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2002 Florida State

9–⁠5 (7–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bobby Bowden, finished No. 21 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Florida State in 2002, game by game: won vs. Iowa State 38–31; won vs. Virginia 40–19; won at Maryland 37–10; won vs. Duke 48–17; lost at Louisville 20–26; won vs. Clemson 48–31; lost at No. 1 Miami 27–28; lost vs. No. 6 Notre Dame 24–34; won at Wake Forest 34–21; won at Georgia Tech 21–13; won vs. North Carolina 40–14; lost at NC State 7–17; won vs. No. 15 Florida 31–14; lost vs. No. 4 Georgia 13–26+31−13Won 38–31 vs. Iowa State+7Iowa StateWon 40–19 vs. Virginia+21VirginiaWon 37–10 at Maryland+27MarylandWon 48–17 vs. Duke+31DukeLost 20–26 at Louisville-6LouisvilleWon 48–31 vs. Clemson+17ClemsonLost 27–28 at No. 1 Miami-1No. 1 MiamiLost 24–34 vs. No. 6 Notre Dame-10No. 6 Notre DameWon 34–21 at Wake Forest+13Wake ForestWon 21–13 at Georgia Tech+8Georgia TechWon 40–14 vs. North Carolina+26North CarolinaLost 7–17 at NC State-10NC StateWon 31–14 vs. No. 15 Florida+17No. 15 FloridaLost 13–26 vs. No. 4 Georgia-13No. 4 Georgia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 24vsIowa StateW 38–⁠3165%
Aug 31vsVirginiaW 40–⁠1982%
Sep 14atMarylandW 37–⁠1057%
Sep 21vsDukeW 48–⁠1792%
Sep 26atLouisvilleL 20–⁠2655%
Oct 3vsClemsonW 48–⁠3169%
Oct 12at1MiamiL 27–⁠2827%
Oct 26vs6Notre DameL 24–⁠3459%
Nov 2atWake ForestW 34–⁠2162%
Nov 9atGeorgia TechW 21–⁠1350%
Nov 16vsNorth CarolinaW 40–⁠1488%
Nov 23atNC StateL 7–⁠1755%
Nov 30vs15FloridaW 31–⁠1454%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs4GeorgiaSugar BowlL 13–⁠2644%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia 26–⁠13 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 21 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 78 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 5
  3. Wk 3: 5
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 5
  6. Wk 6: 4
  7. Wk 7: 11
  8. Wk 8: 9
  9. Wk 9: 12
  10. Wk 10: 11
  11. Wk 11: 18
  12. Wk 12: 17
  13. Wk 13: 15
  14. Wk 14: 14
  15. Wk 15: 23
  16. Wk 16: 16
  17. Final: 21

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 2002.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Record
9–⁠5
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 21 peak No. 3
Points
428–⁠301
Coach
Bobby Bowden
Elo
1682 +44 this season
SP+ rating
23.7 No. 8 of 117; offense No. 11, defense No. 14
SRS
17.3 No. 11 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 2
Offensive coordinator
Jeff Bowden
Defensive coordinator
Mickey Andrews
Captains
Brett Williams, Alonzo Jackson and Patrick Newton
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 32— allowed
Defense-0.6own 34— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2002 class

Lorenzo Booker APB★★★★★No. 2
Chris Davis ATH★★★★★No. 4
Leon Washington CB★★★★★No. 11
Pat Watkins S★★★★★No. 15
DiShon Platt WR★★★★★No. 18
Lonnie Davis SDE★★★★★No. 37
A.J. Nicholson ILB★★★★No. 59
Kamerion Wimbley WDE★★★★No. 61

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs15.00.999
Receivers15.00.992
Offensive line12.00.767
Defensive line34.30.967
Linebackers23.50.904
Defensive backs34.00.918
Athletes and specialists24.50.982
Whole class134.10.937

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2003

The 2003 draft
Rd 2Anquan Boldin WRArizona Cardinals
Rd 2Alonzo Jackson DEPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Montrae Holland OGNew Orleans Saints
Rd 4Brett Williams OTKansas City Chiefs
Rd 7Todd Williams OTTennessee Titans
Rd 7Talman Gardner WRNew Orleans Saints

All-ACC

3 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2002 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2002 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State7–⁠19–⁠521
Maryland6–⁠211–⁠313
Virginia6–⁠29–⁠522
NC State5–⁠311–⁠312
Georgia Tech4–⁠47–⁠6
Clemson4–⁠47–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠57–⁠6
North Carolina1–⁠73–⁠9
Duke0–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.