1995 Sugar Bowl (January)

The 1995 Sugar Bowl (January) was the 9th Sugar Bowl played on January 2 and only the 13th to not be played on January 1st. This was the 61st held Sugar Bowl, and it was the postseason game for the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. The game was a bowl rematch between the Florida Gators and the Florida State Seminoles who had played each other in the regular season on Nov. 26th.

Background

The two teams had played to a 31-31 tie at Tallahassee just 37 days earlier on November 26th. Florida State was champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference for the third straight year with a perfect 8-0 ACC record. This was the Seminoles' first Sugar Bowl since 1989. The Gators were 7-1 in the SEC with a loss to Auburn derailing their #1 ranking, but the Gators won the SEC East and beat Alabama in the 1994 SEC Championship Game to be SEC champions for the 2nd straight year and go to the Sugar Bowl for the third straight year.

Game Summary

Judd Davis and Dan Mowrey traded field goals in the first quarter before Fred Taylor fumbled the ball, recovered by the Seminoles, which set up a crucial score. Warrick Dunn (who had 182 all purpose yards) threw a 73 yard touchdown pass to O'mar Ellison that gave the Seminoles a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter as FSU added a McCorvey touchdown catch from Danny Kanell later in the quarter to make it 17-3. But Danny Wuerffel retailiated with an 82 yard touchdown pass to Ike Hilliard to make it 17-10. Mowrey kicked a field goal before halftime to give the Seminoles a 20-10 lead at halftime. He later kicked his fourth field goal of the day in the third quarter to make it 23-10. But in the fourth quarter, Wuerffel would not be deterred, driving the Gators on an 80 yard drive that took 17 plays, culminating in a Wuerffel touchdown run with 3:47 left to play. Florida was given a chance at their own 19 with 2:27 remaining after a Seminole punt, but Derrick Brooks intercepted Wuerffel's pass as the Seminoles held on to win their first Sugar Bowl since 1989. ^[1][2]

Aftermath

The Bowl Alliance would replace the Bowl Coalition and the Sugar Bowl was part of the agreement (along with the Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls) to try and provide a proper national championship while also working with the premier conferences to satisfy them. The first season that the Alliance would be in place would be the 1995 season, which consequently moved that season's Sugar Bowl to December 31st. Both teams would return to the Sugar Bowl two years later, this time for the national championship.

Statistics

References