CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

The 1993 season

Florida State finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 12–⁠1 under Bobby Bowden, after it beat Nebraska 18–⁠16 in the Orange Bowl. Auburn also claims the national title. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 2 Notre Dame 31, No. 1 Florida State 24 (Nov 13, 1993). One Division I-A team finished unbeaten. 51 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Charlie Ward, QB, Florida State, who also won the Maxwell, Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien and Unitas Golden Arm.

The Heisman vote: Charlie Ward 2,310 points, Heath Shuler 688
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Charlie Ward QB, Florida State2,3107403912
Heath Shuler QB, Tennessee68810274110
David Palmer WR, Alabama292167888
Marshall Faulk RB, San Diego State25077481
Glenn Foley QB, Boston College18054771
LeShon Johnson RB, Northern Illinois17655159
J.J. Stokes WR, UCLA13133748
Tyrone Wheatley RB, Michigan10023132
Trent Dilfer QB, Fresno State9122829
Eric Zeier QB, Georgia8502437

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1Florida StateAtlantic Coast Conference
2Notre DameIndependent
3NebraskaBig Eight
4AuburnSoutheastern Conference
5FloridaSoutheastern Conference
6WisconsinBig Ten
7West VirginiaBig East
8Penn StateBig Ten
9Texas A&MSouthwest Conference
10ArizonaPac-10
11Ohio StateBig Ten
12TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
13Boston CollegeBig East
14AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
15MiamiBig East
16ColoradoBig Eight
17OklahomaBig Eight
18UCLAPac-10
19North CarolinaAtlantic Coast Conference
20Kansas StateBig Eight
21MichiganBig Ten
22Virginia TechBig East
23ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference
24LouisvilleIndependent
25CaliforniaPac-10

Biggest upsets

Nov 6, 1993LSU 17, 5Alabama 13
Nov 20, 1993Michigan 28, 5Ohio State 0
Oct 9, 1993Michigan State 17, 9Michigan 7
Nov 13, 1993Arizona State 9, 10UCLA 3
Nov 20, 199317Boston College 41, 1Notre Dame 39
Oct 16, 199319Auburn 38, 4Florida 35
Sep 18, 199320Stanford 41, 7Colorado 37
Oct 2, 1993Boston College 33, 13Syracuse 29
Oct 23, 1993Illinois 24, 13Michigan 21
Nov 13, 1993California 24, 13Arizona 20
Sep 4, 1993South Carolina 23, 14Georgia 21
Sep 11, 199317Oklahoma 44, 5Texas A&M 14

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 1993, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15FinalArizona: Wk 1 No. 14, Wk 2 No. 13, Wk 3 No. 13, Wk 4 No. 15, Wk 5 No. 15, Wk 6 No. 12, Wk 7 No. 12, Wk 8 No. 11, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 14, Wk 12 No. 13, Wk 13 No. 19, Wk 14 No. 19, Wk 15 No. 17, Wk 16 No. 16, Final No. 1010 ArizonaTexas A&M: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 5, Wk 4 No. 16, Wk 5 No. 14, Wk 6 No. 14, Wk 7 No. 14, Wk 8 No. 13, Wk 9 No. 11, Wk 10 No. 11, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 11, Wk 13 No. 10, Wk 14 No. 8, Wk 15 No. 7, Wk 16 No. 7, Final No. 99 Texas A&MPenn State: Wk 1 No. 16, Wk 2 No. 17, Wk 3 No. 15, Wk 4 No. 14, Wk 5 No. 9, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 7, Wk 9 No. 14, Wk 10 No. 12, Wk 11 No. 19, Wk 12 No. 16, Wk 13 No. 14, Wk 14 No. 14, Wk 15 No. 13, Wk 16 No. 13, Final No. 88 Penn StateWest Virginia: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 No. 25, Wk 7 No. 24, Wk 8 No. 17, Wk 9 No. 18, Wk 10 No. 13, Wk 11 No. 11, Wk 12 No. 9, Wk 13 No. 9, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 3, Wk 16 No. 3, Final No. 77 West VirginiaWisconsin: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 24, Wk 5 No. 23, Wk 6 No. 22, Wk 7 No. 21, Wk 8 No. 16, Wk 9 No. 15, Wk 10 No. 21, Wk 11 No. 15, Wk 12 No. 14, Wk 13 No. 12, Wk 14 No. 10, Wk 15 No. 10, Wk 16 No. 9, Final No. 66 WisconsinFlorida: Wk 1 No. 9, Wk 2 No. 8, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 9, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 9, Wk 10 No. 10, Wk 11 No. 9, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 8, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 9, Wk 16 No. 8, Final No. 55 FloridaAuburn: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 No. 25, Wk 6 No. 23, Wk 7 No. 22, Wk 8 No. 19, Wk 9 No. 10, Wk 10 No. 9, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 4, Wk 16 No. 5, Final No. 44 AuburnNebraska: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 9, Wk 3 No. 9, Wk 4 No. 8, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 7, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Wk 16 No. 2, Final No. 33 NebraskaNotre Dame: Wk 1 No. 7, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 11, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 5, Wk 16 No. 4, Final No. 22 Notre DameFlorida State: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Wk 16 No. 1, Final No. 11 Florida State
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Auburnunranked → No. 4
  2. Wisconsinunranked → No. 6
  3. West Virginiaunranked → No. 7
  4. Penn StateNo. 16 → No. 8
  5. Boston CollegeNo. 21 → No. 13

Fell

  1. SyracuseNo. 6 → unranked
  2. MichiganNo. 3 → No. 21
  3. WashingtonNo. 12 → unranked
  4. GeorgiaNo. 13 → unranked
  5. AlabamaNo. 2 → No. 14

