
The story of two-sport star Charlie Ward’s incredible Heisman season, 30 years later
More Videos
Published
2 years agoon
By
admin-
Harry Lyles Jr., ESPN Staff WriterSep 22, 2023, 06:40 AM ET
WALKING INTO THE Thomas County Public Library in Thomasville, Georgia, visitors see what they’d expect to see in any small-town library.
A flat-screen in the entranceway spells out the rules: no food, drinks, smoking or cellphones. Through a set of double doors is the circulation desk, with three banners above promoting the summer reading challenge.
To the left is the children’s section, with kid-sized tables and chairs and floor tiles with images of water, bubbles and a large goldfish. There’s a check-out desk to the right, an alphabet quilt to the left, butterfly mobiles hanging from the ceiling and shelf after shelf of colorful books.
Along the back wall, next to a window with a “Speak Quietly Please” sign, is a small glass case. On it sits a piece of paper in a plastic cover, propped against a small statue, with a quote that reads, “One way to get a quality education is to read what you don’t want and do what you’d rather not.” The quote is from Charlie Ward Jr., the former Florida State football star and pro basketball player who grew up less than 2 miles from the library.
Next to the quote sits a list of Ward’s accomplishments during the 1993 FSU national championship season in a black picture frame.
Inside the case is Ward’s No. 17 Seminoles jersey, a basketball card from his time with the New York Knicks, a framed photo of Ward and one more item of note. Right there — between a mostly empty magazine rack adorned with toadstools and a mini puppet theater — as presented by the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City to Ward 30 years ago, is the 45-pound Heisman Trophy.
An unsuspecting visitor would be taken aback. But for those who know Charlie Ward, the Thomas County Public Library children’s room is the perfect place for his Heisman Trophy.
WILLARD AND CHARLIE Ward Sr. are surrounded by trophies at their Thomasville home in what they call the “awards room.” The room is filled with an assortment of athletic trophies, awards and memorabilia from the whole family. Charlie Jr.’s Davey O’Brien Trophy, a Charlie Ward Jr. Boulevard sign (many have been stolen over the years in Thomasville), a 1993 ACC Offensive Player of the Year trophy and many more. In the middle of the room is a plate commemorating the 2008 election of President Barack Obama.
Among the many receipts of Charlie Jr.’s success at all levels of athletics, the Wards recall the exact moment they knew their son was gifted enough to fill such a room.
When Junior — as his family calls him — was 2 years old, a friend saw him out on a shuffleboard court bouncing a ball.
“She said, ‘Look at that boy!'” Willard says. “She saw the skills he had for a child that age. I hadn’t paid any attention to it.” Charlie Sr. adds: “He had cat reflexes.”
Athleticism is ingrained in the Ward family DNA. It’s evident from the way Charlie Sr. (who prefers to be called “Coach”) goes between different motions during a conversation — one moment he’s shooting an imaginary basketball, another he pantomimes swinging a baseball bat or settles in for a dribbling motion. If push came to shove, even at 84, the elder Ward — who played for Florida A&M and legendary coach Jake Gaither in Tallahassee — would be willing to compete.
Junior’s athletic career was molded in the Thomasville neighborhood, where he grew up playing every sport imaginable.
“We were playing in the streets,” Charlie Jr. says. “Street ball, whatever the ball was, we made it happen. We had quite a few guys in the neighborhood. Then we would take our neighborhood and go play another neighborhood. That’s the way we got down in the streets. And those were our rivalries and how we handled our business. It was all about bragging rights.”
The basketball hoop Junior grew up shooting on was 12 feet high, not the regulation 10 feet, as set by his father so nobody could tear the basket down. That didn’t matter to Junior.
“I mean, you shoot the ball and make it go in,” he says. “Whether it’s 12 feet, 10 feet, you just have to make adjustments.”
Willard feels a key event that shaped her son was a knee injury he had early in high school. A bone issue that required surgery left his doctors unsure of his athletic future.
“When that was taken away, I was, of course, frustrated,” Junior says. “But I was able to learn that I needed to make sure I took my schooling seriously because it can be easily taken away, the thing that I enjoyed most.”
As Charlie Jr. became a better student, something he said he previously hadn’t taken pride in, he also recovered physically and had a very successful high school athletic career. He wouldn’t have been Charlie Ward if he didn’t.
“Junior’s the kind of person — and his dad’s the same way — I said, ‘Only way he didn’t play or something, he wouldn’t have an arm, a leg, a head or something. But as long as he had one of those things, he was going to get out there,'” Willard says. “And that was that determination. ‘You won’t tell me I can’t do it.'”
CHARLIE WARD DID not immediately jump from high school to Florida State.
Despite his good grades coming out of high school, Ward’s ACT score didn’t meet the NCAA standard. He didn’t want to lose a year of eligibility, as the Proposition 48 rules at the time would have dictated, so he spent a year taking classes at Tallahassee Community College, less than 40 miles from his hometown of Thomasville.
When Ward finally arrived at Florida State in 1989, the future Heisman Trophy winner and first-round NBA draft pick saw the field immediately — as the team’s punter.
Because of an injury to Florida State’s starting punter, Ward took on the job and didn’t redshirt as planned. Even in that role, he did things people rarely saw. In a game against Tulane, Ward had a run, pass and punt in one drive.
