The Special 1977 Football Season
By Jim Joanos
From 1972 through 1975, FSU had one losing football season after another. Although beginning with four victories in a row, the 1972 team faltered the second half of the season losing four of its last seven games and failed to get a bowl bid. The three seasons following that FSU went 0-11, 1-10, and 3-8. FSU hired Bobby Bowden as its head coach in 1976. In Bowden’s first season at FSU, FSU improved to 5-6. That would be the last losing season that FSU would suffer for 41 years. The good days began with the 1977 season. That season remains as one of my favorites of them all.
It began with a 35-6 victory at Southern Mississippi. There are tow things that stand out in my memories of that game. It was freshman noseguard Ron Simmons’ first game as a Seminole and he had a good night participating in 10 tackles, 6 of them unassisted. Simmons was the first of the many blue-chip players that Coach Bowden would recruit at FSU. It was also the first time that Wally Woodham and Jimmy Jordan shared the position of quarterback. They would in time become famous as FSU’s “two-headed quarterback.” I must chuckle when I remember my conversation with Jordan’s mother, a high school friend who I ran into before game. I told her how proud we were of her son, Jimmy, and I was confident that “In time” he would contribute to the team. I felt stupid when on that very night, not only did Jimmy contribute, but he was the offensive leader of the team throwing for 282 yards including two touchdowns.
The next week FSU beat Kansas State at their place 18-10. FSU’s offense featured passing from Jimmy Jordan to Mike Shumann and the running of Larry Key. On defense, Linebacker Jimmy Heggins and noseguard Ron Simmons were strong forces.
The next week FSU had a 17-23 loss at home to Miami. The Hurricanes intercepted five of FSU’s passes and the Seminoles only gained 104 yards on the ground.
FSU won its next six games, away against Oklahoma State, 25-17, at home against Cincinnati, 14-0, Auburn, 21-3, and North Texas State, 35-14, at Virginia Tech, 23-21, and home versus Memphis State, 30-9. Larry Key consistently performed well at running back. Wally Woodham and Jimmy Jordan took turns having good passing games. They had a batch of good receivers that included Roger Overby and Mike Shumann. Leaders on defense included Ron Simmons, Willie Jones, and Scott Warren along with a loaded backfield of Bobby Butler, Ivory Joe Hunter, Bobby Jackson, and Nat Terry, that is still remembered as one of FSU’s best ever. FSU was “rolling.”
Not so fast! In the very next week, the Seminoles went out to San Diego State and got clobbered, 16-41. It was one of those unexplainable games that happen occasionally. FSU could not do anything right. The opponents took advantage of lots of mistakes. FSU’s defense which had played so well during the season gave up 478 total in yards. As fans, we were confused. If the team was a good one, how did that happen?
In the very next game, the last of the regular season, FSU got back on track. They went down to Gainesville and totally dominated the Gators in a 37-9 victory, erasing any doubt as to the team’s abilities. That game in Gainesville was one of the most important FSU games of all time. Beating Florida was and is very important to FSU fans. Prior to that game it had been a very rare accomplishment. It had been ten years since FSU had done it. FSU’s offense was superb that day. Wally Woodham threw a touchdown pass and Jimmy Jordan threw three. On the other end, wide-receiver Roger Overby caught three of the touchdown passes and Kurt Unglaub caught the other. On the ground, Larry Key ran for 143 yards.
When the team got back to Tallahassee that night, their busses were greeted by thousands of fans who had gathered at Campbell Stadum to get a glimpse of their heroes. It was evident that night the FSU’s football program had been turned around and there were good days ahead. As a result, FSU with a season record of 9-2 was matched up to play Texas Tech in Orlando’s Tangerine Bowl (as it was named then) game on December 23. The matchup with Texas Tech was of additional interest in that their head coach, Steve Sloan, had just a few years before been an assistant coach at FSU.
We had not gone to a bowl game since the Fiesta Bowl in 1971 so Betty Lou and I decided that we would take the kids and all of us would go to Orlando for the game. It was a good decision as it turned out to be one of the most fun bowl trips that we have made.
We go to Orlando a couple of days before the game. The city was filled with football fans. FSU fans had come in record numbers to party and see FSU finish off a special season. There was a saloon in downtown Orlando that became headquarters for FSU fans. Each of the two nights that we were there we went there to seek other fans and enjoy the bowl experience. There was loud music and singing in that very happy place. I recall buying trucker’s FSU ball caps for my son and me from Sol Carroll, who considered himself to be FSU’s number one fan. Caps with FSU logos on them were a new thing then.
On game day, we went to the stadium early. FSU fans were celebrating even before the kickoff. They had enjoyed a good regular season and some rather bleak ones.
FSU started the scoring with a 23-yard field goal by Dave Cappelen in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Texas Tech responded with a field goal of their own making the score 3-3. FSU took over after that. On the ensuing kickoff, FSU’s Larry Key received the kick and ran 93 yards for a touchdown. The FSU fans went wild. They pulled out their car keys and started rattling them in tribute to “Key,” something that they had learned to do earlier in the season. The part of the stadium where we were even rocked some. It was scary. Later we learned that the seating had been built that was as a safety measure so that it would give and not snap. I did not know that at the time. It was weird.
FSU dominated the game after that. Key kept running and the keys kept jangling. Both quarterbacks, Jimmy Jordan and Wally Woodham threw two touchdown passes each. Jordan would later be recipient of MVP honors.
Thus, ended a “bounce back” season for FSU. It provided an early look t the success and excitement that would come for the FSU team with Bobby Bowden as its coach.
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About the author:
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Jim Joanos |
Memories of Garnet and Gold
We lost Judge Joanos on January 20, 2024. After going through his FSU papers, I found this article which had not yet been published.
Jim Joanos had deep roots at Florida State University. An avid sports fan, he had literally seen, and done, it all. Fortunately for us, Jim loved 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.
Jim and his wife, Betty Lou, who was Associate Director of the FSU Alumni Association (1991-2003), had been married 66 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 couldn’t have gone to an athletic event of any kind that you wouldn’t have seen both Jim and Betty Lou Joanos together. They loved their university as much as they loved each other.”