The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 35

0 1 P-I 9F'' 1 ui av rrr rrrrrrrryMy ORANGE BOWL FLORIDA STATE 18 NEBRASKA 16 A SUNDAVJANUARY2r1994 30B CONTROVERSIAL CALL: Florida State fullback William Floyd fumbles at the goal line but is awarded a touchdown during the third quarter of the 18-16 victory A clip a fumble a controversial game returner Corey Dixon returned a punt 68 yards for an apparent touchdown But a clipping call brought the play back and Nebraska eventually had to punt Cornhusker Tyrone Williams dumbfounded stood at the spot of the flag helmet off and complained loudly that he hadn't clipped anybody Replays showed he hadn't officials obviously have the benefit of instant replay but none of our replays show a conclusive said NBC spokesperson Vince Wladika looked at it four or five times at different angles and find a clip are not in the business of second-guessing referees but it appears both calls could have gone the other In the third quarter with FSU trailing 7-6 fullback William Floyd appeared to fumble before reaching the goal line Trev Alberts caused the fumble and fellow linebacker Mike Anderson recovered it But officials ruled that Floyd had crossed the goal line before losing the ball One-yard touchdown FSU winning 12-7 Seven neutral officials all from the Big East Conference To remove the appearance of bias officials from the Big Eight and Atlantic Coast conferences were not allowed to work the game Nebraska plays in By DAN LE BATARD Herald Sports Writer The Orange Bowl swelled with red garnet and gold Saturday night but the men wearing black and white helped decided the game with their yellow The referees made two huge calls against Nebraska calls that cost the Cornhuskers 12 points in their 18-16 defeat and something much more valuable a national championship Call the calls the controversial clip and the phantom fumble Or if you prefer the fumble that was and the clip that In the first quarter of a 0-0 game Nebraska punt the Big Eight FSU in the Atlantic Coast Do you believe in the Notre Dame mystique? Do you believe leprechauns could have been at work here all the way down in Miami? This was exactly the type of Orange Bowl game Notre Dame needed to make a logical claim to the national championship a sloppy controversial FSU victory if Nebraska had won and remained undefeated one-loss Notre Dame has no shot at the national championship But now the Fighting Irish have a gripe they have just as few losses as FSU and they beat FSU the only time the two teams met this year Bowden takes early shower Celebration is premature leaving the coach all wet By SCOTT FOWLER Herald Sports Writer Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden got an ice-cold shower from his players at the end of the game when he had apparently won his first national championship Problem was it count The players had to trot back out for failed field-goal attempt was a very wasted Bowden said was extremely cold and then we had to win it Bowden did not take exception to criticism of his end-of-game strategy when FSU kicked a field goal early and allowed Nebraska a final although unsuccessful chance to win very smart at the end he said 1 guess it must have been our time That's all I can think because Nebraska played as well or better than we Nebraska took the lead 7-3 in the second quarter when intended receiver Clester Johnson tipped the ball with his left hand and Nebraska split end Reggie Baul caught it in full stride then sprinted into the end zone to finish a 34-yard TD Bowden listened to the light green earphones hugging his head and looked worried Then again Bowden looked worried the entire game especially in the dramatic final seconds Friends and relatives said they had never seen him as tense and distracted as he had been this past week Normally affable to everyone Bowden was still friendly but obviously distracted been a tough week for said son Terry who coached Auburn to an 11-0 record this season been fighting off a cold along with everything else And as the game got closer and closer gotten more and more nervous like a lot of coaches The victory pushed Bowden out of a tie with former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes and into fifth place all-time on the coaching victory list Only Bear Bryant Amos Alonzo Stagg Pop Warner and Joe Patemo have more victories than Bowden's total of 239 Bowden is now 13-3-1 in bowl games and is 1 1-0-1 over the past 12 years But this one counted for more than any of those others feel Bowden said should win the national PASS INTERFERENCE: John Reece is penalized after set up Scott 34-yard field goal and an early 3-0 lead for the interfering with Kez McCorvey in the second quarter The play Seminoles A a it.