Colleges

Bowden displeased with officiating

By BRIAN LANDMAN, Times staff writer
Published January 1, 2008

NASHVILLE - Florida State coach Bobby Bowden wasn't too pleased with the officiating in the first half.

Let's see. There was an intentional grounding call on Drew Weatherford that killed a drive early in the second quarter. Receiver Greg Carr was inexplicably called for pushing off Kentucky cornerback Trevard Lindley to wipe out what would have been a 33-yard touchdown catch. And then corner Tony Carter drew a flag for excessive celebration when he dived into the end zone on his 24-yard interception return. (Cornerback Michael Ray Garvin picked up the flag and threw it at the official for a second penalty on the play that forced FSU to kickoff from its 7.

As he left the field at the half, Bowden eschewed a dadgumit for a four-letter word in a television interview.

"That irritated the crap out of me," he said of the celebration penalty.

After the 35-28 loss to Kentucky, he was more politically correct about the Big East officiating crew (the group did miss a blatant FSU offensive holding in the first half), saying that every coach "is upset with the officiating ... but we'll probably look at the film and see they were right."

Not that he was any happier about the call on Carter.

"I watch television all day yesterday and the week before and the week before and the month before and I see everybody run the ball and dive into the end zone," he said. "And I said to myself, you know everybody can do that but us. They won't let us do it. The last time I did it five years ago, he called it. So our guy runs and dives into the end zone and there he (the official) goes. I don't understand that, now. You watch the rest of the games this week it'll look like a swimming pool out there. There won't be a flag out there, except for the Big East. They must not have any swimming pools up there."

ONE FOR THE BOOKS: Weatherford set a school and ACC record with 270 pass attempts without an interception. He threw one against UAB on Sept. 8 and didn't throw another until the fourth quarter against Kentucky.

RECORD DAY: Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson threw four touchdowns, to give him 40, breaking the single-season school record set by Tim Couch in 1998.

HAYES UPDATE: FSU junior linebacker Geno Hayes, who many believe will declare for the NFL draft, is still not talking about his future.

"I don't want to talk about that," he said after the game.

SIGN OF THE TIMES: Five female FSU fans from Tallahassee hung an interesting sign over the wall by the FSU bench:

5 tickets $375.00

1 hotel room $427.00

5 flights $1283.00

Watching 50 percent of our Noles team play in the Music City Bowl on ESPN ... Priceless!

FAMILIAR FACES: Tennessee Titans and former Seminoles Chris Hope and Chris Davis, the former St. Petersburg Catholic star, were on the FSU sideline for the game.

"It's great," Davis said. "I'm just taking it all in right now. My first year, getting to play and going to the playoffs. A lot of people go years without ever going to the playoffs."

LOCAL CONNECTION: Kentucky backup center Jorge Gonzalez, a redshirt sophomore from Tampa Catholic, looks to have a strong future, line coach Jimmy Heggins said.

"It's just a matter of how hard he's going to work and getting his body in the right shape," he said. "Jorge is doing a good job right now."

[Last modified December 31, 2007, 23:33:01]