Seminoles Rally Late To Upset Tar Heels
Florida State won their first ACC college football game of the year on Thursday, though it certainly wasn’t easy. The Seminoles were down 24-6 midway through the third quarter before mounting a furious comeback to defeat North Carolina 30-27. FSU quarterback Christian Ponder threw for a career high 395 with three touchdowns and no interceptions to pace his team. The Seminoles improved their overall record to 3-4 while North Carolina dropped to 4-3.
College football betting enthusiasts who overlooked the Seminoles dismal record against the spread were rewarded by Florida State’s outright win as +2′ road underdogs. FSU covered for only the second time this season, upping their record against the college football pointspread to 2-5. The Tar Heels haven’t been a very good investment either, and the loss left their ATS tally at 2-4. The 57 points scored went OVER the posted total of 48′ for the Seminoles fifth OVER in six lined games.
The win also should help settle some of the talk about the future of head coach Bobby Bowden, at least for the moment. With the uncharacteristically slow start by Florida State, there has been a good deal of speculation that the venerable coach should step away from the program. He expressed some relief in his postgame comments:
“The talk that we’ve had down there, there’s only one thing that solves it. Winning. Play close and fight your guts out? Who cares? You’ve got to win.”
Winning QB Ponder suggests that the comeback win demonstrates the character of this Seminoles team:
“This proves how good we can be, and I’m just proud of the way we fought back. Down what, 24-6? And we could have given up and we didn’t. That’s just the character of the guys on this team.”
Tar Heels’ coach Butch Davis observed that rankings are irrelevant once the game begins:
“It’s a little bit of a wake-up call for the defense. Reputations and rankings and stats and all that stuff is somewhat insignificant. You’ve got to play.”
Added Tar Heels’ cornerback Kendric Burnley:
“It’s too frustrating. I don’t know what to say or how to explain anything right now. It tears you apart.”
Florida State can get back to .500 next weekend with a home game against another team looking for their first ACC win of the season, North Carolina State. That’ll be followed by two tough games on the road at Clemson and Wake Forest. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, must regroup in time for another nationally televised Thursday night game at Virginia Tech next week.
Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and noted authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.
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