But it was in practice — specifically, the team’s final preseason scrimmage — that Ward’s legend began to take hold.
“They always play the first and second team versus the rest,” former Florida State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mark Richt recalled. “Charlie was on the rest, and almost single-handedly won the game against the varsity. … And usually you spot the [rest] some points because you’re trying to make it competitive, but [the varsity] just about lost to the team Charlie was quarterbacking.”
And this wasn’t just any defense Ward went up against. It included the likes of LeRoy Butler, Terrell Buckley, Kirk Carruthers and Odell Haggins, all of whom played in the NFL.
Fullback William Floyd said, “Coach had to come over like, ‘Hey, man, you got to tell Ward, you got to call different plays, whatever, he’s making us look crazy over here.’ And he’s going against the starting defense.
“It was like, ‘Man, this is our starting defense, man! We can mess up their confidence if this keeps happening.'”
IN SPRING 1990, Bobby Bowden wanted Ward to compete for the starting quarterback job. But Ward knew he wasn’t going to win the role, given the team’s success the previous season and the experienced QBs — Casey Weldon and Brad Johnson — in front of him.
He also wanted to play basketball, which was a key factor in his choosing Florida State over Georgia coming out of high school, and as a freshman, he had met the academic requirements set by FSU.
“Coach Bowden had allowed Brad Johnson to play basketball and football,” Ward said, “and that’s what I wanted to do. … And my mom’s going to hold his feet to the fire if things change.”
When Ward approached Bowden about playing basketball during his redshirt season, Bowden told him he should think about it some more, which Ward didn’t like, and Ward’s mother let Bowden know.
“I said, ‘Coach Bowden, this is Charlie Ward’s mama,'” Willard recalled. “‘Junior called me real upset because he had asked you about playing basketball and you said to him to think about it. And he said he wasn’t going to go back and ask you again.'”
So, after playing scout team quarterback through the middle of October, Ward switched gears and joined the basketball team, immediately adding a unique personality to the group.
3:29
The start of Charlie Ward’s legendary Seminole basketball career
Take a look at Charlie Ward’s Seminole career, from his early days as FSU’s punter to his prowess on the hardcourt as the basketball team’s point guard.
“We used to call ’em ‘The Saint and the Sinners,'” former Seminoles basketball coach Pat Kennedy said with a laugh.
“Charlie was a saint, and the rest of the guys on the team were the sinners. If [Charlie] gave you a look, they all got very, very scared. It was almost as if there was an angel looking at you.”
Ward didn’t like cursing and still doesn’t to this day. It created a moment early on between him and Kennedy that changed the way Kennedy coached forever.
“The old New York in me, I used to get pretty fiery with some of my pregame and halftime talks,” Kennedy said. “And I gave a pregame talk before a Florida game, and it was a little salty. And so the guys went out on the floor. And Charlie was — I could tell he wasn’t comfortable with something.
“So I said, ‘Charlie, what’s up?’ He said, ‘Coach, you know, Coach Bowden doesn’t use that kind of language, and he gets us to play awfully hard as well.’ So from that point on I really — and then my whole coaching staff, because I had a few New York guys with me — we all cut back on the salty language.”
Ward said, “I was a big stickler for just being respectful. I wasn’t a curser. So I would share my displeasure with coaches, players, and they knew it.”
Sam Cassell, a member of the basketball team, still can’t talk about it without laughing. “You don’t curse him now. You curse around him too much and he just looks at you like, ‘Come on.’ He just shook his head like, ‘Wow, you can’t express it some other way?'” Cassell said with a cackle.
“We laughed at it. He was Charlie Ward. He was just Charlie Ward around us. You respect it because that’s who he was.”
For all of the ways Ward was orchestrating better behavior off the court, he was putting in just as much work on it. He added a different dynamic to the team as a distributor and defensive stopper, allowing scorers such as Cassell and Bob Sura to thrive.
“My job was to get those other guys the ball,” Ward said. “I shot, but I was a football guy. So me coming out there just jacking up shots wasn’t going to help us be productive.”
But when Ward did focus on scoring, he made it count. One of the biggest shots of his basketball career at FSU came in the Metro Conference championship against Louisville in 1991 — a 3-pointer to send Florida State to the NCAA tournament. The Seminoles would reach the second round before losing to second-seeded Indiana.
As Ward continued to improve as a basketball player, the stakes got higher. Florida State started playing in the ACC in the 1991-92 season, and its first conference game was at North Carolina. Ward scored 18 points, upsetting the Tar Heels 86-74 in front of what Cassell infamously called a “wine and cheese” crowd.
“After the game, Dean Smith grabbed him and said, ‘Son, you need to give up football,'” Kennedy said. Florida State would end up making the Sweet 16 that season, losing again to Indiana, which ended up in the Final Four.
The following season, as Ward emerged as a legitimate two-sport standout, his star continued to grow.
Kennedy recalled, “We’re starting one of our early home basketball games and my sports information director says, ‘Coach, somebody’s asking for two tickets for tonight, and they said it was Spike Lee.’ And we got the phone number, we call back and it was, in fact, Spike Lee.”
Lee attended a handful of games during that 1992-93 season, wearing a No. 17 Florida State football jersey. In a game against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, during which Ward and Yellow Jackets star Travis Best went back and forth, Ward hit a layup to win the game 83-82.
