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Bowden: Luck won't hold down the road

By BRIAN LANDMAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 3, 2001

DURHAM, N.C. -- Coach Bobby Bowden had said that he couldn't accurately gauge the strengths and weaknesses of his largely inexperienced team until it played a game.

So, what did he find out after Saturday's 55-13 win against Duke?

"You learned two things; you learned No. 1 that you can be very good and you also learned if you don't get the little things corrected, we won't be very good," he said Sunday.

"You look at the score and you say, 'How can you ask for more?' Then you go back and look at the film and say, 'How in the world did we get by with that? Why did he do that instead of that?' "

For instance, an offensive lineman stepping the wrong way or a quarterback throwing to one receiver when another is a safer option. Luckily, Bowden said, Duke lacked the talent level to capitalize on enough of such missteps to affect the outcome. But ...

"Then you start putting it against Miami or matching it against what (Georgia) Tech does and you realize how far you have to go," he said. OPENING NIGHT JITTERS?: You might have expected freshman kicker Xavier Beitia to appear a bit nervous Saturday. Heck. He did.

"I was surprised," said the former Tampa Jesuit star who is expected to solve FSU's biggest problem from a year ago. "There really were no butterflies. And as the night went on, I wasn't even thinking about it. ... Actually, I was more nervous in high school."

Perfection will have that kind of calming effect. Beitia hit both field goals and all seven of his extra points.

"It's really a complete turnaround from last year," Bowden said. "We used to get out there last year, practice field goals live and sit there and cringe when they'd miss a little ol' extra point. Then you'd get in a ballgame and it's the same thing. Then you take him out and put another in and he does the same thing. So you'd get three cringes a game and start all over. The great thing about this year is that has been eliminated. That kid kicks them down the middle."

INJURY UPDATE: Sophomore linebacker Allen Augustin suffered a neck burner and was held out the second half, and redshirt freshman cornerback Bryant McFadden had a slight concussion.

THE LAST WORD: "A lot of people said it was the No. 1 recruiting class in the country last year and it might be. It might be. I would definitely say we got more help out of freshmen for the opening ballgame than I can ever remember around here. ... If we're going to be successful my last retirement years, this could be the key class," said Bowden on the impact of the 11 freshmen who played Saturday.

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