Bob Costas And NBC Sports Look Back At Notre Dame vs Florida State, 1993

The Game of the Century between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Florida State Seminoles truly lived up to the massive hype. NBC Sports sent out a press release as they looked back on this historical game with Bob Costas.

BOB COSTAS AND NBC SPORTS LOOK BACK AT 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1993 GAME OF THE CENTURY – NO. 1 FLORIDA STATE VS. NO. 2 NOTRE DAME

Saturday night’s primetime clash on NBC between Notre Dame and Florida State will take place almost exactly 25 years to the day after the iconic “Game of the Century” that featured No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 2 Notre Dame on Nov. 13, 1993, on NBC.

The game lived up to the hype, as the Fighting Irish defense stopped eventual Heisman Trophy winner QB Charlie Ward on the game’s final play to give Notre Dame the 31-24 victory. The game produced a 16.0 rating and averaged more than 22 million viewers, ranking as the highest-rated regular-season college football game on record.

Bob Costas hosted coverage on-site from South Bend and voiced the memorable three-minute tease which opened the broadcast on NBC. Charlie Jones and Todd Christensencalled the action. Click here to watch the tease and the final play of the 1993 Florida State-Notre Dame “Game of the Century.”

Saturday’s coverage will include an essay by Sports Illustrated’s Tim Layden on the significance of the 1993 Florida State-Notre Dame “Game of the Century.” NBC Sports will also debut a new 30-minute episode of Onward Notre Dame looking back at the 25th anniversary of FSU-ND late Friday at 12 a.m. ET on NBCSN, and will air an encore presentation Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, leading into pre-game coverage from South Bend. The program will explore the 1993 season for the Fighting Irish, and will feature interviews with Bob Costas, Charlie Ward, and Shawn Wooden.

Following are quotes from Costas on his recollection of that game:

Costas on ND-FSU in 1993:

“This game, along with the 1995 Nebraska-Miami Orange Bowl, would rank as the two most memorable college football games I’ve been involved in. The quality and drama of the game … it started in the late afternoon so you get that late afternoon autumn feel, when late afternoon turns to dusk, and there’s something dramatic about how that looks and feels.”

Costas on the No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup:

“Florida State was a perpetual National Championship contender. Notre Dame had contended for and won a National Championship in the late ‘80’s (1988) under Lou Holtz. The program had really asserted itself. Talking about waking up the echoes, the echoes were awakened in South Bend.”

Costas on the game living up to the hype:

“You had these two high-profile programs in a classic setting at a time when there was no National Playoff. So this game could very well determine the National Championship… it had all those elements. It was one of those times where the hype and anticipation were equaled by the reality of the game…if not the game of the century, certainly a game on that list.”