In Memoriam: Bobby Bowden's Legacy and His Matchups With Oklahoma
When legendary football coach Bobby Bowden retired following the 2009 season, he left an irreplaceable chasm in the game. When he died on Sunday at the age of 91, the breadth of his legacy could be comprehended.
The former player at Alabama and Samford and head coach at West Virginia took Florida State from athletic obscurity to two national championships. His Seminole offenses helped changed the face of college football and includes two Heisman Trophy winners in Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke.
He retired with 377 career coaching victories, second all-time to Joe Paterno — that’s 121 more than Nick Saban.
Bowden had a number of tangles with Oklahoma through the years. He was 0-4 against the Sooners during his career — 0-3 against Barry Switzer, and 0-1 against Bob Stoops.
Both Switzer and Stoops paid tribute Sunday to one of the game’s lions.
Any college football Mount Rushmore would include Bowden’s visage.
Building the kind of consistent winner from what had been a women’s college — 14 consecutive seasons with more than 10 wins in the AP Top 5 — requires something beyond coaching. A huge element of his legacy is the Bobby Bowden Award, presented by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The FCS was always one of Bowden’s favorite organizations, and he wore his spirituality on his sleeve.
“What it stands for and what it wants and what its goals are is exactly what I believe,” Bowden told me during an FCA stop in Tulsa in 2014, “and that is these athletes, girls and boys, that they are to become role models for my children and your children, your family. All these young boys and girls growing up now, watching television, watching what some of these guys say on television, you know what? They need role models. That's what the FCA tries to do.”
There was no better role model for young people than Bobby Bowden.
Here’s a recap of Bowden’s career against OU, including one matchup in which he was an FSU assistant.
1964-65 Gator Bowl
Florida State 36, OU 19
The Beatles opened the fall in Jacksonville with a show in the Gator Bowl on Sept. 11. But it was the Seminoles who delivered the encore performance.
Bowden coached the FSU receivers that season, including Fred Biletnikoff, who caught four touchdown passes against the Sooners.
OU set a bowl record that day, too: Ronnie Fletcher’s 95-yard touchdown pass to Ben Hart, which still stands as OU’s longest pass in a bowl game. Hart finished with 165 receiving yards.
One reason the Sooners were so mismatched: three All-Big Eight performers — fullback Jim Grisham, halfback Lance Rentzel and left tackle Ralph Neely — were ruled ineligible at the 11th hour.
The NFL and the AFL were in a desperate competition for talent, and all three were told they could sign pro contracts that wouldn’t take effect until after the bowl game. (Oilers owner Bud Adams admitted he signed Neely and had tried to sign Rentzel and Grisham.) OU had little chance without their stars.
1976
No. 4 OU 24, Florida St. 9
Only once in Bowden’s career — his first season as FSU’s head coach — did he face Oklahoma in a regular-season game.
It wasn’t pretty.
In Norman, Horace Ivory rushed for 112 yards on nine carries, including touchdown runs of 37 and 23 yards. Elvis Peacock punched in OU’s other score with a 4-yard TD run.
FSU finished with just 270 yards total offense (OU had 513, including 455 rushing).
Losing to OU pushed Bowden’s career record with the Seminoles to 0-3. It would be his only losing season in 34 years in Tallahassee.
1979-80 Orange Bowl
No. 5 OU 24, No. 4 Florida State 7
Bud Hebert set an Orange Bowl record with three interceptions and Bowden’s quarterbacks completed just 8-of-27 passes for 100 yards.
For Hebert — Uwe von Schamann's holder on the 1977 game winning field goal at Ohio State — it was just his second career start at free safety.
OU lost four fumbles, but put on a wishbone showcase.
J.C. Watts scored on a 61-yard touchdown run, Stanley Wilson virtually flew into the end zone, and Billy Sims caught an option pitch from a horizontal Watts on his way to OU’s third touchdown, a breathtaking 34-yard touchdown that capped off a 99-yard drive.
1980-81 Orange Bowl
No. 4 OU 18, No. 2 Florida State 17
Watts wasn’t done tormenting the FSU fan base.
He opened things with a 20-yard run on fourth down, then found David Overstreet on another magical option pitch for a 4-yard touchdown run as OU opened up a 7-0 lead.
A fumble and a dropped punt helped FSU grab a 17-10 lead with 11 minutes left, but Switzer turned to Watts’ arm for some late Sooners Magic.
Watts — who was knocked unconscious in the third quarter — got lucky when FSU dropped a pair of potential interceptions. That gave him the confidence to complete four passes on the final drive, the last of which went to Steve Rhodes with 1:27 to play to cut it to 17-16.
Switzer went for the win, and Watts’s 2-point conversion to Forrest Valora finished the rally.
2000-01 Orange Bowl
No. 1 OU 13, No. 2 Florida State 2
Oklahoma was ranked No. 1, but was an 11.5-point underdog to Bowden’s Seminoles. But Stoops’ troops — starved for success after a decade that ranged from mediocre to awful — would not be denied.
FSU led the nation in scoring and total offense, but Bowden’s crew converted just 1-of-15 third downs and there Seminoles’ only points came on an OU punt snap out of bounds.
FSU threatened twice early but was turned back both times — one by a missed field goal and one by a Derrick Strait knockdown of Weinke’s throw to Anquan Boldin.
Meanwhile, two Tim Duncan field goals gave the Sooners a 6-0 lead.
After Rocky Calmus and Roy Williams combined on a Weinke fumble, Quentin Griffin busted loose on a 10-yard run right up the gut and the Sooners seized a 13-0 lead — and the OU program was officially back.
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