Bowden winless against Oklahoma

MIAMI (AP) _ If not for Oklahoma, Bobby Bowden and his Florida State Seminoles might be unbeaten in the Orange Bowl. <br><br>Florida State is headed to its sixth Orange Bowl, where the No. 3 Seminoles

Monday, December 4th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ If not for Oklahoma, Bobby Bowden and his Florida State Seminoles might be unbeaten in the Orange Bowl.

Florida State is headed to its sixth Orange Bowl, where the No. 3 Seminoles (11-1) will play the top-ranked Sooners (12-0) on Jan. 3 in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

FSU has won three in a row in the Orange Bowl after dropping its first two games there _ both to Oklahoma.

Bowden hasn't forgotten the losses, either. The Sooners beat the Seminoles 24-7 in 1980 and 18-17 in 1981.

``They beat us every time,'' he said, noting he is 0-3 against Oklahoma since joining Florida State in 1976. The Sooners also beat his squad 24-9 during his inaugural season at FSU.

In 35 years as a head coach, Oklahoma is the only team Bowden has faced more than once and remains winless against.

Bowden wants to have better success against the Sooners this year, but second-year Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops gave Bowden's team some trouble while he was the defensive coordinator at Florida from 1996-98.

Under Stoops, Florida's defense held the high-scoring Seminoles to less than 25 points per game in four meetings. With a month to prepare for FSU before the 1997 Sugar Bowl, Stoops' defense helped the Gators beat Florida State 52-20 and claim their only national championship.

Stoops, in a similar position now, is hoping his experience against the Seminoles will pay off.

``It does give you a familiarity with them, to recognize and know firsthand the way they play and the speed that they play with,'' Stoops said. ``It hasn't been that long ago. I certainly know what they like to do and the manner in which they operate on offense and defense.

``I watched them so closely for three years and played four games against them, including the national championship game. That is an advantage as opposed to someone who hasn't been in that situation.''

Though Stoops has coached in one national championship game, the Seminoles are headed for their third straight and fourth in the last five years. Florida State opened as an 11-point favorite.

The defending national champions last played in the Orange Bowl in 1996, beating Notre Dame 31-26 in the final bowl game played in the Orange Bowl. The last four Orange Bowls have been played at Pro Player Stadium, formerly known as Joe Robbie Stadium.

Stoops has never played or coached in the Orange Bowl. With Florida in 1998, Stoops would have made the trip to South Florida, but Oklahoma hired him before the bowl game.

Florida hasn't beaten the Seminoles since Stoops left Gainesville.

``I know this: you better have a scheme,'' Bowden said. ``When he first came to Florida, he brought his scheme with him and he gave us fits with it, just fits. Then we began to work on it more and more and more and now we're a lot more familiar with it. In fact, we run a lot of it ourselves''

Oklahoma hopes for a different ending from its last visit to the Orange Bowl, 13 years ago. The Sooners were unbeaten and No. 1 in 1987, but lost to Miami 20-14.

The Sooners are 11-5 in the Orange Bowl, a statistic Stoops shared with his players in the locker room after their win over Kansas State in the Big 12 title game Saturday night.

``Oklahoma traditionally has played extremely well in the Orange Bowl,'' Stoops said. ``Our players understand that Oklahoma plays well in the Orange Bowl, and you can bet that we'll watch a bunch of those highlights.''