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Florida State Seminoles © |
Southern Miss Golden Eagles |
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Played September 2, 1989 at Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Florida State © | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Southern Miss | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | ||||||||
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Florida State |
10 |
0 |
13 |
3 |
26 |
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Southern Miss |
3 |
14 |
0 |
13 |
30 |
At the start of the 1989 season, the Florida State Seminoles of coach Bobby Bowden were ranked 6th nationally & returning several stars including All-Americans S LeRoy Butler. The Seminoles were young at skill positions though with QB Peter Tom Willis & RB Dexter Carter making their first extensive contributions. QB Brett Favre led the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, coached by Curley Hallman. Favre threw for 2 touchdowns including a 2-yard touchdown pass to TE Anthony Harris with 0:23 left in the game for a 30-26 upset of the Belt holders. Florida State took a 10-0 lead in the 1st quarter after the Golden Eagles drove inside the Seminoles’ 15-yard on their first 2 possessions only to have fumbles recovered by Florida State. Carter scored a touchdown on the Seminoles’ first possession when he carried in from 11 yards & PK Bill Mason kicked a 24-yard field goal to complete Florida State’s second possession that again started with a Southern Miss fumble. The Golden Eagles got on the scoreboard when PK Chuck Davis hit a 22-yard field goal. Southern Miss took advantage of two Florida State fumbles in the 2nd quarter to score 14 points & take a 17-10 halftime lead. Early in the quarter, RB Eddie Ray Jackson scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game & Favre completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to WR Alfred Williams with just 0:11 left in the half to give the Golden Eagles the lead. The Seminoles seemed to take control in the 3rd quarter when Willis connected with WR Lawrence Dawsey for a 24-yard touchdown pass & Carter scored his second touchdown, this one on a 9-yard run, but the missed extra-point attempt left the score Florida State 23 Southern Miss 17 as the game entered the final quarter. Early in the 4th quarter, Southern Miss's RB Ricky Bradley scored on a 10-yard touchdown run as the Golden Eagles took a 24-23 lead but the Seminoles got some help from the officials with 6:57 to play. As Mason attempted to kick the go-ahead field goal, the kick was blocked by Southern Miss's LB Bryant Medders. Amazingly, Medders was called for a illegally batting down the attempt giving Mason another chance from 27 yards. This kick was good giving Florida State the lead before Favre went to work for the final time. Southern Miss trailed 26-24 late in the game as Favre drove the Golden Eagles the length of the field. Positioned for the field goal on 3rd & goal from the 4-yard line, Favre instead rolled out on a play-action pass finding Harris for the touchdown. The score gave Southern Miss a 30-26 upset of Florida State & the Belt. Favre finished with 282 yards passing with his 2 touchdowns. Willis threw for 269 yards with his touchdown & Carter rushed for 118 yards with his 2 touchdowns but the Florida State fumbles on critical drives spelled the difference. The Seminoles finished the season 10-2; ranked 3rd nationally while Southern Miss finished 5-6. Florida State would play for The Belt again in 1999.
