By Bob Thomas, Seminoles.com
The 10th anniversary of Florida State's 1999 national championship season is reason to celebrate. The Seminoles were the first team to go wire-to-wire ranked No. 1 and remain the only undefeated team in program history. On the day the champions return to Doak Campbell Stadium to be honored, here is the third of six feature stories appearing in Game Time this season, recapping the most memorable moments in a game-by-game look at the 12-0 campaign.
Seminoles' stars had a way of making everyone on the roster better
From Peter Warrick to Chris Weinke, and Sebastian Janikowski to Corey Simon, Florida State's 1999 squad had more than enough fire-power on the roster to overwhelm virtually every opponent.
That's not surprising when you consider the roster included 31 players who would one day play in the NFL.
But what set Bobby Bowden's only unbeaten team apart was its sense of purpose and focus; qualities strengthened in the aftermath of the 1998 national championship game loss to Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl.
"When we came in as freshmen we had one of the top classes, as Florida State always did," said special teams captain Todd Frier, a senior on the '99 team. "We thought we'd win two or three national championships.
"By the time we were seniors, it was kind of like it slapped us in the face. ... It was our last opportunity. Ever since we lost to Tennessee, it carried us through the offseason. There was a sense of urgency and the seniors helped the underclassmen understand that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Seizing on that opportunity would not be easy. The Seminoles were a marked team, ordained as No. 1 in the preseason. Along the way they would encounter a handful of challenges on the field, and be dealt adversity off it. A less resolute team may not have been able to cope with the week-to-week pressure to perform.
Yet this team was different, even before setting itself apart with wire-to-wire perfection.
The 10th anniversary of Florida State's 1999 national championship season is reason to celebrate. The Seminoles were the first team to go wire-to-wire ranked No. 1 and remain the only undefeated team in program history. On the day the champions return to Doak Campbell Stadium to be honored, here is the third of six feature stories appearing in Game Time this season, recapping the most memorable moments in a game-by-game look at the 12-0 campaign.
Seminoles' stars had a way of making everyone on the roster better
From Peter Warrick to Chris Weinke, and Sebastian Janikowski to Corey Simon, Florida State's 1999 squad had more than enough fire-power on the roster to overwhelm virtually every opponent.
That's not surprising when you consider the roster included 31 players who would one day play in the NFL.
But what set Bobby Bowden's only unbeaten team apart was its sense of purpose and focus; qualities strengthened in the aftermath of the 1998 national championship game loss to Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl.
"When we came in as freshmen we had one of the top classes, as Florida State always did," said special teams captain Todd Frier, a senior on the '99 team. "We thought we'd win two or three national championships.
"By the time we were seniors, it was kind of like it slapped us in the face. ... It was our last opportunity. Ever since we lost to Tennessee, it carried us through the offseason. There was a sense of urgency and the seniors helped the underclassmen understand that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Seizing on that opportunity would not be easy. The Seminoles were a marked team, ordained as No. 1 in the preseason. Along the way they would encounter a handful of challenges on the field, and be dealt adversity off it. A less resolute team may not have been able to cope with the week-to-week pressure to perform.
Yet this team was different, even before setting itself apart with wire-to-wire perfection.
Continue reading 99 National Championship Season - Part 3.
