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Not too high, not too low

FSU sees hope despite blowout loss to UF, which knows the biggest challenge lies ahead.

[Times photo: Brendan Fitterer] Florida's Aaron Walker (82), Mike Pearson (71) and Jeff Chandler (49) join other team mates in singing UF's alma mater after the game.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 19, 2001

GAINESVILLE -- When Florida State fans looked at the scoreboard at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday night, they saw a 37-13 final that indicated they had lost to archrival Florida.

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden saw something else. He saw the future.

Having spent the evening watching his Seminoles get beaten by nearly the same Florida team that FSU handily defeated last season, Bowden still was encouraged.

"I'm sure we learned a lot," Bowden said. "Last year we beat Florida at our place 30-7 and they have most of those kids back, and this is how much improvement they've made in a year. Now, next year, we've got most of our kids coming back. If we can improve as much as they've improved, we can get back into the hunt for the national championship."

Florida has waited three long years for this moment.

"I can't describe it," junior offensive tackle Mike Pearson said. "You dream about this when you are a little kid. The last two years, we came up short on them. We came out there and played with one goal in mind, and that was get the job done. We went out there and did it. It was a sweet feeling."

"It's a great feeling," sophomore defensive tackle Ian Scott said. "It's something in football that you can't match. This is why you come to Florida, it's why you go to Florida State, to play in this game."

Now that the big moment has arrived, the reality is this: It wasn't even the biggest game of the season for the Gators. That title belongs to the showdown with Tennessee on Dec. 1.

"It's a great win any time you beat Florida State, but if we don't beat Tennessee, none of this means anything," Pearson said. "The biggest game of the year is what's coming up next. This wasn't it."

That would explain the subdued celebration after the win. It was nice to end FSU's dominance, but there is something bigger to worry about.

"We have a different situation than almost every school in America," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. "We are in state with two other universities that are usually very good, FSU and Miami. But none of us are in the same conference. I don't know what their goals are at the beginning of every year, but ours is to win the Eastern Division, win the SEC, hopefully win every game if we can. But right now, we're sort of consumed with trying to win the Eastern Division and that means beating Tennessee in two weeks. ... That's basically what this thing is about, bragging rights for one year."

Florida held FSU to 40 yards rushing and the Seminoles didn't get into the end zone until 12:59 remaining. The Florida players and coaches said it was obvious they were playing a much different FSU team from last season's, or any in recent memory. Injuries and inexperience have taken a toll.

"We saw it on the tape that they are a different team than they've been in the past with all the injuries, all the seniors they had on last year's team," Spurrier said. "They were hoping obviously that they could stay healthy and have the young guys develop a little quicker. But now, they are not the team that they've been in the past."

Still, Bowden said he was proud of the way his team persevered.

"They (the Gators) were as good as I was afraid they were; they were a heck of a ballclub," Bowden said. "Our kids played hard. We tried to make a comeback at one time, but they wouldn't let us.

"We did give them a battle. They are like a time bomb, to me, just ticking and ticking. It might go off at any minute. That's kind of the way you play them."

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