| | | |
Friday, December 13, 2002
Swan song or not, Weinke now has a legacy
By Marc Connolly
BCSfootball.com
NEW ORLEANS -- The Seminoles had a similar plan in
last year's national championship against Tennessee:
Get the ball to No. 9. This year, they had the quarterback
to do it.
And he did. Over and over again.
After a neck injury forced Chris Weinke to mercifully sit
through his team's 23-16 loss to the Vols in the Tostitos
Fiesta Bowl last year, the junior quarterback got his
chance to actually see the field with the national
championship on the line. And unlike every other
quarterback, besides Charlie Ward, in a long line of
exceptional FSU signal-callers, Weinke came through
when it mattered most.
The 27-year-old threw for 329 yards and four touchdowns
on 20-for-34 passing in a 46-29 victory in the Nokia Sugar
Bowl on Tuesday night to culminate an unbeaten season
for the first-ever wire-to-wire top-ranked team in history.
Though Peter Warrick torched
the Hokie defense for six
receptions for 163 yards and
two touchdowns to win the
game's MVP, someone had
to get him the ball.
"He's the guy. He's the
reason," said Florida State
offensive coordinator Mark
Richt on Weinke's role in
winning the school's second national championship.
Showing tremendous confidence in his quarterback,
Richt abandoned the type of gimmick plays FSU faithful
have come to expect from the offense. Instead of utilizing
direct snaps to Warrick or reverses and end arounds,
Richt's game plan was built around Weinke.
"Coach Richt had the master plan," said fullback Dan
Kendra. "We went straight at their defense. We spread
the field out to utilize our speed and Chris Weinke. And
he made all the right decisions spreading the ball around
tonight when it counted."
The when-it-counted time of the season came for the
'Noles at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Down 29-28
after a furious Virginia Tech comeback from a
two-touchdown deficit at halftime, Weinke took over.
"We were flat in the second half, so I knew I had to calm
the guys down and get back to basics," said Weinke.
"We'd been down before, but we knew we'd come back. It
was a guarantee. I said to our offense, this is our time.
This is the time to step up and get us that Sears
Trophy."
"We looked to him in the fourth quarter because we
needed him to lead us on a drive," said tight end Ryan
Sprague. "We had confidence he wouldn't fail us since
that's what he's done here ever since he became a
starter last year. That confidence you see in our offense
can be attributed to his calmness, confidence and
leadership."
On an all-important third-and-11at the Virginia Tech 14,
Weinke dropped back and coolly tossed a
perfectly-placed ball into the hands of Ron Dugans for a
five-point lead. Moments later, he found his favorite
target, Warrick, across the middle for the two-point
conversion and a 36-29 lead.
A Sebastian Janikowski field goal built the lead to 39-29,
but with Michael Vick in the building and half a quarter
left to play, the 'Noles didn't feel safe. When Va. Tech's
fake punt failed to move the chains and gave the
Seminoles offense the ball on the Hokie 43, Warrick sent
a message to Weinke in the FSU huddle.
"Want me to close out this game?"
The next play, Weinke gave him the opportunity to do
just that by firing the pigskin towards the end zone to a
streaking Warrick, who made a great individual effort in
fighting off his man to reach the ball for the
game-breaking touchdown.
"They threw some different looks at Peter tonight," said
Weinke, who believes his receiver is the best player in
college football. "It was some stuff we didn't expect, but I
knew I had to get him the ball and just put it up there and
let him make some plays. More times than not, he'll
make that play and it'll be something out of this world."
Warrick's 43-yard TD gave the Seminoles a 46-29 lead,
which would ultimately serve as the final score.
Florida State's big-play ability shown on that play defined
Bobby Bowden's squad this season.
"They sacked me a few times and I made some poor
decisions, but we hit on the big plays. That's what
matters most," said Weinke.
And what ultimately matters most to Weinke is wins and
losses. That's why he's the one in the spotlight now,
rather than his younger counterpart who received an
abundance of attention leading up to this game.
"Vick had a heck of a game and he's a great athlete, but
it's about winning games," said Weinke. "And that's what
I did."
Saying he'll announce on Friday whether he'll return for
his senior season at Florida State, the 27-year-old former
Toronto Blue Jays farmhand is expected to opt for the
NFL. If he does, he'll leave the Seminole program with an
astounding personal winning streak of 20 games. With
the victory over Virginia Tech, Weinke's record as a
starter at Florida State is 21-1, which spans over two
seasons. And as the quarterback of Bobby Bowden's first
undefeated season, he'll always have a legacy in
Tallahassee.
"They won't talk about that '93 team anymore," said
All-American offensive guard Jason Whitaker. "This is the
one they'll talk about.
"Whether Weinke leaves for the pros or not, he'll be
remembered for winning this game."
| | | |
|
|
