updated 4:18 a.m. ET Nov. 17, 2004

New twist in FSU-Florida rivalry: Gators may decide ’Noles fate in ACC

It’s not every day Florida State is faced with this type of scenario.

The 10th-ranked Seminoles likely need to beat longtime rival Florida in their regular-season finale Saturday to have a shot at winning the Atlantic Coast Conference title and earn an automatic berth in a Bowl Championship Series game.

What makes this situation even more bizarre is the fact that Florida is in the Southeastern Conference.

“This is the first time in a long time that both teams haven’t been ranked,” Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. “We both are playing for different reasons and that can motivate. I expect two highly motivated teams to come in here to play.”

The only team that truly controls its ACC destiny is Virginia Tech. If the Hokies beat Maryland, Virginia and Miami to end the year, they head to a BCS game as ACC champion.

Florida State (8-2) remains in the title picture. And Florida (6-4) may actually get a significant say in the ACC outcome should tiebreakers come into play, a fact that adds more juice to a rivalry that’s already overflowing with passion.

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“This is what you come to Florida State for. You come to Florida State to play Miami and Florida,” Seminoles center Dave Castillo said. “You sell everything out, you sell the house for this game. This makes or breaks your season.

“They are fighting to see what bowl game they will go to and we are fighting for an ACC championship and what bowl game we are going to go to. We need to come out there ready to execute and ready to play some football.”

Florida State finished its league season at 6-2. If Florida State finishes tied with Miami and Virginia Tech, which would happen if Miami wins its last two games and Virginia Tech beats Maryland and Virginia, the champion would be whichever team has the highest BCS ranking — even though the Hurricanes would have beaten both teams.

Florida State is eighth, Miami is 12th and Virginia Tech is 15th in the latest BCS standings.

However, all the talk of ACC titles and BCS games may be moot if the Seminoles don’t fix their problems on offense.

In last Thursday’s 17-10 win over North Carolina State, the Seminoles finished with just 121 total yards, their lowest output in Bowden’s 29 seasons as coach. Florida State is averaging 26 points and 366 yards, small numbers by its standards. No Florida State team has averaged fewer than 32 points a game since 1981 — the same season the Seminoles averaged fewer yards a game as well.

“We really have had to struggle, and this is a game where we’d better straighten it out,” Bowden said.

Ineffective quarterbacks Wyatt Sexton and Chris Rix have been the biggest reasons for the drop-off.

Sexton went 4-1 as the starter after replacing Rix in September. But Bowden went back to Rix for the Nov. 6 matchup with Duke after Sexton struggled early in the Seminoles’ 20-17 loss at Maryland on Oct. 30.

However, Sexton bailed out an ineffective Rix in the second half and threw for 220 yards in the Seminoles’ 29-7 win over the Blue Devils.

The stage was then set for Sexton to cement his status as the team’s starter against North Carolina State, but the sophomore couldn’t get anything going against the nation’s second-ranked defense. Bowden, though, was reluctant to go to Rix because he was still feeling the effects of an injured ankle.

Sexton recovered enough to lead the Seminoles back from a 10-point halftime deficit, but he was just 5-for-18 for 73 yards and an interception.

Florida isn’t as good defensively as North Carolina State, but the Gators will likely put some points on the board, meaning Sexton will probably have to get the Seminoles into the end zone on multiple occasions.

“I feel like they are going to be ready for us and they are going to come out and play a hard-nosed game,” Gators running back Ciatrick Fason said. “And we will have a Florida-Florida State game, just like its supposed to be.”

The Gators are 2-1 since coach Ron Zook was fired on Oct. 25. Zook, who chose to finish the season before being relieved, won in his last home game as Florida became bowl eligible for the 14th straight season with last week’s 48-14 win over South Carolina.

Quarterback Chris Leak finished 18-of-31 for 319 yards and six touchdowns. The sophomore leads the SEC with 270.4 passing yards per game and 27 TD passes.

Florida leads the all-time series 27-19-2, but Florida State has been dominant at home of late, going 7-0-1 at Doak Campbell Stadium since 1986.

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