Irish Can't Hold Lead In 1996 Orange Bowl

January 1, 1996

Notre Dame vs Florida State Orange Bowl

By Jack Schaller, The Scholastic 1995 Football Review

On a humid January 1st night in Miami, two heavyweights, Notre Dame and Florid State, met in the Orange Bowl. The last chapter in a three-year trilogy, this final battle seemed to shape up as more of an afterthought than a rousing conclusion. In 1993 we had number one versus number two, “The Game of the Century.” The hype was tremendous, but the game lived up to it. A stirring 31-24 Irish victory seemed to set the stage for a bowl game rematch, until Boston College got in the way.

Fans had to wait until 1994 for the rematch, but Ali-Frazier II it wasn’t. The Irish brought a less than spectacular 5-3 record into the game and were thor­oughly outplayed. They gave up 517 yards to the Seminoles while managing only 221 of their own. Florida State had its revenge, 23-16.

Now with the stage set for the rubber match, nobody seemed to care. The game wasn’t sold out; in fact, fans were selling extra tickets for as little as five dollars before the game. Both coaches seemed to be searching for ways to motivate their teams. Days before the game Seminole Head Coach Bobby Bowden lamented that Lou Holtz had “gaining no­ momentum for next season” as a motivating point, while he had none. The Irish and the Seminoles were used to playing a part in the national title picture on New Year’s Day, and this year, both teams were notice­ably absent.

But when it came time for kickoff, all of a sudden it didn’t matter that the National Championship would be decided in 24 hours over 2,000 miles away. On the field were two great college football teams with extensive tradition. Pride was at stake, and that was all that mattered.

In heavyweight boxing fights, it’s often telling to see how a fighter reacts to a punishing shot from his opponent. When a boxer suffers a barrage of punches, he is very likely to hit the canvas.

With 11:43 left in this year’s Irish-Seminole fight, Notre Dame had just delivered its haymaker. After taking a 17-14 lead in the third quarter, the Irish added a safety and another touchdown to begin the fourth quarter and push their lead to 26-14. The Notre Dame sideline exploded with exuberance, while Bobby Bowden and his troops looked beaten and befuddled.

But just when it looked like Florida State would remain on the canvas and be counted out, the Semi­noles got back on their feet. Refusing to let the Irish break their streak of 13 straight bowl victories, Florida State mounted a Rocky-like comeback, scoring 17 unanswered points and stealing a 31-26 decision in the 62nd Orange Bowl. Of course they did have some help, from the Irish and the officials. Let’s start with Notre Dame’s last points.

Leading 17-14, Hunter Smith launched a beautiful punt that the Irish special teams chased down and killed at the one-yard line. The Seminoles tried to get back a bundle of yards in one play with a deep pass, but quarterback Danny Kanell’s foot grazed the back of the end zone, resulting in a safety.

The Irish didn’t waste any time after taking the ensuing free kick. On their third play, Lou Holtz called on Robert Farmer. With only four rushes so far in the game, Farmer had fresh legs, and it showed. The junior tailback took a Tom Krug hand-off and exploded for 51 yards to the Florida State 4-yard line. It was sweet vindication for Farmer who, due to a knee injury and the emergence of freshman Autry Denson, was a forgotten man at tailback. “I thought Farmer really became a man tonight,” Holtz said after the game.

Two plays later, Krug found Pete Chryplewicz in the back of the end zone for his third touchdown toss and the 12-point bulge.

And though the Notre Dame sideline celebrated, it was premature. After all, this was Florida State, a pass-happy squad with game breaking personnel. Momentum can switch sides so quickly in football; 11 minutes and change proved to be more than enough for the Seminoles.

“There in the fourth quarter, I was wondering if we had a chance,” Seminole Head Coach Bobby Bowden said. “But the kids stayed together and made the plays they had to make.”

Florida State’s stars responded. First, slippery tailback Warrick Dunn ate up 17 yards on two carries. Then Kanell took to the air, completing three straight passes for 56yards, the last going 11 toE.G. Green for a score. With prodigal son Scott Bentley’s extra point, the Seminoles had pulled within five, 26-21.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that we got worn down,” Holtz said. “It was a hot and humid day. [Florida State] probably turned up the tempo a little bit too.”

The quick response seemed to shock the Irish whose next four plays from scrim­mage were disastrous. First, Farmer tried the left side, but slipped for a loss of two yards. Then Holtz gambled on some trick­ery. Edwards took a hand-off and then attempted a pass back to Krug. Under heavy pressure, the fullback threw the ball away, setting up third and 12 and awaken­ing the Seminole crowd.

A false start by tackle Mike Doughty pushed the Irish to third and 17 and incited the crowd further. Finding nobody open, Krug scrambled and picked up 13 yards, four yards short of the first down after a 5-yard penalty.

After punting extremely well the entire game, Smith booted a 41-yard punt Its length was adequate, but it was low enough to give Seminole Dee Feaster a chance at an excellent return, and he sped all the way to the Notre Dame 30.

The Irish defense forced the Seminoles into a fourth and five situation, but Kanell came through again. A 22-yard laser to Green set the ‘Noles up with first and goal from the three. On second down, Kanell found receiver Andre Cooper in the end zone for the third time in the game. He did it again on the two-point conversion, push­ing the Seminole lead to 29-26.

In a back-and-forth game, the Irish seemed confident they would have the last laugh, as they often do in close games. But for a smash-mouth offense that this night would line up in the shotgun with five wide receiv­ers, nothing would happen as planned.

That could be the explanation for reli­able Marc Edwards fumbling on the next Irish drive. While attempting to cut left, offensive tackle Chris Clevenger’s helmet jarred the ball loose. Henri Crockett recov­ered on the Irish 43, and the game seemed over.

“I thought the fumble was criti­cal,” Holtz lamented. “We had a first down at midfield. The fumble was really critical.” .

Then the true pride of the Irish defense came through. A some­ times dominant, sometimes reck­less, sometimes porous Bob Davie cre­ation, it came through when it had to and stopped the Seminoles at the 3-yard line.

But the storybook 97-yard winning drive was shut down before it even started. An official flagged Krug for intentional ground­ing in the end zone when he was pressured on the first play of the drive. That meant a safety and a knockdown from which the Irish couldn’t get up.

A tired and downcast Holtz addressed the media after the game. From the way he looked and talked, it was obvious that this game meant more than people had thought it would. “I thought our players competed well. We had a lot of costly penalties,” said Holtz. “It seems like when you come to the Orange Bowl, you have a controversial punt return called back. We don’t make any alibis.”