Previews of Coming Attractions

By Charlie Barnes

None of us Seminole fans laboring to breathe beneath the terrifying morning sun in Phoenix had any idea of the history that would begin to unfold that day. The January 1st, 1988, game kicked off long before noon in order to accomodate the eastern television audience two time zones away.

The most prestigious of the post-season games were called "New Year's Day Bowls" in those days for obvious reasons, and Florida State had played in just three - the most recent being the 1982 Orange Bowl - and we had lost all three. Nebraska was a daunting opponent and, in fact, their big, corn-fed bulldozers pushed our Seminoles out of their way throughout the 1st quarter to take a 14-0 lead. Nebraska was on our goal line preparing to make it 21-0 when a fortuitous Cornhusker fumble gave the Seminole offense a chance to settle down and rise to their potential.

And rise we did. The game rocked back and forth the entire length of four quarters with many dramatic plays on both sides. In the end, the Seminoles prevailed 31-28.

There would be many close games across the next thirteen years, but at the conclusion of every season the Seminoles finished with at least 10 wins, and were never ranked below 5th in the nation. Sun-seared Seminole fans walking out of Sun Devil Stadium on the first day of 1988 were thrilled that we could boast that we had finally won a New Year's Day bowl. Beyond that simple happiness no one understood that we had borne witness to the birth of one of the most incredible Dynasties in college football history.

All this was more than a quarter century ago when the world of sports media was much different. Two years prior to 1987 and the beginning of the Dynasty, Florida State was a good program but not a great one. We finished the 1985 season ranked 15th and then finished unranked in 1986. News about Florida State - no matter whether it was good or bad - elicited mostly yawns from America's college football fans. People took brief notice and moved on.

That would not happen today.

The Dynasty changed everything. Florida State became "The Cool School" according to ESPN Magazine. We were the subject of the most lavish praise as well as the target of malicious attacks, and everything good, bad and mundane was exaggerated through the emergence of 24-hour news and sports programming and the explosion of the Internet.

No issue was too small. When Sebastian Janikowski missed curfew in New Orleans at the Sugar Bowl, reporters demanded to know why Coach Bowden intended to play him anyway in the National Championship game. Bowden's joking response that Janikowski's tardiness fell under "international rules" spawned outrage among the usual suspects as well as televised panel discussions with talking heads pondering the state of discipline in college sports.

It was all about Florida State all the time. Because the Seminoles stood at the top of the college football pyramid and remained there for fourteen years, tens of millions of college football fans were exposed to a steady diet of Florida State Seminoles. They got it all: all the triumphs, the scandals, the controversies, the heroes, the villains. Toward the end of our 14-year reign they could access it 24 hours a day.

Then the Dynasty ended, and people moved on again.

When you don't win so much, people lose interest or they tend to tag onto other teams, other programs. Some of our fans refer to the post-Dynasty span as The Lost Decade. "Lost" is a hard case to make considering the winning seasons and winning bowl record, but it's not unfair to say that after 2000 the Seminoles slowly returned to a level of play more comparable to the first six seasons of the 1980s.

The impact of winning championships and sustaining that winning record is transformational. It exponentially expands the intensity and the range of subject areas that rivet the attention of fans and the media. For evidence of this, look no further than the Saturday, June 14th Tallahassee Democrat. On the front page, A1, above the fold, the headline and photo trumpet a story featuring Coach Jimbo Fisher's weight loss secrets. That is the difference between Kelvin Benjamin coming down in the end zone withthe ball, instead of without the ball.

It's been awhile since 2000, and we have lots of new Seminole fans now. They are fans who are excited to join in the voyage toward the New Dynasty. But also, perhaps they may not be personally familiar with history's narrative.

If as many believe we are on the cusp of a New Dynasty, it will be a wonderful adventure. For those who weren't here the last time, let me offer you an idea of what to expect. Knowing what's to come will enhance your enjoyment, and you won't be surprised.

EXPECT A FEW SHOCKING SETBACKS

Florida State is likely to head into 2014 as the pre-season favorite at #1. That is the way we began the First Dynasty. We had finished the 1987 season ranked #2 in the nation behind Miami, the only team to beat us that year. We went into 1988 flushed with confidence, ranked #1 and headed back to the old Orange Bowl for revenge in the opening game.

The Hurricanes shocked us 0-31. But a team destined for greatness will bounce back, and our Seminoles did just that, winning all the rest of the games and finishing the season ranked #3. There were other setbacks too, scattered through that extraordinary 14-year run. But they were really nothing more than a few broken threads in an otherwise beautiful tapestry.

EXPECT SOME DRAMATIC SURPRISES

In the 1994 season finale, fans were shocked to see our Defending National Champions Seminoles down 31-3 to the Florida Gators in the fourth quarter, on our own home field. If you'd like to treat yourself sometime, find a tape of Gene Deckerhoff's broadcast of those final 15 minutes of play. It is not possible to overstate the drama of that comeback.

