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FSU wants a repeat of history

Not like last week's but like 1998 when the 'Noles came back strong.

By BRIAN LANDMAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 29, 2001

TALLAHASSEE -- No matter what's on their transcript, you can rest assured every Florida State football player is a history major.

Each Seminole knows what has happened in the past: an unprecedented 14 straight 10-win seasons and Top 5 finishes.

But after last weekend's stunning 41-9 loss at North Carolina, each Seminole knows those streaks could end unless he helps history repeat itself.

"The key for the rest of the season will be just like it was in '98: Will we respond from an ugly defeat?" coach Bobby Bowden said, referring to the Seminoles' loss that season in Week 2 at North Carolina State.

That 1998 team rebounded by winning its next 10, reaching the national championship game.

"We can bounce back from this," redshirt freshman quarterback Chris Rix said. "We know what our goal is. We know what our mission is. That's to win every game from here on out."

With games remaining against No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Florida and No. 9 Georgia Tech, the Seminoles see an opportunity to climb back into the national title picture.

"Our backs are against the wall; either we're going to fold or we're going to excel," senior safety Chris Hope said. "But our destiny is in our own hands. If you don't have any pride or willingness to showcase your talent now, you shouldn't be here in the first place."

Even with a litany of injuries and off-the-field distractions as well as a largely inexperienced roster, the 18th-ranked Seminoles believe they have the talent to beat anybody.

Their problem in Chapel Hill, they insist, had nothing to do with the physical aspect of the game and everything to do with the psychological. They thought too little of the Tar Heels and too much of themselves.

"We can't just walk on the field and beat people," senior safety Abdual Howard said. "It doesn't work that way. It's totally different now. We have to bring our A game week in and week out. We're not going to step on the field and make a billion mistakes and just beat people."

FSU not only committed five turnovers and 14 penalties, one of which nullified an 85-yard touchdown, but it blew two defensive coverages allowing long touchdowns and dropped six passes.

A repeat could spell another defeat, even against Wake Forest in Tallahassee, where FSU owns the nation's longest home winning streak at 36.

"I hope it wakes up everybody on the team and lets us know we're not really that good like we have been in the past," Hope said. "One of the first meetings we had this year was about all the young guys being excited about finally getting their chance to play, but this game really opened up their eyes to see if they're taking advantage of that opportunity to play."

Sophomore defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, embarrassed and angry that UNC "outfought" FSU, said the loss opened his eyes.

"It's given me a more mature attitude about everything," he said, adding that he will become even more intense and focused at every practice, every workout session. "We all need to pick it up or we're going to be the first team not to finish in the Top 5. This is it. If we don't, we're going to be worrying about how to get to 7-5 and finish in the Top 25. That would be real embarrassing."

That wouldn't be like FSU football. Even first-year Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe knows that.

"We see a team that's going to be really dangerous now," he said. "If you look at their track record, every time in the past that Florida State has stubbed (its) toe and gotten upset, (it's) come back great guns. We expect (the Seminoles) to be in a bad mood and ready to play and, unfortunately, I think we're going to catch them at their best."

NOTE: Senior defensive end Eric Powell, shot in the back during an attempted robbery in Orlando on Sept. 16, was released Thursday from the Orlando Regional Medical Center.

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