TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Seminoles Look To Avenge 30-0 Loss

ADVERTISEMENT

By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 11, 2007

Updated: 10/11/2007 12:11 am

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The chilly, rainy night is one Florida State's Daron Rose won't soon forget. The former Jefferson High star didn't even play in last season's game against Wake Forest, but Rose can't shake the images from that November night nearly a year ago.

As the clock ticked away in the fourth quarter, Rose, now FSU's starting left tackle, looked around a near-empty Doak Campbell Stadium. He was wet. He was cold. He was mostly dazed.

'It was disheartening,' Rose said.

A few hours earlier, the place had been packed. Now, Rose could easily spot his parents in the stands. All he wanted was for the game to end. After all, when Rose signed with FSU, he expected a game against Wake Forest to end like every other one FSU had played since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1992 - in victory. But up in bright lights on the stadium scoreboard that many Wake Forest fans made sure to snap pictures of for proof, history flashed for everyone to see: Wake Forest 30, Florida State 0.

In a season full of new lows, the Seminoles discovered they could sink deeper into mediocrity.

'You can't get beat like that at Doak Campbell Stadium,' Rose said after practice Tuesday. 'I mean, that's your house. That's the same as somebody walking through your front door and changing the TV.'

The loss ended FSU's 232-game streak of not getting shut out - a streak that began following a 31-0 loss to Miami in 1988 and it remains the only time FSU ever has been shut out at home since Bobby Bowden took over the program in 1976.

Tonight at cozy Groves Stadium on Wake Forest's campus, FSU seeks to avenge last season's demoralizing loss, one that ultimately led to Bowden revamping his offensive coaching staff. Immediately after the game, much-maligned former offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden drove to his parents' home to tell him he was considering stepping down to ease some of the pressure on his father.

Bobby tried to talk his youngest son out of quitting, but three days later, Jeff announced his resignation, saying it was time to move on. Soon after the season, his dad made his own moves, making the largest staff overhaul of his FSU career.

'That was a big awakening for us,' Bowden said.

For a player like Rose, a true freshman last year, the loss was confusing more than anything else. To a player like Andre Fluellen, the Noles senior defensive captain, the game marked a turning point for the once-proud program.

'I would have never imagined Florida State getting beaten by anybody - shut out at home by 30,' Fluellen said. 'Something was going to change. You could just kind of feel it around the stadium.'

History proved Wake Forest's victory against the Noles a year ago was no fluke. The Demon Deacons went on to win the ACC title and Jim Grobe was named National Coach of the Year.

Eleven months later, FSU is showing signs of coming back to life, winning four consecutive games for the first time since the start of the 2005 season. Wake Forest opened with close losses to Boston College and Nebraska, but the Demon Deacons now have won three in a row, setting up a key Atlantic Division game for both schools.

A win is important to the Noles not only in the standings, but also perhaps even more to their psyche and bid to rebuild their reputation.

'They dealt one to us last year and we have to try and deal one to them this year,' Fluellen said.

'You should be more motivated. It was the only real licking we took last year. They blew it out quickly. They are a very opportunistic team. That was a big awakening for us.'

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT