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Cismesia Breaks School Record With 60-Yard Field Goal

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 25, 2007

GAINESVILLE - Senior K Gary Cismesia was the lone bright spot in the Seminoles' 45-12 loss to the Gators on Saturday. Cismesia connected on all four of his field-goal attempts and broke one school record and tied another in the process.

Cismesia capped four first-half drives with field goals, including a school-record 60-yarder with the wind at his back just before halftime. The kick broke the previous record set by former FSU great and current Oakland Raider Sebastian Janikowski, who hit a 56-yarder against Wake Forest in 1997.

"He kicked one last week in practice," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said on the decision to go for the long field goal to end the half. "If he hadn't we probably wouldn't have even tried it."

Cismesia's field goal cut the Seminoles' deficit to 24-12 at the half.

"It went in, luckily," Cismesia said of the kick. "I thought it was going to miss left, but it curved back around. I was hoping that would give us a big lift. We needed the points bad at the time and it gave us a big morale push at the half."

The kick was also the longest in Atlantic Coast Conference history and the longest by any kicker in the country this season. His other attempts were converted from 21, 38 and 28 yards out.

Adding to the accolades, Cismesia's 60-yard kick gave him 27 on the year to tie Janikowski's mark for the most field goals made in a single season in Florida State history.

"That's amazing," Cismesia said on tying Janikowski's record. "It's good company to have around me. He's the best to ever kick here."

NOT THE LAST TIME? When asked if there was any thought that Saturday night could be his last time coming off the field in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Bowden said he hoped not.

"I wouldn't want it to be," said the 78-year-old coach, who earned his 300th win at Florida State last week against Maryland. "I'm not planning on it."

With the loss, Bowden drops to 17-16-1 against Florida, and is now 0-3 against Florida coach Urban Meyer. However, Bowden remains optimistic his Seminoles will come back around.

"I've been through six in a row for them," Bowden said. "We'll come back. Right now they're having their day. Miami had theirs, we had ours and now they're having theirs."

FISHER'S FUTURE: With several teams looking for new head coaches this coming offseason, there's little doubt FSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher will attract attention. Considered a young, up-and-coming coach, Fisher has ties to several schools that could come calling after this season, including LSU and Auburn.

"I'm happy as heck here," Fisher said on whether he's thought about potential coaching opportunities for him in the future. "I haven't had any contact with anyone. If something arises I'll address it when it comes."

SMITH RETURNS: TB Antone Smith returned to action Saturday but was limited to four carries for 6 yards. Sophomore Preston Parker started his second straight game in the backfield and finished with 12 touches for 48 yards.

BOWL PREDICTIONS: It looks as though the Seminoles will most likely be headed to the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., on New Year's Eve. If so, FSU would play an SEC opponent, possibly Kentucky.

EXTRA POINTS: QB Drew Weatherford finished 20 of 37 and has set a school and ACC record with 234 consecutive passes in a single season without an interception. ... Sophomore WR Rod Owens set two career highs with four catches for 45 yards. ... Sophomore LB Dekoda Watson set a career high with nine tackles. ... Freshman DB Ochucko Jenije, who sprained his ankle in the first half, was the only reported injury for FSU.

Michael McGuffee

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