Georgia Tech: 0
Florida State: 38

Riding a four-game winning streak, Georgia Tech looked to improve to 5-1 when it traveled to Tallahassee, Florida to do battle with the undefeated, 3rd-ranked Florida State Seminoles in mid-October. Since joining the ACC in 1992, Florida State had won five straight against the Jackets. Tech, however, still led the series 7-5-1, despite their last victory coming on October 4, 1975 in the form of a 30-0 shutout.

While their offense struggled, the Yellow Jacket defense held strong for much of the first half, holding the Seminoles scoreless through the better part of two quarters. But late in the second period, Thad Busby led the ‘Noles on a 9 play, 84 yard drive that was capped off with an 18 yard touchdown pass to Damian Harrell 50 seconds before halftime.

Tech’s offensive woes continued in the second half, while the Seminoles came alive. Travis Minor scored on a 27 yard run midway through the third quarter to cap off a 12 play, 99 yard drive that gave Florida State a 14-0 lead.

Joe Hamilton threw a pick to Coronta Cody on the drive that followed, and Busby found E.G. Green for a 66 yard touchdown pass shortly thereafter to extend the lead to 21.

The Seminoles added 17 points in the fourth quarter to reach the 38-0 final. Sebastian Janikowski connected on a 38 yard field goal early in the period to make it 24-0, and Busby threw for his third touchdown of the day when he connected Martin Minnis for a score from the 20 yard line with just over 5 minutes to play. Reserve quarterback Dan Kendra came on in the final minutes to hit Laveranues Coles for a 47 yard touchdown to wrap up the scoring and give the Seminoles their sixth win of the season.

Florida State went on to win their next four games before falling 32-29 to Steve Spurrier’s Florida Gators in the regular season finale. Their 10-1 record was enough to earn them a berth in the Sugar Bowl where they would go on to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes 31-14 on New Year’s Day to finish the season as the nation’s third ranked team.

Statistics:

First downs:
GT – 8
FSU – 28

Rushing yards:
GT – 53
FSU – 98

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
GT – 10-21-91
FSU – 33-51-489

Interceptions thrown:
GT – 2
FSU – 0

Fumbles (Total-Lost):
GT – 1-0
FSU – 0-0

Penalties (Total-Yds):
GT – 6-44
FSU – 12-83

References:
USA Today Recap: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/scores97/97291/97291409.htm