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Florida
State In 26-year-old sophomore Chris Weinke, the Seminoles have
the oldest starting quarterback in school history. And they
still dare anyone in the nation to try to beat
them
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Primarily a blocking back, Glenn will look to carry more of
the load as Florida State tries to rejuvenate its ground
game.
(Andy
Lyons/Allsport) | When Florida state
coach Bobby Bowden isn't reading his playbook, he's usually
losing himself in a book about World War II. Though he's
partial to Patton and
Rommel, generals who didn't hesitate to go for it on fourth down,
Bowden recently read a biography of
Field Marshal Montgomery, the British commander who wouldn't proceed until
everything was just so. "They all hated
Monty," Bowden says, referring to the
other Allied brass hats. "I just figured I would see
why."
With the team Bowden has this fall, the last guy he needs
to bone up on is Monty. If Bowden were to wait for this
team to be ready, the Seminoles wouldn't play until late
October. "I'd rather have talent and inexperience than
experience and no
talent," Bowden says. "I'll take my chances with
talent."
The talent that he'll be taking the most chances on is
sophomore quarterback Chris Weinke, who became the starter
this spring after Dan Kendra, heir apparent to the
graduated Thad Busby, tore the ACL in his right knee.
Weinke, who spent six years
playing first base in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, turned
26 in July, an age more typical of graduate assistant
coaches and BYU postmission tackles. He is physically and
literally a man among boys: When fifth-year linebacker
Lamont Green sacked Weinke
(6' 5",
225 pounds) from the blind side during spring practice, it was
Green
(6' 3", 230) who came away with the bloody
nose.
Weinke's size and strength—and smarts—should help
compensate for his lack of experience. "There are no
throws that will put a burden on Chris's
arm," offensive coordinator Mark Richt says. "Part of his
game will be to get us out of bad looks
[formations] into good looks at the line, and from good looks into
great looks. Whereas Kendra used his athletic ability to
make big plays happen, Chris is a student of the game. He
prepares like no other quarterback I've
had."
Weinke has been such a take-charge guy that he persuaded
enough teammates to participate in voluntary workouts this
summer that the Seminoles frequently ran 11-on-11. By the
end of July the offensive players had learned the code
names and the hand
signals for their plays, something that usually doesn't happen
until well into two-a-days. "I'm older than these
guys," says Weinke. "If I'm yelling down their
throats, they don't want to hear it. But I want them to
know I'm willing to lead, willing to say
something when things aren't going
right."
Bowden plans to
right a running game that finished 94th in rushing (112.1 yards
per game, only 3.6 per carry) last season. Until this year
he had held out against the trend toward big linemen. In
the Seminoles' national championship season of 1993, the
offensive line
averaged
6' 4", 272 pounds. This season the numbers are
6' 6", 305. "We still try to recruit good
feet," Bowden says, referring to quickness, not anatomy. "We
just weren't a very physical team up front last
year."
There's a proven tailback in sophomore Travis Minor, who
rushed for more than 100 yards against the two toughest
defenses he faced—North Carolina's and Florida's.
There's also fifth-year senior fullback Lamarr Glenn, who
will get a chance to add to his
19 career carries. His main duty, however, will be to open
holes for Minor. In other words, Florida State has enough
running game to return occasionally to the old-fashioned I
formation with a tight end and two wideouts, a convention
that last season's
inexperience didn't allow. "It don't matter what you do
if you can't make third-and-short,"
Bowden says. "Wishbone, shotgun, whatever. After that, if
you can't play defense, you can't
win."
While defensive end Tony Bryant will attempt to extend to
six years the Seminoles' streak of having an All-America at
his position, the anchor of the line will
be tackle Jerry Johnson, a
6' 2",
280-pound junior. He tried to break the school bench-pressing record
this summer but maxed out at 535 pounds, 15 short of former
offensive tackle Tra Thomas's mark. Despite the loss of two
starters, there's a wealth of talent in the secondary,
thanks to the
reinstatement of junior corner Mario Edwards and junior safety
Sean Key, both of whom missed all of last season. Edwards
was suspended by a university judiciary committee last fall
for slapping a female acquaintance. Key was suspended by
Bowden after being
charged with aggravated assault, stemming from a fight with
another student. (Key pleaded no contest and served a short
jail
term.)
Though their schedule is typically difficult, the Seminoles
will play what appear to be their toughest games at the end
of the season. That will give Weinke and the other
inexperienced players time to get their footing. "If
this team can put it together, we're going to be pretty
good," Bowden says. "We got players as good as anybody in the
country. We get most of them back next
year." Montgomery never planned that far
ahead. —Ivan Maisel
Fast Facts
1997 record: 11-1 (8-0, 1st in ACC)
Final ranking: No. 3 AP, No. 3 coaches'
poll
| 1997 Averages | Offense | Defense |
| Scoring | 39.7 | 15.2 |
| Rushing Yards | 112.1 | 51.9 |
| Passing Yards | 340.0 | 189.5 |
| Total Yards | 452.1 | 241.4 |
|
Lineup
Coach: Bobby Bowden
23rd year at Florida State (208-51-4); career Div. I-A record: 281-83-4
| OFFENSE |
| WR | Laveranues Coles | Jr. | Broke right ankle in the spring |
| LT | Ross Brannon | So. | 6'8", 300 lbs., bright future |
| LG | Jason Whitaker | Jr. | Second-team All-ACC in '97 |
| C | Eric Thomas | Jr. | Was backup at guard-center |
| RG | Donald Heaven | So. | Started 12 games as freshman |
| RT | Char-ron Dorsey | So. | Played DT last season |
| TE | Myron Jackson | Sr. | Best known for blocking ability |
| WR | Peter Warrick | Jr. | 53 rec., 884 yds., 8 TDs |
| QB | Chris Weinke | So. | 82 passing yds., 2 TDs, 1 int. |
| RB | Travis Minor | So. | 623 rushing yds., 5.6 avg., 9 TDs |
| FB | Lamarr Glenn | Sr. | 3 rushes, 19 yards, 1 TD |
| K | Sebastian Janikowski | So. | Passed on pro soccer career |
| DEFENSE |
| LE | Roland Seymour | So. | 6 sacks as '97 backup |
| LT | Larry Smith | Jr. | Turns 24 by bowl season |
| RT | Jerry Johnson | Jr. | Most starts on defense (15) |
| RE | Tony Bryant | Sr. | 7 sacks, leads returners |
| OLB | Tommy Polley | So. | At 6'5", also a kick blocker |
| MLB | Brian Allen | So. | Starred on special teams |
| OLB | Lamont Green | Sr. | Moves back to weak side |
| CB | Troy Saunders | Sr. | Started 4 games as sophomore |
| SS | Derrick Gibson | So. | Scored TD on blocked punt |
| FS | Dexter Jackson | Sr. | 81 tackles, 2 int. |
| CB | Tay Cody | So. | 46 tackles, 3 int. |
| P | Keith Cottrell | So. | 58 punts, 38.4-yd. avg. |
|
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are from 1997 season.
Pivotal Players
Bobby Bowden signs junior college players only to fill a
need. Senior defensive end
Tony Bryant,
from Marathon, Fla., signed with
Pittsburgh in 1995 but didn't qualify academically. After
Bryant starred at Copiah-Lincoln J.C. in Mississippi,
Bowden gave him a ticket home to the Sunshine State for the
'97
season.... Corner
Tay Cody came out of redshirt-freshman oblivion last season to turn
a questionable secondary into a strength. Nine times in 12
games the coaches named him to the
Victor's Club, an honor given to the best performers in a
game.... The biggest example of the increased size on the
offensive line is guard
Jason
Whitaker, who was worn down from
275 pounds to 265 during the season and, Bowden says, "got
tossed around like a rag doll." Whitaker will play at
300 pounds this
year.... Free safety
Dexter Jackson
is better at knocking the ball down than at catching it. He
has broken up 15 passes, but his interception in the Sugar
Bowl was only the fourth of his
career.
Key Games
Schedule strength: 4th of
112
Aug. 31 vs. Texas A&M at East Rutherford, N.J.
Of FSU's six road foes, only the Aggies won more than seven
games in '97. Faint praise:
A&M went
1-3 against teams that got bowl
invitations.
Oct. 31 vs. North Carolina
The Tar Heels' offense needs to get in gear. It has scored
only one field goal against the Seminoles in the last two
years.
Nov. 21 vs. Florida
The most noticeable of the few blemishes on Steve
Spurrier's
record: He's
0-3-1 in Doak Campbell
Stadium.
X Factor
September 5 is the Seminoles' last open Saturday. Surviving
games in 11 consecutive weeks, with the toughest on the
back end, is difficult, but this team has the talent to do
it.
Bottom Line
Go ahead and circle the Gators on your calendar. The
Seminoles have. And it's a home
game. Lose this one and there's little chance of playing for the
national title in the Fiesta
Bowl.
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