Reluctant favorites

Even at their most vulnerable, Seminoles command respect

GREENSBORO, Ga. -- Try as they might, the Florida State Seminoles can’t get anyone to buy into their little underdog act.

Lose five games for the first time since the Atari era, lose one of your quarterbacks to gambling charges, lose another one for sleeping through an exam and what do you get? Being voted preseason favorite for the 12th straight ACC media day, despite practically begging for anything but.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," was Bobby Bowden’s reaction to the news. "I thought N.C. State and Maryland would be ahead of us, maybe even Virginia."

"We haven’t earned the right to be picked in the top 10 or earn any respect at all," said linebacker Michael Boulware.

No respect at all may be pushing it -- the ‘Noles still are defending conference champs for the 10th time in 11 years. But it does say something about the endurance of the FSU mystique that the esteemed experts who cover the conference have more faith in a Seminole team at its most vulnerable state in decades than the most talented N.C. State team in decades.

Nevertheless, there were two questions unanimously posed of every coach and player in attendance here the past two days: What do you think of expansion, and what’s wrong with Florida State? Their answers, invariably, were "I think it’s great" and "I don’t know what you guys are talking about. They’re still Florida State."

"You’ve got to pick Florida State as the favorites this year," Maryland running back Bruce Perry said. "They’ve won the league for like the last million years."

Bowden doesn’t hide from the fact his program has had problems the past couple seasons, but contends they’re not as drastic as some outsiders are making them seem.

"Our talent level hasn’t dropped that much," Bowden said. "You look at last year, we kick a field goal against Miami, we beat the No. 1 team in the country."

Indeed, looking solely at the ‘Noles’ two-deep entering fall, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Ten starters return on defense, including All-America candidates Boulware and Darnell Dockett (expected to be fully reinstated in the coming weeks). Greg Jones, the bruising runner who was inching his way into the Heisman picture last season prior to his ACL tear, is expected to be back at 100 percent and be part of a loaded backfield with up-and-comers Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker.

The X-factor for the ‘Noles, as it has been the past two years, is Chris Rix.

Bowden insists the oft-reviled Californian has all the talent of his previous national championship quarterbacks. Rix's thorn has been leadership. The first full-time freshman starter of Bowden’s tenure, Rix failed to command the respect of his upperclassmen teammates, an issue that boiled over last season when several players publicly criticized him and which Rix didn’t exactly soothe by missing an exam that rendered him ineligible for the Sugar Bowl.

Now a junior, though, most of Rix’s receivers and linemen are his age or younger. Bowden said he saw a difference this spring, when it was made clear in no uncertain terms that Rix needed to win back the respect of his teammates.

"He’s starting to do the little things right," Boulware said. "He’s showing up early, he’s the last one off the field. Guys are really starting to build around him."

They better. No question this is building up to be a make-or-break year both for Rix and his mentor.

While the 73-year-old Bowden continues to dodge all retirement questions, he openly acknowledges the toll this past year has taken. Easily the most media-friendly coach at any major program in the country, he stopped doing interviews at one point this offseason, and while dishing out plenty of one-liners Monday, he also seemed a bit more worn than usual.

The main source of his consternation, of course, is the beating his program has taken in the press over the Adrian McPherson scandal. He says he’s personally offended by suggestions he was involved in a cover-up. And he insists his team’s problems are no different than those of any other in the country -- just magnified.

"When one of our kids gets in trouble, everybody in the country writes it up," Bowden said. "Now I go to another town, I pick up the sports page and see where a player at another school did the exact same thing and it’s on the back page with a headline this small. I just got tired of that."

Some of the ‘Noles’ faithful are getting tired of it, too. But let’s face it, they’re mostly just tired of losing to Miami.

The soon-to-be ACC rival ‘Canes are on the schedule again this season, as are -- get this -- Notre Dame, Colorado and Florida. FSU may well win the conference again -- which, with this year’s field, would be no small feat --- and still finish outside the top 10.

Then again, tough non-conference schedules were hardly an obstacle to the national title game in the '90s for the ‘Noles. Here’s guessing their biggest challenges this year will once again come from within their own team.

