1993 NCAA Division I-A football season

1993 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams	106[1]
Preseason AP No. 1	Florida State[2]
Post-season
Bowl games	19
Heisman Trophy	Charlie Ward (quarterback, Florida State)
Bowl Coalition Championship
1994 Orange Bowl
Site	Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
Champion(s)	Florida State (AP, Coaches, FWAA)
Division I-A football seasons
← 1992 1994 →

The 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State crowned national champions, in both the AP and Coaches poll.

Under the Bowl Coalition, undefeated Big 8 champ and No. 2 ranked Nebraska hosted ACC champ and No. 1 ranked Florida State in the Orange Bowl. This produced a clear champion in the Coaches Poll and the AP poll, despite Florida State's loss to Notre Dame 31–24 during the regular season, in a game known by many as the "Game of the Century". This much hyped clash between No. 1 and No. 2 was the site of the first ever "live" broadcast of the ESPN College GameDay show and did not fail to live up to expectations as Irish defensive back Shawn Wooden batted down a Charlie Ward pass in the end zone with three seconds left to play. Despite the win over Florida State, Notre Dame's title chances ended the very next week when the Fighting Irish lost to No. 17 Boston College. Further controversy surrounded the inclusion of one-loss Florida State in the national title game over undefeated West Virginia, who was ranked No. 2 (ahead of Florida State) by the final regular season coaches' poll but not the AP (Nebraska was No. 2 in the AP).

Despite beating Florida State in the regular season, Notre Dame finished No. 2 in the two major polls. Florida State, during the 1993 regular season played No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3Nebraska, No. 15 Miami, No. 5 Florida, No. 19 North Carolina, and No. 23 Clemson. FSU went 3–1 vs top 7 teams while playing only 1 home game in the 4 contests.

Florida State's Charlie Ward threw for 3,032 yards, completed 70 percent of his passes and became the first player to win the Heisman Trophy and the national championship in the same season since Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett in 1976.

The Alamo Bowl played its inaugural game.

The Sunshine Classic was no longer sponsored by Blockbuster Entertainment, and was now known as the Carquest Bowl.

Rule changes[]

• The distance between the hashmarks was narrowed from 53 feet, 4 inches (the same as high school football, with the exception of Texas, which is the same as College Football at 40 feet) to 40 feet (the standard used by the National Football League through the 1971 season). This cut down on severe angles for kickers who attempted short field goals, although angles would still be far greater than those encountered by kickers in the NFL, where the hashmarks are the same width as the goalposts, 18 feet, 6 inches.
• The "fumblerooski" play is outlawed as intentional fumbles are now illegal.
• Players who are bleeding or have open wounds are required to leave the game until the bleeding is stopped and the wound treated.
• The loss of down penalty associated with offensive pass interference has been deleted. The yardage penalty remains at 15 yards.
• Officials are instructed to flag players for unsportsmanlike conduct (15 yards) for actions on the field that are prolonged, excessive, or meant to bring attention to themselves (such as the "Heisman pose" and the firing of six-shooters).
• On kickoffs, at least four players must be lined up on either side of the kicker.
• All balls must be made of leather. Composite and rubber balls were outlawed.

Conference and program changes[]

Five teams changed conferences and one team dropped its football team prior to the season. As such, the total number of Division I-A schools decreased to 106.

• Penn State also played its first year as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
• Cal State Fullerton dropped its football program, which had been a member of the Big West.
• The Big West responded by adding four new programs: (now Louisiana–Lafayette) and Arkansas State which had just made the jump to Division I-A in 1990, and former independents Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech.

School	1992 Conference	1993 Conference
Arkansas State Indians	I-A Independent	Big West
Cal State Fullerton Titans	Big West	Dropped Program
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	I-A Independent	Big West
Northern Illinois Huskies	I-A Independent	Big West
Penn State Nittany Lions	I-A Independent	Big Ten
Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns	I-A Independent	Big West

Conference standings[]

