By Dave Morrison
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida State’s iconic coach Bobby Bowden never forgot his roots at West Virginia.
And you could say that the former WVU coach is quite proud of the team he led to a 42-26 record and the 1975 Peach Bowl championship in six seasons in Morgantown.
“They’ve reached the top since I’ve been there,” Bowden said. “Don Nehlen brought them to the top. How much higher can you get than playing for the national championship and they did that. Didn’t they play Notre Dame for the national championship (after the 1988 season)? How much closer can you get?
“Then (two) years ago they were one play from playing for the national championship (before losing to Pitt 13-9). So they’ve really brought their program to the top. And that makes me feel good. It makes me feel good because I used to coach there. I’d hate to say, ‘Boy I used to coach that school and look how bad they are.’
“I look at West Virginia University and I’m proud of what they’ve done. And they’ve done more than I did. They’ve done more than I did when I was there.”
Bowden’s Seminoles (6-6) face West Virginia (9-3) in today’s Konica Minolta Gator Bowl at 1 p.m. It will be Bowden’s final game as the Florida State coach.
“I think West Virginia deserved to be here,” Bowden said. “We kind of got a lucky break.”
WVU senior linebacker Reed Williams, a Moorefield native, said the Mountaineers do feel slighted as far as being the “other” team in today’s game.
Williams, who started in the Fiesta Bowl two years ago when Oklahoma was the talk of that bowl, has noticed that the Mountaineers have floated under the radar since arriving in Jacksonville, what with all the fanfare given to this being Bowden’s last game.
“We kind of feel slighted I guess you could say,” Williams said. “We’ve done our work, we’ve put in a lot of work this season. But we’re still the underdog. It’s something that we’ve kind of grown accustomed to playing with. We kind of relish the opportunity now. It’s weird. We continue to win football games but we don’t get the respect we deserve.”
A win today with the odds against them could change that.
West Virginia quarterback Jarrett Brown, a native of West Palm Beach, Fla., looked at his final game a different way.
“I grew up watching this team (Florida State),” Brown said. “Coach Bowden was here at Florida State longer than I was on this earth. When I started watching football, I started watching Florida State. Charlie Ward (a former FSU quarterback who later played in the NBA) was my favorite quarterback growing up. I used to imitate him in backyard football. It’s just going to be great just facing this team.”
Williams was asked if he thought Stewart would be coaching when he is 80, like Bowden.
“You mean he’s not 80 right now?” Williams asked.
“I think he’s doing things the right way. He’s instilling a way of life at West Virginia University. We’re going to continue to win with him at the helm. They may have to run him out of Morgantown.”
This is Stewart’s third bowl game and in those games he has gone head-to-head with Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Butch Davis (North Carolina) and now Bobby Bowden.
He credits the Big East’s black-and-blue image and a longer time to prepare with his 2-0 record going against the first two ‘star’ coaches.
“It’s a physical rock’em, sock’em football league,” Stewart said. “When we’re healthy and have three weeks, four weeks to prepare for somebody, we have a pretty good product that goes out on the field and displays itself.
“They’re a whole lot better coaches than I am. This (game) is all about the legend and the man and a guy I absolutely idolize. I’m just a drop in the bucket compared to this guy. Coach Bowden deserves all the acclaim he is getting. We’re going to be prepared to play great football and make all Mountaineers everywhere very, very proud.”
