COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : ACROSS THE NATION : Bowden Isn’t Resting Any Easier
Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden awoke Sunday with a No. 1 ranking, an undefeated team and his national championship hopes still intact.
So why the bags under his eyes?
“Well, it’s a little bit different (this year),” said Bowden, whose Seminoles defeated Miami on Saturday for the first time in four years and only the second time in nine. “I said, ‘Don’t go back to sleep! Don’t go back to sleep!’ It’s usually, ‘Go back to sleep! Go back to sleep!’
“But I could not realize how good it was compared to what it’s been,” he said. “I wake up and say, ‘Gosh, dang, goodness.’ I must have woke up a million times. I didn’t sleep like a baby like I thought I would.”
Even with the 28-10 victory against the Hurricanes, Bowden said Florida State is guaranteed nothing. Nor is Miami necessarily out of the race for a national title.
“I don’t feel confident yet,” Bowden said, “I really don’t. Even if we got through our schedule, we’re going to catch a top two or three team (in the bowls), unless we’ve already played them all. Miami can still come back. If we fall, they can still win the rest of theirs and they still have time to come back.
“All I can say is so far, so good.”
Florida State will play undefeated Virginia on Saturday at Tallahassee, then Wake Forest, then travel to Maryland and Notre Dame, then play North Carolina State at home and Florida at Gainesville.
“So far, this team has performed better than any other team I’ve had for six ballgames,” he said.
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