Column: FSU and Southern Miss Quietly Have a Fascinating Head-to-Head History

Florida State football passed its first test of the season with flying colors on Sunday night. The Seminoles scored 31 straight points to open the second half before ultimately rolling past then No. 5 LSU, 45-24.

For the first time in 2023, No. 4 FSU will be in front of the faithful at Doak Campbell Stadium as it plays host to Southern Mississippi in the home opener on Saturday night (8:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network). While the Tallahassee contest won’t have the acclaim or the viewership of the season opener, the Seminoles and Golden Eagles quietly have a fascinating series history.

Saturday’s game will be the first meeting between the Seminoles and Golden Eagles since a 42-13 victory for FSU in the Independence Bowl to close the 2017 season. James Blackman starred with four touchdown passes as FSU closed the year on a 4-game winning streak to notch its 41st consecutive winning season.

FSU’s streak of 41 straight winning seasons and 36 bowl appearances would end during a 5-7 campaign in 2018. Prior to that, FSU had not missed a bowl game since 1981 and Southern Miss was a big reason why.

After a 6-2 start to the 1981 season, highlighted by a road win over No. 7 Ohio State, FSU closed the year on a 3-game losing streak to finish 6-5. The lowlight was a 58-14 loss to the Golden Eagles in Tallahassee — the worst home defeat of legendary head coach Bobby Bowden’s tenure.

One of the greatest to ever coach, Bowden wasted little time taking FSU from a laughingstock to respectability. In 1979, Bowden had his first perfect regular season before losing to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The closest contest of that regular season, however, was the opener against Southern Miss as FSU erased a 14-3 fourth-quarter deficit to win 17-14. After Jimmy Jordan found Jackie Flowers for a touchdown earlier in the quarter, Gary Henry returned a punt 65 yards for a score with less than seven minutes to play to put the Seminoles ahead for good.

While the famous “Choke at Doak” against Florida in 1994 served as Bowden’s biggest fourth-quarter comeback, his biggest fourth-quarter comeback for a victory came against Southern Miss in his first season of 1976. Rudy Johnson scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 95-yard go-ahead reception as the Seminoles rallied from 17 points down in the period to win, 30-27.

The most famous — or infamous for FSU fans — meeting, however, came in 1989 in Jacksonville. Led by little-known quarterback Brett Favre, the Golden Eagles stunned No. 6 FSU with a last-minute touchdown in a 30-26 victory. Favre found Anthony Harris for the winning score with 23 seconds remaining.

Bowden, however, wasn’t the only accomplished FSU coach to have his struggles with Southern Miss.

In Don Veller’s final season of 1952, Southern Miss (then known as the Southerners) pounded FSU, 50-21. In Bill Peterson’s first season of 1960, the Southerners held off FSU for a 15-13 victory in Mobile, Ala.

Aside from Shreveport for the 2017 Independence Bowl and Jacksonville, Mobile has been the only other neutral-site location to host a matchup between the schools. The Seminoles and Golden Eagles have met there three times. That includes the last of three scoreless ties in FSU history in 1963.

Saturday’s contest will mark the first regular season meeting between the teams since 1996. While FSU rolled to a 54-14 victory in Tallahassee, it did trail 7-0 early. That was the biggest deficit it would face during the regular season that year.

Southern Miss rolled by Alcorn State in its opener last week, but currently sits as more than a 4-touchdown underdog against FSU. The Seminoles are 14-8-1 all-time in the series. While few are expecting much drama for the home opener, if history teaches us anything, it’s that you can’t sleep on a Southern Miss program that has wins over FSU, Ole Miss, Alabama, TCU, Georgia, Auburn and more.

- Mike Ferguson is the lead writer for Double Fries No Slaw. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson. For all of his work, “Like” or “Follow” Mike on Facebook.