Healing power of Bowden's optimism

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By GARY SHELTON

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 23, 2001

There was good news for the Florida State football team Wednesday.

No more bad news.

No more players were broken. No more knees blew up. The depth chart, for once, didn't get thinner. The days ahead, for once, didn't look longer.

FSU broke even.

Which, these days, is something.

You know what they're saying in Tallahassee these days? You can't spell FSU without E.R. Everyone wishes good health for Bobby Bowden, of course, but should a 71-year-old coach really be in better shape than his team?

You know what they're saying elsewhere? Ha-ha. Bowden's office has not exactly been covered with sympathy cards from ACC rivals. Nobody feels sorry for a program that has camped in the nation's Top 5 for 14 straight seasons. Not even when it is running low on crutches, let alone receivers.

But this has reached the point of the absurd. It figured to be a building year for FSU anyway, with 15 starters hitting the highway. But now Bowden isn't just coaching the replacements. He's coaching the replacements for the replacements. And in some cases, the replacements for them.

"Two-a-days are a minefield," Bowden said. "When you practice two-a-days, someone is going to get it. All you can do is hope it isn't severe. In our case, it's been severe."

The first blow was wide receiver Robert Morgan, who was lost for the season a week ago. But the big loss was Anquan Boldin, who led the team in star quality. Boldin was going to be this year's Peter Warrick, this year's Warrick Dunn, the player his teammates looked to when someone absolutely had to make a play.

Now he also is gone for the season because of a knee injury, and for the first time in a long time, it is tempting to look at FSU and wonder what is left. It's been a lot of dadgummits since the Seminoles have looked this vulnerable.

Let's be honest. Florida and Miami probably liked their chances against FSU anyway. But what if you are Clemson or Georgia Tech or N.C. State or Virginia? Don't you think your odds have improved?

As for FSU, somehow Bowden has resisted surrender. No one has contacted the Peach Bowl about an early bid.

"We're stubborn up here," Bowden said. "We're undefeated right now. We're going to work as hard as we can every week to stay that way. There's a lot of talent out there."

There is also a precedent. Bowden harkens back to 1993, when the Seminoles lost 14 starters from the previous season. In a span of 10 days in the preseason, they lost safety Steve Gilmer, cornerback Corey Fuller and running back Tiger McMillon. If you remember, FSU won the national championship that season.

"I remember back then thinking, "There it goes,' and we were all right," Bowden said. "Maybe if I were a first-year coach, that's what I'd think now. But history tells you that good things can still happen."

The difference, of course, is that back then, the Seminoles returned Charlie Ward, their quarterback and best player. This year, the quarterback is Chris Rix, a redshirt freshman who has two true freshmen behind him. His receivers are expected to be Atrews Bell and a fat kid recruited out of the tuba section of the band. Provided, of course, he recovers from the lip infection.

"Last year, we had one puzzle piece to put in," Bowden said. "The year before, we didn't have any. This year, we have about 12."

That's why the injuries hurt. Most seasons, FSU could lose two receivers -- even if one of them was as talented as Boldin -- and it wouldn't blink. Remember, this is the program that lost Randy Moss without slowing down. But the Seminoles, a team used to being deep and rich in talent, are suddenly thin.

It started when quarterback Jared Jones, the designate to be FSU's redshirt junior starter, was kicked off for violating team rules. His departure and sophomore quarterback Fabian Walker's ineligibility forced Boldin back to quarterback. But when Morgan was injured, Boldin returned to wideout before hurting his knee.

"It was a letdown to lose him (Boldin)," Bowden said. "It looked like he had found a home. He looked happy. He was a force out there. It was a big letdown to lose him."

In recent seasons, the Seminoles had the most recognizable faces in college football. Chris Weinke had started for three years, tailback Travis Minor for four. Brian Allen, Tommy Polley and Tay Cody all started three years on the defense. There are professional teams that had more turnover than the Seminoles of recent vintage.

This year, you won't know their look. The players will be new. The style of play might be, too. Look for the Seminoles to run the ball more, to pay more attention to field position, to wait for the right opportunity before striking.

"We have to run better," Bowden said. "We usually try to do that when we have a new quarterback, but with our wide receivers, it's even more important."

Injuries aside, Bowden says there is pleasure to coaching players who might need instruction a little more. Bowden says he hasn't been this excited in "five or six" years.

Still, this is FSU -- Bowden expects to win.

"I'm positive enough to believe that," he said. "I want to be realistic and not sound stupid, but we want to keep things going around here. There's a lot of talent out there."

This just in: Some of it isn't even limping.

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