UNC expects Florida State's best

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Big opportunity for UNC

Bobby Bowden is trying to stay positive after Florida State's first 0-3 start in the ACC.

Coming off a third consecutive loss, to Georgia Tech on Oct. 10, the 79-year-old Seminoles coach used a bye week to refocus his team for tonight's national showcase against North Carolina (8 p.m., ESPN).

But even Bowden couldn't put a positive spin on his team's defensive problems. In five games against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, the Seminoles have given up 30 plays of 20 yards or more. Seven of those have gone for 50 yards or more.

Florida State (2-4) at North Carolina (4-2)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Kenan Memorial Stadium (60,000) -- Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Television:ESPN. Home Record: FSU 1-3, UNC 3-1. Away Record: FSU 1-1, UNC 1-1. Neutral Record: FSU 0-0, UNC 0-0. Conference Record: FSU 0-3, UNC 0-2. Series Record: Florida State leads, 14-1-1.

GAME NOTES: In desperate need of a win, the Florida State Seminoles head to Chapel Hill where they will face the North Carolina Tar Heels in an ACC battle under the light this Thursday at Kenan Memorial Stadium.

At 2-4, the Seminoles are off to their worst start since head coach Bobby Bowden took over the program in 1976 and began that season with an identical 2-4 ledger. The 1976 team went on to finish just 5-6 and FSU is in serious jeopardy of posting a losing campaign if it can't turn things around immediately. Three of the team's four losses have come at home, including a 49-44 setback in a wild shootout against nationally-ranked Georgia Tech on October 10th. It marked the third setback in a row by the Seminoles, whose four

Aerial show expected as Duke faces UNC

Duke football coach David Cutcliffe dubbed North Carolina, "by far the best defense in our league."

About eight miles down the road, UNC coach Butch Davis compared Duke's passing game with that of the Indianapolis Colts.

The quotes from each side put the rivals in a mutual admiration society, but they also underscore the heart of today's matchup in Chapel Hill between two bowl-hungry, 5-3 teams.

(18) West Virginia (9-3) vs. Florida State (6-6)

GAME NOTES: After 34 years at Florida State, Bobby Bowden will coach his final game for the Seminoles as they are set to take on the 18th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers in the 65th annual Gator Bowl at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on New Year's Day.

Bowden will go out facing the team he coached for six seasons prior to taking over at Florida State in 1976. Over the years, FSU has won 22 bowl games in its storied history -- 21 of those with Bowden at the helm -- and the Seminoles are unbeaten in six previous trips to the Gator Bowl. But this year's squad finished just 6-6, marking the third time in the past four years the team has failed to win more than seven games. With the program struggling to return to prominence, Bowden has heard the whispers in recent years questioning whether he should have gone out on top after winning the BCS National Championship in 1999.

"I had some great, enjoyable years after ('99), even though we didn't win as many games," Bowden reflected following his final practice

It's about over for FSU's Bowden

Florida State president T.K. Wetherell's public vote of confidence for Seminoles football coach Bobby Bowden on Wednesday delayed the inevitable.

It appears that Bowden's career is all but finished at FSU. It won't be today, despite the calls from the chairman of the school's trustees and two Florida newspapers after the Seminoles dropped to 0-2 in the ACC with Saturday's 28-21 loss at Boston College. But when Wetherell said the situation would be "re-evaluated" at the end of the season, you don't need tea leaves to predict the outcome of that sit-down.

Not that Bowden's worried, however.