The game pitted the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Florida State Seminoles.
A close 16–13 loss made them fall to #16, but they rebounded with two straight victories to get to #13 heading into a home game versus #9 Penn State.
A 24–0 loss to the eventual champion was their last loss of the regular season as they won the next four straight games to be invited to their second straight bowl game.
Florida State won seven straight games after starting the season 1–1 (with a loss to #2 Pittsburgh), rising to #7 heading into a non-conference matchup with #12 Louisiana State University.
Greg Allen rushed for 138 yards on 15 carries while Paul Woodside kicked two field goals.