Year-by-Year: 1994
November 24, 1994 10:00 AM
FSU Wins First National Title
Florida State 18
Nebraska 16
Led by Charlie Ward, Florida State came from behind to defeat Nebraska 18-16 to secure the school's first-ever national crown.
In a game that had two climactic finishes, the Seminoles overcame the stigma of losing games by a field goal by winning one with their own. True freshman place kicker Scott Bentley's 22-yard field goal his fourth of the day, put Florida State on top with: 21 left to all but seal a victory.
The game seemed to end after Husker quarterback Tommie Frazier hit tight end Trumane Bell with a 29-yard pass as time expired. But officials concurred that: 01 had to be placed back on the clock and the field was cleared for another finish. This time it was Nebraska's 45-yard try that sailed wide left, giving FSU its ninth-straight bowl victory.
An Orange Bowl-record crowd of 81,536 witnessed just the 11th meeting ever between the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams and just the third ever in the Orange Bowl.
GAME STATISTICS
  FSU Nebraska
First Downs 22 20
Rushing Plays 24 44
Rushing Yards 47 183
Passes Attempted 43 25
Passes Completed 24 13
Had Intercepted 0 2
Passing Yards 286 206
Total Offense 333 389
Punting/Avg. 6/45.2 7/38.4
Fumbles/Lost 0/0 2/0
Penalties/Yards 10/69 11/115
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Florida State 0 0 6 9 18
Nebraska 0 7 0 3 16
SCORING SUMMARY
FSU: Bentley 34 FG; NEB: Baul 34 pass from Frazier (Bennett kick); FSU: Bentley 25 FG; FSU: Floyd 1 run (pass failed); FSU: Bentley 39 FG; NEB: Phillips 12 run (run failed); NEB: Bennett 27 FG; FSU: Bentley 22 FG...MVPs: Charlie Ward (FSU) and Tommie Frazier (Nebraska)
Florida State Head Coach Bobby Bowden
Nebraska Head Coach Tom Osborne