A Look Back
The Seminoles claimed their 12th ACC title in 14 years with a 27-22 victory over Virginia Tech in the inaugural ACC Title Game … FSU finished 8-5 overall, 5-3 in league play and ranked 23rd in both polls … Bobby Bowden ranks first all-time among Division I-A coaches with 359 career victories … the Seminoles are 102-11 (90.3) in conference games since joining the league in 1992 … FSU had a league-high 100 plays of 20 yards or more and have scored in 223 straight games, the longest current streak in the ACC.
Who’s Gone
Fourteen starters depart from the 2005 ACC Championship team, including first team FWAA All-American NG Brodrick Bunkley (25 TFLs, 9 QB sacks) and two second team All-ACC selections - LB A.J. Nicholson and DE Kamerion Wimbley … Nicholson led the team and was seventh in the ACC in tackles per game (8.3) while Wimbley was second on the team to Bunkley with 7.5 QB sacks … offensively, the Seminoles lose ACC Championship Game MVP Willie Reid and TB Leon Washington … Reid was second on the team in receptions (50-for-634) and led the ACC in punt returns (17.5) while Washington was second on the team in rushing with 430 yards.
Sophomore Quarterback
Drew Weatherford
|
A Look Ahead
Florida State returns an ACC-low 10 starters, including five on offense and four defensively … QB Drew Weatherford headlines the offensive returnees after starting all 13 games in 2005, completing 59 percent of his passes for 3,208 yards and 18 touchdowns … WR Greg Carr earned second-team All-ACC honors after averaging 20.6 yards per catch (30-for-618) and leading the ACC with nine TD receptions … led by OL Cory Niblock (21 career starts), three starters return on the offensive line … LB Buster Davis started all 13 games as a junior in 2005 and finished second on the team with 91 tackles … CB Tony Carter started all 13 games in 2005 and earned second-team Freshman All-America honors from The Sporting News.
Numbers
5.0 - Career rushing average of senior TB Lorenzo Booker … Booker led FSU in rushing a year ago with 552 yards and leads all returning ACC running backs with 1,773 yards in his first three seasons.
7.2 - PK Gary Cismesia made 17 of 24 field goals as a sophomore in 2005, including six of 40 or more yards and finished fifth among ACC scoring leaders averaging 7.2 points per game.
9 - ACC-leading touchdown receptions by WR Greg Carr in 2005 … had 30 receptions for 618 yards, averaging a team-best 20.6 yards per catch.
10 - QB Drew Weatherford threw for 200 yards or more in 10 games in 2005, including three games of 300 yards or more ... had at least one touchdown pass in 11 of FSU’s 13 games.
70 - In 30 seasons under Bobby Bowden, FSU has won 70 percent of its road games (103-44-1).
244.6 - QB Drew Weatherford became the first freshman in ACC history to lead the league in total offense, averaging 244.6 yards per game.
359 - Bobby Bowden is the all-time winningest coach in Division I-A history with 359 career wins, including a 286-75-4 (.789) mark in 30 years at FSU.
3,208 - Drew Weatherford com-pleted 59 percent of his passes in 2005 for an ACC freshman record 3,208 yards and 18 touchdowns … led all freshmen nationally in passing yards and TD passes.
The winningest coach in college football history with 359 career victories, the 2005 season marked Bobby Bowden’s 30th season as the head coach at Florida State and 40th overall. One of the most innovative and successful coaches in the history of college football, Bowden has turned the Seminoles into perennial contenders for the national championship. Since his arrival in Tallahassee in 1976, the Seminoles have been to 27 bowl games, including a string of 24 in a row and 21 New Year’s Day trips. Under Bowden, Florida State has played in three BCS national championship games, winning the national title in 1999 with a 46-29 win over Virginia Tech in the Nokia Sugar Bowl. Bowden has coached Florida State to 16 top-five finishes and has 195 victories over the past 19 years. Bowden is the only coach in NCAA history to win 10-or-more games in 14 straight seasons, from 1987-2000, and is 19-9-1 in post season play over the past 29 years. Florida State was the nation’s winningest program in the 1990’s with a 109-13-1 record (.891). In 2005, Bowden led Florida State to a victory over Virginia Tech in the inaugural ACC championship game. In 2003, Bowden led Florida State to a 10-3 overall mark - its 18th 10-win season during his tenure in Tallahassee - and a 7-1 league record, clinching the school’s 11th ACC championship in 12 years. Bowden took over a Florida State program that had won just four games over the previous three seasons prior to his arrival in 1976. Bowden’s record at Florida State is 286-75-4, which includes a 150-22-2 record in Tallahassee, a 33-9-1 mark at neutral sites and a 103-44-1 record in an opponent’s stadium. He has built those numbers against some of the nation’s toughest schedules. Bowden achieved impressive numbers in his previous coaching stops including a 31-6 record at his alma mater, Samford University, between 1959 and 1962 and a 42-26 ledger at West Virginia from 1970-75.
