Miami was thinking of dropping football altogether

In my short lifetime, I didn't recall Florida State doing anything I don't think they ever beat anybody to speak of I don't recall them ever playing in a bowl game If they were ever on TV, it was rare They didn't seem to have any fans. Nobody I knew was a fan of the Seminoles.The year before he was hired, I don't think they even won a game. Not only FSU, but Miami and Florida were pretty insignificant also. None of them ever competed for championships or played on TV None ever appeared in Bowl games Not any big Bowls anyway Florida had that whole,"never won the SEC" thing going.

Miami was thinking of dropping football altogether.In school, all my friends and I would have our favorite teams, if you rooted for a Florida team, you also had to have a "Real" team to root for. Around that same time Howard Schnellenberger was hired at Miami. The two made it a priority to keep Florida's high school players in state to play their college ball. Schools like Alabama, Michigan, Nebraska, and Oklahoma had long raided Florida for skill position players. Schnellenberger and Bowden proclaimed that this was about to stop.In Bowden's first year, the 'Noles went 5-6 That was quite an improvement from the previous 0-11. In Bowden's second year, he instituted an offense that was excitiing to watch FSU would start throwing the ball all over the place Most of us had never seen this before. This was in the day of Woody Hayes' "three yards and a cloud of dust" and the Wishbone Offense of 'Bama and OU.

Passing was somethig you did on third and long or when you got way behind.Pretty soon, the Noles were putting up points In Bowden's third year he rotated quarterbacks. Wally Woodham and Jimmy Jordan were no Terry Bradshaw, but together they passed the 'Noles to a near undefeated record and a berth in the Orange Bowl. There they would face Oklahoma.WOW! You talk about a big game!! My Sooners playing a school from MY STATE in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Night! Even though I'm a Gator fan and a Sooner fan, I must confess I was pulling for FSU This might never happen again, you know Well, the Sooners won the game rather easily as I recall But, guess what The next year State went 11-0 The last game was against UF who was 0-10-1 that year Even I had to kind of pull for FSU against UF. After all we weren't going anywhere.FSU got a rematch with OU in the Orange Bowl This time the Sooners won by 1 point Bowden's Noles were no longer a fluke. Meanwhile, in Miami, A QB named Jim Kelly had the 'Canes on the rise. Earlier in the year they had an upset over very highly ranked Penn State. Suddenly college football in Florida was not to be taken as a joke anymore.In the early 80s, Bowden would schedule to play the big boys any time he could Of course he had to play them on the road But that was ok.