November 22, 1958 – The first meeting between Noles and Gators.  FSU tailback Fred Pickard scores the rivalry’s first points and a feud was born.

September 30, 1961 – For the first time, the Seminoles escape Gainesville without a loss.  John Harllee’s 29 yard field goal would score all the points Florida State would need in a 3-3 tie.  A near riot ensues after the game as Florida State fans storm the field to tear down Florida’s goal posts.

November 22, 1964 – The Gators make their first visit to Tallahassee and the rivalry takes a new turn.  Florida players arrive at Doak Campbell Stadium brandishing jerseys that read “Go For Seven.” Florida had not lost the prior six meetings. Yeah.  Go For Seven.  Fail.  Fred Biletnikoff catches a 55 yard pass from Steve Tensi and Les Murdock booms three field goals in Florida State’s 16-7 victory, the Noles first of many conquests in the series.

November 25, 1967 – Florida State’s 8th trip to Gainesville is the best one yet.  Quarterback Kim Hammond throws for two touchdowns and runs for another as the Seminoles win in Gainesville for the first time, 21-16.

December 3, 1977 – Florida suffers one of its most humiliating defeats ever on its own home field.  The Quarterback tandem of Wally Woodham and Jimmy Jordan throw for more than 300 yards as the Seminoles destroy the Gators 37-9.

November 25, 1978 – Florida State scores three touchdowns in the first quarter and never looks back in a 38-21 win at Doak Campbell Stadium.

November 23, 1979 – For the only time during the regular season meetings between the teams, the game is played on a Friday the day after Thanksgiving.  Undefeated Florida State puts a punctuation mark on the Gators’ winless season.  In a game that was not as close as the score indicated, the Seminoles win 27-16 finishing the regular season 11-0.  Florida ends its season at 0-10-1 to become one of the worst teams in college football history.

December 6, 1980 – Florida State Tailback Hardis Johnson runs for a pair of touchdowns as Florida State battles to a 17-13 victory at Doak.

November 28, 1987 – Running Backs Sammie Smith and Dexter Carter each rush for more than 100 yards.  Dayne Williams scores a pair of touchdowns and the Seminoles cruise in Gainesville 28-14.

November 26, 1988 – Come and get your whippin. Seven different Seminoles score touchdowns. Florida State dominates likes never before by crushing the Gators 52-17.

December 2, 1989 – FSU Quarterback Peter Tom Willis tosses three touchdowns as the Gators play their final game on that notoriously rock-hard artificial turf at Florida Field.  Florida State 24 Florida 17.

December 1, 1990 – Amp Lee and Edgar Bennett each rush for a pair of touchdowns and Lawrence Dawsey catches a 76 yard scoring bomb from Casey Weldon as the Seminoles ease into a 45-30 win.

November 28, 1992 – For the third straight game in Tallahassee, Florida State scores more than 40 against the Gators.  Quarterback Charlie Ward throws for more than 300 yards as Florida State vanquishes Florida again, 45-24.

November 27, 1993 – Florida State’s road to its first national championship runs through Gainesville, but to the Seminoles it’s only a minor inconvenience.  Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward throws for 446 yards and four touchdowns in the Seminoles’ 33-21 win.

November 26, 1994 – The game that coined the phrase “The Choke at Doak.”  Florida leads 31-3 with 11:00 to play.  Then the Seminoles stage a furious, miraculous 4th quarter rally with 28 unanswered points.  The contest ends in a 31-31 tie that will forever feel like a win for the Seminole faithful.

January 2, 1995 – For the first time, an FSU-Florida game is played outside the Florida at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.  Before the game, the Superdome scoreboard reads 31-31, 5th Quarter.  Quarterback Danny Kanell throws for 252 yards and Tailback Warrick Dunn throws a 73 yard touchdown to ‘OMar Ellison in the Noles’ 23-17 win.

November 30, 1996 – It’s the most anticipated game in the rivalry’s history.  #1 Florida visits #2 Florida State.  In a ridiculously physical contest, Pooh Bear Williams rushes for 2 touchdowns and the Seminoles claim the #1 spots in all the polls in a hard fought 24-21 win that saw Doak Campbell Stadium lose its goal posts and a lot of its turf in the post-game celebration.

