Monday, January 3 'Noles, Hokies ready to strap it on
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- Wait no longer, it's time for the national
championship.
Florida State hasn't played in 45 days; Virginia Tech 39 days.
Players from both teams are sick of strolling down Bourbon Street,
watching fans whoop it up while trying to keep themselves out of
trouble.
After missing last year's title game, Chris Weinke is eager to play in the Sugar Bowl.
"I'm tired of eating at Popeye's and gumbo," Seminoles wide
receiver Ron Dugans said.
"I'm ready to take care of business," Hokies kicker Shayne
Graham said.
And that business is the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night at the
Louisiana Superdome, where the team that was able to stay sharpest
after all the time off will most likely win the title.
"The layoff could affect us and it could affect them," Florida
State coach Bobby Bowden said. "We'll see."
All-Americans Sebastian Janikowski and Corey Moore didn't wait
for the game to be affected.
Janikowski, Florida State's kicker/party animal, missed curfew
New Year's Eve and had to run extra laps and stay in his room the
next night. Moore, Virginia Tech's defensive end, had a media
meltdown Friday, cursing reporters then returning for a few
interviews before clamming up for the rest of the weekend.
Both, of course, will be ready to play.
"I don't have a Warsaw rule," Bowden said of his Polish-born
kicker. "If he's breathing and alive, he'll kick off that game."
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said Moore was "apologetic."
"Corey's a good person. He's just intense," the coach said.
Last year's title game, the first under the Bowl Championship
Series format that tacked on a two-day wait, will be remembered for
more than just Tennessee's 23-16 win over Florida State in the
Fiesta Bowl.
Both teams looked out of sync and there were 21 penalties for
165 yards, many of them in the first half. The Seminoles were
flagged 12 times for 110 yards.
At Monday's final pre-game news conference, Bowden responded by
saying, "We have prepared them correctly as good as we know how."
Beamer added: "The layoff is not an excuse for penalties. We've
had enough practice time to focus."
Style points, though, don't count in national title games. Just
score one more point than the other guy, a fact not lost on the
top-ranked Seminoles. Since giving Bowden his first national
championship in 1993, Florida State has failed to win a second one
two times in the past three seasons.
Lose again, and this label awaits: Florida State, college
football's version of the Atlanta Braves and Buffalo Bills. Win,
and the Seminoles stake a serious claim to the title of "Team of the Decade."
"We've been so close," said Peter Warrick, the All-American
wide receiver who's been around for the title losses to Tennessee
and Florida in the '97 Sugar Bowl. "This is the last one, and I
don't want to let this one go by like the other two."
“
I ain't cutting my throat, I'm not slicing my wrists.
I'll come back and we'll try to do it the next year. ”
— FSU coach Bobby
Bowden, on if the Seminoles lose
Florida State has been the dominant team of the 1990s with a
record 108 wins and a 12-year string of top-four finishes in The AP
poll. The most memorable victory this season -- so far -- was
Bowden's career win No. 300 -- 17-14 over Clemson in college
football's first father vs. son coaching matchup.
A victory over the Hokies would also give Bowden the first
perfect season in his 40 years as a head coach, and it would make
Florida State the first team to go wire-to-wire in The AP poll
since the preseason ratings began in 1950.
"Yes, if we won this one, it would be better than the last,"
Bowden said. "The last time it was more of a relief. 'God, we
finally got a national championship.' They can't say Bobby Bowden
never won a national championship."
If Virginia Tech wins?
"I ain't cutting my throat, I'm not slicing my wrists," Bowden
said. "I'll come back and we'll try to do it the next year."
The second-ranked Hokies, meanwhile, are in the title game for
the first time in the 107-year history of the football program.
Thirteen seasons after Beamer returned to his alma mater and said
he'd win a national championship, Virginia Tech is on the verge of
making his wild prediction a reality.
"I don't think our world is going to start or end with us
winning this football game," Beamer said. "It would be great if
we won, it would be a new day at Virginia Tech. But if we lose,
it's not the end of it. I would expect to come back next year and
be in it again."
Led by the pinpoint passing and flashy footwork of quarterback
Michael Vick, the 11-0 Hokies have turned into one of the nation's
most exciting teams.
Virginia Tech was already known for a relentless defense, led by
17-sack man Moore and fellow defensive end John Engelberger, and
the nation's best special teams -- 63 blocked kicks in the '90s. But
the 19-year-old Vick has taken the Hokies to new heights.
He threw for 1,840 yards and 12 TDs, ran for 585 yards and eight
TDs and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting, equaling the
best showing by a freshman. Tech led the nation in scoring defense
at 10.5 points a game and in scoring, 41.4 points a game.
So far, Vick hasn't flinched under pressure, and he doesn't
expect to in the biggest game of his life.
"Being calm is just the type of person I am," he said. "I go
out there and try to execute the game plan. It's kind of tough to
get to me."
Chris Weinke, the Seminoles' 27-year-old quarterback, is
especially thankful for a chance to play in the title game. He
missed the '99 Fiesta Bowl with a neck injury that almost ended his
career. His replacement, Marcus Outzen, was overmatched against
Tennessee.
"Having Weinke is a big factor," offensive coordinator Mark
Richt said. "He is a great leader. We feed off Weinke. Every day
at practice, he tells people what to do."
