ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: ACC NOTES
DATELINE: HOT SPRINGS
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
There's no chance Florida State will forget its 1995 loss to Virginia, the Seminoles' first defeat in four seasons of ACC football play. Coach Bobby Bowden will see to that.
``You betcha,'' Bowden said Tuesday at The Homestead, site of the annual ACC Football Kickoff. ``It came up last week. It's always going to come up because that's a learning experience.
``You win 29 games in a row, it's hard to convince those kids they're ever going to get beat. Sometimes, you need to get beat to get focused the way you need to be.''
Clearly, the media doesn't think the Seminoles are about to join the ranks of ACC mortals. Florida State was picked to win the championship on 51 of 52 ballots, with one Virginia sportscaster the lone dissenter.
``I'm a coward,'' Bowden said. ``I think most coaches are scared. I'm scared. If we were playing a high school team, I'd be afraid we were going to lose. That's just my nature.''
Bowden was worried even before Virginia stunned the Seminoles 33-28 in Charlottesville. Florida State started a new streak by beating North Carolina and Maryland in its last two ACC games.
``After we finished the season, that [Virginia] loss never bothered me again,'' Bowden said. ``The way I figured, something good was going to come out of it.
``They deserved it. I really felt, if we had to lose one, I'd just as soon lose to Virginia as anybody because of their academic reputation. I pull for the academic people.''
Bowden won't be talking up UVa's academics in the week before the Cavaliers' Oct. 26 visit to Florida State's Doak Campbell Stadium for the rematch.
``I haven't been to school, so I don't know what the talk is or how everybody is reacting to the upcoming season,'' said Seminoles tailback Warrick Dunn, a Heisman Trophy front-runner. ``It's going to be a hot ticket, no doubt about that.''
In the loss to UVa, it was Dunn who got the ball on Florida State's final snap from the 6-yard line. While it appeared he crossed the goal line, replays showed he did not have the ball at the time.
``That's probably the question I get asked most after the Heisman: `Were you in or were you not in?''' Dunn said. ``I thought I was in. The object of the game is to get the ball over the goal line and I thought I did that.
``I can't worry about that. I'm sure, when we play Virginia, that's all anybody will talk about. If that's Coach Bowden's motivation, it should be a good one. The way everyone felt after that game ... I know I don't want to go through that again.''
UPSET WELL-RECEIVED: Georgia Tech coach George O'Leary said he was so motivated by Virginia's victory over Florida State that he wired a telegram to UVa coach George Welsh at 7 a.m. the next day.
``I make no bones about it,'' O'Leary said. ``Until you start knocking [Florida State] off, you're not going to have any consistency to your conference. I wish Florida State well in every game they play ... outside the conference.''
ELIGIBILITY MATTERS: Welsh said the Cavaliers are waiting to hear from the NCAA clearinghouse to learn if signee Donny Green, star of the recent Virginia High School All-Star Game, will be eligible.
``The last I heard, he could still qualify,'' Welsh said, but ``it may be weeks before we know. I want to know right now. I don't want to have to wait until Aug.11'' when freshmen report.
One of North Carolina's top prospects, linebacker Michael Simmons from New Bern, N.C., failed to meet NCAA eligibility guidelines and will not attend school in the fall while attempting to improve his standardized test scores.
Offensive tackle Tarlos Crumitie will enroll at Florida State as a partial qualifier, while quarterback Willie Gardner will go to a junior college. The ACC allows schools to take four partial qualifiers, no more than one per sport.
TERPS WAITING: Maryland signee Dermal Brown, a promising running back from Newburgh, N.Y., informed coach Mark Duffner he expects to be on hand when Terrapins freshmen arrive Aug.5.
Brown was the first-round pick of the Kansas City Royals in baseball and has rejected an offer of nearly $1 million. However, the Royals can continue to pursue him until classes begin.
HOMESTEAD A HIT: When he was at West Virginia from 1966-75, Bowden frequently played golf at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, but he had never been to The Homestead until this week.
``When I went to The Greenbrier, I could sense that people were kind of jealous of The Homestead,'' Bowden said. ``Now that I've come over here, I can see why. I can see where the competition comes in.'' ACC FOOTBALL POLL
Voting by the media at the 1996 ACC Football Kickoff at The Homestead in Hot Springs (first-place votes in parentheses).
Florida State (51) 467
Virginia (1) 390
Clemson 325
North Carolina 313
Georgia Tech 295
Maryland 215
LENGTH: Medium: 99 linesby CNB