Colleges

Bowden not through with offensive tinkering

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published September 18, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - After about 30 minutes of questions with few hard answers, coach Bobby Bowden politely excused himself from his Sunday morning news conference with a telling exit line:

"I've got a lot of fixin' to do."

While the season is just one-fourth old, so it's not far-fetched that FSU could emerge as Atlantic Division champion and play for the ACC title, Bowden indeed has a job ahead of him.

His Seminoles (2-1, 1-1), who were stunned 27-20 by Clemson in the final seconds Saturday, have struggled to find an offensive identity and have lacked the big plays that had been a trademark.

FSU spent the week trying to fix a running game that was gaining ground by the feet instead of yards; it had averaged 23 yards and was 118th in Division I-A. Well, the Seminoles ran the ball 38 times against the injury-riddled Tigers for 102 yards. Both were season highs.

"You'd say, 'Well, at least what you worked on you did better (at),' " Bowden said. "But the thing is, I think you sacrificed some of your passing game."

Case in point: Receiver Greg Carr, who had a team-high nine touchdowns last season but said he hasn't pleased the coaches with his effort of late and "wasn't playing up to my standards," barely played Saturday.

Heck, FSU even used freshman Damon McDaniel.

"We were trying to run the ball more, so we were trying to get receivers (out there) who can block best," Bowden said. "That's really keeping one of your best threats out of the game. I'm not sure if I'm willing to go with that. I'm not sure if I'm willing to give up that passing threat."

Carr has just four receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown.

"I don't even feel it's something to resolve," he said Sunday. "I just feel like, 'Okay. My freshman year is gone and past, and now I'm a sophomore so now it's time to up the standards a little bit.' "

Carr's involvement, or lack thereof, isn't the sole reason FSU had just 102 passing yards. Quarterback Drew Weatherford struggled with some throws. Other receivers didn't help out; Richard Goodman dropped an apparent touchdown late in the third quarter.

The line, which gave up three sacks in the first two games, looked more porous, even when the Tigers rushed just three. Weatherford was sacked four times Saturday.

The longest run? Lorenzo Booker went 14 Saturday. The longest pass? Booker took a swing pass and went 34 yards against Miami.

"We're not getting big plays," Bowden said. "You ran the ball 38 times. That's good if you're making real progress, but if you'd thrown it 10 more times, would you have broken something? I don't know."

INJURY REPORT: Guard Cory Niblock, who started for the first time this season Saturday, sprained his left ankle. Linebacker Jae Thaxton suffered a concussion. He missed the last 10 games in 2005 after a concussion.

[Last modified September 18, 2006, 02:45:16]