Q & A: Bobby Bowden

Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden spoke with the media Wednesday as part of the first teleconference of the season for ACC coaches. Of course, questions about FSU's game at Miami on Monday were on most writers' minds.

First, Bowden addressed the status of several players whose availability remains uncertain.

“We probably have three potential starters - that would be (defensive end Alex) Boston, (rover Anthony) Houllis and (tight end Charlie) Graham - that haven't practiced in two weeks because of ankles and might could play. I'm not putting a lot of stock into that because they haven't practiced. I don't think you can beat Miami without practice.

“Other than that, overall we've been fortunate with our lack of injuries.”

Question: What do you seeing as the benefits of playing Miami in week 1 as opposed to week 6, 7 or 8 or even later?

BOWDEN: I think the only advantage whatsoever is the publicity and public relations you get out of it. You can't buy that kind of exposure. That's probably why we pick the game. I don't really think either one of us enjoys opening with the other because when you open with somebody like Miami or us, you've got to bring your “A” game. And most people, their “A” game is not there yet. It usually takes two or three weeks to get your “A” game down. . . . In the future we are going (against) Miami probably early October.

QUESTION: Anytime these two teams play we're reminded of how consistent they have been, particularly over the last 20 years. Fourteen times over the last 20 years one of the Florida schools have played for the national championship in their bowl game. What has been the cause of that great consistency by those Florida teams?

BOWDEN: I think that it's the fact that both of us are able to recruit real good players. We're in a hotbed of football players down here in Florida when you look at our population now which is probably 16 1/2 or 17 million. So it's bigger than Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee - a lot of the Southern states. Naturally there are more kids. Both of us have been able to get their share. You won't hardly see two teams play where you'll see more speed than the Florida State-Miami game. We've got guys that can run and catch them. And they've got guys that can run and catch us. Unless somebody makes a lot of errors - or unless one team makes some real big plays -- it's usually is a low-scoring ball game.

QUESTION: To follow up on that, I know that you're disappointed in the last four years or so. You haven't been back in that national championship game, and you want to get back there. Can you give us a sense of where you think the program at Florida State is right now?

BOWDEN: I don't think we're that far off base, and you can probably say that for about 10 or 11 other schools. Maybe one player away from getting there. Maybe you are going to get there. We hit a spell in there for about 14 years where we went every year. The last five years we have not been. We're still aiming and fighting to get back to that. And I think with the way our recruiting is going, I don't think we've dropped that much. I think our conference has gotten so darn tough it's hard to get through undefeated. Plus we play Florida and Miami, and they don't play each other. It's hard for us to get there because of that but everybody else is facing the same things.

QUESTION: How comfortable are you with Gary Cismesia this time of year?

BOWDEN: Down through the years that I've been here I felt confident with (Scott) Bentley. I felt confident with (Sebastian) Janikowski and Derek Schmidt. But then there have been times where we haven't shown the consistency that will let you get real confident. I feel like we're probably like everybody else. We have a kicker that will hit most of them but will also miss some.

QUESTION: Have you noticed a change in him since the Penn State game?

BOWDEN: Naturally, he's a very concerned young man and sees what his errors are and tries to get them corrected. He's kicked much better in this preseason than he did last year at this time. You're hoping that with this being his third year he gets better.

QUESTION: You talked early about that the pool of talent you all fish from down in Florida. Is speed ultimately the determining factor that has helped you separate from the rest of the pack over the years, and is everybody catching up?

BOWDEN: It's an easy answer. It's yes and yes, everybody catching up. Clemson came down here and probably got the No. 1 prospect in Florida this year (C.J. Spiller). I think Miami, Florida and Florida State are getting most of them but, boy, we have a lot of them get away. The speed of our conference has really picked up since we got in it 15 years ago. You can't catch speed unless you got speed. I think everybody has come to realize that.