November 21, 1998 – Wide receiver Peter Warrick caught one touchdown pass and threw for another, and Florida State’s defense did not allow Florida to convert a single third down all game as the fifth ranked Seminoles defeated the fourth ranked Gators 23-12 in Tallahassee. Backup Quarterback Marcus Outzen, filling in for an injured Chris Weinke completes 13 of 22 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown.

November 20, 1999 – The eyes of the nation are on the sinkhole in Gainesville as #1 Florida State visits #3 Florida.  The winner grabs the inside shot at the national championship game.  Florida State uses four different quarterbacks (Chris Weinke, Marcus Outzen, Dan Kendra and Peter Warrick) on its opening drive leading to a touchdown run by Warrick lined up as the quarterback.  Sebastian Jainkowski blasts a 54 yard field goal.  Jeff Chaney and Snoop Minnis add touchdowns as Florida State rolls toward its 2nd National Championship with a 30-23 win.

November 18, 2000 – In the middle of the State of Florida’s election recount fiasco, Florida State rolls to a landslide win over the Gators.  Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke throws for 353 yards.  Snoop Minnis catches two touchdown passes.  FSU dominates at Doak 30-7.

November 30, 2002 – In a surprisingly easy win, Quarterback Chris Rix throws for nearly 200 yards.  Tailback Leon Washington rushes for 134 yards.  And Wide Receiver Anquan Boldin grabs eight passes for 101 yards as the Seminoles win handily over the Gators 31-14.

November 29, 2003 – The Seminoles and Gators engage in a back and forth slugfest in front of more than 90,000 people at Florida Field on a chilly afternoon.  Seminole Wide Receiver P.K. Sam hauls in a 52 yard touchdown pass from Chris Rix with 55 seconds to go to give FSU a dramatic 38-34 win in the bowels of Alachua County.  Florida fans claim the officials blew several calls which benefited Florida State.  Other football observers the world over disagree and emphatically believe the game was officiated in a fair and consistent manner.

November 27, 2010 – The Seminoles and Gators meet for the 55th time.  Since 1976, the teams are deadlocked at 17-17-1 against each other.  FSU prepares to regain control of this series Saturday at 3:30.  Come back to TPSM for news & photos from this year’s epic clash.

Just ask Christian Ponder and Dustin Hopkins of the Florida State Seminoles football team.

One week after being involved in the fumble that ended the potential game winning drive against NC State, Ponder went 24-for-34 for 264 yards and three touchdowns against North Carolina.

But more importantly, he didn’t turn the ball over.

Enter Dustin Hopkins against North Carolina, who missed two 4^th quarter field goals including the game winner.

But he would not succumb to that pressure again when facing the Clemson Tigers

The Seminoles were without their starting QB but had the reliable EJ Manuel under center.

EJ and the rest of the offense struggled during the first half but the Seminoles D kept them in contention, picking off Clemson QB Kyle Parker twice and blocking one field goal.

Florida State found themselves down 10-6 entering the final quarter, but EJ wasn’t about to lose during his first starting job of the season.

He guided the Seminoles on a 12-play, 85 yard drive and ran into the endzone on an 8 yard end-around with 10:08 to put FSU up 13-10 after a successful PAT.

Clemson would respond with a game-tying field goal leaving a mere 53 seconds left on the clock.

The Noles weren’t about to let this game go into overtime, though.

A few well timed passes, along with a pass interference call against Coty Sensabaugh, and the Seminoles were at the very edge of Dustin’s field goal range.

There was no doubting how this game would end as Hopkins rifled the ball deep through the uprights for a 55 yard game winning field goal, racing across the field in celebration along with the rest of his teammates.

The emotional value of this win was heard in head coach Jimbo Fisher’s voice and seen on his face as he teared-up during a post game interview.

The dreams of a trip to Charlotte and an ACC Championship live on for another week.

One week after a stunning loss to NC State on a late fumble, the Florida State Seminoles saw another close game stolen from them in the waning seconds.

With seven seconds left in the game, K Dustin Hopkins trotted on for a very make-able field goal attempt.

Hoping to atone for a missed field goal earlier in the quarter Dustin would leave the field in utter disbelief after watching his second attempt mirror the first.

Sailing wide right.

The Seminoles knew soon after this game began that both NC State and Maryland had lost leaving Florida State atop the Atlantic Division standings.

