Tiger Board Logo

Donor's Den General Leaderboards TNET coins™ POTD Hall of Fame Map FAQ
GIVE AN AWARD
Use your TNET coins™ to grant this post a special award!

W
50
Big Brain
90
Love it!
100
Cheers
100
Helpful
100
Made Me Smile
100
Great Idea!
150
Mind Blown
150
Caring
200
Flammable
200
Hear ye, hear ye
200
Bravo
250
Nom Nom Nom
250
Take My Coins
500
Ooo, Shiny!
700
Treasured Post!
1000

YOUR BALANCE
On This Date: 20 Years Ago BOWDEN BOWL 1 CU-14 (1)FSU-17
storage This topic has been archived - replies are not allowed.
Archives - Tiger Boards Archive
add New Topic
Replies: 12
| visibility 1,855

On This Date: 20 Years Ago BOWDEN BOWL 1 CU-14 (1)FSU-17


Oct 23, 2019, 8:15 AM

This game brings back different memories to different Clemson fans. Maybe it’s the ACTUAL attendance at Death Valley that night (ive never seen it so packed in my life. I believe them anytime anyone says there were 90,000 + that night), maybe it was Ann Bowden’s smugness in the stands. But to me, and to this day, I’ll never forgive Tommy Bowden for not going for it on 4th and 1 on the FSU 25. This article from the Orlando Sentinel pretty much covers it:

BOWDEN BOWL LACKS KICK

All game long, he had been his father's son. Until the end.

Then, without warning, with 86,200 fans smelling upset and chanting "Go! Go! Go!" Tommy Bowden turned into Pat Dye. He lost his nerve and went for the tie. Suddenly, he didn't look like a Bowden at all.
Fourth and a short 1 at Florida State's 25. Two minutes left. Clemson trailing by three.
Tommy had gotten his underdog Tigers to this point through gutsy play-calling that, in most other circumstances, would have made his father proud. A fake punt that worked. Offensive razzle that dazzled. But now, with the game on the line, Tommy Bowden went Strom Thurmond conservative on his constituency.

"Go! Go! Go!" the crowd shouted.

No, no, no, was the meek sideline reply.

Out came the field-goal unit. Up went the kick. Down went Clemson.
Freshman Tony Lazzara's attempt came up well short of the necessary 41 yards, partially blocked by Tay Cody.





And that was that, the anticlimactic kicker to a game that put the fear of Death Valley into Bobby Bowden and No. 1 Florida State. The Seminoles sat on the ball, content to escape with an ugly 17-14 comeback win.

This was the ending everybody expected, but it came about in a way nobody could have predicted.
Bobby Bowden got career win No. 300. The Seminoles (7-0) stayed on track for a perfect season and a national championship. Tommy and his 3-4 Tigers didn't get embarrassed.
"Just what I prayed for -- a close game," Ann Bowden, Bobby's wife and Tommy's mom, said after the game, wearing her divided allegiance on her sleeves. She had a custom-made sweatshirt for the occasion, half Florida State, half Clemson, split down the middle.
It was as jarringly divided as the philosophy Tommy displayed.
For most of the game, he was proud to be the riverboat gambler's son. Tommy Bowden made sure everyone knew it, with a second-quarter fake punt that evoked memories of the most audacious call his dad made, Puntrooskie, in this stadium 11 years ago.





And then in crunch time, came a trick play that looked like it might launch a winning drive.
This was all wildly entertaining. In his first year at Clemson, with his team not expected to contend for anything, there was really no reason for Tommy Bowden to call off the upset dogs on fourth-and-1. After the game, he talked about wanting to give his kids a chance to win. But this was only going to be a chance to tie, which is a frivolous chance when you have to get through overtime against an obviously better team. And overtime only comes if you can make a 41-yard field goal.
"I didn't have any more trick plays to use," Tommy said. "I didn't want the kids to play that hard and not have a chance to win."