"The talent has always been there but the unity hasn’t," Boulware said. "Once we completely get that, there won’t be a team in America that can stay with us."

Season-long showdown

Their images dominate the cover of the ACC media guide. One is being mentioned as one of the preseason Heisman favorites. Yet it’s the other who’s the reigning conference Player of the Year.

Needless to say, the public jockeying between star quarterbacks Philip Rivers of N.C. State and Matt Schaub of Virginia likely will be a season-long theme in the ACC. Virginia launched a promotional Web site for Schaub last week, and N.C. State will have one for Rivers in the coming days. Rivers has the name recognition because he’s been putting up big numbers for going on four years now, while Schaub emerged seemingly out of nowhere last season and had an even more productive season than Rivers.

"They’re both great quarterbacks," said Virginia cornerback Almondo Curry. "Rivers, he does a great job of controlling their offense. You can never relax against a guy like that. With Matt, I’d seen him do it in practice, but what I saw him do last year was amazing. I knew he had it in him, but I didn’t know to what extent."

In terms of national attention, Rivers has a better chance to make an early statement when his Wolfpack visit defending national champ Ohio State the third week of the season. Then again, with a bad performance or lopsided defeat he could be out of the running. Conversely, Schaub’s schedule builds up slowly, but if he can stay in the hunt, he’s got a chance to leave a lasting impression with games at N.C. State and Maryland on consecutive weeks in November.

Youth movement

After seeing Virginia’s quick turnaround last year using a horde of true freshmen, several teams around the league may do the same this fall -- mostly out of necessity.

“I see us having a double-digit kind of year," said North Carolina coach John Bunting in reference to the number of true freshmen expected to see action.

One of them, running back Ronnie McGill, enrolled in time for spring and already is being touted as a future star, nicknamed "The Franchise." And in summer passing drills, the Tar Heels’ three incoming freshman receivers, Adarius Bowman (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Jesse Holley (Roselle, N.J.) and Mike Mason (Rocky Mount, N.C.) displayed skills beyond their years.

"They’re running great routes. They just got here and I’m like ‘Wow,’" said tight end Bobby Blizzard. As for McGill, Blizzard said, "He’s one of the strongest guys on the team. He’s one of those one-in-a-million guys, like Julius Peppers."

Meanwhile, Georgia Tech may live and die based on how quickly their true freshmen can contribute. After losing 10 notable players to academic ineligibility this summer, coach Chan Gailey said as many as 15 of his 20 signees may be called upon. The most likely candidates: running back Rashaun Grant (Tampa) and cornerback Kenny Scott (Daytona Beach, Fla.).

Worth noting (ACC edition)

Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen is walking with a cane following hip replacement surgery May 12. Recovery is expected to take up to six months. "I was having severe pain after the bowl game," he said. I tried everything -- chiropracters, acupuncture. It was a really pretty picture, me with all those needles in my back." ... Wake Forest is hoping for a breakout season from senior linebacker Dion Williams, who will be starting this fall for the first time in his injury-plagued career. "I think he has the tools physically to be a first-round draft pick," raved standout free safety Quinton Williams ... With the departure of star receiver Billy McMullen, Schaub may be throwing more to his roommate, senior Ryan Sawyer, a possession-type receiver who stepped up when McMullen was injured in the Continental Tire Bowl ... Tramain Hall, the former blue-chip recruit whose arrival at N.C. State was delayed two years by an NCAA ruling, blew away coaches this spring with his speed and should see action at both receiver and tailback ... Friedgen said his team is already feeling the benefits of ACC expansion, especially in the Northeast. "We’ve already had two kids who were interested in Big East schools that have committed to us because of expansion and the publicity it got." ... Most coaches seemed less than pleased with the new NCAA rule limiting the use of two-a-days and preventing freshmen from reporting early. "It’s supposedly in the interest of student-athlete welfare," said Virginia’s Al Groh. "Well, I don’t think it’s in a freshman’s welfare to go out there and have no idea what to do."

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