THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090510
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden does not have much experience in losing, but he manages to handle that unpleasant part of his business with rare class.
That was evident again Wednesday during the ACC's weekly media conference as Bowden was pelted with questions about last week's loss to Virginia.
Some of Bowden's replies:
On his team's first ACC loss after 29 wins: ``I hated to lose that game, but our conference needed it. I don't like being the sacrificial lamb, but I think Virginia winning gives the conference more respectability.''
On passing so much in the second half against Virginia's three-man rush: ``They scored 27 points on us the first half and I am thinking we can't stop them, therefore, we have to score every time we get the ball.''
On losing his first ACC game to Virginia and George Welsh: ``I hate to lose to anybody, but Virginia is a solid, clean program and (Welsh) is one of the best in the country. I like to see good things happen to good people. The Virginia kids play as hard and as clean as anyone we've ever played against, and they deserved to win.''
On FSU's chance of recovering to win the national title: ``It is dangling from a very thin string that does leave a ray of hope if we win our final games.''
The Seminoles are at North Carolina on Saturday and Bowden is telling his players the same thing he told them before the Virginia game: ``If you don't play your best, you can lose.''
``I said that for 29 straight games, but I think they will believe me more now when I say it,'' Bowden said.
UNC UPDATE: North Carolina doesn't have any choice but to stick with often-intercepted quarterback Mike Thomas this week against the Seminoles.
Back-up Oscar Davenport is scheduled for arthroscopic knee surgery today and may be out for the rest of the season.
Thomas, who has thrown 17 interceptions and only five touchdown passes, is last in the ACC in passing efficiency.
BUT NO WALK-OVER: During the Seminoles' 29-game stroll through the ACC, they often good-naturedly taunted opposing players by asking, ``Say, are you a walk-on?''
But the laugh was on them in the loss to Virginia.
Cavaliers receiver Bryan Owen, who caught five passes for 72 yards against the Seminoles, is a walk-on.
Not only that, Owen was in the game as a replacement for injured Patrick Jeffers, the Cavaliers' leading receiver who began his career as a walk-on.
Jeffers (pulled hamstring) is expected to miss Saturday's game against Maryland, too.
BARBER ON HEISMAN: Tailback Tiki Barber on being mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate in '96: ``I've had some big games against big teams, and that is what they look for in the Heisman.''
Barber also says he perceives himself, and not Florida State's Warrick Dunn, as the best running back in the ACC.
Barber leads the ACC with 1,223 rushing yards and is only two yards short of setting a Virginia single-season record.
MORE RECORDS: Virginia senior wide receiver Pete Allen, who almost had to demand the ball early in the season, has become the first Cavalier ever to have 100 or more yards receiving in three consecutive games.
``He (Allen) is a tough kid and the kind you enjoy having around,'' says coach George Welsh.
Welsh likes having quarterback Mike Groh around, too.
Groh, the first Cavalier to pass for more than 300 yards in three separate games, needs 149 yards to break the school single-season record of 2,347 yards, set two years ago by Symmion Willis.
FAIR WARNING: North Carolina State coach Mike O'Cain says Virginia had better be prepared to ``slow down'' Maryland's Jermaine Lewis, who leads the league in receiving (56 catches, 834 yards) and punt returns (12.6-yard average).
``He does so many things and is such a great athlete, it is impossible to stop him,'' O'Cain says. ``Hopefully, you can slow him down and not give him the big play.'' ILLUSTRATION: Bobby Bowden: ``I hated to lose that game, but our conference
needed it.''
by CNB