The formula became simple: keep winning and you’re in (the ACC Championship Game).

North Carolina had other plans as they, too, had to keep pace with Virginia Tech in the Coastal Division.

At the end of the day fewer mistakes were made by the Tar Heels as they overcame untimely penalties and a very bad snap on a punt that lead to a Florida State touchdown; along with a great game from TJ Yates who threw for over 400yds.

Florida State now must regroup, refocus, and reestablish itself in the Atlantic Division with Clemson coming to town next weekend.

We’ll have to wait and see if they take the field with Christian Ponder or EJ Manuel under center, as Ponder is still battling fluid-issues in his elbow on his throwing arm due to his ruptured bursa sack.

Either way, the Noles have to find a way to win and can’t let another game slip through their fingers.

The FSU team that took the field against Boston College is not the gritty offense we’ve come to enjoy watching since their loss to OU back on September 11th.

Christian Ponder had possibly his worst day as a starter, going 19-for-31 for only 170 yards and throwing 2 TDs and responsible for all four (4) of Florida State’s turnovers (3 INTs and 1 fumble).

Luckily the defense was holding strong and not allowing the Eagles to score after every turnover.

The Eagles defense did show why they had one of the top rushing defenses in the country, holding FSU’s newly potent rushing attack to a meager 141 yards.  The bulk of that came on the game winning rush by Bert Reed who bolted 42 yards to reclaim the lead for FSU with 10:50 left in the game.

Championship teams win, this is true.  But they also win with their backs against the wall in tough, gritty, hard fought games.

One down performance should not signal signs of panic in the Seminole Nation.  Remember our ’99 championship?  We had a very low scoring, hard fought 17-14 win at Clemson; a game that Clemson led 14-3 going into halftime.  But our boys fought back then and they did the same against BC.

And I’m sure they’ll continue to fight in each and every contest for the rest of the season.

Sometimes you just have to have heart.

What follows is a collection of images captured by Niki Everson of Think Pink Sports Media of all the action on Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium .  As always, all materials contained within this post remain the sole property of Niki and Think Pink Sports Media and may not be reproduced with out permission, obtainable by emailing niki@thinkpinksm.org.  Click each single image to enlarge or choose “View with Pic Lens” to begin slide show.

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Ponder didn’t play completely up to par after an injury at Oklahoma, he sustained a contusion to his left forearm.  Even with the injury, Ponder completed 14 of 21 attempts and a touchdown.

Midway through the first half the Seminoles led 13-0, but the didn’t last long.  The Cougars got their momentum going with under three minutes left in the second quarter.  A 71 yard, 11 play touchdown drive cut that Seminole lead down to a three, 13-10.

But after halftime the Seminoles defense came out with something to prove!  They did that by not allowing BYU to reach the end-zone again.  The Seminoles held BYU to only 39 offensive yards in the second half.

The game finished up with an impressive 427 total yards for FSU & 191 for BYU.

Florida State welcomes Wake Forest on Saturday at 3:30 ET (ABC) and is looking to start Conference play with a win.

What follows is a collection of images captured by Niki Everson of Think Pink Sports Media of all the action on Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium.  As always, all mate­rials contained within this post remain the sole property of Niki and Think Pink Sports Media and may not be reproduced without permission, obtainable by emailing niki@thinkpinksm.org.  Click each single image to enlarge or choose “View with Pic Lens” to begin slide show.

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The game also welcomed Jimbo Fisher as the new Seminoles head coach, something Florida State hasn’t seen in 35 years.

The game was considered a “full circle” for both Jimbo, a former Samford quarterback, and Bobby, head coach at Samford (then called Howard University) from 1959-1962.  Bobby did decide to watch the game from his home instead of be on the sidelines.

Jimbo’s reign at FSU started a little different than Bobby Bowden’s did; Jimbo got the win.

This game was a fantastic start to their 2010-2011 season and gave their fans a sense of excitement and anticipation that we haven’t seen in quite a few years.

In just the first half Christian Ponder threw for 167 yards and four touchdowns.  Amazing considering this is the first time the Heisman-hungry quarterback has played since his shoulder injury last November. Ponder completed 12 of 14 passes in the first half.

In the second quarter the Noles erupted scoring 35 points within an 11 minute span, including Bert Reid’s 74 yard punt return touchdown.

