Father faces son Thursday night in Tallahassee, Fla., but the most important figures in Bowden Bowl IV come from outside the family.

John Lovett is the coordinator of the red-hot Clemson defense. Chris Rix is the under-siege quarterback at Florida State. Their matchup in Tallahassee, Fla., will determine if Clemson coach Tommy Bowden can finally knock off his old man, Bobby Bowden, and the slumping Seminoles.

E-C-Ewww

A bad start is becoming a bad season for East Carolina, a situation that could lead to speculation about the future of coach Steve Logan. No ECU football coach has stayed longer or won more than Logan, whose teams have won 66 games in his 10-plus seasons in Greenville, N.C. But after going to bowl games the past three seasons, and putting together four consecutive seasons of .500 or better, the Pirates have stumbled to a 1-3 start this season -- capped by their 37-17 loss Saturday at West Virginia. The Mountaineers ran for a Big East-record 536 yards, an ECU defensive worst, and had the ball at the Pirates' 1 when time ran out. "We could not stop the run and we could not run the ball ourselves," Logan says. "That was just about the beginning, the middle, and the end of that football game." Will it be the beginning of the end of Logan's tenure in Greenville? This is not a knee-jerk reaction to the team's unexpectedly poor start, which began with losses to Duke -- Duke's first win in 24 games -- and Wake Forest. Equally of note is the seemingly deteriorating relationship between Logan and ECU athletics director Mike Hamrick, who declined to extend Logan's contract after ECU went 6-6 last season. Logan's contract expires after the 2005 season. Hamrick stunned Logan two months ago when he moved the Pirates' home game with Cincinnati this season from Nov. 2 to Dec. 6 -- a Friday night game that will put ECU in direct competition for fans with the high school state playoffs. Logan learned of the switch when the ECU official news release landed on his desk. The switch angered state high schools, three of whom announced ECU recruiters no longer welcome on campus. Logan says he was "shock and dismayed" by the schedule change, and told the Raleigh News & Observer earlier this season that he wasn't afraid to be unemployed. Given his dissatisfaction with Conference USA's outsider status with the Bowl Championship Series, the decision to leave conceivably could be Logan's. "I've got a body of work that I'm really, really comfortable with," Logan said. "If it's time to do something else, I'm really, really confident that I can go find another job." But could ECU find another Logan? And in the meantime, will Logan find another win this season? One of the Pirates' best-looking shots at victory No. 2 is this week, when winless Army visits. Other winnable games include trips to Houston and Alabama-Birmingham, though neither is a sure thing for an ECU team that currently ranks a sadly symmetrical 111th nationally in total offense and rushing defense. That's a mess. Will a new coach have to clean it up? -- Gregg Doyel

This time last year Lovett was at Auburn, concocting the defense that stymied Heisman finalist Rex Grossman of Florida and helped the unremarkable Tigers beat the No. 1 Gators and reach the Peach Bowl. This time last year, Clemson had a record-setting offense that could never score enough points to cover for its sad-sack defense.

Tommy Bowden saw film of that Auburn-Florida game, when the Tigers intercepted four of Grossman's passes. And he saw his own defense rank No. 79 nationally in both total yards (389.9 per game) and points allowed (28.6).

Lovett was available after the season, having been fired by Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville. Tainted goods? Tommy Bowden didn't think so.

"That win against Florida, it certainly catches your eye," he says.

It is Lovett's defense that has Clemson fans excited about a season that, without quarterback Woodrow Dantzler, didn't seem all that exciting in the preseason. Using a 4-3 scheme and aggressive zone coverage, the Tigers are holding foes to 254.8 yards per game -- first in the ACC, No. 9 in the nation -- including 203 yards by explosive Georgia in the season opener. Only a missed field goal in that game stands between Clemson and a 4-0 record and likely spot in the national Top 10.

