Auburn, Florida State Have Corners Covered : It’ll Be Tigers’ Defense Against Seminoles’ Offense in Tonight’s Sugar Bowl

For Auburn’s Tigers and Florida State’s Seminoles, the ifs are these:

If Notre Dame and West Virginia had been upset this season, somewhere along the line, and if Miami were to be upset today, Auburn and Florida State could be playing for No. 1 tonight in the Sugar Bowl.

Instead, the way they see it, they’ll be playing for No. 2, when, at the end of a long, 7-game day of football, the fourth-ranked Seminoles and seventh-ranked Tigers meet on the Superdome field at 5:30 p.m. (PST).

By then, many sports fans will doubtless be bowled out. But others may still be wondering what Deion Sanders is all about.

The pregame star of the 55th Sugar Bowl, Sanders is the fast-talking, fast-moving Florida State cornerback who led the nation in punt returns this season.

“When you think of Florida State, you think of Deion Sanders,” Auburn quarterback Reggie Slack said Sunday. “He’s the guy who gets them their great field position (on punt returns).

“The first thing (a passer) looks for is where Deion is. If I’m throwing to his side, I have one goal: Get the ball there quick.”

Sanders is a three-sport star who played in the New York Yankee chain last summer shortly after he was named the MVP of the Metro Conference track and field meet, where he won at 100 and 200 meters.

“He’s the most exciting athlete we’ve ever had here,” Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said.

Even so, the Seminoles under Bowden are known for offense.

“I can’t stand a quarterback who’s afraid he might throw an interception,” Bowden said, tipping his game plan.

He added that he also expects a big performance from running back Sammie Smith.

Pat Dye’s Auburn team, meanwhile, is known for defense. The Tigers led the nation this season in total defense, scoring defense and run defense.

“You only do that if you’ve got quality (players) everywhere, in every position,” said Auburn’s All-American defensive tackle Tracy Rocker, the winner this season of both the Outland and Lombardi trophies.

Florida State quarterback Chip Ferguson said: “People say this game is our offense against their defensive team. (But) I’m not so sure about that. I’ve seen our defense. It’s terrific.”

Ferguson, working with four receivers who alternate by pairs, had a big season, leading the Seminoles to 10 straight victories after their stunning 31-0 defeat on opening day at Miami (Fla).

Going into the Miami game, Florida State was No. 1 in the polls that Notre Dame leads today. What happened?

“We weren’t in the right frame of mind (for Miami),” Bowden said. “We were highly overconfident--I was overconfident myself.

“We had outplayed (Miami) the year before, and lost by 1 point. We had most of our team back, and they were remaking theirs. We had been practicing very well--and they walloped us.”

Other Seminoles suggested that Miami may have broken Florida State’s audible code that day.

“They read us like a book,” one Florida State coach said.

Said a Florida State offensive tackle, Joey Ionata, “Every time we called an audible, (Miami) shifted right into the hole.”

But it’s all over now, and, said Bowden, “The rest of the season has proved how good we really were then--and are now.”

It has also proved how good Auburn is. Under Dye, whose team shared the Southeastern Conference title this season with LSU, the Tigers have made seven straight bowl trips.

They’ve been one of the four biggest winners in college football the last 6 years, winning 80% of the time.

“We’ve never had a better defensive player than Tracy Rocker,” Dye said. “And the rest of our defense is about as experienced as you can get. We have two or three great (defensive) players, and seven or eight others who are playing at the top of their game.”

Dye was asked what it would take today to make him identify Auburn as his best-ever team.

“It wouldn’t take (more than) just a win,” he said.