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No time like the present

FSU might be vulnerable in the ACC. Just ask Bobby Bowden.

By BRIAN LANDMAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 24, 2001

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. -- Florida State coach Bobby Bowden and his wife, Ann, usually steal away to Europe for a weeklong vacation at this time of the year.

Berlin. Athens. Rome. Normandy.

Not this summer.

Instead, fearing that his Seminoles could lose the Atlantic Coast Conference title for the first time, Bowden spent the last of his downtime squirreled away in his bedroom studying game tape, not the Coliseum or a World War II monument.

Hey, Ann, did you see that defensive effort from Alabama-Birmingham against LSU?

"We could have gone again, but I really feel we've got too many question marks," Bowden said during the ACC's football kickoff media session on Monday afternoon. "So I said, "Ann, I've got too much to do.' "

The Seminoles return just eight starters from last season's team, bidding farewell to the most successful senior class in program history. Perhaps the most glaring loss is Heisman Trophy quarterback Chris Weinke, who will be replaced by a player who has never thrown a collegiate pass -- redshirt freshman Chris Rix or junior receiver-turned-quarterback Anquan Boldin.

No wonder some see burgeoning ACC powers Georgia Tech and Clemson possibly unseating FSU. Count ABC analyst Terry Bowden among them. Also count Papa Bowden, who's not one to poor-mouth his team's chances a la Lou Holtz.

"There's vulnerability there," Bowden admitted.

Hey, Ann, have you seen that dadgum Georgia Tech tape?

But his players aren't exactly buying into such banter. For the past few years, a different team -- Virginia in 1996, North Carolina in '97, Georgia Tech in '99 -- seemed ready to beat the Seminoles.

They didn't and FSU is 70-2 in the league overall.

"The stuff we read says we should think that way, but it's like that every year," FSU offensive tackle Brett Williams said. "Everybody brings their A-game when they come to play us. If we don't come focused, ready to play each game, we'd have a chance to lose the ACC title."

Senior safety Chris Hope added that, despite the inexperience, the Seminoles should remain the measuring stick not only for the ACC but for the nation.

"There's always coaches from other schools coming to see what we do in our mat drills and our other programs," he said. "That's why teams are playing us tough now, they're starting to do what we do. Maybe not at our level, but they're becoming very competitive. Look at N.C. State. Chuck (Amato) has taken firsthand what he knew from us and they became a good team in a year."

Amato, a longtime Bowden assistant, is well acquainted with the Seminoles' personnel and doesn't foresee a changing of the guard amid all the position changes.

"Are you kidding?" he said with a laugh at the suggestion FSU is in trouble. "I've only been gone one year. I know what they have. He (Bowden) said, "We don't have a dadgum quarterback who's done anything in a game.' I said, "Well, how about trying an 18-year-old true freshman.' ... They have players. We all know that. They'll be Florida State. You will still catch a cold if you're on the sideline and they run past you to hit somebody."

"Don't be gullible," Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said of his father's fretting.

Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler said FSU's second- and even third-team players could start anywhere else in the league. He, like his coach, is leery of the elder Bowden.

"I think Bowden has a plan. He's fooling you all. You better watch it," he said.

Echoed Georgia Tech quarterback George Godsey: "If you were to look at a team other than Florida State, a team that's mediocre every year and heck, they're losing their quarterback and a lot of their defense, maybe you'd think, "This is our time to get them.' But we're not talking about a team that's in the middle of the pack. We're talking about a team that's been in the Top 5 for however many years. They've won national championships and seem to be in the national championship game every January. It's going to take a lot to beat them."

Even more, it seems, in the coming years.

"There's no doubt, in my opinion, if they're going to get us, they better get us now," Bowden said. "Not that next year (2002) is a cinch, but we're going to have a lot of them back with a veteran quarterback and we're bringing in a real fine freshman class this year."

So, look for the Bowdens to plan an European vacation next July.

As usual.

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