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Penn State Faces Florida State

Monday, December 05, 2005

JACKSONVILLE, FL-December 4, 2005 -- The FedEx Orange Bowl will feature a pair of coaching legends January 3 on 6abc. Florida State and Bobby Bowden will face Penn State and Joe Paterno in a matchup of the two winningest coachest in Division I-A college football.

Florida State got there by winning the first-ever ACC Championship game. Willie Reid returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown, the defense continually harassed Marcus Vick and Florida State upset Virginia Tech.

The Seminoles (8-4) snapped a three-game losing streak - the program's first since 1983 - and won the league title for the 12th time in 14 years. They turned around a disappointing season and earned a Bowl Championship Series berth in the Orange Bowl, where they likely will face Penn State, which has moved up to No. 3 in the latest AP football poll.

Few could have envisioned that matchup. Not after Florida State was outscored 89-36 in losses to North Carolina State, Clemson and Florida.

Boosters and fans were calling for coach Bobby Bowden to fire his son and offensive coordinator, Jeff Bowden. Some were even talking about the elder Bowden stepping down after 19 losses in the last five seasons. Others were already looking ahead and guessing how many in a row the team would lose; Florida State hasn't lost four in a row since 1975, the year before Bowden arrived.

Vick led the Hokies (10-2) to consecutive touchdowns in the fourth quarter - a 29-yard pass to Josh Morgan and then a 4-yard run - that cut the lead to 27-15. He capped a 93-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run with 1:45 to play that made it 27-22.

But Tech, without any timeouts, failed to recover the onside kick. The Seminoles ran out the clock from there - and celebrated another ACC title.

So, when asked about the possible Bobby Bowden vs. Joe Paterno matchup, pitting the two winningest coaches in major college football history.

"Does it look like that? I might not show up," Bowden joked.

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