Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 1, 1995 TAG: 9511010045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Which, of course, is now the case. The pollsters certainly didn't do UVa any favors over the weekend in vaulting Nebraska into the No.1 spot ahead of the idle Seminoles. Being No.1 in the ACC isn't good enough for Florida State, the only team raising the league above respectability this season.
On paper - that on which the ACC standings are printed - it is a football battle for a share of first place in the league. As FSU games go, this one is expected to be respectable, certainly not a 61-18 rout. That's the average score by which the Seminoles have won their five ACC games this season.
Last year, the mean score was Seminoles 41, ACC 13. The national champions of 1993 had a 49-6 ACC scoreboard average. In '92, coach Bobby Bowden's program was just warming up. The average ACC triumph was 36-15.
This is called being in the same conference, but not in the same league.
Comparatively, how good is Virginia (6-3), which has lost on last plays to Michigan and Texas?
About as good as Miami, which lost 41-17 at Tallahassee a month ago. At least, that's what the oddsmakers think. UVa began the week as a 17-point underdog to FSU, the same line as the Miami-FSU game.
Then, Florida State fell to No.2, and a lot of people somewhere figured the Seminoles will be out to prove a point with points. The line has jumped to 18.
Even TV executives are getting down on the game. One ESPN manager said Monday that the poll switch ``kills us'' on the Thursday night telecast, because Florida State won't take the game so cavalierly now.
He envisions FSU taking a big lead, and viewers switching to Seinfeld or Murder One. When TV people talk about getting ``big numbers,'' they don't mean the ones on the scoreboard.
In the ACC, beating Florida State has been out of the question. It's difficult enough to get a lead on the Seminoles. Last season, four of FSU's eight ACC foes actually led the Seminoles at the end of the first quarter, including UVa. Maryland even had a 20-17 edge at halftime. Of course, those ACC teams ended up losing by scores of 41-17, 52-20, 41-10 and 34-3.
This season, the Seminoles have trailed for 4:40 of 300 minutes in five ACC games, all to Georgia Tech, a 42-10 loser. In the first 29 games of their ACC history, Florida State has led for 93.2 percent of the time. With a victory Thursday, FSU's 30 straight league wins would equal West Virginia's success streak from 1952-59 in the Southern Conference. Only Oklahoma's Big Eight winning streak of 44, also from '52-59, is superior in major-college football history.
If the Cavaliers are looking for some encouragement, they should recall the Seminoles' only previous visit to Scott Stadium. It was a night game, Halloween 1992, standing-room only. It was raining. UVa came into the game with six victories, ranked 23rd, one spot above their current poll position.
The Cavaliers slowed Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward most of the evening, and sixth-ranked FSU's defense provided a 13-3 victory. That remains the Seminoles' lowest scoring output in any ACC game. Since that night, they've won each of their 22 ACC games by more than two touchdowns. In 21 of those 22 games, they've scored more than 30 points.
FSU hasn't scored less than 41 points in any game this season. Of course, Virginia is better than any team the Seminoles have played to date, too. If the Cavaliers can keep FSU to around 35, they should climb in the polls next week.
However, this FSU team might be as good as the one that won the national title in 1993. Offensively, it is better, thanks to more balance. The Seminoles are 108 inches short of averaging 600 per game for the season. Only one team in NCAA history has a better seasonal average than FSU's current 599.6. That was Houston's NCAA-record 624.9 in 1989.
Virginia does have a chance to stop this offense, but it had better do it early - like, just don't turn on the stadium lights. When FSU plays, it's usually lights-out for one team anyway.
by CNB