing in. Ward scrambled to his left, which running back Warrick Dunn knew meant he needed to start heading towards the left as well. “It was our scramble drill,” Dunn told the Times. “Wherever he is running, you’re running.”
Ward got away from Johnson and, finding Dunn coming open, dropped a perfectly timed flare pass into his hands. Catching it in stride, Dunn turned up the sideline and outraced the defense to complete a 79-yard touchdown which brought Florida Field to a standstill.
ABC broadcasters Keith Jackson and Bob Griese both announced that the race for the Heisman was over as Ward sprinted the length of the field to join Dunn in the end zone, ending a day that saw him complete 38 of 53 passes for 446 yards and four touchdowns. “Give it to Charlie,” Greise said. Jackson agreed, saying: “You can call off the party and just mail it to him.”
The Downtown Athletic Club did not call off the party, but it did grant Ward the Heisman a few weeks later. The victory also kept FSU in the top spot and secured a date with Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. On New Year’s Day, the Seminoles beat the Cornhuskers to finally give Bowden his long sought after national championship. If these items were not sweet enough, the memorable victory also marred Steve Spurrier’s home record. The loss to Florida State was Spurrier’s first defeat at Florida Field since he took over as coach in 1990.
The 1993 Florida-Florida State game is remembered for many reasons including a match-up of Hall of Fame coaches, Heisman winning quarterbacks and six first team All-Americans. But, in the end according to Bobby Bowden, only one player on the field really mattered that Thanksgiving weekend of 1993.
“These two teams may be equal at this, might be equal at that,” Bowden told the Tampa Tribune. “But we have Charlie Ward.”