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Notebook Weinke's pain comes after the game
By Stewart Mandel, CNNSI.com MIAMI -- Forty-five minutes before the start of Saturday's Florida State-Miami game, Chris Weinke stood at the 35-yard line, waiting his turn to throw a short warm-up toss. Following freshman Chris Nix, he calmly approached center, took the snap from center Josh Baggs, dropped back and released. No limp. No casts. No cries of pain. Forty-five minutes after the game ended -- and along with it Weinke's 25-game unbeaten streak as a starter, the pain was a tad more blatant. The 28-going-on-40-year-old walked to the team bus with a noticeable limp, his downtrodden face only partially hidden by a baseball cap. "It's frustrating," he said when reminded the sole reason he returned for his senior year was to win another national title. "It's been 17 games since we lost. "But it's a very good possibility [they could still make the national championship game]. It happened two years ago, when we lost to N.C. State but went on to play in the Sugar Bowl. Our goal now has to be to win the rest of our games, and see what happens from there." Weinke said his foot, the subject of worldwide speculation all week, did not bother him. And no, his mysterious status before kickoff was not a front. "Up until Wednesday, I thought there was no way he was going to play, or start anyway," said offensive coordinator Mark Richt. "Then Thursday he showed up like it was game day. He was throwing well, wasn't missing any assignments, checking off well." Saturday was both the best and worst of performances for Weinke. His 496 passing yards was a career high. His two fourth-quarter touchdown drives actually put the Seminoles ahead after once being down 17, and he even put FSU in a chance to tie after blowing the lead by going 46 yards in the final 46 seconds. But his two first-half interceptions were costly, both coming in the Miami end zone. And he overthrew receivers on several occasions en route to a 10-of-26 first half. There is still plenty left for Weinke to accomplish. He can win the ACC, beat Florida, and finish with virtually every passing record in the books at FSU. But if nothing else, Saturday's loss probably booted him off the Heisman ballots of the many out there who were already skeptical due to his age. "We still have something to prove. We can't go play these teams and barely win," he said, alluding to next week's matchup with lightweight Duke.
Agony of the feetWe knew Florida State's dreadful kicking game would catch up to it eventually. Just maybe not so soon. Or so dramatically.Placekicker Matt Munyon, who came in having already missed three of five field goals and three extra points, first added to his woes by shanking a 22-yard attempt early in the fourth quarter. But of course, the one he'll be forever linked with was "Wide Right III," the 49-yard, potential game-tying kick as time expired, which, in fairness, barely missed. "It's a hard one to swallow," said the redshirt freshman walk-on. "I was stunned it went wide right. When I missed kicks this year, it was always left." FSU's season-long kicking problems -- Munyon is only the best of three options in Bobby Bowden's first year post-Janikowski -- has a wider affect than just at the end of games. Twice in the first half, the 'Noles had situations where they could have settled for a kick but tried, unsuccessfully, to score six. And though the key figures won't admit to it, the lack of confidence in their kicker has to affect the Seminoles' offense both on the field and in the booth. "A lot of people are going to allude to Wide Right, and that's unfair to the kid," said Weinke. "We put him in a bad position at the end, and he got a good foot on it. He's gotta stay confident, because we're going to need him the rest of the year."
A star is born?The kid who had so many recruiting geeks pulling their hair out right till Signing Day last year showed Saturday what all the fuss was about.Freshman D.J. Williams, a California product who was considered by many the top prospect in the country last year, waited till the last possible moment to sign with Miami. Upon arriving in the fall, he shocked many by asking to switch from linebacker, where he was unlikely to see the field his freshman season, to fullback. It was from that position that Williams scored his first career touchdown Saturday, a 1-yard second-quarter plunge that put the 'Canes up 14-0. He went on to carry five times for 16 yards. He's also being used as a receiver, where he caught three short passes, losing a fumble on one of them.
Worth notingAn elated Bernie Kosar visited the Miami locker room both before and after the victory. Reporters tried to interview him afterward, but he spoke only briefly before exclaiming, "Don't write about me, write about them. They gave their heart out." ... When Miami got up 17-0, it was the first time Florida State had been shutout at halftime since Sept. 3, 1988, also 17-0, also at Miami, also when ranked No. 1 ... The crowd of 80,905 was the third-most ever to attend a Miami home game ... The fierceness of the rivalry isn't limited to on the field. An all-out brawl, with lots of punches, broke out in the stands next to the press box, with at least seven fans escorted from the stadium ... Thinking ahead, are we? After the game, a Miami sports information worker asked out-of-town reporters in the press box how many would be returning for the Virginia Tech game Nov. 4. Almost everyone raised their hand.Stewart Mandel is college sports producer for CNNSI.com.
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