“Spike was sitting under the basket in the first row,” Kennedy said. “Spike gets up, runs out onto the court with his 17 jersey and picks Charlie up, and he’s carrying Charlie around.”
The Seminoles finished that season having made the Elite Eight as a No. 3 seed, losing to No. 1 seed Kentucky.
With Ward as point guard, Florida State made three straight NCAA appearances, helping the Seminoles develop a reputation beyond football.
“He just grew and grew on us to where he became a pro, and not everyone thought he was a professional basketball player, obviously, when he first came in,” Kennedy said. “That’s the greatness of the story, you know?”
“I mean, no one ever, ever thought Charlie was going to be a professional basketball player.”
CHARLIE WARD’S TURN as Florida State’s starting quarterback arrived in 1992, when he made history as the school’s first Black player at the position.
His recruitment was pushed by Wayne McDuffie, Bowden’s offensive coordinator from 1983 to 1990.
“There had to be some politicking because Coach Bowden wasn’t sold on me,” Ward said, “Because he hadn’t played a Black quarterback, one. And two, he thought that his system didn’t fit me because he felt like I was a runner, and he wanted someone that was going to drop back and pass the football. But that’s all he knew, and he didn’t know anything different because that’s all he had. … [McDuffie] was very demonstrative in his approach to give me enough courage and they took a chance on me as a dual-threat quarterback.”
He was no finished product during the early portion of his time as QB1, and his lack of experience was evident. And as FSU’s first Black quarterback, he said, “I’m glad we didn’t have social media.”
“If you don’t have [experience], you got to go through the struggles of it. The struggles to get there,” he said. When he finally became the starter, in his fourth year at the school, “I had no meaningful quarterback snaps like what I was getting ready to go into.”
In his first start, the 1992 season opener, Ward threw four interceptions in a 48-21 win over Duke. In his second, he threw another three picks in a 24-20 win at Clemson. He was getting benched for an occasional series (or more) for Danny Kanell, a freshman, before going back in and finishing games.
“He was matching those [interceptions] with touchdowns and with great runs, and so we kind of felt like we had something really good there,” co-offensive coordinator Brad Scott said. “But there is a price to pay for experience and Charlie had to kind of go through that.”
“Coach Bowden had a meeting with our offensive staff,” Richt said. “He says, ‘Charlie’s throwing a lot of interceptions. Is that your fault?’ and he’s looking at Brad Scott. And he looked at me, he goes, ‘Is it your fault?’ And he goes, ‘Or is it my fault?’ And we’re like, ‘It’s our fault. We’ll get it fixed.'”
Richt had a conversation with Ward, telling him the school record for interceptions was 17. He told Ward, “Charlie, when you hit No. 16, you’re not going to break the school record because you’re not going to play anymore,” Richt recalled with a laugh.
Everything changed when FSU played Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. In a nationally televised game, Ward was again benched for Kanell after throwing three interceptions.
“The only option was me,” Kanell said. “And I wasn’t ready. But he was playing that poorly where they had to get him off the field. … I was like, barely just making sure I could hand the ball off. The offense was pared down, we couldn’t do any of the things that we could do with Charlie. And so I would go in for a series or two, and Charlie would come back in and he was like a different person.”
When Ward reentered these games, Florida State essentially went into its two-minute offense — with Ward in the shotgun, no-huddle, four wideouts and one running back — instead of its typical I-formation, toss-sweep, play-action attack.
Georgia Tech led 21-7 with 14:27 remaining in the game. Ward engineered the comeback, as Florida State once again went up-tempo. He completed 14 of his final 19 passes for 137 yards. The realization that a permanent change was needed was undeniable.
Richt said, “Of course of all people, my wife goes, ‘Charlie seems to do better out of the shotgun. You might think about starting a game that way.'”
Florida State did just that two weeks later against Maryland and won 69-21. The week after that brought a 70-7 win over Tulane. Then a 45-24 win over Florida, followed by a 27-14 Orange Bowl win over Nebraska.
“That’s kind of the birth of the fast-break offense,” Richt said. “The offseason between ’92 and ’93, we designed the entire offense around the no-huddle.”
“That’s when you knew that Charlie had figured something out,” Floyd said.
THE OVERWHELMING CHOICE as No. 1 in the preseason polls, Florida State was an unstoppable force during the first five weeks of the 1993 season. In wins against Kansas, Duke, No. 21 Clemson, No. 13 North Carolina and Georgia Tech, the Seminoles outscored their opponents 228-14.
Ward’s recollection of that stretch was not about what they did offensively, but rather the heroics of their defense. In their first game against Kansas, Florida State’s defense had a 12-play goal-line stand that team members and fans still talk about. (The Seminoles’ offense would follow with a 99-yard drive for a score.)
In Week 6, FSU got over the hump against No. 3 Miami after losses the previous three seasons, including Wide Right I in 1991 and Wide Right II in 1992.
After wins over No. 15 Virginia, Wake Forest and Maryland, the 9-0 Seminoles traveled to South Bend to take on No. 2 Notre Dame in a “Game of the Century” on NBC, with ESPN’s “College GameDay” in town for the first time in the show’s history. Ward had missed the previous week because of a bruised clavicle and was excited for the opportunity.
But it wasn’t the Seminoles’ night. Offensively, they weren’t as explosive as they had been in previous weeks, and their defense played out of character in the second quarter, allowing the Irish to build a 21-7 cushion.
Despite this, Ward and FSU had a chance at the end. Down 31-24, Ward marched the offense toward Notre Dame’s Touchdown Jesus, down to the Irish 14-yard line for one more shot. Ward’s pass was batted down in the end zone, and the Irish held on.
While it felt like Florida State’s national title hopes died in South Bend that night, it got a second wind the following Saturday.
As the Seminoles were in Burt Reynolds Hall preparing to play NC State in a matter of hours, everything changed.
“Right before it was time for us to walk down,” Ward said, “they started yelling that Boston College is lining up to kick the game-winning field goal [against Notre Dame].”
That prompted everyone to crowd around a TV wherever they could.
“[The kick] goes through, and that is when the whole dorm erupted,” Ward said.
Richt recalled chaos on Tennessee Street, which is essentially the north border of the Florida State campus. “Everybody started jumping out of their cars and dancing around the place because we had a chance to play for the national championship again,” he said.
The players were late getting to the locker room, but it didn’t matter. A team that was already primed to channel its energy had extra juice after the Irish were upset.
“That helped refocus us a little bit more,” Ward said. “A reason why we didn’t lose very many games was our mentality switch after a loss. We just wanted to make sure somebody paid the next week if we lost a game. Unfortunately it was North Carolina State that was on the back end of it.”
The Wolfpack got trounced 62-7.
At that point, the only thing standing between Florida State, Charlie Ward and Bobby Bowden and a shot at their first national championship was No. 7 Florida. The Gators hadn’t lost a home game since 1989, when Florida State knocked them off 24-17 during Ward’s freshman season.
The Seminoles came out strong, and took a 27-7 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Gators pulled within 27-21 with just under six minutes to go. “And now it’s as loud as I don’t know what in that stadium,” Floyd said.
Despite both the game and national championship hopes potentially slipping from the Seminoles’ grasp, Floyd was comforted amid the chaos.
“What I love is that you can look in [Ward’s] eyes and tell that you always had a chance to win,” he said. “He didn’t have to say a word, you can just look at his eyes.”
2:58
The game that secured the Heisman for Charlie Ward
In a must-win road test, Charlie Ward and the Seminoles fight off the Gators and boast his status for the Heisman Trophy.
Facing a third-and-10 from the Seminoles’ 21-yard line, Ward flicked the ball to his checkdown option as his protection broke down. Running back Warrick Dunn caught it just beyond the 30. Wideout Tamarick Vanover threw the last-needed block on Florida cornerback Anthone Lott, and Dunn galloped into the end zone to put the game away 33-21.
“It went from the loudest to the quietest in five seconds,” Ward said.
In what is still one of the biggest moments in Florida State football history, Ward connected with his roommate, Dunn, whom he had been helping get through the most difficult time of his life.
Dunn’s mother, Betty Smothers, was a police officer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and had been killed in the line of duty Jan. 7, 1993, when Dunn was just 18.
Former Washington Commanders quarterback Doug Williams was a family friend of Smothers, and wanted to make sure Dunn was being looked after. So he contacted Ward, who wore the No. 17 because of Williams.
“I didn’t have a roommate at the time,” Ward said. “And so there was no big issue for me to room with a freshman that was coming in, and also someone — one of my heroes — asked me to take care of him.
“He had a lot of stuff going on, a lot of stuff he had to process. And so, just being there for him was what he needed. We were made to be roommates in a lot of ways.”
Dunn was grateful to have Ward as a friend.
“We had deep conversations. And he was there to listen to me,” Dunn said. “Those are moments that I can never take back. Always be thankful for. He will always be my big brother.
“I just think us having a connection every day together, being roommates and so forth that, on that play, he believed in me. And I think that just signifies the impact our relationship had during that whole [year].”
As the ABC broadcast showed Ward running down the field to celebrate with Dunn, analyst Bob Griese said, “Give it to Charlie, go ahead,” referring to the Heisman Trophy. Legendary play-by-play man Keith Jackson responded, “You can call off your party and just mail it to him.”
Fifteen days later, in New York, Ward was announced as the 59th winner of the award, with a margin of victory of 1,622 points — second at the time only to O.J. Simpson’s 1,750-point win in 1968, when more ballots were distributed.
The attention of winning the Heisman made the 2½-week lead-up to the national championship game against Nebraska more difficult for Ward.
“I remember the line at his dorm room was like 20 or 30 players deep with memorabilia, with balls, Florida State gear, to have him sign because he’s the Heisman Trophy winner,” Kanell said. “That stuff normally didn’t happen, and we had first-round draft picks. We had guys who were going to play in the NFL.”
Dunn recalled other people coming to their door with requests. “‘Can I get his autograph? Can I get this?’ Charlie’s not here. Charlie’s not here. Charlie’s not here.” Eventually, Dunn put a sign on the door that read, “CHARLIE AIN’T HERE.”
Florida State had a celebration for Ward in Doak Campbell Stadium, where his No. 17 jersey was retired.
“That might have been the one time I saw him uncomfortable and truly not at peace with any situation,” Kanell said.
“I was always uncomfortable with the spotlight,” Ward said. “The night of the celebration, where they retired my jersey, grateful. But one thing I started to learn and understand was, you know, I was a man of faith, God was putting me in certain positions for a reason.”
