Nineteen Sixty-Four
By Jim Joanos
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Steve Tensi, Bill Peterson and Fred Biletnikoff |
One of my favorite FSU football seasons was 1964. I regard that season as the one in which FSU turned the corner from a mid-level program to a nationally competitive one. Whatever its importance, it was a fun year to be a Seminole fan.
FSU's head coach was Bill Peterson. The 1964 season would be his fifth at FSU. As a farm boy in Toronto, Ohio, Peterson had dreamed of becoming a football coach. He worked his way through college and played football at Ohio Northern University. Following his childhood dreams he became a high school football coach. Over ten years, he coached high school football at three different schools. At his last high school position in Mansfield, Ohio, he won two state championships. His record caught the eye of college coach Paul Dietzel, who was from Mansfield. In 1955, Dietzel became the head coach at LSU and hired Peterson as his line coach. At LSU, the team was very successful and after four seasons won the national championship. Peterson’s coaching as well as his recruiting was highly instrumental in LSU’s success. That ability to evaluate and recruit good athletes was an attribute that would do him well at FSU when he was hired in 1960 as head coach.
When Peterson came to FSU, the “cupboard was almost bare” in that he would have to build a program and recruit some skilled players. It would take time. In his first four seasons at FSU, the composite record was 24 wins, 20 losses, and 7 ties. Then came 1964.
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The Seven Magnificents |
In about 1963, college football’s rules on substitution changed so that teams could now freely recruit. In 1964, Peterson took full advantage of that. At FSU, passing became a main part of the offense. FSU became the national leader in its emphasis on passing. It was revolutionary. The 1964 offense featured passing from quarterback Steve Tensi to wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff. In addition, FSU’s defense became a very strong one complete with players that could totally concentrate on their defensive skills and did not have to play offense. The starting defensive line and linebackers, all of whom had their heads shaved, called themselves the “Seven Magnificents” as a takeoff from a popular movie of the time starring bald headed actor Yul Brenner. They were George D’Allesandro, Frank Pennie, Dick Herman, Jack Shinholser, Bill McDowell, Avery Sumner, and Max Wettstein. The defensive backs followed that up by calling themselves, “The Forgotten Four”. They were Maury Bibent, Jim Massey, Winfred Bailey, and Howard Ehler.
The 1964 season started with a bang. They team shut out all of the first three opponents, at Miami, 14-0, home at Texas Christian, 10-0, and New Mexico State, 36-0.
Then came FSU’s homecoming game against undefeated, Kentucky, ranked fifth in the country. Kentucky had previously had victories over powerhouses of the time, Auburn and Mississippi. From the beginning to the end of the game, FSU dominated and won 48-6. The result of that game brought FSU a national ranking of tenth, its first ever ranking in the top ten. Suddenly FSU had fans proclaiming “FSU number one” and traveling in large numbers to away games as was the situation the next game at Georgia. It was a tough game in which FSU prevailed 17-14. I had driven up with some friends that morning and very much enjoyed the game and although driving back that night into the early hours of the next day, it did not matter, FSU was now what I considered to be a “big time team” and it was fun.
The very next week, the bubble broke, at least temporarily. At Virginia Tech, the offense just could not get it going and the Hokies managed to find a way to score against FSU’s super defense. The result was a Virginia Tech victory, 20-11. For FSU fans, it was a time of frustration. We knew we had a very good team, but had lost a game against a team that became very skilled at upsetting us. It would not be the last time that the Hokies upset the Seminoles. That loss and the other upsets contributed greatly to my joy when FSU beat the Hokies for the 1999 National Championship.
FSU bounced back and beat Southern Mississippi, 34-0, in Tallahassee. The following week FSU managed a tie at Houston, 13-13, without the services of Biletnikoff, FSU’s most important player. Actually, Biletnikoff played one play at the beginning, probably to fulfill FSU’s statements to the press that he would play despite an injury sustained in the Southern Miss game. In the next game at home, FSU defeated North Carolina State, 28-6.
The last game of the regular season was at home against the University of Florida. It was the first time that “The Game” was played in Tallahassee since the annual match had begun in 1958. FSU, thanks to the strong defense featuring the “Seven Magnificents,” Florida was held in check, and the Seminoles won, 16-7. On offense, FSU’s Tensi passed for 190 yards including a 55-yard touchdown bomb to Biletnikoff. FSU’s Les Murdock kicked three field goals, which was an FSU school record at the time.
Sporting an 8-1-1 record, FSU was selected to play Oklahoma in the Gator Bowl. FSU won its first ever Gator Bowl game in a rout, 36-19. Tensi threw five touchdown passes, including four to Biletnikoff. Running back Phil Spooner ran for 125 yards on 27 carries. The defense did its usual thing. A record Gator Bowl crowd dominated by FSU fans was ecstatic. Immediately following the game on the field near one of the goal posts, to the delight of those of us in attendance, Biletnikoff signed to play for the Oakland Raiders. It was a great day to be a Seminole fan.
With its 9-1-1 record, FSU was ranked 11th nationally by the UPI, which at the time was by far the highest rating of FSU at the end of a season.
About the author:
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Jim Joanos |
Memories of Garnet and Gold
Jim Joanos and his wife Betty Lou have deep roots at Florida State University. Avid sports fans, they have literally seen, and done, it all. Fortunately for us, Jim loves telling first-hand accounts dating back to FSU’s first football game, a 1947 clash with the Stetson Hatters on Centennial Field, where Cascades Park is today.
The Osceola will run a series of these colorful stories written by the former Tallahassee lawyer and judge, which we feel our readers will find enlightening and/or nostalgic.
Jim and Betty Lou, who was Associate Director of the FSU Alumni Association (1991-2003), have been married 65 years and are each listed as one of FSU’s 100 Distinguished Graduates. The couple were enshrined in the FSU Hall of Fame in 2015 as Moore-Stone Award Recipients. Ironically, both Deans Moore and Stone were instrumental in the Joanoses career development.
“Both Jim and Betty Lou Joanos have been exemplary fans and supporters of Florida State University, both academically and athletically,” said Andy Miller, retired President and CEO of Seminole Boosters, Inc. “You can’t go to an athletic event of any kind that you don’t see both Jim and Betty Lou Joanos together. They love their university as much as they love each other.”