Seminoles Adept in Poll Vault

It’s almost insulting, really, what Florida State has had to endure in recent weeks. The most dominating program of the last 15 years had one bad Saturday and was effectively written out of this year’s national championship script.

After all we’ve done for you kids? History majors would note Bobby Bowden almost always loses a game and bounces back. In 35 years as coach at Samford, West Virginia and Florida State, Bowden has led one undefeated team--12-0 Florida State in 1999.

Yet, when Florida State lost Sept. 22 at North Carolina, 41-9, the press jumped off the Seminoles like an Internet stock. Florida State skidded from No. 6 to No. 18 in the Associated Press poll, a veritable face slap to a school that has finished in the top five of every AP poll since 1987.

“I thought it was an extremely long way to fall,” Bowden said Wednesday. “However, I believe I know why. It was the fact we looked so terrible and were on television.”

It’s more than that.

Clearly, many think Florida State, after an incredible run, is headed for a downturn. Experts can cite inexperience at quarterback and a rash of injuries as reason to support their cases. They see Bowden as Joe Paterno with a larger talent base.

We say: Discount Florida State at your own peril. In 1998, Florida State lost at North Carolina State, 24-7, fell from No. 2 to No. 11 in the polls, then turned on the jets to finish No. 2 in the first BCS standings and earn a trip to the national title game.

Florida State has history on its side.

“They’ve got something back in their fuel tank to draw from,” Clemson Coach Tommy Bowden said of his father’s team. “He’s done it before, so I can see him bouncing back strong.”

A brief history of Florida State rebounds:

1987: Dropped from No. 4 to No. 6 after loss to Miami. Finished 11-1 and No. 2.

1988: Fell from preseason No. 1 to No. 10 after 31-0 opening loss to Miami. Finished 11-1 and No. 3.

1989: Started 0-2 but rallied to a 10-2 finish and No. 3 ranking.

1990: Dropped to No. 12 after losses to Miami and Auburn; finished 10-2 and No. 4.

1991: Fell from No. 1 to No. 3 after 17-16 loss to Miami and also lost to Florida, but finished 11-2 and No. 4.

1992: Slid from No. 3 to No. 8 after 19-16 loss to Miami. Finished 11-1 and No. 2.

1993: Fell one spot, from No. 1 to No. 2, after 31-24 loss to Notre Dame. Finished 12-1 and won the national title.

1994: Dropped from No. 3 to No. 11 after 34-20 loss to Miami. Finished 10-1-1 and No. 4.

1995: Fell to No. 7 after losses to Virginia and Florida. Finished 10-2 and No. 4.

1997: Fell from No. 2 to No. 4 after loss to Florida. Finished 11-1 and No.3.

2000: Slid from No. 1 to No. 7 after 27-24 loss to Miami. Finished 11-2 and No. 5.

It’s going to take all of Bobby Bowden’s resources to get his team back in title contention this year. The Seminoles’ No. 18 ranking is their lowest since dipping to No. 19 in October 1989.

Yet, hope is not lost.

Florida State hosts No. 2 Miami in Tallahassee this weekend. The Seminoles have gone 54 games without losing a game at Doak Campbell Stadium since Miami prevailed in 1991 (Florida eked out a 31-31 tie in 1994). Florida State also has a Nov. 17 meeting at No. 1 Florida.

“You can get up pretty quick playing people like that, if you win,” Bowden said. “We’re going to find out, that’s the thing I got to find out: Are we close to being back where we were, or are we still dragging?”

Woe Pa

Penn State has an open date this week, which allows us to contemplate the almost incomprehensible. The 0-4 Nittany Lions rank 115th, dead last, in scoring offense (7.75 points per game) and rushing offense (40.75 yards per game) in this week’s NCAA statistics. Penn State rates 101st in rushing defense.

The Nittany Lions have been outscored, 76-5, in the first quarter this year. Paterno, still two wins shy of breaking Bear Bryant’s major college victory mark of 323, says he is obsessed with turning his flagging team around.

“There isn’t anything in my life right now but my family and my football,” he said this week. “I think about it all the time.”

Paterno has received several “buck-up” calls from coaching colleagues and friends.

“But you’ve got to stand on your own two feet,” he said. “People can help you to a degree, but I don’t know how anybody can help me as far as coaching this football team.”

Poll Positions

There are 18 remaining undefeated teams in Division I, but many are impostors. The top 10 schools in this week’s AP poll are unscathed and legitimate, with a grouping of six once-beaten schools separating the rest of an unbeaten field.

