STAVING OFF VICK’S COMEBACK

With 0:00 left on the scoreboard, FSU officially claimed the 46-29 victory over Virginia Tech in the 2000 Nokia Sugar Bowl. Even though the Seminoles had a comfortable margin at the final whistle, the Hokies didn’t make it easy. Virginia Tech’s freshman QB, Michael Vick, put the team on his back with 225 passing yards, 97 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns. FSU held a 28-14 lead at halftime, but Vick mounted an effort of 15 unanswered points in the third quarter to put Seminoles down by one. Undeterred, two touchdown passes from QB Chris Weinke, a 2-point conversion by WR Peter Warrick and a 32-yard field goal from K Sebastian Janikowski powered FSU to an unanswered quarter of their own to ultimately take the game. Coach Bobby Bowden praised Vick as a worthy foe: “Boy, is he a something. He’s better than I thought. There ain’t a darn thing you can do against him.”