You talk about the national championships he won. But look at how many lives he won. Look at how many lives he saved. Bowden won the national championship in with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Charlie Ward and again in with his second Heisman winner, quarterback Chris Weinke, and All-American receiver Peter Warrick.
The Seminoles were a contender to win the title every season for more than a decade. Florida State lost national championship games against Florida, Tennessee and Oklahoma and narrowly missed out on the playing for titles in several other seasons because of losses to archrival Miami.
Florida State dominated the ACC under Bowden, winning championships in 12 of its first 14 seasons after joining the league in Bobby Bowden left West Virginia to take over a Florida State program in that had produced just four wins the three previous seasons.
By , Bowden had Florida State positioned for one of the great runs in the annals of college football. In , despite a late slip at Notre Dame, Florida State won its first national title after nearly getting there in , , and Quarterback Alabama and Howard Running back Howard.
College Football Data Warehouse. Career player statistics if any '. Howard Bulldogs Independent — West Virginia Mountaineers Independent — L Peach. West Virginia. W Peach. Florida State Seminoles Independent — W Tangerine. L Orange. W Gator. Florida State. W All-American. W Fiesta. W Sugar. W Blockbuster. W Cotton. W Orange. L Sugar. V Emerald. Bowden, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in , is only the third coach in college football history to coach games.
In , he became one of only two coaches in major college football history to win games at one school and he is the only coach in history to lead his team to 28 straight bowl games. Bowden, one of the icons of the game, was first among active coaches for winning percentage in bowl games at the time of his retirement, and is currently second for all-time bowl wins and second for bowl appearances.
Bowden is the only coach in NCAA history to win 11 consecutive bowl games and the only coach with 14 consecutive bowl appearances without a loss FSU tied Georgia in the Citrus Bowl. Bowden and Florida State finished the season with a win over West Virginia in the Gator Bowl marking the 22nd bowl victory in his illustrious career. Overall, he guided Florida State to 31 bowl appearances in his 34 seasons. Bowden, the only coach in the history of Division I-A football to compile 14 straight win seasons , coached the Seminoles to consensus National Championships in and Bowden was named National Coach of the Year six times , , , , and , and a national award for citizenship bears his name.
The Seminoles lost their first three games — all on the road — but Bowden made the decision to build for the future and started seven freshmen in a loss at Oklahoma, the final stop of the road swing.
That move would pay huge dividends in both the immediate and distant future. The payoff came down the stretch as the Seminoles won their final three games, which began with a miraculous fourth quarter rally from a point deficit to spring a homecoming win over Southern Mississippi.
The Seminoles added three more touchdown plays of 90 or more yards in wins over North Texas State in the snow and Virginia Tech to close out the season. Against North Texas, Kurt Unglaub plowed his way through five inches of snow with a Black pass, covering 91 yards for a third quarter touchdown.
Unglaub hauled in the winning two-point conversion pass from tailback Larry Key with remaining in a triumph. A week later at home against the Hokies, Key raced 97 yards for a school record touchdown run that still stands and Unglaub collected a yard scoring pass from Jimmy Jordan that was the difference in a victory and a finish to the season.
The season also marked the dawning of the two-headed quarterback, best known as Wally Jim Jordham, which in actuality was a composite of triggermen Wally Woodham and Jimmy Jordan and gained national attention for Bowden and FSU.
Bowden leaned on both throughout the season, often sticking with the hottest hand. That skid came to a screeching halt as the Seminoles put a whipping on the Gators behind rushing yards from Key and three Roger Overby TD receptions from Jordan. The Seminoles followed with the first of 31 bowl trips under Bowden and summarily dispatched over-matched Texas Tech in the Tangerine Bowl for the first win season in school history. Bowden earned a new five-year contract on the heels of what would be the first of 18, win seasons.
They made their debut in a home-opening victory against Oklahoma State, which had followed a season-opening romp at Syracuse. The Seminoles moved to as Bowden logged his first win over Miami , pushing the program to its highest ranking No. Suddenly, the Seminoles were and at a crossroads. Despite four consecutive wins — capped by a win over Florida — to close out an campaign, the Seminoles were not selected for a second consecutive bowl berth.
