Bowden Not Happy About Rematch

If anyone should be happy about arriving at a bowl game, shouldn’t it be Bobby Bowden?

The 66-year-old Florida State coach is riding one of the great streaks in sports. He has won 11 consecutive bowl games, is 13-0-1 in bowls dating to 1982, and has not lost a bowl game since an 18-17 defeat against Oklahoma in the 1980 Orange Bowl.

Yet, as his No. 1 Florida State team arrived in New Orleans on Friday for Thursday’s Sugar Bowl, Bowden repeated his disdain for having to play No. 3 Florida in a rematch of the team’s Nov. 30 meeting in Tallahassee. The Seminoles won that game, 24-21.

“It’s supposed to be a reward for your players, but it’s not when you play your state rival,” Bowden told reporters upon arrival. “They’re just not a happy group of campers.”

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Florida Coach Steve Spurrier, who already has accused Florida State of cheap shots on Gator quarterback Danny Wuerffel in the first meeting, fired another psychological salvo when he announced the team would be practicing at the New Orleans Saints’ training facility.

The Gators, making their fourth Sugar Bowl appearance in six years, previously had practiced at Tulane. Might the switch have something to do with Tulane’s recent hiring of Tommy Bowden, Bobby’s son, as coach?

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Florida arrived 80 minutes late because of fog at New Orleans International Airport, giving Gator Coach Steve Spurrier more time to think up game-week fodder.

Spurrier, who already has accused Florida State of cheap shots on Gator quarterback Danny Wuerffel in the first meeting, fired another psychological salvo when he announced the team would be practicing at the New Orleans Saints’ training facility.

The Gators, making their fourth Sugar Bowl appearance in six years, previously had practiced at Tulane. Might the switch have something to do with Tulane’s recent hiring of Tommy Bowden, Bobby’s son, as coach?