Clemson–Florida State football rivalry | |
College Football | |
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Teams | Florida State Clemson |
Coaches | Jimbo Fisher (Florida State) Dabo Swinney (Clemson) |
First Game | 1970 |
Series History | Florida State, 17-8 |
Last Winner | Clemson, 2011 |
The Clemson–Florida State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Clemson Tigers football team of Clemson University and the Florida State Seminoles football team of Florida State University. Both universities are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and since the ACC initiated divisional play in 2005, both teams have competed in the ACC's Atlantic Division. For several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the matchup was known as the Bowden Bowl for the father, former head coach Bobby Bowden of the Seminoles, and the son, Tommy Bowden, formerly head coach of the Tigers.
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The rivalry game was first played in 1970, predating Florida State's membership in the ACC. Clemson and Florida State played on occasion but began to play regularly in the 1992 season when FSU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. Prior to FSU's arrival, Clemson was a dominant team in the ACC winning 6 of the past 11 ACC titles from 1981-1991. However the 1991 ACC title would be their last to date as Florida State dominated much of college football for the 1990s. The rivalry picked up, however, when Tommy Bowden, son of FSU coach Bobby Bowden was hired at Clemson University in 1999.
When Tommy Bowden was named head coach of Clemson on December 2, 1998, the opportunity arose for the first ever meeting between a father and his son as opposing head coaches on the football field. This became known as "The Bowden Bowl". Florida State and Clemson have faced each other on a yearly basis since Florida State joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1992. In 2005, when the ACC expanded to twelve teams, Clemson and Florida State were placed together in the Atlantic Division; this allowed the teams to continue to face each other without interruption. The first father vs son meeting, in 1999, was the largest crowd ever to watch a game at Memorial Stadium at Clemson University with an attendance of 86,200. Bobby won the all-time series, with five wins and four losses. Tommy's four wins in the series remain the only times a son has ever beaten his father when facing off as head coach in any of America's four major sports. Tommy Bowden's first win came in 2003 on his father's birthday, defeating then third-ranked FSU, damaging their prospects for a national championship. The Bowden vs Bowden editions of the series concluded when Tommy resigned as head coach six games into the 2008 football season.
The rivalry lives on past the departure of Tommy Bowden as the Seminoles of the 00's were not the mighty team of the 1990s. The games in 2008 and 2009 both came down to the 4th quarter with the home teams winning respectively. From the period of 2000-2010 the once one-sided rivalry was evenly split at 5-5. At the end of the 2009 season Bobby Bowden retired from Florida State University leaving his Offensive Coordinator and Head Coach in Waiting Jimbo Fisher as head coach of the team.
Clemson victories are colored ██ orange. Florida State victories are colored ██ garnet. Ties and future games are white.
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Records table sources: 2011 Clemson Football,[1] 2010 Florida State Football Media Guide,[2] and College Football Data Warehouse.[3]
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