The final 31-31 tie propelled both teams into a rematch in the Sugar Bowl six weeks later which the Seminoles won 23-17. In the initial game FSU was ranked #7 and the visiting Gators #4. Going into the Sugar Bowl FSU was still ranked #7; the Gators had dropped two spots to #6 before upsetting Alabama and winning the SEC Championship just one week after their so-called "Choke at Doak." They ranked #5 going into the Sugar Bowl, and finished #7 at the conclusion.

Victorious in the Sugar Bowl, FSU extended The Dynasty into its eighth year with a 10-1-1 record and a #4 national finish.

In 1998, gloomy fans assumed the Dynasty was finished in its twelfth season with the 4th ranked Florida Gators coming to Doak Campbell and Seminole quarterback and future Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke out with injury. Weinke had actually been the backup to first string quarterback Dan Kendra. Now, 3rd string quarterback Marcus Outzen was called to duty.

Like so many of us Seminoles, Gator fans and players must surely have assumed that without Chris Weinke they would prevail. Several of Marcus Outzen's former high school teammates from Ft. Walton, now playing for the Orange and Blue tried to warn their comrades that the red-headed white kid could run.

And run he did. Outzen ran and scrambled and scooted for his life, and led his team to victory. Seminole defenders shut out the Gators in the second half, and with the help of Peter Warrick's hands and Sebastian Janikowski's foot, FSU took the victory 23-12.

EXPECT SOME CHEAP SHOTS

In the mid-1990s a small collection of mischief-makers announced their intent to shadow individual FSU players around town, in the nightclubs and student hangouts, and report to the authorities any misdeeds or violations they could confirm. They were brazen and obnoxious and they populated the local radio sports talk shows, but nothing much ever came of it.

If we are fortunate enough to see the dawn of a New Dynasty, do not think for one moment that there will not also be a new generation of bad actors focusing in on our players. This time they will be armed with cell phone cameras and have ESPN on speed dial, and they will harbor at least as much spiteful intent as their predecessors.

Even the accusation of misdeeds, whether there is supporting evidence or not, can fill hours of programming and pages of print.

Florida State's relationship with the media in the New Dynasty will be the same as it was in the first Dynasty: We each feed the other for our own purposes. There will be unending wall-to-wall coverage of Florida State. Much of it will flood you with feelings of righteous pride. And yes, some of it will be unflattering, perhaps embarrassing. You may see some of these things as cheap shots and unfair.

There is a price to be paid for occupying the penthouse at the top of the pyramid. The view is spectacular; you can see the world from up there. But sometimes the storms at that elevation can sure rattle the windows, and there's nothing overhead to offer protection.

Expect the unexpected; hold your head up and stay true to your school.

EXPECT TO BECOME SPOILED

During the First Dynasty, Florida State fans enjoyed congregating in New Orleans five times for the Sugar Bowl, in Phoenix three times for the Fiesta Bowl, in Miami five times for Orange Bowls and one Blockbuster Bowl, and one trip to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl.

Over the 14 years of the Dynasty we won nine bowl games in a row, eight of them major bowls. In five of those 14 bowl games the winner was named National Champion.

Winning is intoxicating for the fans, and we never stop wanting more. But after a while in those days, we began to hear some fans complain about going back to the same places every year. They seemed to be asking: After you've played all the great golf courses over and over in Phoenix, and dined in all the great restaurants over and over in New Orleans what else, really, is there?

And so in the 13th year of the Dynasty, instead of our fans flooding into New Orleans days ahead of the National Championship game vs. Virginia Tech, tens of thousands of Seminoles parked themselves in Biloxi, Mississippi, among the grand casino hotels and spent their time and money thusly until game day. Virginia Tech fans thought they were alone in New Orleans until game day when they saw the endless streams of casino limos circling down the exit ramps near the Super Dome.

We were spoiled and we knew it. But no one wanted to take the cure. Never mind; the cure came soon enough.

EXPECT THE THRILL-RIDE OF YOUR FAN LIFE

If you weren't around for the first Dynasty you have no idea how wonderful it is to travel that landscape between here and the horizon. Whether you were there with the Seminoles in Pasadena or if you experienced the drama from your living room chair, you have already glimpsed the heightened possibilities; you felt that rush of passion that comes with realization that the program's goals changed in an instant. Now we begin each season expecting to compete for the National Championship.

Strap yourself in for a wild roller-coaster ride. For Seminoles, there's nothing else like it.

In the next issue of Unconquered, we'll take a look at The New Dynasty: What's Different This Time?

Charlie Barnes is the former executive director and senior vice president of Seminole Boosters. Contact him at Cbarnes@admin.fsu.edu