1978 Florida State Seminoles football team

American college football season

1978 Florida State Seminoles football

Conference	Independent
Record	8–3
Head coach	Bobby Bowden (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	George Haffner (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Jack Stanton (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Doak Campbell Stadium
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Penn State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
North Texas State		–		–		9	–	2	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Navy		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 7 Notre Dame		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Florida State		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Temple		–		–		7	–	3	–	1
Pittsburgh		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
UNLV		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–		6	–	4	–	1
Georgia Tech		–		–		7	–	5	–	0
Hawaii		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
William & Mary		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Villanova		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
Memphis State		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Air Force		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Colgate		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Illinois State		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Boston College		–		–		0	–	11	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University as an independent during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Bobby Bowden, the Seminoles compiled a record of 8–3. Florida State played home games at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9		at Syracuse	No. 17	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY		W 28–0	24,272
September 16		Oklahoma State	No. 16	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 38–20	40,338
September 23		at Miami (FL)	No. 13	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)	ABC	W 31–21	25,002
September 30		Houston	No. 10	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		L 21–27	41,142
October 7		Cincinnati	No. 18	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 26–21	39,599
October 14		at Mississippi State	No. 15	Scott Field Starkville, MS		L 27–55	36,000	^[1]
October 21		at No. 16 Pittsburgh		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		L 3–7	55,104
October 28		at Southern Miss		M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS		W 38–16	23,248	^[2]
November 11		Virginia Tech		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 24–14	38,654	^[3]
November 18	12:50 p.m.	Navy		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ABC	W 38–6	45,795
November 25		Florida		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)		W 38–21	48,432	^[4]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[5]

Personnel

1978 Florida State Seminoles football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
OL		Lee Adams
OL		Brent Brock
RB		Gator Cherry
TE		Sam Childers
WR		Jackie Flowers
OL		Greg Futch
OL		Mike Good
OL		Nate Henderson
RB		Homes Johnson
QB		Jimmy Jordan
TE		Bill Keck
RB		Keith Kennedy
TE		Grady King
OL		Ken Lanier
RB		Mark Lyles
RB		Sam Platt
RB		Greg Ramsey
WR		Milton Raysor
RB		Ernie Sims
WR		Lawrence Strainge
WR		Kurt Unglaub
RB		Wade Wallace
OL		Gil Wesley
RB		Michael Whiting
WR		Phil Williams
QB		Wally Woodham

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB		Monk Bonasorte
DB		Bobby Butler
DL		Walter Carter
DL		Jarvis Coursey
LB		David Hanks
DB		Ozzie Harrell
DB		Gary Henry
LB		Reggie Herring
DB		Keith Jones
DL		Willie Jones
DB		Mike Kincaid
DL		Mark Macek
DL		Jeremy Mindin
LB		Paul Piurowski
DL		Ed Richardson
DL		Arthur Scott
DL		Ron Simmons
DB		Mike Smith
DL		Scott Warren

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Bill Capece
K		Dave Cappelen
P		Rohn Stark

Head coach

Bobby Bowden

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

At Syracuse

Oklahoma State

At Miami (FL)

#13 Florida State Seminoles (2–0) at Miami (FL) Hurricanes (0–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida St	0	14	7	10	31
Miami (FL)	7	7	0	7	21

at Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

Date: September 23, 1978
Game weather: Cloudy, 83 °F (28 °C)
Game attendance: 25,003
Box Score

