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Paterno Making Up Ground On Bowden

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By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 25, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - On the day he passed Joe Paterno as major college football's all-time winningest coach, Bobby Bowden delivered this warning to those who were ready to anoint him as the greatest coach to walk a sideline.

'I'm kind of uncomfortable,' Bowden said. 'I'm telling you, it ain't over.'

On Oct. 25, 2003, Bowden won the 339th game of his coaching career when the Seminoles rolled over Wake Forest at Doak Campbell Stadium, 48-24. Meanwhile, Paterno's Penn State team suffered a loss at Iowa that day in the midst of a six-game losing streak that turned Happy Valley into Not-So-Happy Valley.

Penn State's program was reeling at the time, most of the blame aimed at Paterno. As for the Noles, while they had slipped a bit since going undefeated and winning the 1999 national championship, they went on to win 10 games and their 11th Atlantic Coast Conference title in 12 years in 2003.

By the time the 2005 season started, Bowden had increased his lead over Paterno to eight games, leaving little doubt Bowden - three years younger than Paterno - would finish his coaching career atop the career wins list.

That was then. This is now.

'He's playing a lot better than we are right now,' Bowden said Sunday, the day after the Noles blew a late five-point lead in a 37-29 loss to Miami, costing Bowden his 371st career victory. 'I was maybe 25 behind him and he went through those bad spells when we caught him. Now we're going through kind of a bad spell and he's about to catch back up.'

The 80-year-old Paterno survived an avalanche of criticism from fans, boosters and the media earlier this decade, refusing to leave the job he has held since taking over as Penn State's head coach in 1966, 10 years before Bowden arrived at FSU. Entering Penn State's home game against No. 1-ranked Ohio State on Saturday - the first time since 1989 a No. 1-ranked team has played at Happy Valley - Paterno (369 career wins) has closed to within one victory of Bowden.

Since the start of the 2005 season, Penn State is 26-7, including an 11-1 season two years ago and a victory over the Noles in the Orange Bowl. On the flip side, FSU is 19-14, and despite Bowden revamping his offensive coaching staff in the offseason criticism is again mounting following back-to-back fourth-quarter collapses against Wake Forest and Miami. On Sunday morning, Bowden walked out of his house to find a For Sale sign in his front yard, apparently placed there by a disgruntled fan.

On Wednesday, an Orlando Sentinel columnist wrote that it is time for Bowden, who turns 78 next month, to finally retire.

But don't expect Bowden to make that announcement anytime soon. Or for that matter, Paterno either, despite criticism from both schools' fan bases that the race to finish No. 1 seems to be too much of a priority for the schools' administrations.

'I think both of us would rather do what we're doing than retire, if we can continue,' Bowden said Sunday, shortly after removing the For Sale sign and throwing it in his driveway. 'I've been with Joe a lot, and we never talk about it. It's one of those things that, if it happens, it happens. It just means that you're getting old.'

FSU hosts Duke on homecoming Saturday with a 4-3 record and is facing the real prospect of a losing season, something Bowden hasn't experienced since a 5-6 season his first year in Tallahassee. Before the end of the season, FSU must travel to Boston College, Virginia Tech and Florida, all currently ranked in the Top 12.

'We can ruin some seasons,' sophomore safety Myron Rolle said.

'I don't think anybody comes to Florida State expecting to be 4-3 at the midpoint of the season,' senior defensive tackle Andre Fluellen said. 'I don't think anybody comes to Florida State fighting just to be in a bowl game. We just have to go over Duke and try to win the rest of them.'

But as these past few seasons have shown, winning isn't nearly as easy as it used to be for Bowden and the Noles. And remember, Bowden did warn everyone the race wasn't over.

Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at (850) 294-3088 or scarter@tampatrib.com.

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