End Of An Era: A Look At Bobby Bowden's Last Visit To Death Valley

     Originally written November 2, 2009.

     FSU fans, take heart.  This is not an end to your program’s winning ways.  This is a bump in the road, a slight hiccup in the section of the cosmos that defines college football’s hierarchy.  Do not mourn for Bobby Bowden.  History will treat him much more kindly than the press of the 2009 season, though the highlight reel that was his tenure at Florida State likely won’t show many clips from last Saturday night at Death Valley.

      Dabo Swinney is busy building his legacy at Clemson.  Danny Ford has his posted throughout the stadium, and in the hearts of every Clemson fan.  Bobby Bowden will go down as one of the most important figures in our proud football program’s restoration, and this has little to do with the fact that his son coached here for a decade.  In so many ways, Bobby elevated Clemson football.  Was it foiling our national title hopes early in 1988?  Was it the fact that Coach Ford was able to avenge that loss the next year for his signature win in his final season?  Was it the punch in the mouth that the ‘Noles gave Ken Hatfield’s Tigers in the fourth quarter in 1992 during the first ACC matchup between the two schools?  Or was it 57-0 in 1993, and the following devastation, that ultimately led to Hatfield’s departure?  Yes it was.  It was all of those things, but most importantly it was what the ‘Noles became to symbolize to the Tigers.  Florida State knocked Clemson from its pedestal as ACC kings and refused to budge from the top of the mountain. 

      As true Clemson fans despise the South Carolina fight song, we came to fear “The Chop” to an even greater degree.  The arrogance we displayed in our series domination of South Carolina was not on display for Florida State.  It was replaced with a hope that we might be able to squeak one out against one of Bobby Bowden’s teams.  Florida State had become what Clemson was during its peak, and for a brief while we refused to accept it.  The first stage of grief is denial.    The ‘Noles set the bar high and pulled Clemson, kicking and screaming at times, into the modern era of big-time college football.  Eighteen years after Bobby Bowden and Florida State joined the basketball-oriented ACC, the league is now a superconference, boasting twelve teams and a championship game.  Of course, Florida State was the champion of that inaugural ACC title game, but that goes without saying.  As Clemson will one day play in and win that game, Florida State will soon return to that stage and leave victorious as well.

      The first half of Saturday night’s game suggested a storyline that Clemson fans were all too familiar with.  Ponder was crisp and the offense was efficient at moving the ball against Kevin Steele’s defense, which had trouble even getting the correct play in.  The Florida State defense at times looked downright nasty.  Each time the band in the west end zone queued up led to a collective groan from the near-capacity crowd.  The only difference early on was the absence of much of the Florida State travelling contingent.  Many had turned their tickets back in, an act that would have been unheard of a decade ago.  Then something happened.  It was as if the Seminole teams of old merged with the present, and slowly the momentum began to shift to the home team.  As the game progressed, it seemed that Bowden was further away from the huddle each time the clock was stopped.  In the end, it was a decisive step forward for Clemson and Swinney and yet another heartache for the ‘Noles.

      It is uncertain what this will mean in the near future for Bowden, Jimbo Fisher, and the Florida State program.  Maybe he goes at the end of the year.  Maybe next year becomes the “Bobby Bowden Farewell Tour.” What is certain is that the Seminoles will rise again, under a new coach (perhaps Fisher) who brings in defensive recruits on the level of Marvin Jones, Deion Sanders, and Darnell Dockett.  There will be other Charlie Wards, Warrick Dunns, and Amp Lees.  As painful as it is to say, one day Florida State will again celebrate in Death Valley, as they will in Blacksburg, Atlanta, Raleigh, and Miami.  Wins at Doak Campbell will again pile up.  The only difference will be that the new coach will be living up to the standards of the one who has a statue outside the stadium.  As Dabo is to Danny Ford, whoever is next to taste success in Tallahassee will be forever in the debt of Bobby Bowden.  His shadow is massive, but it won’t be dark in the Doak for long.