Before that point, they had a pretty good chance. Peter Warrick, fresh off the legal bench and razzed by the crowd with chants of "Jail bird," made 11 catches but dropped four more, including one that would have put the game away in the fourth quarter. Sebastian Janikowski missed two field goals and it should have been three, if not for an early mulligan that came after a penalty. Early in the crisp night, Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke didn't seem crisp at all.
For a while, it looked as if the ghost of Puntrooskie would come back to haunt Bobby Bowden. Bowden made that brassiest of calls in 1988, with the score tied at 21 and 1:33 to play. Florida State had fourth-and-4 at its 21, when center Dave Whittington snapped to the up-back Dayne Williams. He set the ball on the ground between LeRoy Butler's legs, the entire team went right and Butler waited a second before scooting left, alone down the sidelines.

He ran 78 yards, and Richie Andrews hit a 19-yard field goal to give Florida State a 24-21 win.
Tommy Bowden showed his nerve early, calling a fake punt on fourth-and-13 at Florida State's 46, Clemson trailing 3-0. Punter Ryan Romano completed a 23-yard pass to Braxton Williams for 23 yards. Next thing you know, Clemson had a 14-3 halftime lead.
But in the end, there was only an ordinary field-goal attempt.

No good.

The way this ending felt.

2024 orange level memberbadge-donor-15yr.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Best Is The Standard


One of the most frustrating and disappointing games I've


Oct 23, 2019, 8:16 AM

ever been to.

Then night I lost all confidence in TB.

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

I’m still disappointed by this game


Oct 23, 2019, 9:46 AM

It was a tough one to lose

badge-donor-05yr.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Re: On This Date: 20 Years Ago BOWDEN BOWL 1 CU-14 (1)FSU-17


Oct 23, 2019, 8:18 AM

Ran into Gottfried at the airport on the way back SUnday. He felt we definitely should have won that one. It was very frustrating

badge-donor-05yr.jpgringofhonor-74tiger.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Re: On This Date: 20 Years Ago BOWDEN BOWL 1 CU-14 (1)FSU-17


Oct 23, 2019, 8:24 AM

He had done the game on tv

badge-donor-05yr.jpgringofhonor-74tiger.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Did FSU fall in rankings for close game with unranked team?


Oct 23, 2019, 8:59 AM

Nm

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Nope. That doesn't happen unless you're the defending champs***


Oct 23, 2019, 9:03 AM



flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

I almost forgot that game was played...


Oct 23, 2019, 9:11 AM

on a Wednesday.

2024 orange level memberbadge-donor-10yr.jpgringofhonor-francismarion.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

"I've played multiple sports and would bet any amount that I'm still more athletic than you at this present time...."


I absolutely hated that game***


Oct 23, 2019, 9:13 AM



2024 purple level member flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

"It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers any more than it is to make sheep ferocious."
--Henry David Thoreau


the dual sweater was awesome


Oct 23, 2019, 9:20 AM

Kind of like having coot and Clemson stickers and those cool "house divided" stickers

2024 orange level memberbadge-donor-10yr.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up


Re: On This Date: 20 Years Ago BOWDEN BOWL 1 CU-14 (1)FSU-17


Oct 23, 2019, 9:25 AM

this was my sophomore year and it was cold as hell that night. To this day the greatest game day sign I have ever seen was held by a student at the very bottom of the hill. This kid was painted head to toe in orange wearing only a pair of gym shorts holding up a sign that read “Peter Warrick Stole My Clothes”. Legendary

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

I was standing right beside that kid!! Also remember all the


Oct 23, 2019, 9:26 AM

Dillards bags being passed around the Hill? People put them on like a Poncho

2024 orange level memberbadge-donor-15yr.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Best Is The Standard


Re: I was standing right beside that kid!! Also remember all the


Oct 23, 2019, 9:31 AM

I tell this story often. I wish I had a picture of him. How did he not freeze to death?

flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

Replies: 12
| visibility 1,855
Archives - Tiger Boards Archive
add New Topic