Game of the Year of the Day, 1991: Florida 14, Florida State 9

The date: November 30, 1991

The matchup: No. 3 Florida State (10-1) at No. 5 Florida (9-1)

My second book, The 50 Best* College Football Teams of All Time, came out in March. The title is a misdirection — it’s not about the best teams; it’s about college football at its best and most interesting.

Over the coming weeks, we’re going to take a look at some of the biggest games from these 50 best* teams.

Rose Bowl breakthroughs

1924 Notre Dame, 1925 Alabama, 1931 USC, 1993 Wisconsin, 2004 Texas

Offensive innovation

1906 Chicago, 1943 Iowa Pre-Flight, 1968 Texas, 1991 Florida, 2007 Oregon

Dramatic seasons

1960 Iowa, 1965 UCLA, 1978 Missouri, 1982 Pitt, 2013 Auburn

Star power

1923 Illinois, 1938 TCU, 1980 Georgia, 1984 Boston College, 1999 Virginia Tech

On the rise

1951 Michigan State, 1962 Nebraska, 1970 Alabama, 1981 Florida State, 2002 USC

Mid-majors

1930 Utah, 1970 Dartmouth, 1972 Tampa, 1974 Miami (Ohio), 2010 Boise State

Greatness denied

1941 Northwestern, 1968 Purdue, 1973 Michigan, 1988 Miami, 1990 Virginia, 1998 Ohio State

Incredible defense

1938 Tennessee, 1957 Auburn, 1959 Ole Miss, 1985 Oklahoma, 1993 Texas A&M, 2011 LSU

Perfection

1917 Georgia Tech, 1940 Minnesota, 1945 Army, 1947 Notre Dame, 1955 Oklahoma, 1959 Syracuse, 1991 Washington

The stakes: Florida’s season has already been a massive success; the Gators have won their first SEC title in just Steve Spurrier’s second year in charge and are headed to the Sugar Bowl to play Notre Dame. But first, they want to get another monkey off of their back.

The back story: FSU is on its way to its fifth consecutive top-5 finish and has beaten Florida for four straight years. The Seminoles just lost out on a national title shot with a 17-16 loss to Miami (you’ve maybe read about that game once or twice) and now has to rebound against the best Florida team in quite a while.

The three major Florida schools have never all been this good at the same time. And while FSU is still trying to get over the hump against Miami, Florida wants a seat at the table. The Gators romped through the SEC slate and beating No. 4 Tennessee, No. 16 Alabama, No. 21 Mississippi State, and No. 23 Georgia by a combined 106 points. Spurrier has brought the forward pass to the SEC, but a win over FSU would resonate nationally.

The game:

From 50 Best*:

Florida and Florida State combined to average nearly 67 points per game in 1991; in Gainesville on November 30, they combined for just 23. Florida held FSU’s Casey Weldon to 24-for-51 passing, and FSU held Matthews to 13-for-30 and three picks. In front of 85,461, a record crowd at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Florida led just 7-3 at halftime thanks to a short Rhett touchdown.

But midway through the third quarter, FSU’s defense suffered a crippling miscue. With Matthews rolling right, FSU’s Terrell Buckley pursued him, leaving linebacker Reggie Freeman to cover Harrison Houston deep. Buckley had two interceptions on the day, but he only got within about one stride of Matthews before the QB heaved a deep jump ball toward Houston. Freeman slipped as he attempted to post up, and Houston made a leaping catch and streaked into the end zone.

The 72-yard strike accounted for more than one-third of Matthews’ passing yards. And when a late FSU drive ended with a fourth-down incompletion in the end zone, the bomb made the difference in a 14-9 win. The Gators had lost four in a row to FSU before this win and would lose three of the next four. But this game kick-started a rivalry that would define quite a few national title races throughout the 1990s. The winner of Florida-FSU would either win or play for the national title four times in seven years between 1993-99.

The box score: From Newspapers.com/Orlando Sentinel.

Newspapers.com

An unexpected defensive battle broke out, but Rhett's 140 combined yards on 24 rushes and four receptions made a huge difference, as did the one big pass to Houston.

Florida would lose in the Sugar Bowl but still finish in the AP top 10 for the first of what would become an eight-year streak. The Gators would peak four years later, going 24-2 in 1995-96 and winning a national title. The two-horse race in Florida would become a three-horse race, at least until Miami began to trail off.