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By BRIAN LANDMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 11, 2000
TALLAHASSEE -- It began on the somber plane ride home from Miami on Saturday night. There in the first-class section, the Florida State seniors embraced a new challenge.
"It's up to us now," they said. "It's up to us to take the team the rest of the way."
Unlike many of their teammates who hadn't lost a game -- FSU had a nation's best 17-game winning streak -- the seniors suffered a regular-season loss early in 1998 at North Carolina State and overcame it to reach the national championship game.
"The maturity of this ball club isn't going to let anybody be lackadaisical or complacent and not strive to get better," said senior linebacker Brian Allen, the defensive captain.
"We know how to rebound," senior punter Keith Cottrell said.
Although the Seminoles slipped from No. 1 in the Associated Press poll to No. 7, they know they still could overtake enough teams to reach the Orange Bowl, this season's national championship game.
"The one thing any of us would be crazy to do would be to give up," coach Bobby Bowden said. "I mean, gee whiz, we've been the luckiest team in the country in this regard."
In 1993, FSU lost to Notre Dame but climbed back into the national championship picture when Boston College upset the Irish. Two years ago, the once-beaten Seminoles saw two of three undefeated teams lose -- UCLA to Miami and Kansas State to Texas A&M -- to put them in the title game.
The polls could be even more volatile in the coming weeks. Consider that No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Kansas State and No. 8 Oklahoma play one another in that time, and one or two of those teams may meet again in the Big 12 title game. No. 3 Virginia Tech has to play at No. 4 Miami on Nov. 4, the same day No. 5 Clemson comes to Tallahassee.
"We're not out of it," senior defensive end Roland Seymour said. "The situation may look kind of bad ... but it's pretty much like 1998, where everybody thought we were out of it and we came back and made something out of our season. We will come back strong, and I wouldn't be surprised if we end up playing (Miami) again."
"I expect us to run the table the rest of the way," Cottrell said. "A loss like this only brings us together. We already had the best athletes in America. God forbid we all get focused on the same thing. Watch out. I wouldn't want to be the next couple of teams."
TIPPING OFF, PART I: Men's basketball coach Steve Robinson has never been one to waste an iota of time. Even on the first day of practice, beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday.
"There's a lot of learning that has to be done by everybody," he said.
Stephen Giles, a former Orlando Magic assistant, and Rob Wilkes, formerly at Stetson, are new to the staff. With four senior starters gone, newcomers such as junior college guard Monte Cummings; small forward Michael Joiner, a highly touted prospect from North Carolina; and sophomore power forward Mike Mathews, who sat out last season as a partial qualifier, figure to play prominent roles.
TIPPING OFF, PART II: Women's basketball coach Sue Semrau, whose veteran team will start practice at noon Saturday, said her group has a new attitude.
"We have real keen expectations and maybe (are) more excited than I've ever seen a group here," Semrau said.
Although forward Latavia Coleman, the team's top scorer, has graduated and guard Angela Sutton left for personal reasons, FSU has a strong nucleus back. Senior forward Brooke Wyckoff, a standout for the U.S. World University Games team, and junior guard April Traylor should provide plenty of offense, and FSU has three solid centers in senior Levys Torres and sophomores Lauren Bradley and Katelyn Vujas. The key could be the addition of point guard Petra Hofman, a junior college transfer.
The team also figures to benefit from a European trip during the summer, which afforded it the opportunity to not only practice for a week but play games.
"The mind-set is, this is the year, we have so much going for us," Wyckoff said.
- Brian Landman covers Florida State athletics. He can be reached at (813) 226-3347 or by e-mail at landman@sptimes.com.