When the national title game against the Cornhuskers finally arrived, the Seminoles were off the majority of the night.
“They played good defense,” Ward said. “And they knew everything we were doing or trying to do. They disrupted our routes … and they had a game plan.
“Their game plan was to hit. And so whether it was during a play or after the play, it didn’t matter. They actually took penalties because they were trying to send a message.
“But, you know, it didn’t deter me from being whoever because I wouldn’t get out of character in any form or fashion.”
After Nebraska’s Byron Bennett knocked through a 27-yard field goal to give the Huskers a 16-15 lead in the fourth quarter, Ward was given an opportunity with 1:16 remaining.
“There’s a TV cut where Nebraska goes down and scores,” Floyd said. “And [Ward’s] on the sideline, warming up, you know, that cool and calm Charlie demeanor. And he’s looking out on the field like, ‘Oh, they scored?’ Then he just starts throwing the ball again, warming up. So that’s TV seeing it. But me seeing it live, I’m looking at Charlie, and I’m looking in his eyes and I know we got a chance to win this thing.
“Man, we got Charlie Ward.”
Florida State’s offense took over on its 35-yard line after the Huskers’ kickoff went out of bounds. On one big play, Ward found Dunn for a 21-yard catch, then 15 yards were tacked on for a Nebraska late hit.
Ward led FSU to the Nebraska 3-yard line, where the Huskers’ defense held, but Scott Bentley hit the field goal to give Florida State an 18-16 lead with 21 seconds left. After a few more tense moments, including a premature Gatorade bath for Bowden, a last-ditch field goal try by Nebraska went wide left and the Seminoles had their championship.
“It was kind of surreal in the sense that the thing that we set out to do, we were able to accomplish,” Ward said. “And there’s no better feeling than when you prepare for a test, and you go in and ace the test.”
After the conclusion of the 1993 football and 1993-94 basketball seasons, it was time for Ward to take his athletic career to the next level. He wouldn’t say whether he wanted to go pro in football or basketball, wanting to keep his options open.
During the NFL draft that April, Ward was at the home he grew up in. After not hearing his name called in the first or second rounds, Willard recalls him getting up.
“He went outside, got that basketball, and started shooting,” she said.
Charlie Sr. added, “He said, ‘I better go work on my basketball skills.'”
The Kansas City Chiefs called Ward during the fifth round the next day. Ward said they wanted him to be Joe Montana’s backup, then take the reins once Montana retired.
“I told them I couldn’t guarantee that I would come to camp if I got drafted in the fifth round. Because if I got drafted in the first round in the NBA, I’m going there,” he said. “I was just being honest with them, so they didn’t draft me.”
In a telephone interview on ESPN2 midway through the seventh round, Ward said, “Basketball and the Canadian [Football] League are now a big option. A lot of teams in the NBA are telling me I have to concentrate on one sport. Maybe I will. Some [NFL] teams might have been interested, but they weren’t willing to take a chance. Maybe I’ll be the first Heisman winner that plays in the NBA.”
Ward wasn’t selected in the NFL draft, and that June was taken by the New York Knicks with the 26th pick of the NBA draft. He had a 12-year pro career, the first Heisman winner to play in the NBA.
PEOPLE VISITING THE Thomas County Public Library want to know if Charlie Ward’s Heisman Trophy is the real thing.
They’re often wearing some sort of Florida State apparel, trying to look as natural and casual as possible, just to get a peek at a piece of history. But the legend of Charlie Ward, and the hard evidence of one of his greatest two-way college stars of the past 50 years, is well known by everybody in Thomasville.
If you’re visiting the library to see the Heisman, everybody working inside can tell from the moment you walk in the door.
The children’s section of a public library certainly isn’t where one expects to find one of the most prestigious trophies in all of sports. But it ended up being the best fit for the Ward family, and fitting for who Ward is as a person.
Willard Ward was a librarian herself. The library wanted to put the trophy on display for a time, and of course, the Wards were happy to oblige. So the trophy was taken off its shelf at the Wards’ home and taken to the library.
Then the Wards decided it should stay there.
“At that time, we had no alarm system, and the library did,” Willard says. “And it just dawned on me, we would have more people that would go see it down there.”
Senior laughs, “And we’d have to keep this house too clean if we had it. And we just normal folks.”
So in a small town — Thomasville, Georgia — sits one of the 86 Heisman Trophy awards. Library employees say Charlie Sr. has been known to sit in the same seat to the right of the circulation desk to enjoy his morning coffee and read the newspaper, his son’s Heisman on display a short stroll away.
“Every award, everyone’s not going to be able to win. But what they can strive to do is have a sense of achievement,” says Ward, who is a motivational speaker and has been a high school football or basketball coach since 2007. “So whatever that achievement may be, it may be reading five books during the summer, and then you get a reward for that, whatever that reward may be.
“And so it’s not so much about the Heisman, but it’s about the process and the journey of it. We all have those processes and journeys to meet our goals. That is something we can all strive to do. And that’s what it’s really symbolic of.”
You may like
Sports
Latest projections for all 46 postseason CFB games
Published
2 hours agoon
September 22, 2025By
admin
-
Kyle Bonagura
CloseKyle Bonagura
ESPN Staff Writer
- Covers college football.
- Joined ESPN in 2014.
- Attended Washington State University.