Here’s an assessment of the suspect second wave:

No. 17 Purdue (4-0). A nice story, but let’s get real. Purdue has defeated Cincinnati, Akron and Iowa and needed a blown call to slip past Minnesota. Now comes the tough part: Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, Michigan State and Notre Dame.

No. 18 Brigham Young (5-0). The Cougars have scored 70, 52, 44, 35 and 54 points in five victories and do have a chance to finish 11-0, but the late poll position gives BYU virtually no shot of cinching a bowl championship series berth with a top-six finish.

No. 22 Maryland (5-0): The joyride could end tonight when the Terrapins play at Georgia Tech. Maryland also has to play at Florida State on Oct. 27.

No. 23 Stanford: (3-0). Say bye-bye to bye weeks. The Cardinal has to play on eight consecutive weekends and isn’t likely to survive a gantlet that includes Oregon, UCLA and Washington in Pacific 10 Conference play.

No. 25 Texas A&M; (5-0): Sorry, no more McNeese States or Notre Dames left to nibble on. What the Aggies have left: at Colorado, at Kansas State and at Oklahoma and Texas.

Washington State (5-0): A sneak peek down the schedule reveals four distinct chances for defeat: at Stanford, Oregon, UCLA, at Washington.

Toledo (5-0): Victories against Minnesota, Temple, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois and Ohio have not bowled over AP voters, although the coaches have Toledo at No. 23 this week.

Middle Tennessee State (5-0): If you want to talk common opponents, Middle Tennessee State defeated Troy State, 54-17, while Miami defeated Troy State, 38-7.

Hurry-Up Offense

Northwestern comment: We understand the legal need of the university having to vigorously protect itself in the Rashidi Wheeler lawsuit, but for school officials to say the athletic department “behaved appropriately, indeed valiantly,” strains credibility. The facts already have revealed that Northwestern, on several fronts, behaved inappropriately and not valiantly in events leading to Wheeler’s Aug. 3 practice-field death.

The first BCS rankings release date has been pushed to Oct. 22, but BCS black-market versions are readily available. We can report Oklahoma this week moved to No. 1 in the unofficial rankings, followed by Florida, UCLA, Nebraska and Oregon.

The shocker is Miami, which fell to 13th this week despite being ranked No. 1 in the coaches’ poll and No. 2 in the AP. Miami has a whopping 29.34 BCS rating, with 23.20 of those points coming in the computer component. Remember that less is more in the BCS as the two schools with the lowest final rankings advance to play in the Jan. 3 national title game in the Rose Bowl.

Miami finished third last year, missing a spot in the Orange Bowl by .32 in the BCS computer. The BCS formula was tweaked in the off-season with Miami in mind--the Hurricanes would have advanced to last year’s title game under this year’s rules.

The BCS added a “quality win” component to the system this year, but Miami isn’t likely to benefit with a win at Florida State this week because a defeat would give the Seminoles two losses and all but assure they would not finish in the BCS top 15. Bonus points are only awarded, on a sliding scale, for victories against teams that finish in the top 15. For what it’s worth, Florida State is 24th in this week’s BCS.

Notre Dame watch: Coach Bob Davie is knocking down rumors he will be fired at the end of the season. Blue & Gold Illustrated, a weekly publication that covers Notre Dame sports, cited two sources saying Davie will be ousted at season’s end. Davie’s record at Notre Dame is 31-22 and he signed a five-year contract extension in December. Of the report, Davie said, “There’s a lot of agendas out there.” The Irish, 1-3, should improve to 2-3 this weekend against West Virginia, a 35-0 loser last week to Virginia Tech.

Oklahoma has a nice streak going with 18 consecutive wins, but it doesn’t remotely approach the school and NCAA major college record of 47, established by the Bud Wilkinson-led Sooners of the 1950s. Oklahoma would need to extend its current streak into the 2004 season to eclipse the 47-win mark. The last school to defeat Oklahoma? Mississippi, in the 1999 Independence Bowl.

Clemson Coach Tommy Bowden has suggested his father would coach only three more years at Florida State, but Bobby Bowden, who turns 72 on Nov. 8, says that’s not necessarily so.

“I don’t know where he came up with three,” Bobby said. “If I have a lousy year, I’d probably want to quit but I wouldn’t. I’d probably want to come back next year. If I don’t have lousy years, I simply have no desire to get out of it.”

Texas Coach Mack Brown on the difference between last year’s 63-14 loss to Oklahoma and last week’s 14-3 defeat.

“Last year’s loss was embarrassing,” Brown said. “This year’s loss was hurtful.”