Defensive woes continue to hamper Florida State’s bid to snap losing streak

Seminoles season sliding fast as defense crumbles

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A 500-yard offensive outburst wasn’t enough to take any pressure off of Florida State coach Bobby Bowden.

The Seminoles racked up 539 yards and 44 points Saturday night against Georgia Tech — and lost their third straight game anyway, 49-44.

“We couldn’t even make them punt,” Bowden said.

“If we’d had had to punt we probably wouldn’t have won the game,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said.

In Bowden’s 34th season at Florida State, the Seminoles (2-4, 0-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) are off to their worst start since Bowden’s first season in 1976.

Last week, the chairman of the university’s board of trustees said the 79-year-old coach, for whom the field at Doak Campbell Stadium is named, should retire at the end of the season.

Beating a ranked Georgia Tech team would have provided a sharp rejoinder to critics. Instead, the Yellow Jackets’ 401 yards rushing almost speak for themselves.

“What do you do now, 2-and-4?” Bowden asked himself as he worked on an apple Danish. “The only thing you can do is play one game at a time, be concerned about this game, and then after the year, decide about the year.”

His players escorted him arm-in-arm onto the field Saturday, but the gesture didn’t plug the defensive holes, or keep a spectacular performance by Christian Ponder from going to waste.

Ponder completed 26 of 38 passes for a career best 359 yards and five touchdowns. With the Seminoles’ defense allowing nearly seven yards per rush — and 131 yards passing on just four completions — that wasn’t enough.

The Seminoles have 12 days to get ready for their Oct. 22 date at North Carolina. After that there’s two home games with N.C. State and Maryland, and visits to Clemson and Wake Forest before closing the season at top-ranked Florida. In the Swamp.

The Gators, who have won two national championships in the last three seasons, have also beaten the Seminoles five years in a row.

“I’ve never been through something like this in my life,” said Bowden, still confident the Seminoles are close to getting back on the winning path.

“When’s it going turn around?” he asked. “I wish it would turn around with me.”