A rainy, blowout of Arizona State in Tampa was followed by a rout of Miami and an ugly win at Virginia Tech. Jimmy Jordan threw for yards and three touchdowns in a triumph. A week later Wally Woodham led the way, guiding the now-No. The regular season finale against Florida in Gainesville was up in the air until Mark Lyles rumbled three yards for a touchdown and a victory. At and No. The quarterback job went to Rick Stockstill, who guided a conservative attack in a win at LSU before Bowden loosened the reigns.
That run came to a halt at Miami on Sept. On Oct. Linebacker Paul Piurowski delivered the clinching blow with a fumble-forcing blast of quarterback Jeff Quinn after the Cornhuskers drove to the FSU 3 with 21 ticks left on the clock. Gary Futch recovered the fumble to seal the win on a day when punter Rohn Stark seven punts, The triumph earned the Seminoles a rousing ovation from Nebraska fans on the way to the locker room, a gesture that Bowden would never forget.
Over the next four games — all victories — FSU yielded just 19 points to set up a season-finale at No. Now No. FSU provided a well-balanced offensive attack throughout the season led by Greg Allen who rushed for yards and a school record 20 touchdowns. The Seminoles finished the season ranked second and third nationally in scoring and total offense, respectively, while setting single-season records for total offense 5, yards , touchdowns 53 , rushing yards 2, yards , rushing touchdowns 30 and scoring with total points.
Quarterback Kelly Lowrey became the first Seminole to run for, pass for and catch a touchdown in an upset victory on the road at Ohio State. Two weeks later in Tallahassee, FSU tallied a school record yards of total offense in a win over East Carolina, a record that would stand for 10 years.
At one point during the season, FSU rattled off seven consecutive victories which tied for the second longest win streak in the Bowden era. The game also marked the first time Bowden had faced West Virginia, a school where he had coached for six seasons before taking over as head coach at Florida State in The season included three monumental victories all coming on the road including a dominate performance over North Carolina in the 16th Annual Peach Bowl as FSU finished the year with a record of In the second game of the season, the Seminoles erased a first quarter deficit in Baton Rouge, scoring 33 unanswered points to take a victory over No.
With the Seminoles down four late in the fourth quarter and Kelly Lowrey out of the game with a knee injury, Bowden turned to backup quarterback Bob Davis for the winning drive. Davis drove the Seminoles 82 yards and pulled off the miracle with just six seconds remaining in the game as Jessie Hester hauled in a yard pass from Davis to give FSU a victory. Allen finished the season with 1, rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.
The three Seminoles combined for 17 of the 23 touchdowns scored on the ground as Florida State closed out the regular season establishing school records for rushing yards 3, and yards per game Allen was named the Metro Conference Player of the Year and concluded a brilliant senior season as he finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy balloting while being named a first team All-American by Walter Camp and Football News. Florida State began the season with four straight victories including a thumping of No.
He grew and he adapted. In , the Seminoles were and reached the Orange Bowl. In they went and won the Fiesta Bowl. In they were and won the national championship at the Sugar Bowl. And in , Bowden was finally winding down after 33 consecutive winning seasons that began in era of TV antennas and ended in the Internet age.
The final years may not have been as successful and, in retrospect, Bowden probably would have been better served to have walked away sooner than he did. But even as the victories grew harder to come by, Bowden never went overboard with the later-career bitterness or meltdowns that forever tainted the legacies of some other coaching legends.
Everyone in Tallahassee, it seemed, knew where he and Ann lived and his phone number was still listed back in the day when houses still had a phone book in the cupboard. And now he is gone and it is time to put his life and career in perspective. Officially, he has wins which trails only Joe Paterno in Division I, but there were 31 other wins at Howard College now Samford University in Alabama and a dozen more victories vacated due to academic violations at FSU.
Does that make Bowden one of the top coaches of all time? You can argue eras, I suppose.
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