#6 Notre Dame vs. #7 Florida State - 1996 Orange Bowl - 1/1/96

In the final Orange Bowl played at the Orange Bowl Stadium, Florida State rallied from a 12-point 4th-qtr deficit to beat Notre Dame 31-26 in dramatic fashion.

Notre Dame, led by quarterback Tom Krug (starting in place of an injured Ron Powlus), struck first on a gorgeous 39-yard TD pass from Krug to bigplay WR Derrick Mayes (0:52-mark).

Florida State, behind senior QB Danny Kanell, responded with an 81-yard drive and a 15-yard TD pass to senior WR Andre Cooper (2:02-mark) and the offensive shootout was on.
Late in the 2nd-qtr, Kanell hit Cooper for a 10-yard TD pass (4:23-mark) and Florida State took a 14-10 lead into halftime.

In the 3rd-qtr, Notre Dame recaptured the lead on a spetacular 33-yard TD reception by Derrick Mayes (5:43-mark) in which Mayes tipped the pass to himself and away from Samari Rolle.
Early in the 4th-qtr, a huge shift in momentum occurred when Kanell - backed up on his own 1-yardline - accidently stepped out of the endzone resulting in a safety (7:33-mark) and a 19-14 Notre Dame lead.
The Fighting Irish capitalized on the free kick and marched swiftly down the field. Krug capped the drive with a 5 yard TD pass to Pete Chryplewicz (8:30-mark) and Notre Dame appeared to be in command with a 26-14 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the 4th-quarter.

However, Danny Kanell quickly drove the Seminoles down the field, finding E.G. Green for an 11-yard TD (9:08-mark) to cut the ND lead to 26-21. After forcing an Irish 3-&-out, a big Dee Feaster punt return set FSU up at the ND 31. Kanell again delivered in the clutch, converting a 4th&5 (11:01-mark) and then finding Andre Cooper from 2 yards out for his 3rd TD (11:28-mark) and a 29-26 lead. Notre Dame's finished the game with a fumble and safety on their final two possessions.

Danny Kanell completed 20 of 32 passes for 290 yards with 4 TD's and 2 Int's. WR Wayne Messam led FSU with 6 receptions for 103 yards, E.G. Green chipped in 5 catches for 99 yards and Andre Cooper caught 4 passes for 38 yards and 3 TD's.
All-ACC RB Warrick Dunn rushed 22 times for 151 yards.

For Notre Dame, Krug completed 14 of 24 passes for 140 yards, 2 TD's and added 45 yards rushing. Notre Dame which gained 256 yards rushing, was led by Robert Farmer who carried 7 times for 93 yards; Autry Denson rushed 11 times for 67 yards and Marc Edards rushed 14 times for 55 yards. WR Derrick Mayes caught 6 passes for 96 yards and a pair of TD's.

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