1984 Florida Citrus Bowl

College football game
1984 Florida Citrus Growers Association Florida Citrus Bowl
Georgia Bulldogs Florida State Seminoles
(7–4) (7–3–1)
SEC Independent
17 17
Head coach: 
Vince Dooley
Head coach: 
Bobby Bowden
APCoaches
1516
1234 Total
Georgia 01403 17
Florida State 00314 17
DateDecember 22, 1984
Season1984
StadiumFlorida Citrus Bowl
LocationOrlando, Florida
MVPQB James Jackson (Georgia)
RefereeDonald Safrit (ACC)
Attendance51,821
United States TV coverage
NetworkNBC
AnnouncersDon Criqui & Bob Trumpy
Florida Citrus Bowl
 < 1983  1985 > 

The 1984 Florida Citrus Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game that featured the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida State Seminoles.

Background

A 7–1 start and a #8 ranking came crashing down after a loss to Florida in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party rivalry game, as they then lost to #15 Auburn and Georgia Tech to crater into the Citrus Bowl without a ranking, and a (tied for) 3rd-place finish in the Southeastern Conference. A 4–0 start (and a #6 ranking) for the Seminoles ended with a 3–3–1 finish. This was Georgia's first Florida Citrus Bowl since 1974, along with their 5th straight bowl appearance. This was Florida State's first Florida Citrus Bowl since 1977 and 3rd straight bowl appearance.

Game summary

  • Georgia – Lars Tate 4-yard touchdown run (Butler kick), 5:26 remaining in 2nd quarter
  • Georgia – Lars Tate 2-yard touchdown run (Butler kick), 1:08 remaining in 2nd quarter
  • Florida State – Schmidt 32-yard field goal, 10:26 remaining in 3rd quarter
  • Florida State – Smith 1-yard touchdown run (run failed), 14:21 remaining in 4th quarter
  • Georgia – Kevin Butler 36-yard field goal, 12:10 remaining in 4th quarter
  • Florida State – Joe Wessel 14-yard touchdown return of blocked punt (Darrin Holloman run), 3:58 remaining in 4th quarter

Jackson threw 7-of-16 for 159 yards in an MVP effort.

Aftermath

Florida State has not returned to the Citrus Bowl since this game, while Georgia returned in 1993, 2004, 2009 and 2013.

Statistics

Statistics Florida State Georgia
First downs 18 15
Rushing yards 161 189
Passing yards 85 178
Passes (Comp-Attempts-Int.) 10–27–2 9–18–1
Return yardage 122 22
Fumbles–lost 3–1 5–1
Punts–average 8 (38.6) 8 (37.1)
Yards penalized 8–65 6–42

References

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1984–85 NCAA football bowl game season
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Tangerine / Florida Citrus / Capital One / Citrus Bowl
History & conference tie-ins
Tangerine Bowl
Florida Citrus Bowl
Capital One Bowl
Citrus Bowl
  • There were games in January and December of 1958, 1960, and 2016. As a result, there were no games in 1959, 1986 or 2017.
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Florida State Seminoles bowl games

# denotes national championship game; † denotes College Football Playoff semifinal game

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Georgia Bulldogs bowl games

# denotes national championship game; † denotes College Football Playoff semifinal game


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