-
Mark Schlabach
CloseMark Schlabach
ESPN Senior Writer
- Senior college football writer
- Author of seven books on college football
- Graduate of the University of Georgia
Sep 21, 2025, 12:10 PM ET
Week 4 did not produce any seismic upsets, but as always, there were plenty of eye-opening results that impacted the College Football Playoff picture and beyond.
Among the games that altered perceptions were Indiana’s dismantling of Illinois, decisive wins by Texas Tech (at Utah) and Ole Miss (over Tulane), and road victories by Syracuse (at Clemson) and Michigan (at Nebraska).
As in last season’s inaugural 12-team CFP, the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams, will make the field. Unlike last year, the four highest-ranked teams (not necessarily conference champions) will be awarded first-round byes. The other eight teams will meet in first-round games at the campus sites of seeds Nos. 5 through 8.
From there, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in what had been the New Year’s Six bowls, with this season’s national championship game scheduled for Jan. 19 at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
All of that is just the tip of the iceberg, though. Apart from the playoff is the 35-game slate of bowl games, beginning with the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Dec. 13.
We’re here for all of it.
ESPN bowl gurus Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach are projecting every postseason matchup, including their breakdowns of how the playoff will play out, and we’ll be back every week of the season until the actual matchups are set.
Jump to a section:
Playoff picks | Quarterfinals
Semis, title game | Bowl season
College Football Playoff
First-round games (at campus sites)
Friday, Dec. 19/Saturday, Dec. 20
Times and networks TBD.
Bonagura: No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 LSU
Schlabach: No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 Oregon
Bonagura: No. 11 Texas Tech at No. 6 Miami
Schlabach: No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State
Bonagura: No. 10 Texas at No. 7 Florida State
Schlabach: No. 10 Texas A&M at No. 7 Florida State
Bonagura: No. 9 Oklahoma at No. 8 Indiana
Schlabach: No. 9 Texas Tech at No. 8 Oklahoma
First-round breakdown
Bonagura: Two teams worth highlighting this week are Indiana and Texas Tech, both of which had huge wins against conference teams that were in these projections a week ago (Illinois and Utah). These games weren’t just wins, they were statements. Indiana beat Illinois by 53, and Tech beat Utah by 24.
For Texas Tech, the win should establish the Red Raiders as the favorite in the Big 12 — a conference that will have a tough time getting two teams in the playoff. For Indiana, the road is more difficult — but it’s manageable. The only ranked teams left on its schedule are Oregon and Penn State, so if the Hoosiers hold serve in the games they’re favored in and finish 10-2, that should be good enough to get in the playoff. Of course, this appears to be a team that can go toe-to-toe with anyone, so it’s premature to write off any games as losses.
Schlabach: It was another wild Saturday, and my playoff bracket has three new teams after Illinois, Tulane and Utah were on the wrong side of blowouts.
Texas Tech spent a boatload of cash boosting its roster this past offseason, and it paid off in Saturday’s 34-10 victory at Utah. The victory puts the Red Raiders and Iowa State in the driver’s seat in the Big 12 race, and those teams won’t play each other in the regular season. In fact, Texas Tech doesn’t face another Big 12 opponent that is currently ranked in the AP poll the rest of the way.
Indiana’s 63-10 rout of No. 9 Illinois put the rest of the Big 10 on notice. It was the Hoosiers’ first victory over a top-10 opponent in five years and its most lopsided win over one in school history. The Hoosiers play at Oregon on Oct. 11 and at Penn State on Nov. 8, so there won’t be any questions about their strength of schedule if they get back into the CFP for the second straight season.
USF, which beat Boise State and Florida earlier this season, returns to my 12-team bracket. The Bulls blasted FCS program South Carolina State 63-14, and they’re my fifth conference champion after Tulane lost 45-10 at Ole Miss on Saturday. I also strongly considered Memphis, which knocked off Arkansas 32-31 at home.
CFP quarterfinals
Wednesday, Dec. 31
CFP quarterfinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
7:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 7 Florida State vs. No. 2 Oregon
Schlabach: No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 LSU
Thursday, Jan. 1
CFP quarterfinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)
Noon, ESPN
Bonagura: No. 5 LSU vs. No. 4 Penn State
Schlabach: No. 7 Florida State vs. No. 2 Miami
CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential
Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California)
4 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 9 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Ohio State
Schlabach: No. 9 Texas Tech vs. No. 1 Ohio State
CFP quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 6 Miami vs. No. 3 Georgia
Schlabach: No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 3 Georgia
Quarterfinals breakdown
Bonagura: The tastiest hypothetical quarterfinal matchup here is Georgia vs. Miami, which would feature Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck against his former team. The downside is that storyline would be so dominant everyone would quickly get tired of hearing about it.
Ohio State vs. Oklahoma looks good too, but then again that’s the whole point of the playoff. These are all enticing games.
Schlabach: These potential matchups would produce some intriguing storylines, with Florida State and Miami potentially meeting for a second (or third?) time. The Hurricanes have already taken down USF and Florida, and they’ll play the Seminoles on the road Oct. 4. Those teams could potentially meet again in the ACC championship game.
Ohio State and Texas Tech have much in common in terms of spending big bucks in the transfer portal, and Oregon and LSU would be a matchup of two of the best quarterbacks in the FBS: Garrett Nussmeier and Dante Moore.