"Defensively we have played well four games in a row," Tommy Bowden says. "We have not had a tendency to give up big plays like we have in the past -- a problem against a team like Florida State. Over the last two years we've given up a bunch of big plays to them. If the defense does what it has done through four games, then we have a chance to keep it close in the fourth quarter. And if you keep it close in the fourth, who knows what can happen."

Indeed. A team can lose, and teammates can turn on their quarterback in the aftermath. That's what happened to Rix after the Seminoles' 26-20 loss Thursday at Louisville. In the locker room afterward, a number of FSU players openly questioned Rix's play.

Center Antoine Mirambeau was the most demonstrative, saying, "Guys will be open out there, and he just takes three steps and tucks the ball and runs. It's like we're running quarterback draws every time. ... and that kind of irritates us as offensive linemen."

Trouble in Tallahassee? Bobby Bowden says no.

"How do they know?" he says, referring to complaints like that one from Mirambeau. "You know where that comes from? The coaches tell (Rix) what he did wrong, and the kids repeat it. They don't even know what it means. It's blown so much out of proportion because our kids mentioned it. They wouldn't even know it's going on if our coaches didn't mention it."

But facts are fact, and the fact is, Rix's passing numbers are down across the board this season -- a trend Louisville took advantage of on a rainy night by crowding the line of scrimmage to shut down the FSU tailback Greg Jones.

"I have not lost confidence in Chris," he says. "I have not lost patience with him."

The dominance of Lovett's defense, unpredictability of Rix and struggles of Florida State's secondary (eighth in the ACC in passing defense, allowing 245.2 yards per game) open the possibility of the son beating the father in a game that, in August, had all the earmarks of another FSU rout.

The Seminoles were a Top 5 team in the preseason. Clemson wasn't ranked in the Top 25, was picked to finish fifth in the ACC by the league's media, and was seen by some as a program on the wane.

Now, conventional wisdom says Clemson has a shot this week -- and might even be favored if the game were played at Death Valley. Regardless, no reasonable observer would expect the Seminoles to enjoy themselves as much as they did last season, when Rix threw for 360 yards and Jones ran for 160 in a relatively easy 41-27 victory.

Back then, Lovett was in Auburn. And Rix was in charge.

Much has changed.

Around the ACC

Clemson
Florida State leads the series 13-2, but Clemson's two victories came in Tallahassee. ... The Tigers could be without defensive line leader Nick Eason (knee). He would be replaced by Eric Coleman.

Duke
The Blue Devils have moved MLB Ryan Fowler outside and returned 2001 starter Jim Scharrer to his starting job in the middle. ... TB Chris Douglas is back to full speed after a bout with a sore ankle, but Alex Wade remains the No. 1 option thanks to his four 100-yard rushing games.

Florida State
The loss to Louisville was the first overtime game in FSU history. ... After posting just eight sacks in the first four games, FSU recorded six against Louisville -- four by DE Alonzo Jackson. ... Travis Johnson will replace DT Jeff Womble in the starting lineup.

Georgia Tech
The Jackets have an interesting matchup with Wake Forest -- both teams are among ACC leaders in rushing offense and rushing defense, and the winner of the rushing game has won the last seven series meetings. ... True freshman Ajenavi Eziemefe looked like a star-in-the-making in his first start against North Carolina, with 136 rushing yards.

Maryland
Terps quarterback Scott McBrien takes on his former team, West Virginia, where he threw for 755 yards and three touchdowns as a redshirt freshman in 2000 before transferring to Maryland. ... A Terps win at West Virginia would even the all-time series at 19-19-2. ... West Virginia leads the country in rushing (345.5) and has the No.1 individual rusher in Avon Cobourne (159.5).

North Carolina
Unhappy with his secondary, coach John Bunting is contemplating replacing safety Chris Curry with DeFonte Coleman, and with adding true freshman Cedrick Holt to the rotation at cornerback. ... K Dan Orner has been awarded a scholarship after making five of his first six field goals this season -- including three from beyond 50 yards.

