A Minor matter: FSU tailback aims for rings, not awards

MIAMI (AP) _ By the time Travis Minor left school, many Florida State fans once believed, he would walk away with All-America honors, and maybe a Heisman Trophy. <br><br>Minor will play his final game

Tuesday, January 2nd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ By the time Travis Minor left school, many Florida State fans once believed, he would walk away with All-America honors, and maybe a Heisman Trophy.

Minor will play his final game for the Seminoles on Wednesday night in the Orange Bowl and will finish his career minus such accolades.

One of the most highly regarded recruits in Florida State history, he put up neat numbers _ 3,218 yards on the ground and 28 TDs in becoming the only player ever to lead the Seminoles in rushing for four straight years.

Minor got off to a great beginning, scoring on an 87-yard run on his first carry in his first start. Yet he never posted a 1,000-yard season.

``We're not a team where one guy runs the ball 30 times week after week, but it's not like we don't have people capable of doing that,'' the senior said.

``I know I'm capable of doing it. I don't want 30 carries a game if it means we're losing or playing in any old bowl.''

Injuries played a part, as Minor was hurt for part of each season.

``Poor old Travis sprained his ankle every year,'' coach Bobby Bowden said Tuesday.

Also put the blame on the Seminoles' system, Bowden said.

``If he'd played on our football team up until 1993 _ we changed our scheme then, with more shotgun, more four wideouts _ he'd have been a 1,000-yard runner,'' Bowden said. ``He's kind of an afterthought, rather than trying to feature him.''

Bowden called Minor ``the most unselfish player I've ever had.''

``He should have fussed more about not getting the ball,'' he said. ``But we teach them not to fuss.''

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JUST KIDDING: Bobby Bowden cracked himself up.

The Florida State coach was asked: Did he think Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and assistant Steve Spurrier Jr. sought out advice from their former boss _ Florida coach Steve Spurrier _ on how to beat the Seminoles?

``Not if they want to win,'' Bowden said Tuesday, breaking into a belly laugh.

Still chuckling, he added, ``That was for Steve, that was for Steve.''

Top-ranked Oklahoma plays No. 3 Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Wednesday night.

Bowden was sure the phone lines buzzed between the older Spurrier and his son, who coaches wide receivers for the Sooners, along with Stoops.

``I imagine they've had good talks with Steve,'' he said. ``Steve will let them know everything he knows about us. If they don't ask him, they're nuts.''

Bowden has beaten Florida three straight years. Stoops is a former Florida defensive coordinator, and Spurrier Jr. worked with special teams under his father.

They were both on Spurrier's staff when the Gators beat Bowden's team 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl for the 1996 national title.

Stoops said he had been talking to Spurrier recently, though not about strategy.

``He's not sitting here trying to tell us what to do or to coach this game, outside of just wishing us luck,'' Stoops said.

Spurrier's team lost to No. 2 Miami 37-20 in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night.

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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Growing up in Muskogee, Okla., future Sooners fullback Seth Littrell ran rings around his father.

Or rather, he often rambled into his dad's room and tried on the two national championship rings Jim Littrell won as a fullback at Oklahoma in 1974-75.

``I thought that was the coolest thing. I'd put them on and take them off and put them on again,'' the younger Littrell said this week. ``Growing up, I would watch a lot of film of him playing. They're some of the greatest memories he's had. It's always been a part of my life. I was glued to the television set when OU came on.''

Littrell gets a chance to earn his own ring when the No. 1 Sooners play Florida State in the Orange Bowl. The senior blocking back is also one of Oklahoma's special teams captains.

Littrell's father won his second ring when the Sooners beat Michigan 14-6 in the 1976 Orange Bowl.

Even before Wednesday night's kickoff, Littrell likes the omens he's seen.

``When he left to come down here to play in the Orange Bowl, it had just snowed back home _ the same way it happened to us,'' he said. ``Also, we're staying in the same hotel they did.''

Seth said his father was planning to attend the game.

``He never misses one,'' he said.

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RIGHT TIME, WRONG PLACE: Yvonne Hernandez expects to see a few people show up at her place Wednesday night. They always do.

That's because each year there's a bit of confusion _ while it's the Orange Bowl game, it's no longer played at the actual Orange Bowl Stadium.

``Every year, some fans come here on game night. They want to know where their seats are and why it's so quiet,'' Hernandez, the assistant to the Orange Bowl Stadium, said Tuesday.

``And they want to know where they can park their RVs,'' she said. ``We have to tell them, 'Not here, we close at 5 o'clock.'''

For the fifth straight year, the game itself will be held at Pro Player Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins and located halfway between downtown Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

The Orange Bowl Stadium is still home to the Miami Hurricanes football team. Florida State lost there 27-24 on Oct. 7.

The old park opened as Rodney Burdine Stadium and was dedicated on Dec. 10, 1937. Later, it became the Orange Bowl.

The last Orange Bowl game played at the Orange Bowl Stadium was on Jan. 1, 1996, when Florida State beat Notre Dame.