Calling for End of Bowden Era

In a column that will likely bring great joy to Joe Paterno and Penn State fans, Steve Ellis of the Tallahassee Democrat has called on Florida State officials to step in and tell Bobby Bowden that this season will be his last.

"Let players — current and future — know that the Jimbo Fisher Era has a starting point — and that starting point begins once this season is over," Ellis writes.

Florida State was the preseason pick to win the Atlantic Division of the ACC, but Saturday's 28-21 loss at Boston College left the Seminoles 0-2 in league play for the first time since joining the conference in 1992.

(Continue to The Wiz of Odds)

Read more »

USF Stuns FSU with Bullish Effort

Florida State University never saw this one coming.

The Seminoles were confident they'd handle upstart South Florida in the friendly confines of Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday.

FSU never saw first-time starter B.J. Daniels coming. Likewise, the Seminoles never saw the South Florida defense coming, and that was a mistake.

The South Florida Bulls, playing FSU for the first time ever, stunned the 18th-ranked Seminoles in every facet of the game and reshuffled the state's football power structure with a 17-7 victory.

(Continue to Running with the Bulls)

Read more »

Week 4 Predictions

North Carolina @ Georgia Tech (-2.5)

The Yellow Jackets are at 6000rpm in 3rd gear, and they don't seem to be progressing. The Tar Heels have been on the easier course so far, but their offense has sputtered at times too...

The Call: North Carolina by 7
_________________________________

South Florida @ Florida St (-14)

The Bulls have destroyed Wofford, Western Kentucky, and Charleston Southern so far this year, so we don't know a whole lot about them. Now that seven-year starting QB Matt Groethe is out, we know even less. But that's okay - we know the Seminoles hung with Miami, had a close call against Jacksonville St, and crushed BYU. 2 out of 3 isn't bad.

The Call: Florida State by 21
_________________________________

Fresno State @ Cincinnati (-16.5)

The Bearcats are beating (what should be) good teams, while the Bulldogs are getting beaten by (what should be) good teams. Like a glove.

The Call: Cincinnati by 18

(Continue to The National Championship Issue)

Read more »

USF Loses Grothe for Season

It was Jim Leavitt's worst fear.

The Sunday MRI on the left knee of all-everything quarterback Matt Grothe spelled it out in shocking manner:

Torn anterior cruciate ligament.

The 2009 season for the all-time leader in Big East offensive yardage crashed and burned.

And the news ushers in the week that all USF players had marked and circled. This is FSU week. The Bulls make their first-ever trip to Tallahassee for a Saturday game that will let them know how they've progressed in the state's football hierarchy.

(Continue to Running with the Bulls)

Read more »

FSU-Miami Rivalry Goes Old School

This was Miami-Florida State the way we remember. You know, when the 'Canes and 'Noles mattered. When they staged some of the greatest games of the 1980s and '90s. When the winner often played for the national title, and the loser rarely lost to anyone else.

Yep, seemed like old times at Doak Campbell Stadium on Monday night. To make sure, I checked a calender and my waistline. Both assured me it was 2009, not 1989 or 1999.

Miami 38, FSU 34. An instant classic and perhaps the best game of college football's opening weekend. FSU coach Bobby Bowden called it "a great game,'' the third-best game he could remember being a part of behind FSU's 1987 home loss to Miami and a loss at Notre Dame.

(Continue to Seminoles Sports Center)

Read more »