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Defense entitles FSU
By BRIAN LANDMAN © St. Petersburg Times, published September 27, 1998 At least the Seminoles can talk about such lofty goals again. The defense, compensating for a still inconsistent offense, looked as dominant as people here have grown to expect and shut down Southern California for a crucial 30-10 win Saturday before 79,815 at Doak Campbell Stadium. "I think the nation saw the real Florida State defense today," defensive tackle Jerry Johnson said. "It was another important game that we had to win if we wanted to stay in the race for the national championship and we were able to get the job done." Added defensive end Tony Bryant: "Hopefully, this is a starting point." That would be saying something. Consider these impressive numbers: The No. 18-ranked Trojans (3-1) had just 23 yards passing despite the presence of highly acclaimed wide receivers R. Jay Soward on one side and Billy Miller on the other. In all, USC gained 189 yards, 166 fewer than its average, and 73 of those came on freshman tailback Frank Strong's run to set up its lone touchdown. The Seminoles' defense came up with an interception and four fumble recoveries. Two other Southern Cal turnovers were nullified by penalties. "I thought our defense played super," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. Although the pass rush for the No. 10 Seminoles (3-1) hadn't been as fearsome as in recent years, the defensive linemen overwhelmed their Trojan counterparts. "Our quarterback couldn't set his feet," USC coach Paul Hackett said. Both sophomore quarterback Mike Van Raaphorst and freshman Carson Palmer, who came on early in the second half, looked a bit intimidated. Van Raaphorst fumbled the snap on USC's first play. Middle linebacker Demetro Stephens scooped up the ball and ran untouched for an apparent touchdown, but a dead-ball false start allowed the Trojans to retain possession. Two plays later, another penalty, this time defensive holding, wiped out a Derrick Gibson interception. A second defensive holding further sustained that drive, which ended with a Dexter Jackson interception. In the meantime, the FSU offense sputtered. Chris Weinke, who along with most of his linemen contracted an intestinal virus and missed practice time last week, didn't build on his solid Sept. 19 performance against Duke. He misfired on his first three attempts but finally found star receiver Peter Warrick, who faked out two defenders and raced 41 yards. The Seminoles, however, settled for a 37-yard Sebastian Janikowski field goal with 8:09 left in the first quarter. A 15-yard late-hit penalty and a 20-yard run by Soward helped set up Adam Abrams' career-long 49-yard field goal a few minutes later to tie the score. FSU looked as if it would regain the lead on the next series, but on fourth and 1 from the 4, USC linebacker Chris Claiborne stopped tailback Travis Minor on a sweep. Minor sprained his left ankle on the play and did not return. "We could have scored a lot more today," said Weinke, who was 13-of-31 for 228 yards. "I was a big part of that. Early on, we could have put these guys away." "Chris Weinke did good, but why does he miss wide-open guys?" Bowden said. "It will come with time, but I hate to wait on it." The Seminoles' defense held and backup tailback Jeff Chaney, who had his first career carries a week earlier, carried the offense to its first touchdown. He gained 29 yards on four attempts, including a 7-yard score. Janikowski added a 36-yard field goal seconds before the half for a 13-3 lead. Late in the third quarter, Weinke threw a perfect pass to Warrick, who started toward the post but cut to his left to separate himself from All-America candidate Daylon McCutcheon for a 5-yard score and a 20-3 lead. "I was able to beat my man and Weinke put the ball in there," said Warrick, who finished with 112 yards receiving. "The best secondary we go against is the one we go against in practice." Soward might agree. He had one catch for 5 yards. But USC answered with a big play from Strong, which set up Chad Morton's 7-yard scoring run 25 seconds after Florida State's touchdown. "We needed to have a big play like Frank Strong's to change the momentum, but we couldn't get the ball in the air," Hackett lamented. "That's a tribute to Florida State, because they had an incredible pass rush." The next two USC possessions ended when FSU forced fumbles, the first by end David Warren that Stephens recovered, then one by safety Sean Key that defensive tackle Corey Simon fell on. The latter led to another field goal and a 23-10 lead. Weinke closed out the scoring on a 35-yard strike to Ron Dugans after a partially blocked punt. "This is the fourth game and the defense is starting to gel," cornerback Mario Edwards said. "We knew we had talent and potential, but we had a lot of new guys. "We just can't be satisfied. We have to keep fighting to get better."
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ALLAHASSEE -- If the adage about defense winning championships is more than mere coach-speak, then Florida State just might have a shot after all.
