Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2000 | 10:37 a.m.
NEW ORLEANS --- Frame it!
It took 34 years but Florida State's Bobby Bowden finally captured one of the few pieces of the college football coaching puzzle that had eluded him during a remarkable run of Top 5 finishes -- an undefeated and untied national championship squad.
The Seminoles (12-0), thanks to another brilliant performance by wide receiver Peter Warrick, rallied from a 29-28 fourth-quarter deficit to finally put away gutsy Michael Vick-led Virginia Tech, 46-29, on Tuesday night here before 79,280, the largest crowd ever to watch a football game at the Superdome.
It was the second national championship for Bowden's Seminoles, who also won the title in 1993. But that squad went 12-1, losing to Notre Dame in South Bend along the way.
This Florida State squad set itself apart because it was the school's first to go undefeated. In doing so, the Seminoles also became the first team in the history of the Associated Press poll to hold the No. 1 ranking from the preseason all the way through the season.
"It's a milestone," Bowden proclaimed afterward in 'Nole Orleans. "I could have gone the rest of my life and not had it happen."
Remarkably, he joins son Terry (11-0 at Auburn in 1993) and son Tommy (11-0 at Tulane in 1998) as Bowden coaches who have directed undefeated teams in Division I play during the '90s.
The win also enabled the 70-year-old native of Birmingham, Ala., to finally finish off his trophy case.
In his office at Florida State, Bowden had an empty picture frame on his desk all these years.
"It was kind of a gimmick," he said. "People ask you, 'What's that for?' And you tell them it goes to the first team I coached that went undefeated."
Now he can put in the photo of his 1999 Florida State squad.
"I've already got the picture of this team," Bowden chuckled afterward. "We took one out there the other day. When I get back, I'll put that picture in that frame and hang it on my wall."
That photograph should have Warrick and quarterback Chris Weinke prominently displayed.
Both played key roles in the victory on Tuesday night.
Warrick, shunned by Heisman voters last month because of an arrest for theft a few months earlier, scored a Sugar Bowl-record 20 points. He returned a punt 59 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, caught a two-point conversion and also had touchdown receptions of 64 and 43 yards, the last one in the fourth quarter that sealed the win for FSU.
"It was a team win, but it would have been a lot harder to win without Peter tonight," Bowden said.
Warrick's last touchdown, on a go route during which he blew past Hokie cornerback Roynell Whitaker, came on the first play after the Seminoles had stopped Nick Sorensen two yards short of a first down on a fake punt.
During the ensuing TV timeout, the Florida State rooting section began chanting, "Peter Warrick, Peter Warrick."
"Peter grabbed all the guys on the sideline and said, 'You want me to finish them off right now?' " Bowden said. "And of course he went out there and finished them off."
Thanks in part to another perfect throw from Weinke, who shared the limelight by completing 20-of-34 passes for 329 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception.
Not bad for a guy who wondered whether his quarterbacking days were done after suffering a severe neck injury last season.
"Personally, this is something I've been waiting for," the 6-5, 240-pound junior from St. Paul, Minn., said. "I rehabbed eight months to come back and win a national championship."
For a while, it looked like Vick might spoil that plan.
The cool 6-1, 212-pound redshirt freshman left-hander rallied the Hokies (11-1) from a 28-7 second quarter deficit with a dazzling array of scrambles, weaving his way through waves of Seminole defenders like Barry Sanders. His 6-yard run off left tackle with 2:13 to go in the third quarter gave Virginia Tech a 29-28 lead and no doubt gave Bowden a few more gray hairs.
But Florida State answered a few minutes later when Weinke hit wide-open Ron Dugans over the middle with a 15-yard touchdown pass. Weinke then connected with an even wider open Warrick for a two-point conversion to give FSU a 36-29 lead.
Three plays later, Vick, who rushed for 97 yards on 23 carries, fumbled and free safety Sean Keys recovered at the Hokies' 36. A Sebastian Janikowski 32-yard field goal extended the 'Noles lead to 39-29 and set the stage for Warrick's game clincher a few minutes later.
"Man, is he something," Bowden said of Vick. "He's even better than I thought he was. We made some of our best defensive plays and he'd run for 50 yards or something."
"We didn't do a bad job of containing him," said Florida State defensive end Jamal Reynolds, who had a game-high three sacks. "But he's kind of like a motorcycle. Once he gets going, he's hard to catch."
But so was Warrick. And in the end, he made the bigger plays this night.
"I just tried to do what I've done every game ... go out and make plays," Warrick said. "I feel like the reason we won this game is that we played together as a team."
A team that will be well-chronicled in Bobby Bowden's office from now on.
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