TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -Bobby Bowden has not only outlasted nearly all of his contemporaries in the coaching business, but three of his sons as well.
And one person, family matriarch Ann Bowden, might be the happiest person in the stands Saturday when No. 24 Florida State (6-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) hosts Clemson (4-3, 2-3) in a key league game.
“It had gotten to the point where I just didn’t have the heart to sit out there and see one of them lose,” said Ann Bowden, who skipped last year’s game because of divided loyalties. “After all I’m a mother you know. There is something about mothers and their sons, mothers and their sibling children.”
After nine years of watching Bobby damage her third son’s job security, Ann Bowden can pull for her husband Saturday when the coach spends his 79th birthday trying to defeat the school that ran off the last Bowden coaching son last month.
o think about it,” Ann Bowden said about her husband’s birthday. “I have to do all the planning for getting old. He doesn’t like being old and he doesn’t like me being old. I’m just 76.”
Bowden, who hopes to pick up his 380th career win Saturday, is on record that he wants to reach 400 wins before calling it a career. He is second all-time among major college coaches in wins, trailing Penn State’s 81-year-old Joe Paterno by two victories.
Meanwhile, sons Terry and Jeff are trying to get back into the college coaching game while Tommy builds a new home in the Florida Panhandle and sorts out his future plans.
“If Tommy felt he had had all he wanted I’d be happy for him, but if he gets antsy and wants to get back in there, he should,” momma Bowden said.
“Terry desperately wants to be back out there,” she said. “He doesn’t feel fulfilled. He had to give up that Auburn job before he was ready and wanted a respite from it.”
Terry Bowden has stayed involved with the sport as a radio and television commentator.
“Bobby has made his mark,” Ann Bowden said. “Tommy and the other guys had not quite reached that pinnacle and were still striving to win.”
Meanwhile, the elder Bowden will try to add to his victory total before blowing out the birthday candles Saturday. He’s 4-1 during days he’s shared his birthday with a game.
yers suspended for undisclosed violations of team rules, including redshirt freshman Bert Reed for the second time in three weeks. Reed sat out the Virginia Tech game Oct. 25 for skipping classes. The latest transgression wasn’t revealed.
Sophomore quarterback Christian Ponder will have to rely more heavily on veteran receivers Greg Carr and Preston Parker along with his running game, which has been boosted by the development of freshman Jermaine Thomas.
Clemson has plenty of weapons at its skill positions, starting with the multitalented C.J. Spiller, who racked up 214 yards in all-purpose yardage last week to lead the way for a Tiger win at Boston College.
Clemson will be after its fourth straight victory over the Seminoles, who need to win to remain in serious contention for a spot in the ACC title game next month in Tampa. Maryland’s loss Thursday night at Virginia Tech leaves eight of the ACC’s 12 schools with two defeats.
“When you’ve lost two ballgames in the conference each game becomes a must game,” Bowden said.
But this must game is one which his bride of almost 60 years will attend and cheer heartily for her husband.
“Ann will be a lot more loose this ball game,” Bowden said.
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