Quote:Florida State Right Where It Wants To Be
By DOUG CARLSON
Tampa Tribune
Published: Oct 27, 2003


TALLAHASSEE - The smile on Florida State coach Bobby Bowden's face after Saturday's 24-point victory against Wake Forest could easily have been the afterglow of becoming major college football's all-time winningest coach.
If you believe Bowden, that wasn't the reason.

While thousands at Doak Campbell Stadium stuck around to reflect on a career that had reached 339 victories with the win against the Demon Deacons, Bowden was looking ahead.

And why not? Florida State advanced to No. 5 in both major polls on Sunday and is expected to be no worse than fourth when the updated BCS standings are announced today. Some projections call for the Seminoles to leapfrog Georgia into third place.

Either way, FSU is in perfect position to win a game of survivor against other candidates for a BCS championship game berth in the Sugar Bowl.

The Seminoles have four games remaining - at Notre Dame on Saturday, at Clemson (Nov. 8), North Carolina State (Nov. 15) and at Florida (Nov. 29).

FSU already has clinched a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference title and is highly likely to be the recipient of the league's automatic BCS bowl berth. One more ACC victory would guarantee it.

But Bowden appears to be more concerned with the bigger picture.

``If your goal is to win the conference championship, that's one thing. If your goal is to win a national championship, now you got to win every doggone game,'' Bowden said.

``We've got to win every game no matter who it is. A loss is a loss. Two losses is `Forget about us.' One loss and maybe things will break as it has in the past, so at least we're staying alive.''

The rest of the top five teams in the BCS standings have some work to do to stay in the chase. Several games this weekend could help push the 'Noles a step closer to New Orleans, including Georgia-Florida in Jacksonville, Oklahoma State at Oklahoma and Miami at Virginia Tech.

Oklahoma and Georgia also would have to contend with conference championship games to remain in BCS title contention.

As well as the pieces are falling into place for Bowden and the 'Noles, he continues to defend his son, offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden, against critics. Signs around Tallahassee have taken shots at him in recent weeks, including one displayed prominently Saturday on a road leading to the stadium calling for him to be fired.

One person was more direct, telephoning the Bobby Bowden call-in show last week and openly asking if he plans to get rid of his son. Bowden angrily objected.

``Offense is a fickle thing. It's fickle,'' Bowden said Sunday. ``Sometimes you're hot, sometimes you're cold. Jeffrey, in my opinion, will get better and better and better.

``I can't believe a guy asked me, `Am I going to fire my son.' I can't believe that. I shouldn't get upset about that. It's just football. That's the way it is nowadays.''

INJURY REPORT: Backup safety Kyler Hall suffered a sprained neck on Saturday and defensive end Eric Moore, who had two sacks, suffered a cut near his eye.

The big picture here is that FSU does not play a team the rest of the season with less than 3 losses and does not play in a conference championship. This will inevitably hurt their SOS ranking and their current BCS ranking when compared to UGA and USC.

Unfortunately the most significant move this week was USC moving to #3 in both polls. If they win out, it doesn't matter who FSU or UGA plays or beats. Of course we are all hoping that UM or OK lose, which is also not likely.

So hold on to your boot straps little FSU buckaroos. Your SOS will drop and subsequently so will your BCS ranking.

Only in your dreams sonny boy... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Let's be honest here, folks. Georgia hasn't taken care of business they way they should and FSU has. Period. And for Georgia to beat Florida this Saturday will take more than just "working out the kinks" in their game....it will take the Dawgs putting an entirely different team on the field than they have the last two weeks!

Phonetic UGA, let's give credit where credit is due....FSU has played well this season. Considering the past two miserable seasons, that is saying a lot. By the same token, Georgia has defended its SEC Championship well, but has played poorly the last two weekends.

Time will tell which team is better. This week, FSU is two spots better than Georgia. And Georgia still has to play its 3 toughest games of the season in Florida, Auburn, and Georgia Tech. FSU definitely has the easier schedule remaining. Let's hope UGA wins out and FSU falls to Notre Dame or Florida!

MsNole Wrote:Only in your dreams sonny boy... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Not dreaming granny. Facts are facts. FSU's strength of schedule will get worse and if UGA gets to the SEC Championship game our SOS will get better. This has nothing to do with dreams. These are facts.