Georgia and Penn State have played just once in the past 43 years. The Bulldogs defeated the Nittany Lions 24-17 in the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl.
CFP semifinals, national championship game
Thursday, Jan. 8
CFP semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)
7:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 5 LSU vs. No. 1 Ohio State
Schlabach: No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 2 Miami
Friday, Jan. 9
CFP semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
7:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 2 Oregon
Schlabach: No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 1 Ohio State
Monday, Jan. 19
CFP National Championship
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)
7:45 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 1 Ohio State
Schlabach: No. 2 Miami vs. No. 1 Ohio State
National championship breakdown
Bonagura: Ohio State is still the favorite on paper, but it has an interesting test Saturday against Washington at Seattle, which can be a tough place to play. And Husky Stadium will surely be electric for this one. The more important game this week is Oregon at Penn State, where the winner will be well on its way to the Big Ten title game.
Schlabach: I had all but one of my top four seeds advancing to the semifinals. A Georgia-Miami matchup in the Fiesta Bowl would be good drama, as Kyle noted in his quarterfinals breakdown.
Oregon and Ohio State won’t play each other in the regular season, but they could certainly meet in the Big Ten championship game. They played twice last season, with the Ducks winning 32-31 at home during the regular season and the Buckeyes flipping the script with a 41-21 victory in a CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl.
Complete bowl season schedule
Saturday, Dec. 13
Cricket Celebration Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
Noon, ABC
Bonagura: Alabama State vs. South Carolina State
Schlabach: Jackson State vs. South Carolina State
LA Bowl
SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Cal vs. UNLV
Schlabach: Washington vs. UNLV
Tuesday, Dec. 16
IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl
Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: South Alabama vs. Miami (Ohio)
Schlabach: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia Southern
Wednesday, Dec. 17
StaffDNA Cure Bowl
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
5 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Buffalo vs. Cincinnati
Schlabach: Northern Illinois vs. Troy
68 Ventures Bowl
Hancock Whitney Stadium (Mobile, Alabama)
8:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee
Schlabach: Old Dominion vs. Central Michigan
Friday, Dec. 19
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Brooks Stadium (Conway, South Carolina)
Noon, ESPN
Bonagura: East Carolina vs. Marshall
Schlabach: East Carolina vs. James Madison
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)
3:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Mississippi State vs. NC State
Schlabach: South Carolina vs. Virginia
Monday, Dec. 22
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Albertsons Stadium (Boise, Idaho)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Ohio vs. Fresno State
Schlabach: Ohio vs. Utah State
Tuesday, Dec. 23
Boca Raton Bowl
Flagler Credit Union Stadium (Boca Raton, Florida)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: UConn vs. Northern Illinois
Schlabach: Boise State vs. Toledo
New Orleans Bowl
Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
5:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: James Madison vs. Jacksonville State
Schlabach: Coastal Carolina vs. Louisiana Tech
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl
Ford Center at The Star (Frisco, Texas)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: North Texas vs. Texas State
Schlabach: North Texas vs. New Mexico State
Wednesday, Dec. 24
Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl
Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex (Honolulu)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Boise State vs. Arizona
Schlabach: Hawai’i vs. Tulane
Friday, Dec. 26
GameAbove Sports Bowl
Ford Field (Detroit)
1 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Rutgers vs. Toledo
Schlabach: Rutgers vs. Buffalo
Rate Bowl
Chase Field (Phoenix)
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Houston vs. Maryland
Schlabach: Baylor vs. Michigan State
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
Gerald J. Ford Stadium (Dallas)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Army vs. Appalachian State
Schlabach: UCF vs. San Diego State
Saturday, Dec. 27
Go Bowling Military Bowl
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (Annapolis, Maryland)
11 a.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Pitt vs. Memphis
Schlabach: SMU vs. Navy
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl
Yankee Stadium (Bronx, New York)
Noon, ABC
Bonagura: Duke vs. Iowa
Schlabach: Clemson vs. Maryland
Wasabi Fenway Bowl
Fenway Park (Boston)
2:15 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Clemson vs. Tulane
Schlabach: NC State vs. Memphis
Pop-Tarts Bowl
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
3:30 p.m., ABC
Bonagura: Georgia Tech vs. TCU
Schlabach: Georgia Tech vs. Utah
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl
Arizona Stadium (Tucson, Arizona)
4:30 p.m., CW Network
Bonagura: Bowling Green vs. New Mexico
Schlabach: Bowling Green vs. Fresno State
Isleta New Mexico Bowl
University Stadium (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
5:45 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Utah State vs. Western Kentucky
Schlabach: Wyoming vs. Texas State
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
EverBank Stadium (Jacksonville, Florida)
7:30 p.m. ABC
Bonagura: Louisville vs. Alabama
Schlabach: Syracuse vs. Alabama
Kinder’s Texas Bowl
NRG Stadium (Houston)
9:15 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Iowa State vs. Texas A&M
Schlabach: TCU vs. Ole Miss
Monday, Dec. 29
JLab Birmingham Bowl
Protective Stadium (Birmingham, Alabama)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: South Carolina vs. Old Dominion
Schlabach: Mississippi State vs. Pittsburgh
Tuesday, Dec. 30
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl
Independence Stadium (Shreveport, Louisiana)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Baylor vs. Louisiana Tech
