| 1997 Nokia Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowl Alliance national championship game 63rd Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 TheLouisiana Superdome inNew Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | January 2, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Danny Wuerffel (QB, Florida) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Florida by 3.5 points (54.5)[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Randy Christal (Big 12) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 78,344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson (play-by-play) Bob Griese (analyst) Lynn Swann (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
The1997 Nokia Sugar Bowl was the 63rd edition to the annualSugar Bowl game and served as theBowl Alliance's designated national championship game for the1996 season. It matched No. 1Florida State of theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) against No. 3Florida of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) in an all-Florida national championship game. Florida defeated Florida State in convincing fashion, with a final score of 52–20, and with the victory earned its first-ever consensus national championship. This remains the only national championship game to feature two teams from the same state.
The game was abowl rematch of a regular season game, as Florida State had defeated Florida, 24–21, in a game played inTallahassee on November 30.
Third-ranked Florida was invited to the designated national championship game because thePac-10 champion was contractually obligated to play in theRose Bowl Game, and unavailable to participate in theBowl Alliance national championship game.[3] As a result, second-rankedArizona State, the Pac-10 champion, played theBig Ten champion, fourth-rankedOhio State, in the1997 Rose Bowl.[3] When Ohio State defeated Arizona State in the Rose Bowl on January 1, the Sugar Bowl winner was all but assured of being named the consensus national champion.[3]
The Gators were led by theirHeisman Trophy-winning quarterback,Danny Wuerffel. They completed their regular season schedule with a 10–1 record, then defeated No. 11Alabama in the1996 SEC Championship Game.
Top-ranked Florida State entered the bowl with an undefeated 11–0 record, led by quarterbackThad Busby and running backWarrick Dunn.
After a halftime score of 24–17 in favor of Florida, Florida State closed to 24–20 with a third quarter field goal. Florida then outscored Florida State 28–0 for the remainder of the game, for a 52–20 final. Gator quarterback Danny Wuerffel threw three touchdown passes toIke Hilliard in the game, and ran for another score. Wuerffel became the second Heisman Trophy winner in four years to win a national championship, followingCharlie Ward of the1993 Florida State team.
Source:[4]
The [Rose Bowl] result also turned the Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl into a true title game