Appalachian State Mountaineers

FSU Football's Most Memorable Bowl Wins: No. 13

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:49 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jason Parker/FanSided via Chop Chat

FSU football is heading back to another bowl game – here’s a look at the one of the more memorable postseason games in program history.

On January 2nd, 1950, the Florida State Seminoles made program history in just their third season of play. FSU football traveled from Tallahassee to Tampa to take on the Wofford Terriers in the Cigar Bowl – the first time the ‘Noles had been selected to play in a postseason bowl game since the program started.

This season, the Seminoles will take part in their 46th all-time bowl game when they play in the (bowl game) against the (opponent). It will be another in the list of memorable postseason contests for FSU football – a list that has taken the team everywhere from Miami to San Francisco and Atlanta to Dallas and points all over the place.

But, which bowl games have truly been the best ever for the Seminoles? Here’s a look at another memorable moment in the postseason for Florida State.

No. 13 – 1982 Gator Bowl (Florida State 31 West Virginia 12)

This season, FSU football will be in a postseason bowl game for the 35th straight time – which is technically the longest active streak for any FBS team, even if the NCAA took away two appearances and considers Virginia Tech’s streak of 24 seasons the longest. It all started just a couple hours from the Tallahassee campus against the former school of legendary head coach Bobby Bowden.

The Seminoles found themselves in a dogfight early on, tied at three in the second quarter. That’s when Billy Allen changed everything by going 95 yards on a kickoff return for the score and the ‘Noles wouldn’t give up the lead. Blair Williams would hit Dennis McKinnon with just 15 seconds to go in the half to give FSU football the 17-6 lead heading into the locker room.

In the second half, Bowden and the offense turned everything over to one of the best backs to ever play for the ‘Noles – as Greg Allen went for two scores as part of a 138 yard night in Jacksonville. Brian McCrary was the star on defense as he came up with two interceptions and the ‘Noles got their first bowl win since the 1977 season with the 31-12 decision over the Mountaineers.

Despite being two of the bigger programs in the southeastern part of the country over the last half century, these two teams have just met three times overall – with all three games coming in the Gator Bowl during the Bowden years – with the Seminoles winning each game following the 1982, 2004 and 2009 seasons.