NC State
The Wolfpack has the week off to prepare for an Oct. 12 visit to North Carolina. ... The extra time will come in handy for TB T.A. McLendon, who suffered a broken bone in his wrist against Massachusetts and had surgery Tuesday. ... At 6-0, N.C. State is two victories from tying the best start in school history by the 1967 team, which featured current coach Chuck Amato as a senior linebacker.

Virginia
Quarterback Matt Schaub, who was benched in the second game, now is third in the country in passing efficiency and has thrown 14 touchdowns in the last four games. ... The Cavs are buzzing about a one-handed catch Billy McMullen made against Wake Forest, falling down on a ball behind him. "The coach (in me) watched it about five times," Al Groh said, "and the fan in me watched it about 15 times."

Wake Forest
The Deacons have played Georgia Tech tough in Winston-Salem, but this game is in Atlanta -- where the Jackets have won the last two meetings by a combined 115-55. ... Get this: QB James MacPherson has attempted 97 passes without throwing an interception.

Around Conference USA
Army quarterbacks Matt Silva and Laron Bybee combined for 43 pass attempts last week against Southern Miss -- the sixth-highest total in Army history. ... The Black Knights can build on some aspects of its 27-6 loss to Southern Miss, when they held the Eagles (15 sacks through four games) without a sack, and also gained 393 yards of offense -- the most Southern Miss has allowed this season. ... Cincinnati plays Miami (Ohio) for the 107th time -- the longest-running rivalry west of the Alleghenies. ... Miami currently holds the Victory Bell thanks to last season's win, which pushed its series edge to 56-43-7. ... Look for a lot of points and a lot of passing yards with quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger of Miami and Gino Guidugli of Cincinnati. ... East Carolina has beaten Army in all five series meetings, and has never failed to score at least 30 points. The Pirates haven't scored that many points all season. The coaches certainly know each other; Army's Todd Berry was offensive coordinator under ECU's Steve Logan from 1992-95. ... Promising freshman QB Barrick Nealy will miss the rest of the season with a torn knee ligament. His replacement will be junior Nick Eddy, a part-time starter last season. ... No. 4 Florida State was the highest-ranked team Louisville has ever defeated. ... TB Henry Miller has scored six touchdowns in the last three games. ... Some readers might know WR Joshua Tinch, who had four catches for 93 yards against FSU, as Greg Tinch -- his moniker as a standout high school basketball player once considered a better hoops prospect. ... Memphis freshman TB DeAngelo Williams is getting plenty of ink, but another true freshman is playing pretty well, too. DB O.C. Collins led the Tigers with 10 tackles in their 31-17 loss Saturday to UAB -- nine solo. ... Southern Miss junior Etric Pruitt's three interceptions against Army tied a C-USA record, and was the most by a Southern Miss player in a decade. ... With nine catches in that game, WR Chris Johnson more than doubled his season output of four entering Saturday. ... TCU has won four straight in its series with Houston, but the Cougars won't be intimidated to go on the road; they've won six of 10 meetings in Fort Worth. ... TCU will put its No. 2 C-USA rushing defense (96.5 yards allowed per game) on the line against Houston's league-best rushing attack (185.2 yards). ... Tulane may be just four hours from Louisiana-Monroe, but this is the first meeting for the instate schools. ... It's an interesting coaching matchup on a number of levels. Tulane coach Chris Scelfo is a former center at Louisiana-Monroe (then known as Northeast Louisiana). Louisiana-Monroe is led by interim coach Mike Collins, in his second game since replacing Bobby Keasler. Collins was Northeast Louisiana's center before Scelfo. ... UAB unleashed a young backfield on Memphis, with sophomore RB Theron Dudley gaining a career-high 102 yards and true freshman Dan Burks adding 96. Redshirt freshman QB Darrell Hackney made his first start and was 13-for-22 for 167 yards and a touchdown. ... With two fumble recoveries for touchdowns, the Blazers now have received four touchdowns from defense and special teams this season.

Gregg Doyel covers college football for The Charlotte Observer and can be reached at gdoyel@charlotteobserver.com.