Year-by-Year: 1996

Last Game Played at OB Stadium

Florida State   31
Notre Dame    26

Florida State rallied to score 17 late fourth-quarter points in Orange Bowl Stadium, beating Notre Dame, 31-26.

With quarterback Danny Kanell tossing four touchdown passes?three to Florida State MVP Andre Cooper?Florida State won its NCAA-record 11th consecutive bowl and finished an unprecedented ninth consecutive season with 10 or more victories.

Kanell, who threw for 290 yards on the night, closed the gap to 26-21 on an 11-yard touchdown pass to wideout E.G. Green. The drive covered 73 yards and included a pair of runs by Warrick Dunn that netted 17 yards.

Notre Dame punted on its next series, and the Seminoles Dee Feaster returned it 41 yards to the Fighting Irish 30. It took Kanell just 1:39 to get into the end zone on a three-yard touchdown to Cooper. Kanell and Cooper hooked up again on the two-point conversion and the Seminoles were suddenly out in front, 29-26, with 6:09 left. A Notre Dame fumble and a Krug safety made the final score 31-26.

GAME STATISTICS

                                        Florida State        Notre Dame

First Downs                                26                    17

Rushing Plays                             37                    45

Rushing Yards                           221                   256

Passes Attempted                      33                     26

Passes Completed                      20                     15

Had Intercepted                         2                       1

Passing Yards                           290                   169

Total Offense                           478                   425

Punting/Avg.                          3/44.0                5/42.4

Fumbles/Lost                           8/1/0                  2/1

Penalties/Yards                         7/59                 7/55    

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Florida State     7          7          0          17        31

Notre Dame      10        0           7           9          26

SCORING SUMMARY

ND: Mayes 39-yard pass from Krug (Cengia kick); FS: Cooper 15-yard pass from Kanell (Bentley kick); ND: Cengia 20-yard FG; FS:  Cooper 10-yard pass from Kanell (Bentley kick); ND:  Mayes 33-yard pass from Krug (Cengia kick); ND:  Safety, Kanell steps out of endzone; ND:  Chruplewicz 5-yard pass from Krug (Cengia kick); FS:  Green 11-yard pass from Kanell (Bentley kick); FS:  Cooper 3-yard pass from Kanell (Cooper pass from Kanell); FS:  Safety, Krug intentional grounding in the endzone ... MVPs: Andre Cooper (FSU) and Derrick Mayes (Notre Dame)

Florida State Head Coach Bobby Bowden

Notre Dame Head Coach Lou Holtz