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Florida St	Passing	Jimmy Jordan	8/12, 83 Yds, TD, INT
	Rushing	Homes Johnson	23 Rush, 90 Yds
	Receiving	Mark Lyles	5 Rec, 58 Yds, TD
Miami (FL)	Passing	Mark Richt	5/11, 74 Yds, TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Ottis Anderson	15 Rush, 137 Yds, TD
	Receiving	Mark Cooper	3 Rec, 48 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	FSU	UM
1	9:27	1	80	0:15	Miami (FL)	Ottis Anderson 80-yard touchdown run, Danny Miller kick good	0	7
2	12:57				Florida St	Blocked punt returned 48 yards for touchdown by Mark Macek, Dave Cappelen kick good	7	7
2	9:25	2	52	0:19	Miami (FL)	James Joiner 48-yard touchdown run, Danny Miller kick good	7	14
2	2:49	13	76	6:36	Florida St	Jackie Flowers 4-yard touchdown reception from Jimmy Jordan, Dave Cappelen kick good	14	14
3	8:15	7	41	3:44	Florida St	Wally Woodham 1-yard touchdown run, Dave Cappelen kick good	21	14
4	6:58	4	-3	0:52	Florida St	26-yard field goal by Dave Cappelen	24	14
4	4:27	5	65	2:31	Miami (FL)	E.J. Baker 27-yard touchdown reception from Mark Richt, Danny Miller kick good	24	21
4	1:14	4	31	0:42	Florida St	Mark Lyles 22-yard touchdown reception from Wally Woodham, Dave Cappelen kick good	31	21
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							31	21

Houston

Cincinnati

At Mississippi State

At Pittsburgh

At Southern Mississippi

Virginia Tech

Navy

Navy Midshipmen (7–2) at Florida State Seminoles (6–3)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Navy	3	3	0	0	6
Florida St	0	7	17	14	38

at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida

Date: November 18, 1978
Game time: 12:50 p.m. EDT
Game weather: Partly cloudy, 76 °F (24 °C)
Game attendance: 45,795
Referee: W.T. Miller
TV: ABC
Box Score

ABC Players of the Game: Jimmy Jordan & Sam Platt (off), Ron Simmons (def) 10 tackles, FR, FF

External videos
Game broadcast (part 1)
Game broadcast (part 2)
Game broadcast (part 3)
Game broadcast (part 4)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Navy	Passing	Bob Leszczynski	10/20, 188 Yds, INT
	Rushing	Kevin Tolbert	5 Rush, 27 Yds
	Receiving	Sandy Jones	2 Rec, 51 Yds
Florida St	Passing	Jimmy Jordan	15/27, 280 Yds, 4 TD
	Rushing	Greg Ramsey	5 Rush, 51 Yds, TD
	Receiving	Sam Platt	6 Rec, 145 Yds, 3 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	NAVY	FSU
1	0:48	4	35		Navy	43-yard field goal by Bob Tata	3	0
2	4:10	3	60		Florida St	Greg Ramsey 12-yard touchdown run, Dave Cappelen kick good	3	7
2	2:28	6	77		Navy	46-yard field goal by Bob Tata	6	7
3	11:58	4	28		Florida St	38-yard field goal by Dave Cappelen	6	10
3	9:38	3	11		Florida St	Sam Platt 4-yard touchdown reception from Jimmy Jordan, Dave Cappelen kick good	6	17
3	6:55	4	56		Florida St	Sam Platt 36-yard touchdown reception from Jimmy Jordan, Dave Cappelen kick good	6	24
4	13:50	5	90		Florida St	Sam Platt 51-yard touchdown reception from Jimmy Jordan, Dave Cappelen kick good	6	31
4	9:00	7	53		Florida St	Grady King 23-yard touchdown reception from Jimmy Jordan, Dave Cappelen kick good	6	38
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							6	38

Florida

References

^ "Ill wins, defense doom Florida State". The Palm Beach Post-Times. October 15, 1978. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Woodham's passing hurls Seminoles past surprised Southern Miss., 38–16". The Miami Herald. October 29, 1978. Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Seminoles rally past VPI, 24–14". The Miami Herald. November 12, 1978. Retrieved December 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Gators muff Dickey's sendoff". St. Petersburg Times. December 3, 1978. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1978 Football - Year in Review".

v t e Florida State Seminoles football
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Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Florida Cup Clemson Florida Miami Virginia
Culture & lore	Osceola and Renegade The War Chant Marching Chiefs FSU Hymns Sod Cemetery #22 Wide Right I Wide Right II 1993 'Game of the Century' Choke at Doak/The Fifth Quarter in the French Quarter Bob Crenshaw Award Tomahawk chop
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