The “Bowden Bowl” made its Tallahassee debut on November 4th, 2000 as legendary Bobby Bowden led fourth-ranked Florida State against a No. 10 Clemson team that was coached by Bowden’s son Tommy Bowden.
The first installment of the Bowden Bowl had come the year before as Florida State was forced to rally from a 14-6 deficit late in the third quarter to beat Clemson 17-14. The 3-point victory for the Seminoles would be the closest of the year as FSU would finish the 1999 season 12-0 and with the second national championship in school history. The 2000 contest however, had a wider national appeal with both the ACC and a shot at a national championship on the line.
“The year before was a nail-biter,” said then senior and 2000 Consensus All-American cornerback Tay Cody. “We were playing for Coach Bowden going against his son Tommy and it was just a big deal for us.”
Florida State quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke would pass for 521 yards on the evening at the Seminoles pounded Clemson 54-7, but the most memorable play of the night came early. With FSU leading 3-0 and backed up to its own 2-yard-line, Weinke fooled the Clemson defense with a beautiful play fake before hitting Marvin “Snoop” Minnis streaking wide open down the field for a 98-yard touchdown — the longest pass in FSU history at the time.
Clemson answered with a touchdown of its own less than three minutes later to make it 10-7, but that would be the last time the Tigers would score. On the night, Brett Cimorelli kicked four field goals while fullback Randy Golightly and running back Jeff Chaney each scored a pair of touchdowns. FSU’s 23-7 halftime lead extended to 40-7 after three quarters before Davy Ford put the exclamation point on the win with an electrifying 82-yard touchdown run.
Defensively, the Seminoles would hold Clemson to less than 300 yards of offense and force four turnovers. Cody, Derrick Gibson and Abdul Howard each recorded an interception.
“We had seniors who had played a lot of football together,” Cody said. “We just rallied around each other and that was a big win for us.”
Florida State would clinch the ACC that night and go on to play for a national championship that season, but would fall 13-2 to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.
As for the Bowdens, they would square off nine times with the father winning five of the match-ups. Bobby Bowden would claim the first four, but four of the final five meetings would go to Tommy Bowden with a 24-18 Clemson home victory in 2007 being the final Bowden Bowl. Tommy Bowden was fired by Clemson midway through the 2008 season.
Featured image courtesy of Associated Press
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