1993 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 Florida State $   8 – 0     12 – 1   No. 19 North Carolina   6 – 2     10 – 3   No. 23 Clemson   5 – 3     9 – 3   Virginia   5 – 3     7 – 5   NC State   4 – 4     7 – 5   Georgia Tech   3 – 5     5 – 6   Duke   2 – 6     3 – 8   Maryland   2 – 6     2 – 9   Wake Forest   1 – 7     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1993 Big East Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 7 West Virginia $ 7 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0 No. 15 Miami (FL) 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 No. 13 Boston College 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 No. 22 Virginia Tech 4 – 3 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 Syracuse 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 1 Pittsburgh 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Rutgers 1 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Temple 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1993 Big Eight Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 Nebraska $ 7 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0 No. 16 Colorado 5 – 1 – 1 8 – 3 – 1 No. 20 Kansas State 4 – 2 – 1 9 – 2 – 1 No. 17 Oklahoma % 4 – 3 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 Kansas 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 7 – 0 Missouri 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 1 Iowa State 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Oklahoma State 0 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Bowl Coalition representative as champion % – Bowl Coalition at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll
1993 Big Ten Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 6 Wisconsin + 6 – 1 – 1 10 – 1 – 1 No. 11 Ohio State + 6 – 1 – 1 10 – 1 – 1 No. 8 Penn State 6 – 2 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 Indiana 5 – 3 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 No. 21 Michigan 5 – 3 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 Illinois 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Michigan State 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 6 – 0 Iowa 3 – 5 – 0 6 – 6 – 0 Minnesota 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Northwestern 0 – 8 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Purdue 0 – 8 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	1993 Big West Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Southwestern Louisiana + 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Utah State + 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 5 – 0 Nevada 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 New Mexico State 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Northern Illinois 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Pacific (CA) 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 UNLV 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Louisiana Tech 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 San Jose State 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Arkansas State 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 1 + – Conference co-champions	1993 Mid-American Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Ball State $ 7 – 0 – 1 8 – 3 – 1 Western Michigan 6 – 1 – 1 7 – 3 – 1 Bowling Green 5 – 1 – 2 6 – 3 – 2 Central Michigan 5 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Akron 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Ohio 4 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Eastern Michigan 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Toledo 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Miami 3 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Kent State 0 – 9 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1993 Pacific-10 Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 10 Arizona + 6 – 2 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 No. 18 UCLA + 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 USC + 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 5 – 0 Washington 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 No. 25 California 4 – 4 – 0 9 – 4 – 0 Arizona State 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Washington State 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Oregon 2 – 6 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Stanford 2 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Oregon State 2 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	1993 Southeastern Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Eastern Division No. 5 Florida x$ 7 – 1 – 0 11 – 2 – 0 No. 12 Tennessee* x 6 – 1 – 1 9 – 2 – 1 Kentucky 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 6 – 0 Georgia 2 – 6 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 South Carolina* 2 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Vanderbilt* 1 – 7 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Western Division No. 4 Auburn† 8 – 0 – 0 11 – 0 – 0 No. 14 Alabama* x 5 – 2 – 1 9 – 3 – 1 Arkansas* 3 – 4 – 1 5 – 5 – 1 LSU 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Ole Miss* 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Mississippi State* 2 – 5 – 1 3 – 6 – 2 Championship: Florida 28, Alabama 13 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions † – Ineligible for the postseason due to NCAA probation. * – Alabama later forfeited all regular-season wins and one tie due to NCAA violations, giving an official record of 1–12 overall and 0–8 SEC. The forfeit of the tie retroactively gave Tennessee a share of the East title. Rankings from AP Poll	1993 Southwest Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 9 Texas A&M $ 7 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 Texas 5 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 1 Texas Tech 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 6 – 0 Rice 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Baylor 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 TCU 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 SMU 1 – 5 – 1 2 – 7 – 2 Houston 1 – 5 – 1 1 – 9 – 1 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
1993 Western Athletic Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Fresno State + 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 Wyoming + 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 BYU + 6 – 2 – 0 6 – 6 – 0 Utah 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 6 – 0 Colorado State 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 New Mexico 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 San Diego State 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 6 – 0 Hawaii 3 – 5 – 0 6 – 6 – 0 Air Force 1 – 7 – 0 4 – 8 – 0 UTEP 0 – 8 – 0 1 – 11 – 0 + – Conference co-champions	1993 NCAA Division I-A independents football records v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Notre Dame   –   11 – 1 – 0 No. 24 Louisville   –   9 – 3 – 0 Cincinnati   –   8 – 3 – 0 Army   –   6 – 5 – 0 Memphis State   –   6 – 5 – 0 Tulsa   –   4 – 6 – 1 Navy   –   4 – 7 – 0 Tulane   –   3 – 9 – 0 Southern Miss   –   2 – 8 – 1 East Carolina   –   2 – 9 – 0 Rankings from AP Poll

No. 1 and No. 2 progress[]

Florida State's Seminoles were the unanimous choice for No. 1 beginning with the October 19 poll and the three after that, receiving all 62 votes. After Notre Dame's 31–24 defeat of Florida State on November 13, Notre Dame got all 62 first place votes in the next poll.

