Florida State coach Bobby Bowden is carried off the field after the Seminoles’ 33-21 victory over West Virginia in the Gator Bowl on Friday in Jacksonville, Fla.

Jacksonville, Fla. ? There was no way Warrick Dunn would miss this.

Neither would Deion Sanders, Derrick Brooks, Leroy Butler or Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke.

Hundreds of former Seminole stars gathered Friday to watch Bobby Bowden close out one of college football’s greatest coaching careers with a 33-21 victory over West Virginia in the Gator Bowl.

“You can’t replace being here by watching it on TV or something,” Dunn said. “That’s something I’ll cherish the rest of my life.”

More than 350 of Bowden’s bunch turned up, many of them chiseled into Florida State lore. Some harkened from his time at West Virginia, where Bowden coached a decade before coming to Tallahassee.

Dunn, one of Bowden’s favorites, showed up in the fall of 1993 after his mom, a single mother, had been shot and killed in Baton Rouge, La.

“He was the next consistent figure in my life,” said Dunn, who hugged Bowden on the sideline as the final seconds ticked away. “He just told me his door is always open if I ever need him, and I did. To this day I call him and can talk to him about anything.”

One of the toughest players to play for the Seminoles in the Bowden era, former San Francisco 49ers fullback William Floyd, was among many who had difficulty talking without choking up.

“He’s been like a dad to me, really the first father figure I had coming up,” said Floyd, whose bone-crushing blocking protected Heisman Trophy quarterback Charlie Ward during Florida State’s first national championship season in 1993. “He had an open door policy and I used it.”

Sanders just wanted to be sure Bowden was OK about retiring a year earlier than originally planned.

“I hugged him and I looked him in his eyes and I said, ‘Tell me you’re OK.”‘ Sanders said Friday. “I want to hear right now that you are OK. And he said ‘I’m OK.’ And we started reminiscing about the old times.”

The 80-year-old Bowden rode into retirement, carried on the shoulders of his Seminoles.

“It’s got to be memorable,” Bowden said. “It’s my last dadgum ballgame after 57 years of coaching.”

Jermaine Thomas ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and MVP E.J. Manuel threw for 189 yards and ran for another score.

Florida State (7-6) rallied from a 14-3 deficit in the first half, giving Bowden his 33rd straight winning season at the school. Noel Devine ran for 168 yards and a touchdown for West Virginia (9-4).