Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 17, 1993 TAG: 9310170185
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
So, the Virginia-Florida State game Saturday wasn't dampened by a cavalier attitude, right?
For about five minutes, yes. Then, top-ranked Florida State showed it could and would bolt past Virginia, and the crowd and the Seminoles chief became occupied with the score.
"I'm proud and happy to get the biggest win around here in years," said Bobby Bowden, FSU's coach. "That 38-35 win was really huge."
Bowden was thrilled about another battle of unbeatens, Auburn's victory over visiting Florida. One week after the Seminoles put down nemesis Miami, it wasn't just the Gators' loss that gladdened Bowden and brought the three loudest roars from the crowd of 76,607 when the scores were announced.
Bowden's son, Terry, coaches Auburn. Blood is thicker than water in college football, too, and rivalries don't die when affiliations change. As was proven in the Seminoles' 40-14 victory over 15th-ranked Virginia, they may play in the same conference, but they aren't in the same league.
The chopping and chanting Seminoles faithful regard their team's in-state games as most important, and why shouldn't they? Because FSU is playing for what has been an elusive national championship, add a Nov. 13 visit to Notre Dame to that list.
It will be that way until the rest of the ACC proves it can play with the Seminoles. That still hasn't happened and won't this season. In five conference victories, Bowden's team has outscored the losers 226-28.
FSU may be an ACC expansion club, but the Florida Marlins they aren't. The Seminoles haven't lost in 13 games since the ACC decided eight wasn't enough.
The NFL is considering Jacksonville for an expansion club. Why not Tallahassee? The team already is here, as is the state's best quarterback, with the Miami Dolphins' Dan Marino out for the season.
The Downtown Athletic Club in New York City should go ahead and ship the Heisman Trophy to Charlie Ward. The Seminoles' quarterback isn't just the best college player this season.
"He is a special talent," said Rick Lantz, UVa's defensive coordinator. "Ward is at least as good as anybody I've ever coached against, at all levels.
"He didn't make a mistake. He pulled the ball down when the pass wasn't open and we should have had him sacked. But you don't have him. He maybe sees things on the field better than anyone I've seen."
This is Lantz's 30th year in coaching. He's not one to rave, at least not until zone coverages break down. Once he saw what worried him the most - FSU spreading the Cavaliers' defense on the sodden field - he knew what was about to happen.
"I thought maybe we could make some plays," Lantz said. "We didn't control them. We couldn't control them. I was extremely impressed, maybe as much as I've been.
"They have more team speed than any team I've seen. Because they have such great defensive speed, it's going to take a team that's precise on offense to beat them.
"A power team won't do it, or a finesse team won't do it. It will take both, and I don't know who has that - except maybe Florida State."
In three quarters, Ward completed 23 of 31 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed five times for 38 yards, including a human highlight-film 18-yard scoring run just before halftime that brought the score to 30-0.
UVa hadn't been routed like this since its last visit to the Sunshine State, a 48-14 Gator Bowl bashing by Oklahoma in 1991. The Cavaliers don't need to rent a car to feel like troubled tourists in Florida. With an 0-4 record in the state, UVa has been outscored 174-59.
As if the Seminoles needed any assistance, the Cavaliers played like it was a big game. They were tight, and, if not intimidated, then awed early.
George Welsh, UVa's head coach, said he wanted to keep the football with a running game, because poor field position doesn't deter the Seminoles "Fast Break" offense.
Virginia couldn't run and then killed itself with penalties on two of the first three offensive series. UVa couldn't even run a two-minute drill in the first half. Its longest possession lasted 1 minute, 59 seconds.
Quarterback Symmion Willis, the nation's leader in passing efficiency entering the game, admitted he threw the ball poorly. Then, the redshirt sophomore never felt so surrounded by a rush before.
"Symmion didn't play very well at first," said Tom O'Brien, the Cavaliers' offensive coordinator. "The speed with which things were happening, it took him some time to adjust to that.
"The bad thing was that we were too far behind before the good things started happening."
The Seminoles' only weakness seems to be their extra-point kicking, and Bowden had freshman Scott Bentley - who has missed eight PATs - practicing them at halftime.
The problem for the ACC's also-rans is that against FSU, they can't get enough points to make the extra ones important.
by CNB