DATE: Thursday, November 20, 1997           TAG: 9711200631

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: FRANK VEHORN

                                            LENGTH:   71 lines

ACC REPORT [BRIEFS]

Bowden just shrugs over latest charges leveled by Spurrier

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden seems more amused than angry over the latest charges against his Seminoles by Florida coach Steve Spurrier.

Spurrier, as he did last year before the two teams played for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl, is accusing the Seminoles of being coached to make late hits on quarterbacks.

``I wish he (Spurrier) wouldn't do that,'' said Bowden, whose unbeaten team plays Florida in Gainesville on Saturday.

Bowden thinks Spurrier is making the accusations to get his team ``fired up'' to protect the quarterback better.

``I've been called `angel' and `saint,' but no one else has ever called me a dirty coach,'' Bowden said. ``I know why he (Spurrier) is doing it, to motivate his team, but I still wish he wouldn't do it.''

ACC coaches on the league's tele-conference Wednesday said they didn't think the Seminoles were guilty of late hits.

``They play hard defense, and that's how you're supposed to play,'' Georgia Tech coach George O'Leary said.

Asked if he was surprised by Spurrier's accusations, O'Leary laughed. ``I'm never surprised by anything a coach does,'' he said. Some Spurrier actions are still haunting Duke

Spurrier is being remembered this week for another of his unsportsmanlike antics while coaching at Duke.

In Spurrier's last ACC game as Duke coach, he ordered trick plays and long passes in the final minutes to run up a 41-0 win over rival North Carolina on the Tar Heels' field. Spurrier then had his players pose for a team picture in front of the scoreboard.

Spurrier left for Florida, leaving Duke to pay the price for his deed. UNC has won all seven games since the humiliation and should make it eight in a row Saturday. Goldsmith wary of giving UNC more ammunition

There is nothing that present Duke coach Fred Goldsmith can do about the insult Spurrier left behind, but Goldsmith is taking precautions not to make the Tar Heels any more motivated.

Goldsmith put his players off limits to the media after Monday.

``I don't want my players baited into playing the game on radio or in the newspaper between now and Saturday,'' Goldsmith said.

He might be reminded that N.C. State observed the same quiet period before its game with the Tar Heels and still got hammered. Healing takes priority over preparing for Tech

Virginia has two weeks to prepare for its game against Virginia Tech on Nov. 29, but the Cavaliers will devote only one extra day to the Hokies.

It's a lesson coach George Welsh learned a long time ago when he was at Navy and getting ready to play Army.

``We had an open week before the game and spent all the time on Army,'' Welsh said. ``We were ready to play on Wednesday, but we were down by Saturday.''

The biggest benefit from the open week, Welsh said, is having time for injured players to get healthy. If the game was this weekend, safety Anthony Poindexter (knee) and quarterback Aaron Brooks (ankle) would be doubtful. ACC teams seek victories to gain bowl eligibility

Virginia still seems likely to be invited to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta if it defeats Virginia Tech for the required six Division I-A victories. The Cavaliers have clinched at least a tie for third place in the league.

Georgia Tech can claim a share of third place with a win over Maryland that also would make it bowl eligible. The Yellow Jackets, though, would like to leave Atlanta for a bowl game, preferably the Carquest in Miami.

Clemson and N.C. State also will qualify for bowl games if they win Saturday against South Carolina and East Carolina.

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