Manuel took over in the second half completing 10 of 13 passes for 129 yards.

The Seminoles totaled 429 total yards & finished with a winning score of 59-6 over Samford. Moving on to play at Oklahoma next week should be the true sign to the Seminole Nation whether they’re back or not.

To follow is a collection of images gathered by Niki of Think Pink Sports Media.  All material contained within this post remain the sole property of Niki and may not be reproduced without permission, obtainable by emailing niki@thinkpinksm.org.  Click each single image to enlarge or choose “View with Pic Lens” to begin slide show.

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The wait is finally over.

In a few short days the 2010 college football season will kickoff, and it couldn’t have come sooner.

For those of you out there like me, you enjoy the summer months but there is always something missing. The roar of the crowd, the excitement and drama that unfolds each week as teams fight it out between the hashmarks for conference and national supremacy.

There really is nothing like College Football.

And while I can hardly wait to see how well Florida State starts its season, this one is remarkably bittersweet.

Its the first time in my life I’ll be cheering on FSU without seeing Bobby Bowden roam the sidelines. No matter your opinion on how his career ended, you cannot take away what he has done for the University and the state of Florida in general. He is an icon and will be truly missed.

But with the talent coming back on offense and the offseason turnaround made by Jimbo Fisher, I am looking forward to seeing the Seminoles post better numbers on both sides of the ball.

Will we go undefeated? Doubtful.

Will we win the Conference Title for the first time since 2005? Its possible, but not a guarantee.

Can we win our division for the first time since 2005? I see this as a very likely scenario.

The Seminoles have the talent to do great things this year. But with so many question marks on defense there is little that can be said beyond winning the (weaker) Atlantic Division.

Samford will provide a great scrimmage, as long as we don’t lay another egg like we did against South Florida and almost against Jacksonville State last year. Oklahoma will be the real test, though, If we can keep that game close, or even pull off the upset in Norman, then it will go a long way into building this program back to the heights in enjoyed in the 90s.

As an added bonus we’ll also get a new addition to our sod cemetary.

Keep the faith, Seminole Nation. While this isn’t your daddy’s Seminoles anymore it doesn’t mean we can’t do great things. The Dynasty will be reborn in 2010.

And our weekends will once again become something to look forward to.

This was a game that the Seminole Nation has had circled on its calendar since Bobby Bowden announced his retirement.

And its just a Spring Game.

But its so much more than that.  Its a measuring stick not only for the coaching staff but for the entire student body, Seminole fans, and the world of college football to see just how Jimbo’s new team will look this fall.

And with just less than five months until their first game, things are definitely looking up.

This year’s Spring Game was setup as more of a traditional styled football game, and the 50,000+ Garnet and Gold faithful that attended were definitely given a show to remember.

Heisman-hopeful Christian Ponder gave those in attendance a collective sigh of relief as he displayed no real signs of a letdown after injuring his shoulder late last season and required surgery.  Ponder went 16-of-34 and threw for 266 yards, two touchdown passes, and rushed for another as he lead the Gold team to a 29-17 victory.

Sophomore receiver Rodney Smith showed just how great he can be as he had three catches for 124 yards and one touchdown for the Gold team.  On the other side, Bert Reed had ten catches for 163 yards and one touchdown for the Garnet.

The top rusher of the day belonged to Debrale Smiley, a JUCO transfer, who notched 58 yards on only three carries for the Gold team.

The Gold team totaled 399 yards on the day (295 passing and 104 rushing) while the Garnet put up 246 yards (210 passing and 36 rushing).

But offense wasn’t the biggest concern for the Seminoles last year.  What the team is really looking to improve upon is one of the worst defensive efforts since the 1980s.

They, too, did not disappoint.

Brandon Jenkins lead the way with three sacks and six tackles for the Gold followed by fellow Gold teammates Vince Williams and Nigel Carr who each knotted six tackles apiece.

“I thought the defense did a real good job in the second half controlling the line of scrimmage,” Fisher said.

“I think today was great for not only the players to see the support and everyone wanting to watch them play but I think it was good for the fans, too,” Fisher said. “Getting back here and enjoying yourself in a spring weekend and getting to see a lot of friends and family and tailgate and have fun and remember why you enjoy Florida State, why you came here and why they love it.”

