Thursday, September 7 Bowden biding his time By Bob Harig Special to ESPN.com

Any day now, the game will arrive. That's what Bobby Bowden keeps telling himself. At age 70, the Florida State coach is not long on patience. Only 23 more days until the big game.

Yep, three weeks and a day have passed since the No. 1-ranked Seminoles knocked off rival Florida and clinched a spot in the Sugar Bowl. Another three weeks and two days must pass before those same Seminoles can take on second-ranked Virginia Tech for the national championship.

It is the longest layoff ever for Florida State between its final game and a bowl, beating last year's record by one day.

	Bobby Bowden is chasing his second national title.

In the time that will pass before FSU plays another game, the Seminoles could have scheduled five. It is twice as much time as is allotted by the NCAA for preseason practice before the first game.

It's all part of the bowl business, and the system that college football continues to subject itself to -- although that is another subject.

This topic deals with the inordinate time off before the biggest game of the year. And what to do about it.

"This gives you longer to see what you have to face," Bowden said. "I think you're more aware of everything they're going to do."

For years, coaches have sought Bowden's advice when it comes to preparing for bowls. He has the best winning percentage of any coach with at least 10 appearances in a bowl, a remarkable record of 16-5-1.

He has more bowl victories than Paul "Bear" Bryant (15) and is just three behind Penn State's Joe Paterno (19), who has nine defeats.

But what is even more amazing is the bowl streak. Starting with the 1982 season, Bowden's FSU teams have played in a bowl every year. During that 17-year stretch, they are 14-2-1. At one point, they were 13-0-1, including 11 straight victories. Four of those bowl victories came against Nebraska. Also knocked off during that stretch was Auburn, Penn State, Texas A&M and Notre Dame. Seven of the wins came after season-deflating losses to Florida.

Finally, the streak ended three years ago when the Seminoles suffered a 52-20 loss to the Gators in the Sugar Bowl. The game was for the national championship. After defeating Ohio State two years ago, the Seminoles again played for the national title last year, losing to Tennessee 23-16.

And Bowden finds himself questioning -- even if ever so slightly -- his approach to this title game.

For the first time since Bowden can remember, he is splitting practice time around final exams, which are this week. He also plans a scrimmage before the team leaves for New Orleans.

The reasons? With such a long layoff, FSU was rusty at last year's Fiesta Bowl. The Seminoles committed 12 penalties for 110 yards and completed just one pass to star wideout Peter Warrick. The No. 1-ranked defense was burned for two long pass plays. Tackling was spotty.

"You could tell we had a long layoff," said receiver Ron Dugans. "I think that week of preparation in Tempe (Ariz.) was hard. I think we needed to start a little earlier."

This time, Bowden would like to see his team a bit more sharp, more focused. FSU will have practiced 13 times during a 23-day stretch before heading to New Orleans on Dec. 28.

"We're not changing it that much, but we're doing what we think is best to prepare for this game," Bowden said. "We're really not that far off from what we were doing last year, except we will have a game-type scrimmage before we leave. We're spending a lot of time on fundamentals.

"I'm hoping we come back fresh, not as worn down."

If it is any consolation to Bowden, Virginia Tech is in a similar situation. The Hokies played their final game against Boston College just six days after FSU played Florida. For the Hokies, the obstacles will be similar.

Can't spell Citrus without "R-U-T"
Steve Spurrier got plenty of laughs from Florida boosters a couple of years ago when he made the joke that you can't spell Citrus without U-T. Spurrier was making light of rival Tennessee's frustrations with seemingly always ending up in Orlando's Citrus Bowl, the home for the SEC's second team. Florida had defeated the Vols five straight times at one point in the 1990s.

But since making those remarks, Spurrier's Florida team is now headed to the Citrus Bowl for the second time in three years. The Gators take on Michigan State on Jan. 1.

During that span, the Gators have failed to win an SEC title. And after a 34-7 loss to Alabama in last week's SEC Championship game, there appears to be some dissension in the ranks. Florida has lost consecutive games for the first time since 1992, mostly because the offense has sputtered.

"We're a split team," said defensive end Alex Brown after the game. "The defense is upset with the offense. You've got to have people making plays out there. You can't drop passes. You can't not go after balls."

The remarks led to a players-only meeting last week.

Spurrier has been his own worst enemy in this mess. An offensive innovator who has caused the heads of SEC defensive coordinators to spin for most of this decade, Spurrier's Gators managed just 114 yards against Alabama. For most of the second half of the season, the offense stalled.

"We don't have a lot of fire in us," Spurrier said. "We sort of went downhill from about the middle of the season. I don't know why. We're a bad offensive team. A poorly coached offense. Alabama has a better team, better coaches. They're better than us."

If Spurrier is sincere, he will look hard at himself. Quarterback Doug Johnson continually frustrated Spurrier, a perfectionist who demands much of his signal-caller. Perhaps this time it was too much. Johnson's numbers were not that bad when Spurrier kept calling him out. There was plenty of offense in a 40-39 defeat to Alabama in October. The Gators showed flashes of brilliance in a victory over rival Georgia.

But Spurrier kept the heat on his quarterback, and eventually Johnson started playing as poorly as Spurrier said he was playing. Remember, the Gators won their first four games by a total of 90 points.

Warrick gains peer respect
Peter Warrick was viewed by many as the best player in college football, but the Florida State receiver was shut out of the top awards because of his midseason arrest on felony theft charges, which were later dropped to a misdemeanor.

Warrick was undone because he was suspended for two games. He became the punch line to jokes nationally and the subject of chants at opposing stadiums.

Although Warrick knew his chances to win the Heisman Trophy were over, he still expected an invitation to Saturday's ceremony in New York. When it didn't come, he was miffed.

Warrick was also bypassed for the Fred Biletnikoff award, given to the nation's best receiver. The award went to Stanford receiver Troy Walters, who had 74 receptions for 1,456 yards and 10 touchdowns. Warrick, who missed two games, caught 71 passes for 934 yards and eight touchdowns. Warrick was named to the coaches' All-America team, an honor Walters did not receive.

Penn State's LaVar Arrington, who on Thursday night was given the Chuck Bednarik Trophy as the defensive player of the year, dedicated his award to Warrick.

"If Peter Warrick isn't the best college football player in America, then I don't know who is. It's a shame what happened," Arrington said. "When I sat there and looked at my mother and I saw Pete sitting back there, my heart went out for him.

"Right is right, and I just wanted to make it known that I support Peter, because people make mistakes. He made a mistake. If you don't want to let him live it down, don't let him live it down. But don't sit there and build him up only to bring him down."

Even Heisman winner Ron Dayne acknowledged Warrick. The winner of the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back, Dayne also received the Maxwell Award as the nation's best player.

"That's a great award," Dayne said of the Maxwell, "which I feel Peter Warrick should have won."

Bob Harig, who covers college football for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a weekly college football column for ESPN.com.