The mighty has fallen
Bobby Bowden had already lost a lot of things this season, but no single event was as painful as the 41-9 loss his number five Florida State Seminoles suffered to the unranked North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday in Chapel Hill, NC. The implications of these misfortunes are now becoming clear: a decade of dominance is on the verge of ending.
Among Bowden's losses for this season were his offensive coordinator, who left to pursue a head coaching job, as well as three premier impact players to season ending injuries: running back Davy Ford, wide receiver/quarterback Anquan Boldin, and wide receiver Robert Morgan. Ford was supposed to lead the ground game, Morgan was billed as Peter Warrick's successor, and Boldin was supposed to star at either QB or WR. And to make matters worse, only one defensive starter returned from last year's squad.
In Saturday's game, Florida State was out from the beginning. UNC scored late in the first quarter to go up 7-0, but the more impressive figure is that their defense held FSU without a score in that first quarter. Then in the second quarter, it appeared FSU would rebound from its lackluster start, as the squad produced scores both offensively and defensively. A safety by the defense and a touchdown pass from true freshman Chris Rix gave the Seminoles a 9-7 halftime lead.
But the second half went all Carolina's way. It held the Seminoles to 11 total yards in the third quarter and without a score in the whole second half. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels scored 24 points after intermission, running the score up to 41-9 to hand the visitors just their third loss in 74 games against Athletic Coast Conference (ACC) competition since 1992.
UNC did not dominate every statistical category, though; its win came off of Florida State errors. In his third collegiate game, Rix threw one interception and fumbled twice, three turnovers that this young team could not bounce back from. They are not the typical Florida State that can commit turnovers and still bounce back.
This loss presents severe implications to the Seminoles title run and conference championship. FSU has won eight straight ACC titles since joining the conference in 1992. Bowden's team also has 14 straight years of top ten finishes and two National Championships.
The ACC is becoming a much more difficult conference, and North Carolina has emerged as a veritable threat. The Seminoles have a tough schedule in which they will face the number one ranked University of Miami and then travel to number two University of Florida and number 18 Clemson.
Florida State has overcome early season losses to still finish in the top ten in past years, but now, with Bowden starting a true freshman at quarterback for the first time in his career and a run-by-committee backfield because of injuries and graduated players, the 'Noles may find it difficult to win more than seven games.
The preseason ranking of five was generous knowing FSU's weaknesses, but the media and coaches had difficulty not putting Bowden's team that high because of who they are. But with a tough road schedule and still no solutions to their problems, expect FSU to struggle through the season and barely finish in the top 15.
Fresno state continues run
The Cinderella watch is still on for Fresno State. After convincingly beating number 12 Oregon State and number 23 Wisconsin on the road, it continued its win streak this weekend by beating Tulsa 37-18.The win marks Fresno State's first 4-0 start since 1991. and the team's top 15 ranking has not gone to its head. The Bulldogs maintained their winning strategy as starting quarterback David Carr, now a Heisman candidate, had 314 passing yards with only one interception. He was also helped by his running back Josh Levi, who ran for 107 yards in a game totally dominated by Fresno.
Carr threw for three touchdowns and increased his season totals to ten touchdowns, two interceptions, and a completion percentage of 62.8. He also ranks third among collegiate passers with 1,092 yards. These are astonishing numbers for a signal caller from a team that came out of nowhere.
Experts also thought that the pressure of being a top 15 team would have gotten to the Bulldogs by now, but the team showed it can perform under pressure and in the spotlight. As Fresno climbs the ranking this week they will receive more national attention. If Carr continues to perform as he has, he could very well find himself in the top four of Heisman trophy voting and lead his Bulldogs to their first ever WAC title.
@s:Fresno hasn't lost Cinderella slipper yet
