Louisville and Thursday night — for Florida State fans, those three words when paired together instantaneously bring back bad memories.
It was 12 years ago when the Seminoles and Cardinals last met. Florida State entered the September 26th contest in 2002, with a record of 4-0 and ranked fourth in the country.
On a wet, muddy field that Thursday evening, Louisville answered Florida State score for score. At the end of regulation, the score was tied at 20 apiece. Overtime however, would last just two plays.
On Florida State’s first play of the extra session, quarterback Chris Rix was intercepted by Anthony Floyd. On Louisville’s first play, Henry Miller went straight up the middle for a 25-yard touchdown, giving the Cardinals an improbable 26-20 upset victory.
While the loss to Louisville that Thursday night was nothing short of devastating for the Seminoles, it may have served as the unofficial beginning of the lost decade.
After finishing in the top 5 each year from 1987-2000 while winning two national championships, the 8-4 campaign of 2001 looked to be just one down-year. Florida State was forced to start a freshman quarterback in Chris Rix after losing projected starter and former wide receiver Anquan Boldin to a season-ending knee injury prior to the year.
The Seminoles were also replacing their leading rusher in Travis Minor and All-Americans in wide receiver Marvin Minnis, cornerback Tay Cody and defensive end Jamal Reynolds. One down year in which Florida State still finished in the top 15 after 14 outstanding years in a row hardly seemed like much to be concerned about.
The loss to Louisville however, turned out to be just the beginning. Though Florida State was able to claim its 10th ACC title in 11 years that season, the Seminoles finished the 2002 campaign with a record of 9-5. The five losses was the most for FSU in over two decades.
Over the next nine seasons, Florida State never lost fewer than three games in any year and finished in the top 10 just once. Over that span, FSU endured three 4-loss seasons, a 5-loss season and three 6-loss seasons.
The sloppy, wet field that night in 2002 may have been prime conditions for a Louisville upset, but since, the landscape of college football has dramatically changed.
The ACC at the time, consisted of just nine teams as opposed to 14 today.
Louisville was obviously not a member of the ACC at the time. In fact, Louisville had not yet joined the Big East, but was a member of Conference USA.
Since 2012 however, football glory has returned to Tallahassee on a national scale. The Seminoles have lost just twice, while winning consecutive ACC titles and rallying to snap the SEC’s stranglehold on the BCS with a 34-31 victory over Auburn in January.
When Florida State takes the field at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium on Thursday, it will be riding the nation’s longest winning streak at a school-record 23 games. FSU is less than a year removed from its third national championship, but the memory of what happened 12 years ago still remains fresh in the minds of both schools as they meet for the first time as ACC counterparts.
It seems fitting that Florida State should visit Louisville on the eve of Halloween as many have circled Thursday’s contest as a potential scare for the Seminoles even prior to the start of the season.
Fortunately for Florida State, what took place in 2002 will have no bearing on Thursday’s outcome. Though it may be referenced a lot leading up to the contest, the Seminoles will have an opportunity this week to remind people just what that historic upset for Louisville in 2002 was — a thing of the past.
