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6. Florida State

There's something old-fashioned about this Seminoles team, and it's not a coach who says goldarnit. In an era when the NFL has made the fifth-year senior All-America as much of a campus relic as the typewriter (kids, ask your parents), Florida State has several candidates: linebackers Daryl Bush and Sam Cowart, defensive end Andre Wadsworth, wide receiver E.G. Green and quarterback Thad Busby. They are among the 10 remaining players from the Seminoles' recruiting class of 1993, which has already sent Warrick Dunn and Peter Boulware to the NFL. These veterans can pass along the legend of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Charlie Ward. They can show the underclassmen—especially coach Bobby Bowden's crop of aspiring freshmen—their championship rings.

"In '93 we played 11 freshmen, and that was very out of line for us," Bowden says. "Of course, that was the year we won the national championship."

The trip down memory lane is relevant this fall because Florida State lacks experience, especially in the backfield, where Dunn took care of his academics (he graduated) and academics took care of his backup, junior Rock Preston (he's ineligible and not enrolled at Florida State). "I don't think we have to have 11 freshmen," says Bowden. "If four or five help, that ought to do it."

If Dunn-sized (5'9", 182 pounds) junior tailback Dee Feaster doesn't make the job his, don't be surprised to see true freshman Travis Minor. Like Dunn, Minor came out of Baton Rouge Catholic, where he rushed for 2,649 yards and 33 touchdowns last season while wearing number 28 to honor Dunn. To get away from the considerable shadow of Dunn, who scored 10 touchdowns as a Seminoles freshman in 1993, Minor (6'1", 190 pounds) will wear number 23 at Florida State.

ALSO

Florida State team page 1997 schedule

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Minor isn't the only one who has changed his number. Cowart, who was the Seminoles' leading tackler in 1995 but sat out last season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery, has switched from number 56 to number 1. "My goal is to be the Number 1 linebacker in the country, the Number 1 player in the country and hopefully on the Number 1 team in the nation," he says.

Florida State faces an uphill climb in its quest to earn another national title. Fifth-year senior Kevin Long returns at center, where he will be the dean of a line that will likely include two redshirt freshmen. This summer Long, an elementary-education major, arranged for the line to work as a unit on its blocking technique and discovered that tutoring freshmen can be remarkably similar to teaching grammar school. "You learn to have patience," he says. "With young kids, you have to repeat something over and over. Eventually, with the young linemen, they'll remember: Stay low. Stay low. You want them to get so used to it they get out of bed low."

All of Florida State got out of bed low for a while after January's Sugar Bowl loss to Florida. And Bowden's disappointment only grew when several players couldn't stay out of trouble with the law. The coach dismissed senior safety Robert Hammond and junior linebacker Hank Grant from the team earlier this month. If he keeps that up, the Seminoles may need 11 freshmen after all. 
—Ivan Maisel

TELLING STAT
59.0 Average rushing yards per game the Seminoles gave up last season, fewest in the nation.
TWO GAMES TO WATCH
OCT. 4 VS. MIAMI Florida State takes the first of two steps needed to claim Sunshine State supremacy. NOV. 22 AT FLORIDA Bobby Bowden loves to beat Steve Spurrier, but the Seminoles have lost two of the last three in Gainesville.
RETURNING LEADERS
Passing	Thad Busby, Sr.	134 comp., 243 att., 1,866 yds., 16 TDs
Rushing	Dee Feaster, Jr.	60 yds., 0 TDs
Receiving	E.G. Green, Sr.	34 catches, 662 yds., 7 TDs
Tackles	LB Daryl Bush, Sr.	101
Interceptions	SS Shevin Smith, Sr.	3