Schlabach: Houston vs. Jacksonville State
Music City Bowl
Nissan Stadium (Nashville, Tennessee)
5:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Minnesota vs. Auburn
Schlabach: Illinois vs. Auburn
Valero Alamo Bowl
Alamodome (San Antonio)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: BYU vs. USC
Schlabach: Iowa State vs. USC
Wednesday, Dec. 31
ReliaQuest Bowl
Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)
Noon, ESPN
Bonagura: Illinois vs. Tennessee
Schlabach: Iowa vs. Tennessee
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
Sun Bowl Stadium (El Paso, Texas)
2 p.m., CBS
Bonagura: SMU vs. Arizona State
Schlabach: Notre Dame vs. Arizona
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
3 p.m., ABC
Bonagura: Michigan vs. Ole Miss
Schlabach: Michigan vs. Texas
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)
3:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Nebraska vs. Utah
Schlabach: Nebraska vs. Cal
Friday, Jan. 2
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Amon G. Carter Stadium (Fort Worth, Texas)
1 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Kansas vs. Navy
Schlabach: Kansas vs. Rice
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (Memphis, Tennessee)
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: UCF vs. Missouri
Schlabach: BYU vs. Missouri
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, North Carolina)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Syracuse vs. Vanderbilt
Schlabach: Duke vs. Vanderbilt
Holiday Bowl
Snapdragon Stadium (San Diego)
8 p.m., Fox
Bonagura: Notre Dame vs. Washington
Schlabach: Louisville vs. Arizona State
Sports
UCF assistant, ex-App St. coach Clark dies at 50
Published
2 hours agoon
September 22, 2025By
admin
-
Adam RittenbergSep 22, 2025, 11:34 AM ET
Close- College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
UCF assistant coach Shawn Clark, who was the head coach at Appalachian State for five seasons, died Sunday at 50.
Clark had been hospitalized after experiencing a medical emergency Sept. 9. UCF coach Scott Frost said last week that Clark was “doing OK, he’s in stable condition,” and others close to him said he was making progress in his recovery. But he died “unexpectedly” Sunday, UCF announced, with his wife Jonelle at his side.
“Shawn was so much more than a coach. He was a remarkable man, husband, and father who cared deeply about his players and staff,” Frost said in a statement. “The reaction of our players and coaches to the news this morning is a testament to Shawn’s character and the impact he had on every life that he touched. He was loved. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Jonelle, and children, Giana and Braxton. We are here to support them and will continue to keep them in our hearts and prayers.”
Clark was in his first year with UCF as offensive line coach after going 40-24 at Appalachian State. A former Appalachian State offensive lineman, Clark returned to his alma mater as offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator in 2016, before taking over the program following the 2019 season.
“We are profoundly saddened by the passing of App State alumnus, football All-American and former head coach Shawn Clark. We extend our deepest sympathy to Shawn’s family and everyone who knew and loved him,” the school said in a statement.
Before returning to Appalachian State, Clark made stops at Kent State, Purdue and Eastern Kentucky.
“We are heartbroken by Shawn’s passing,” UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir said in a statement. “He brought passion, integrity, and a genuine love for people to everything he did.”
Clark is survived by Jonelle, a Hall of Fame softball player at Eastern Kentucky, and their two children.
Sports
Syracuse fined for faking injuries vs. Clemson
Published
2 hours agoon
September 22, 2025By
admin
-
Andrea AdelsonSep 22, 2025, 10:19 AM ET
Close- ACC reporter.
- Joined ESPN.com in 2010.
- Graduate of the University of Florida.
The ACC fined Syracuse $25,000 and publicly reprimanded the school Monday for faking injuries in a 34-21 win over Clemson last weekend, calling its actions “unethical and contrary to the spirit of the rules.”
In a statement, the ACC said Syracuse violated a NCAA rule established this year aimed at stopping teams from faking injuries to slow down play.
With 9:25 left in the fourth quarter, the ACC said the action of two players and a coach “were a clear attempt to gain an unmerited advantage by stopping the game in order to secure an injury timeout.”
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik accused Syracuse of faking injuries after the loss as a way to slow down its tempo.
“We were playing with tempo and props to them, they stopped us on some third downs and then they have an injury or something like that when we really got going,” Klubnik said. “That’s up to them if they want to be honest about that.
“That was definitely tough for us to really get in a rhythm. We’re playing fast and unfortunately they had a guy get hurt or a timeout or something like that.”
Syracuse defensive linemen Nissi Ogbebor and Kevin Jobity Jr. are both seen falling to the ground after a 23-yard completion from Klubnik to Tristan Smith for a first down to the Orange 9-yard line. The game was stopped so trainers could attend to them, as the Clemson crowd booed.
The ACC office and the National Coordinator of Football Officials reviewed the play. According to the ACC, the national coordinator “agreed that the action violated the spirit of the injury timeout and fair play and was done in a way to circumvent the new injury timeout rule to avoid the team being charged a timeout.”
Under the new NCAA rule, a team is charged a timeout if a player goes to the ground injured after the ball is spotted. But in this case, both players went down before the ball was spotted, so Syracuse was not charged a timeout.
Trending
-
Sports3 years ago
‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year ago
Story injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years ago
Game 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years ago
Button battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years ago
MLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years ago
Japan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment12 months ago
Here are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024