Seminoles head west with hopes of avoiding losing season

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Posted 6:23PM on Friday, December 22, 2006

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - With a muddled quarterback situation, a top running back sidelined and a lame duck offensive coordinator, Florida State limped west Friday hoping to salvage a winning season in the Emerald Bowl against UCLA. For nearly two decades Florida State was nearly unbeatable in bowl matchups, but even that magic has disappeared in recent years as 77-year-old coach Bobby Bowden doggedly clings to the hopes of a third national title before he retires. But Bowden shows up in California with his underdog Seminoles (6-6, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) needing an upset win to avoid the school's first losing season since his first year in Tallahassee in 1976. ``I think it's more important to get a good ending to this year,'' Bowden said. ``That's what you'd like for the seniors. It's their last game at Florida State, and you'd sure like to win that last game if you can.'' Chatty middle linebacker Buster Davis, a team captain and the Seminoles' leading tackler, agrees. ``I know that I don't want to be on the team that y'all going to write about that says this is the first team in 30 years to have a losing season,'' Davis told reporters after a practice earlier this week. ``That's the motivation.'' The offensive problems are plentiful, but an unsettled quarterback position is what fans are following most closely. Bowden announced Thursday that slumping sophomore Drew Weatherford will get the start at quarterback against UCLA when they meet Wednesday, the first time in 16 years Florida State won't be playing in a bowl on Jan. 1 or later. Weatherford, who passed for 3,208 yards and 18 touchdowns his freshman year, threw for 1,829 yards and 11 TD's this year, but suffered 10 interceptions and seemed to lose confidence as the season wore on. The big target for Weatherford and backup quarterback Xavier Lee is 6-6 wide receiver Greg Carr, who has caught 20 touchdown passes in two seasons and averages more than 19 yards a catch. Lorenzo Booker, who shared tailback duties with sophomore Antone Smith, will have to handle the running load against the Bruins with Smith sidelined with a dislocated right elbow. Smith gained 456 yards and averaged 5.2 yards a carry. Booker, who played his high school ball in California, led Florida State with 525 yards rushing and his 2,298 yards rank sixth on Florida State's career charts. Booker came east in hopes of winning a national title, but settled for a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference championships and a 6-6 finish in his final year. ``It's sad,'' Booker said. ``Our main motto throughout the offseason and summer conditioning (was) to finish it. We failed to do that, so we got to really try to end the season on a good note.'' Buoyed by a 13-0-1 run between 1982 and 1995, Bowden has a 19-9-1 bowl coaching record, but is just 4-6 in his last 10 postseason games. The winningest coach in major college football with 365 victories, Bowden is a mortal 50-26 over the past half dozen years, and 7-10 in Florida State's last 17 games largely because of a dysfunctional offense a problem he's begun to address. The coach's youngest son, offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden, received a lucrative payoff from boosters to resign last month after a half dozen seasons of falling production under his direction as offensive coordinator, and longtime assistant coach Billy Sexton announced Friday he's moving to a fundraising role with the school next month. But for the time being, Bobby Bowden said, ``nothing would help you more than a win.''