Florida State University’s sod games and the Sod Cemetery grew out of a college football tradition that began in 1962, when Dean Coyle Moore challenged the Seminole team before an away game against the University of Georgia to win and bring back some sod from between the hedges at Sanford Stadium. On Saturday, October 20, 1962, Florida State defeated Georgia 18-0, and afterward team captain Gene McDowell pulled a small piece of grass from the field. At the next football practice, the team presented the sod to Dean Moore, and he and Coach Bill Peterson buried it on the practice field as a symbol of the victory. From that moment, the sod game tradition began. Before away games in which Florida State is the underdog, all University of Florida road games, and all conference championship and bowl games, Seminole captains gather their teammates at the cemetery to tell them about the tradition. Victorious captains then return with a piece of the opponent’s turf to be buried there. The sod games came to represent the most difficult college football battles, played away from home, against the crowd, and against the odds, and during the 1976-2009 seasons Coach Bobby Bowden led FSU teams to 63 sod game victories.