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Monday, September 5, 2005
Bowden struggles to match past
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Tallahassee � This is Bobby Bowden’s 30th anniversary at Florida State, which Hallmark would tell us calls for a strand of pearls.
Granted, Bowden, like the gem, is a pale grayish white, with occasional hints of blue (depending on the latest Tallahassee arrest report). But he’s not one to accessorize. So the Seminoles would rather give something more traditional for the typical 75-year-old who finds himself being pulled toward north Florida shuffleboard tournaments.
Late-career redemption.
FSU won a football game over Miami 10-7 Monday night. With more turnovers (four) and missed field goals (four) than actual scoring drives (three), it certainly wasn’t a classic. But this was the kind of a game that has gone against Bowden in recent years.
Lose 10-7, and the cries for him to retire get a little louder. Win 10-7, and suddenly the fan base views you as a tough, high-character survivor. Benefit from a botched field goal, for a change, and suddenly life is wonderful again.
“We finally stole one from them like they’ve been stealing them from us the last five years,� Bowden said.
To translate: They’ve still got problems. The Seminoles had only 177 yards in total offense. Starting quarterback Drew Weatherford went 7-for-24. But problems don’t seem as big when your defense registers nine sacks. They certainly don’t seem as big when you end a six-game losing streak to an in-state rival.
Florida State and Miami have been on relative declines of late. But there’s a greater sense of urgency this season for Bowden than the Hurricanes’ Larry Coker.
Bowden is the one whose team has lost nearly as many games in the past four seasons (15) as in the previous 14 (19). He is the one who had to fight off suggestions that he fire his own son, Jeff, the Seminoles offensive coordinator, after the team’s worst offensive season in 25 years.
It’s one thing to be an every day high-profile coach under pressure, like Coker. It’s another to be Bowden � college football’s all-time winningest coach who is trying to prove to the doubting masses that the Tuesday senior citizen discount at Denny’s can wait.
It wasn’t a great offseason for Bowden. One starting outside linebacker, A.J. Nicholson, was arrested for DUI and had to be tasered by police. The other starting outside linebacker, Ernie Sims, was arrested for domestic battery. (Both played Monday night. We’ll save the Bowden-soft-on-crime column for another day.) Defensive tackle Clifton Dickson was declared academically ineligible. Cornerback Antonio Cromartie was lost for the season with a torn knee ligament.
Finally, there is quarterback Wyatt Sexton, who was found screaming in the streets and claimed to police that he was God. Nobody was even convinced he was a quarterback, let alone a deity. He since has been diagnosed with Lyme disease.
Florida State strung together 14 consecutive seasons of double-digit wins. But this season, it was considered no better than third best in the ACC, behind Virginia Tech and Miami. Bowden tried to fix some problems by shuffling coaching duties. He wouldn’t fire his son, but he imported Mark McHale from Marshall.
But for most of the night, offense was still a problem. After taking a 10-0 lead, the Seminoles went scoreless the rest of the night. They had a first-and-goal from the Miami one in the third quarter. But three runs lost yardage, and the drive ended with a missed field goal attempt.
A Miami win seemed inevitable. The ’Canes drove down the field in the final minutes, converting four times on third down, and was set up with a first down from the 2. But this time it was Miami that folded. The drive stalled and holder Brian Monroe dropped the snap on a 27-yard field goal attempt.
Bowden, once known as an offensive innovator, rode his defense. But given recent history, he’ll take it. The Seminoles finished ranked in the AP’s top five every year from 1987-2000. The past four seasons they finished 15th, 21st, 11th and 15th.
This is year 30 at Florida State for Bobby Bowden. And he’s looking for a reason to celebrate.
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