And if this was even just a glimmer of things to come this fall and in years to come, the Seminole Nation will soon be back on top and competing for Conference and National titles.

And opponents will once again “Fear the Spear”.

What fol­lows is a col­lec­tion of images cap­tured by Niki Everson of Think Pink Sports Media of all the action on Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium .  Re-cap story provided by guest author.  As always, all mate­ri­als con­tained within this post remain the sole prop­erty of Niki and Think Pink Sports Media and may not be repro­duced with­out per­mis­sion, obtain­able by email­ing niki@thinkpinksm.org.  Click each sin­gle image to enlarge or choose “View with Pic Lens” to begin slide show.

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Louisiana State Uni­ver­sity has his­tor­i­cally been known for its abil­ity to pro­duce NFL-caliber tal­ent, and with this year’s Pro Day, held Mon­day, March 15 in the Tigers’ indoor prac­tice facil­ity, scouts rep­re­sent­ing all 32 NFL teams were con­vinced of lit­tle otherwise.

Many of those par­tic­i­pat­ing in Monday’s Pro Day work­outs — a list includ­ing for­mer LSU play­ers such as Bran­don LaFell, Charles Scott, Ciron Black, Chad Jones, Rahem Alem, and Harry Cole­man — had already estab­lished them­selves as indi­vid­u­als likely to get a strong look from NFL teams in next month’s draft.  Nev­er­the­less, all play­ers involved aimed to fur­ther show­case their tal­ents as a means of rein­forc­ing and improv­ing their poten­tial draft stock, with few, if any, dis­ap­point­ing in their time in the spotlight.

The fol­low­ing is a run­down of some of the things heard and seen Mon­day morning:

• Lafell said he was both­ered by a ham­string injury, but still man­aged to post a 4.54 40 yard dash and par­tic­i­pate in posi­tion drills.

• Black recorded a 26-inch ver­ti­cal jump, a 7–7 broad jump and did par­tic­i­pate in some shut­tle and posi­tion drills.

• Jones ran a 4.57 in the 40, had a 9–7 broad jump and did 11 bench press reps, improv­ing his num­bers from last month’s offi­cial NFL combine.

• Scott ran a 4.53 in the 40, had a 31-inch ver­ti­cal, a 9–6 broad jump and also par­tic­i­pated in posi­tion drills.

• Alem posted a 33-inch ver­ti­cal and a 9–7 broad jump.

• Cole­man ran a 4.48 40, net­ted a 33-inch ver­ti­cal jump, a 9–10 broad jump and par­tic­i­pated in posi­tion drills.

• Trindon Hol­i­day stood on all of his com­bine num­bers but did par­tic­i­pate in posi­tion drills.

• Richard Dick­son ran a 4.85 40, recorded a 28 1/2 inch ver­ti­cal jump and par­tic­i­pated in pos­i­tion drills.

• Every year there are always play­ers who improve their stock after miss­ing out on an invite to com­bine; this was true again Mon­day, as safety Danny McCary com­pleted 24 reps on the bench, ran a 4.46 in the 40 and had a 34 inch ver­ti­cal jump.

One of the more inter­est­ing sto­ries at this year’s Pro Day came from a guy that didn’t even play at LSU — for­mer Okla­homa State / Texas South­ern quar­ter­back Bobby Reid, who was on hand to throw to receivers and run­ning backs in posi­tion drills.  Reid  tore his ACL while under cen­ter for Texas South­ern, and after hav­ing surgery to repair the dam­age,  asked cur­rent LSU head coach Les Miles — who coached Reid while still at Okla­homa State — if he could par­tic­i­pate in LSU’s Pro Day. Miles agreed.

Reid ran a 4.64 40, recorded a 9–3 broad jump, a 33 1/2 ver­ti­cal jump, and benched 19 reps.

What fol­lows is a col­lec­tion of images from Monday’s Pro Day as pro­vided to Think Pink Sports Media by Melinda Dove.  As always, all mate­r­ial in this post remain the sole prop­erty of Melinda and Think Pink Sports Media and may not be repro­duced with­out explicit per­mis­sion, obtain­able by email­ing melinda@thinkpinksm.org.  Click each sin­gle image to enlarge or choose “View with Pic Lens” to begin slide show.

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