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsChris Vargas (Nevada)4,265 yds
Passing touchdownsChris Vargas (Nevada)34 TD
Passer ratingTrent Dilfer (Fresno State)173.1
Rushing yardsLeShon Johnson (Northern Illinois)1,976 yds
Rushing touchdownsBam Morris (Texas Tech)22 TD
Yards per carryCharlie Garner (Tennessee)7.3
ReceptionsChris Penn (Tulsa)105 catches
Receiving yardsChris Penn (Tulsa)1,578 yds
Yards per catchJay Kearney (West Virginia)25.9
Receiving touchdownsBryan Reeves (UCLA)17 TD
PointsMarshall Faulk (San Diego State)144 pts
Points per gameBam Morris (Texas Tech)12.2
Total offenseChris Vargas (Nevada)4,332 yds
Total offense per gameChris Vargas (Nevada)393.8
Punt return averageAaron Glenn (Texas A&M)19.9
Kickoff return averageLeeland McElroy (Texas A&M)39.3

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Division I-A

Atlantic Coast Conference
Florida State
Big East
West Virginia
Big Eight
Nebraska
Big Ten
Ohio State and Wisconsin (shared)
Big West
Louisiana and Utah State (shared)
Mid-American Conference
Ball State
Pac-10
Arizona, UCLA and USC (shared)
Southeastern Conference
Florida
Southwest Conference
Texas A&M
Western Athletic Conference
BYU, Fresno State and Wyoming (shared)

Division I-AA

American West Conference
Southern Utah and UC Davis (shared)
Big Sky
Montana
Gateway Football Conference
Northern Iowa
Ivy League
Pennsylvania
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Howard
Ohio Valley Conference
Eastern Kentucky
Patriot League
Lehigh
Pioneer Football League
Dayton
Southern Conference
Georgia Southern
Southland Conference
McNeese
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Southern

Division II and below

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Hampton
Gulf South Conference
North Alabama
North Central Conference
North Dakota

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

22 playersAll 10 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1993 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1993 All-America teams page.

The 1993 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

Florida State 32 on the staff list

  • Bobby Bowdenhead coach
  • Chuck Amatoassistant head coach, defensive line
  • Mickey Andrewsdefensive coordinator, defensive backs
  • Brad Scottoffensive coordinator, offensive line
  • Mark Richtquarterbacks
  • Billy Sextonrunning backs
  • John Easonreceivers
  • Jimmy Hegginsoffensive line
  • Wally Burnhaminside linebackers
  • Jim Gladdenoutside linebackers
Support staff (22)

Strength and conditioning

  • Dave Van Halanger STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

Operations and recruiting

  • Ronnie Cottrell recruiting coordinator
  • Sue Hall administrative assistant
  • Carol Moore offensive Secretary
  • Mary Jo O’Donnell defensive Secretary
  • Marla Dreiling recruiting Secretary
  • Bernie Waxman athletics facilities director (Doak Campbell Stadium, football practice fields); later associate AD for Facility Planning, operations and Event Management
  • Andy Urbanic assistant athletics director in charge of football operations

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Randy Oravetz head trainer, director of sports medicine
  • Jack Marucci ASSISTANT TRAINER
  • Andy Barker ASSISTANT TRAINER

Equipment

  • Jimmie Callaway EQUIPMENT MANAGER
  • Dave Delegal coaches and staff (specific 1993 title not stated; later described as FSU’s ‘longtime equipment manager’)

Video, communications and other staff

  • Mark Rodin Videographer
  • Keith Creel Videographer
  • Clint Ledbetter video analyst
  • Mark Meleney Academic advisor
  • Major Billy Smith Listed on the 1993 media guide football support staff page (title illegible in the scan’s OCR)
  • Pamela Eaves Listed on the 1993 media guide football support staff page (title illegible in the scan’s OCR)
  • Nick Menacop Listed on the 1993 media guide football support staff page (title illegible in the scan’s OCR)
  • Wayne Hogan assistant athletic director for communications, sports Information director
  • Rob Wilson ASSOCIATE SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 17, 1993Utah State 42, Ball State 33Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 24, 199319Oklahoma 41, Texas Tech 10John Hancock Bowl
Dec 25, 199317Colorado 41, 25Fresno State 30Aloha Bowl
Dec 28, 199325Louisville 18, Michigan State 7Liberty Bowl
Dec 29, 199320Kansas State 52, Wyoming 17Copper Bowl
Dec 30, 199311Ohio State 28, BYU 21Holiday Bowl
Dec 30, 1993USC 28, Utah 21Freedom Bowl
Dec 31, 199318Alabama 24, 12North Carolina 10Gator Bowl
Dec 31, 1993California 37, Iowa 3Alamo Bowl
Dec 31, 199324Clemson 14, Kentucky 13Peach Bowl
Dec 31, 199322Virginia Tech 45, 21Indiana 20Independence Bowl
Jan 1, 199416Arizona 29, 10Miami 0Fiesta Bowl
Jan 1, 199415Boston College 31, Virginia 13Carquest Bowl
Jan 1, 19948Florida 41, 3West Virginia 7Sugar Bowl
Jan 1, 19941Florida State 18, 2Nebraska 16Orange Bowl
Jan 1, 199423Michigan 42, NC State 7Hall of Fame Bowl
Jan 1, 19944Notre Dame 24, 7Texas A&M 21Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 199413Penn State 31, 6Tennessee 13Citrus Bowl
Jan 1, 19949Wisconsin 21, 14UCLA 16Rose Bowl