WEEKS	No. 1	No. 2	Event	Date
PRE - 7	Florida State	Alabama	Tennessee 17, Alabama 17	Oct 16
8 - 11	Florida State	Notre Dame	Notre Dame 31, Florida St. 24	Nov 13
12	Notre Dame	Florida State	Boston College 41, Notre Dame 39	Nov 20
13-15	Florida State	Nebraska	Florida State 18, Nebraska 16	Jan 1

Bowl games[]

• Orange Bowl: No. 1 Florida State 18, No. 2 Nebraska 16
• Rose Bowl: No. 9 Wisconsin 21, No. 14 UCLA 16
• Sugar Bowl: No. 8 Florida 41, No. 3 West Virginia 7
• Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 4 Notre Dame 24, No. 7 Texas A&M 21
• Fiesta Bowl: No. 16 Arizona 29, No. 10 Miami 0
• Florida Citrus Bowl: No. 13 Penn State 31, No. 6 Tennessee 13
• Hall of Fame Bowl: No. 23 Michigan 42, NC State 7
• Carquest Bowl: No. 15 Boston College 31, Virginia 13
• Gator Bowl: No. 18 Alabama 24, No. 12 North Carolina 10
• Peach Bowl: No. 24 Clemson 14, Kentucky 13
• Alamo Bowl: California 37, Iowa 3
• Independence Bowl: No. 22 Virginia Tech 45, No. 21 Indiana 20
• Holiday Bowl: No. 11 Ohio State 28, BYU 21
• Freedom Bowl: USC 28, Utah 21
• Copper Bowl: No. 20 Kansas State 52, Wyoming 17
• Liberty Bowl: No. 25 Louisville 18, Michigan State 7
• Aloha Bowl: No. 17 Colorado 41, No. 25 Fresno St 30
• John Hancock Bowl: No. 19 Oklahoma 41, Texas Tech 10
• Las Vegas Bowl: Utah State 42, Ball State 33

Final rankings[]

Final AP Poll[]

1. Florida State
2. Notre Dame
3. Nebraska
4. Auburn
5. Florida
6. Wisconsin
7. West Virginia
8. Penn State
9. Texas A&M
10. Arizona
11. Ohio State
12. Tennessee
13. Boston College
14. Alabama
15. Miami (FL)
16. Colorado
17. Oklahoma
18. UCLA
19. North Carolina
20. Kansas State
21. Michigan
22. Virginia Tech
23. Clemson
24. Louisville
25. California

Final Coaches Poll[]

1. Florida St.
2. Notre Dame
3. Nebraska
4. Florida
5. Wisconsin
6. West Virginia
7. Penn St.
8. Texas A&M
9. Arizona
10. Ohio St.
11. Tennessee
12. Boston College
13. Alabama
14. Oklahoma
15. Miami (FL)
16. Colorado
17. UCLA
18. Kansas St.
19. Michigan
20. Virginia Tech
21. North Carolina
22. Clemson
23. Louisville
24. California
25. Southern California

Awards and honors[]

Heisman Trophy[]

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the Most Outstanding Player of the year

Winner: Charlie Ward, Florida State, Quarterback (2310 votes)

• 2. Heath Shuler, Tennessee, Jr.. QB (668 votes)
• 3. David Palmer, Alabama, Jr. WR (292 votes)
• 4. Marshall Faulk, San Diego State, Jr. RB (250 votes)
• 5. Glenn Foley, Boston College, Sr. QB (180 votes)

Other major awards[]

• Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) - Charlie Ward, Florida State
• Walter Camp Award (Back) - Charlie Ward, Florida State
• Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) - Charlie Ward, Florida State
• Doak Walker Award (Running back) - Byron Morris, Texas Tech
• Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) - Trev Alberts, Nebraska
• Lombardi Award (Lineman or linebacker) - Aaron Taylor, Notre Dame
• Outland Trophy (Interior lineman) - Rob Waldrop, NG, Arizona
• Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive back) - Antonio Langham, Alabama
• AFCA Coach of the Year - Terry Bowden, Auburn
• FWAA Coach of the Year - Terry Bowden, Auburn

Coaching changes[]

Preseason and in-season[]

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Houston	John Jenkins	April 30	resigned [3]	Kim Helton
NC State	Dick Sheridan	June 29	resigned [4]	Mike O'Cain
Washington	Don James	August 22	resigned [5]	Jim Lambright
UTEP	David Lee	October 17	fired [6]	Charlie Bailey

References[]