If you thought for a moment that Bobby Bowden, 79, was ready to retire as Florida State’s head coach, forget it, especially after his Siminoles defeated Wisconsin 42-13 in the Champs Sports Bowl on Saturday (27-12). -08). .

For Bowden, the win over Wisconsin was like déjà vu, one big offensive play and a nasty, opportunistic hard-hitting defense that gripped the Badgers and sent them back to the hole they came out of. The Siminoles’ special teams got right under the Badgers’ noses. When Florida State had to punt, they had the right player: Graham Gano, winner of the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best kicker. All Gano did was average 48+ yards on 5 punts and put 3 of them inside 4, including 2 at the Wisconsin 1-yard line.

Speaking of driving your opponent back against the goal line, Gano had just the right touch and earned him the MVP award. When, if ever, have you heard of a bettor who got an MVP award in a bowling game?

On the defensive end, both Derek Nicholson and Dekoda Watson returned fumbles for touchdowns, Nicholson for 75 yards and Watson for 51. Talk about excitement. After both teams failed to score in the first quarter, Florida State scored 2 touchdowns in each of the second, third, and fourth quarters.

Wisconsin was continually starting to drift into its own territory and never really stopped tracking. PJ Hill managed to gain 140 yards on 15 carries for the Badgers, but quarterback Dustin Sherer was just 4 of 9 for 55 yards through the first three quarters. It was an ugly end to the Wisconsin season. The Badgers were initially ranked 9th in the AP Top 25 poll, but Wisconsin has consistently been overrated in recent years. The loss left them 7-6.

The victory put Florida State at 9-4, the Siminoles’ first 9-win season since 2004. Bobby Bowden is used to improving, having posted at least 9 wins in 17 of 18 years before fading in recent seasons. Many of his key players return next year, which doesn’t give him a good reason to quit, even at 80.

The Champs Sports Bowl game was Florida State’s NCAA-leading 27th consecutive bowl game, improving Bowden’s career bowl game record to 21-10-1. Bowden has 382 career wins for him, just one shy of Joe Paterno’s 383 at Penn State, the most college record. Paterno is 82 years old.

Both Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno will likely be stretchered out of a football stadium when they stop training. These guys are iconic and extremely competitive. Although both would deny it, each would like to go down in history with the most wins in history, and they prove it every year they return to the bench.

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley