Colleges

Undermanned 'Noles a handful for Kentucky

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

NASHVILLE - Florida State coach Bobby Bowden privately feared the worst coming into Monday's Music City Bowl against Kentucky and its high-powered offense.

"I'm wondering, 'Gollee. Are we going to be able to hang in with these guys?'" he said.

But his team, drastically undermanned with 36 players not making the trip for various reasons, including an academic misconduct scandal, showed a moxie that had been missing and kept the Wildcats nervous until a Hail Mary fell to the grass to preserve a historic 35-28 win before a record crowd at The Coliseum.

A moral victory?

Under the circumstances, why not?

"Our kids probably played as hard as any team we've had, maybe forever," Bowden said. "I was real proud of our players. ... Our guys just kept coming back. That's the Seminole spirit that we want and have to get back at Florida State University if we want to get back on top. I thought I saw a little bit of that today."

The Seminoles 7-6 needed that spirit with so many bodies missing, especially scholarship bodies; 25 scholarship players listed in the bowl media guide were left behind. That number included seven starters, four on defense, linebacker Dekoda Watson, cornerback Patrick Robinson, interior lineman Budd Thacker and end Neefy Moffett.

Heck, they had 43 scholarship players available and, after battling to a 14-14 halftime tie, thanks in part to Kentucky turnovers (cornerback Tony Carter recovered a fumble at the FSU 2 and returned it 51 yards to set up a touchdown then returned an interception 24 yards for a score), the lack of numbers showed up in the third quarter.

Kentucky (8-5), which has won back-to-back bowls for the first time since the 1951 Sugar Bowl and 1952 Cotton under legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, wore them out.

Star quarterback Andre Woodson, the game's MVP for a second straight year, led the Wildcats on a pair of 80-yard touchdown drives to take what seemed like a commanding lead. On three possessions in that quarter, Kentucky had 30 plays for 178 yards and used up 10:59.

FSU had nine offensive plays in the quarter.

"We didn't have the rotations of fresh bodies," senior defensive tackle Andre Fluellen said.

Although the Seminoles allowed 501 total yards, the second consecutive game an opponent has had more than 500 (Florida and Tim Tebow hung 541 yards on a full-strength defense in a 45-12 win) - which hadn't happened in the Bowden era - they kept battling.

"We fought the entire game; no matter what the score was, we weren't going to give up," junior linebacker Geno Hayes said.

On either side of the ball.

Quarterback Drew Weatherford capped an 80-yard drive with a 1-yard run, his second touchdown run of the game, to keep FSU in striking range. Even after Woodson threw his fourth touchdown of the game moments later, the Seminoles rallied again as Weatherford hit receiver Greg Carr on a 7-yard touchdown with 2:14 left.

Kentucky recovered an on-side kick attempt, but FSU forced a punt to get the ball back. Weatherford threw his second interception of the game, but Carr stripped the ball from linebacker Micah Johnson on the return and center Ryan McMahon recovered at the FSU 17 with 29 seconds to go.

Weatherford took the team to the UK 44 with three seconds left, but his pass in the end zone for Carr was knocked down.

"It was real close, really close," Weatherford said.

"I never questioned the character on this team, the integrity of the guys," Weatherford said. "It was shown out there by the guys, how hard they fight, how hard they wanted it. They never laid down. I just hope we can take that same mentality into the offseason and remember the loss and have it drive us into next year."

Brian Landman can be reached at landman@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3347.

[Last modified December 31, 2007, 23:33:07]