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ANTONYA ENGLISHFLORIDA STATE 38, FLORIDA 34: FSU converts fourth and 14 in the final minute to set up a 52-yard TD pass that wins a back-and-forth thriller.
GAINESVILLE - Fourth and 14.
One minute, 14 seconds and 52 yards.
When they talk about the 2003 game between hated rivals Florida and Florida State - and they will talk about it - that will be the gist of the conversation.
It was part of the drive that fueled a heart-stopping rally for No. 9 Florida State and broke the hearts of the No. 11 Gators in their final regular-season home game.
It, once again, put FSU quarterback Chris Rix in Seminole lore against the Gators and epitomized a season in which Florida opponents rallied in the fourth quarter.
With 55 seconds remaining, Rix threw a 52-yard touchdown to P.K. Sam to give the Seminoles a 38-34 win over Florida in front of a record crowd of 90,407 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
It was the first win over a ranked opponent for the Seminoles since last year's 31-14 win over the Gators in Tallahassee.
"That's my 28th game with the University of Florida and I don't think I've ever seen a better one than that in the 28 years," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "We always talk about the 31-31 comeback in 1994, that's always exciting to Seminoles. I thought this one outdid that one and any of the others I've ever seen. We came back twice when I thought we might be dead. I can't hardly believe we won."
Neither can the Gators.
Florida (8-4) scored 18 consecutive points to rally from a 17-6 halftime lead and seemed poised to win its first game over the Seminoles in two years, when freshman quarterback Chris Leak hit senior tight end Ben Troupe on a 25-yard pass in the back of the end zone to take a 34-31 lead with 2:50 left.
But the Seminoles (10-2) weren't done. Against a Florida defense that has struggled in the fourth quarter all season (it allowed Miami, Mississippi and nearly Arkansas to mount fourth-quarter wins), FSU began its rally. Facing fourth down and 14 on the Seminole 24-yard line with 1:14 left, Rix threw a slant pass to Dominic Robinson for a 24-yard gain.
On the next play, Rix dropped back and lobbed a 52-yard pass to P.K. Sam who made a leaping grab as safety Guss Scott stood within inches, but turned too late to make a play on the ball.
"It was a takeoff route to P.K.," said Rix, who was 14-of-19 for 256 yards and three touchdowns (he also rushed for another). "I missed it a couple plays earlier. I just put it up there and let him make the play. And he made a great play on the ball with the defender in his face."
"Actually, the first one I was a lot more open and Chris overthrew me a little bit," Sam said. "We just had to come back and get another big play and they called it again and Guss Scott bit on the same little fake he did the first time. ... I was turned around and I saw the ball. His back was to it so I knew he had no clue where it was and I just let it fall right over him and make the play."
Sam walked away a hero, Scott the goat.
"Guss Scott's a great player," said Florida tight end Ben Troupe who had a career-high two touchdowns - both 25 yards. "He's more down on himself than anybody right now, but it could have been anybody he just happened to be the one. ... You can't blame him, Chris Rix made a great throw."
For Florida, the loss ended a five-game winning streak and caused a bitter end to a season in which the Gators rallied from 3-3 midway through the season.
"I just told the team it hurts," Florida coach Ron Zook said. "It's the same thing I said last year. It hurts. It hurts bad. It was a heck of a game and it came right down to the wire. They made the plays they needed to make and there were plays we needed to make and didn't."
Florida trailed by 11 at halftime, but scored 18 straight in less than eight minutes to take a 24-17 lead on a 77-yard fumble return by senior safety Keiwan Ratliff.
FSU tied the score at 24 when Pat Watkins recovered a fumble by running back Ciatrick Fason and went 25 yards for a touchdown.
Florida was its own worst enemy in the first quarter, penalized three times, including an illegal procedure call and a personal foul that twice negated plays that would have given the Gators possession. Florida had just 28 plays on offense in the first half.
Matt Leach hit 4-of-5 field goals, giving him 20 for the year, which is third all-time in Florida history. Leak had a career day with 22-of-36 for 273 yards and two touchdowns.
Florida will wait on its bowl fate.
And wonder what might have been.
"As long as there was time on the clock, I thought we had a chance," UF offensive lineman Max Starks said. "It came down to the last seconds. I know this, we played as hard as we could."