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Butterfinger 'Noles give plenty of help

Florida State's five turnovers, three by QB Chris Rix, lead to 28 Tar Heel points.

By ALEX ABRAMS

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 23, 2001

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Florida State coach Bobby Bowden has a hard time tolerating the careless mistakes his team made repeatedly during an embarrassing 41-9 loss to North Carolina.

The Seminoles, who had not committed a turnover in the first two games of the season, had five Saturday that resulted in 28 Tar Heel points.

"We made too many mistakes," Bowden said. "We didn't have any turnovers up until today, (the Tar Heels) have had millions. We're not good enough to play like that and win."

Redshirt freshman quarterback Chris Rix showed his inexperience throughout. He fumbled twice and threw a pass into the hands of defensive end Julius Peppers.

With 11:14 left and FSU trailing 27-9, Rix tried to turn a broken play into positive yardage when he tucked the football under his right arm and began running down the left side. He got 12 yards downfield before the ball was stripped by defensive tackle Will Chapman.

The turnover led to a North Carolina touchdown and sealed FSU's third ACC loss in 74 games.

"They just did a good job of stripping the ball," Rix said. "I have to hold on to the ball better and be more careful with it. But they hit hard and they were definitely aiming to strip the ball, I know that. They got me on two of them. It was good job, and I have to tip my hat to their defense."

Rix's three turnovers are the most by an FSU quarterback since Chris Weinke tossed six interceptions during a 24-7 loss to North Carolina State on Sept. 12, 1998.

Even FSU's defense had trouble holding on to the football.

At the beginning of the third quarter, FSU cornerback Stanford Samuels got his first career interception when he stepped in front of a Darian Durant pass, only to fumble as he ran toward the North Carolina end zone.

"I caught it, I couldn't grip it because of the casts on my hands," said Samuels, whose thumbs are sore. "Before the game, I told all the players that I was going to go down as soon as I got a pick. I was just getting greedy. I knew I couldn't hold on to the ball."

North Carolina entered Saturday's game ranked 112th in the nation in turnover margin, giving the ball away 11 times while forcing three turnovers.

"I was surprised we went two games without a turnover," Bowden said. "You're hoping it'll keep up. North Carolina, on the other hand, had five (turnovers), I think, in the first half against Oklahoma."

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