FSU saves winning season with Emerald Bowl victory over UCLA

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• FSU Wins Emerald Bowl

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• EMERALD BOWL

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	21	17
Total Yards	430	434
Passing	325	240
Rushing	105	194
Penalties	5-44	4-34
3rd Down Conversions	5-14	6-16
4th Down Conversions	1-1	0-1
Turnovers	1	3
Possession	30:12	29:48

Individual Leaders

Florida State Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Weatherf... 21/43 325 1 1	UCLA Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Cowan 15/36 240 2 2
Florida State Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Booker 22 91 2 25 Weatherford 4 14 0 11 Davis 1 2 0 2	UCLA Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Markey 19 144 0 33 Williams 6 31 0 14 Moline 1 8 1 8
Florida State Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Fagg 6 68 0 29 Booker 5 117 0 39 Carr 4 88 1 30 Davis 3 33 0 12	UCLA Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Baumgartner 2 49 0 27 Everett 2 47 0 38 Taylor 2 32 1 25 Paulsen 2 18 0 15

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				FSU	UCLA
	TD	4:50	LORENZO BOOKER 25 YD RUN (GARY CISMESIA KICK) Drive info: 1 plays, 25 yards.	7	0
	TD	4:16	BRANDON BREAZELL 78 YD PASS FROM PATRICK COWAN (JUSTIN MEDLOCK KICK) Drive info: 1 plays, 78 yards.	7	7
	FG	0:20	JUSTIN MEDLOCK 46 YD FG Drive info: 6 plays, 43 yards.	7	10
SECOND QUARTER				FSU	UCLA
	FG	12:20	GARY CISMESIA 39 YD FG Drive info: 11 plays, 68 yards.	10	10
	TD	8:40	JUNIOR TAYLOR 7 YD PASS FROM PATRICK COWAN (JUSTIN MEDLOCK KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 72 yards.	10	17
	FG	2:34	JUSTIN MEDLOCK 19 YD FG Drive info: 8 plays, 34 yards.	10	20
	FG	0:25	GARY CISMESIA 21 YD FG Drive info: 9 plays, 76 yards.	13	20
THIRD QUARTER				FSU	UCLA
	FG	11:29	GARY CISMESIA 36 YD FG Drive info: 7 plays, 36 yards.	16	20
	TD	8:58	LAWRENCE TIMMONS 25 YD BLOCKED PUNT RETURN (GARY CISMESIA KICK)	23	20
	TD	5:49	CHANE MOLINE 8 YD RUN (JUSTIN MEDLOCK KICK) Drive info: 6 plays, 57 yards.	23	27
FOURTH QUARTER				FSU	UCLA
	TD	9:46	GREG CARR 30 YD PASS FROM DREW WEATHERFORD (GARY CISMESIA KICK) Drive info: 11 plays, 90 yards.	30	27
	TD	6:17	LORENZO BOOKER 3 YD RUN (GARY CISMESIA KICK) Drive info: 6 plays, 51 yards.	37	27
	TD	5:04	TONY CARTER 86 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (GARY CISMESIA KICK)	44	27

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Although Bobby Bowden has led Florida State to much bigger victories in far grander bowls, a winning season is always sweet -- even when it ends with Bowden raising the Emerald Bowl trophy in a chilly baseball park 2,600 miles from Tallahassee.

Lorenzo Booker ran for 91 yards, caught five passes for 117 more and scored two touchdowns, leading the Seminoles to a 44-27 victory over UCLA on Wednesday night to put a happy ending on Bowden's 30th straight winning season.

All-Time Bowl Wins
Bowden Florida State's 44-27 victory over UCLA in the Emerald Bowl gave coach Bobby Bowden a 20-9-1 record in bowl games. He trails Penn State's Joe Paterno for most bowl game wins all-time. This was the first December bowl game for Florida State since the 1990 Blockbuster Bowl.
Coach	Wins
Joe Paterno	21
Bobby Bowden	20
Bear Bryant	15
Lou Holtz	12
Tom Osborne	12

Sure, this was no fairy-tale finish for a program that once dominated the sport and won two national titles. Wracked by injuries and beset by coaching turmoil that led to Jeff Bowden's in-season resignation as offensive coordinator, the Seminoles (7-6) finished with their worst record since going 7-4-1 in 1986.

But the 77-year-old Bowden still hasn't coached a losing club since going 5-6 in his first season at Florida State -- and with 21 points in the fourth quarter against the collapsing Bruins (7-6), the Seminoles are headed into 2007 with more momentum than they've had all season.

"That's what Florida State used to do all the time," Bowden said. "I hope this is a good sign for us. I've been looking for that sign."

A 3-5 record in ACC play, including four losses in six games to close the regular season, forced Florida State to finish an ignominious year with the longest road trip in school history. The Seminoles have played in 25 straight bowl games, but the last 15 were played in January, with considerably bigger stakes and payouts.

Don't tell that to Booker, a California native who got a chance to impress 130 friends and family members in the stands. This minor bowl was a major win.

"We have a 30-year streak, and we're proud of our history," said Drew Weatherford, who overcame a shaky start to pass for 325 yards, 126 in the fourth quarter. "We had to keep it going, and it gives us a head start and a boost for next season."

Florida State's fourth quarter was dynamite. Greg Carr caught a go-ahead, 30-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-9, and Booker capped his final college game with a key third-down catch and a 3-yard TD run with 6:17 left.

Tony Carter's 86-yard interception return for another score 37 seconds later was the finishing touch in Bowden's 20th bowl victory.

Patrick Cowan passed for 240 yards and Chris Markey ran for 144 for the inconsistent Bruins, who came in with a three-game winning streak, highlighted by a 13-9 victory over archrival USC 3½ weeks ago.

"When you look at the score the next day, I'm sure people are going to say, 'Wow, what happened?" UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said. "But it was a lot different game than the score indicated. We played three pretty good quarters, so from an effort standpoint, I don't have any questions we're heading in the right direction."

Yet the Seminoles rolled over the Bruins on offense, defense and special teams in the second half. Lawrence Timmons returned a blocked punt 25 yards for a score in the third quarter, and Carter's return was just one of several big stops.

"This is one of those times that a lot of people were doubting if Florida State football was any good," Weatherford said. "It makes it sweeter that UCLA beat USC. It shows we're going to be back in the national championship picture at some point in the near future, maybe even next year."

Most in the sellout crowd of 40,331 fans cheered UCLA, but Florida State had a surprisingly solid rooting section for a game on the opposite coast.

Florida State took a 23-20 lead in the third quarter when Dekoda Watson blocked a punt and Timmons returned it for a score, but UCLA went back ahead on Chane Moline's 8-yard TD run moments later.

When a Florida State drive stalled early in the fourth quarter with the Seminoles trailing by four, Bowden and his son proved they had nothing to lose by boldly going for it on fourth and long. Carr easily made his TD catch a step from the end zone when his defender fell down.

Brandon Breazell caught a 78-yard TD pass and Junior Taylor had a scoring catch in the first half for the Bruins, who finished a mediocre regular season playing some of their best football in Dorrell's four seasons.

The Bruins led 20-13 at halftime, and a game expected to be dominated by defense featured 501 total yards in the first half alone.

"We have to use this to drive ourselves to getting better," UCLA linebacker Christian Taylor said. "We need to work even harder in the offseason, because we know we have some weaknesses. Someone had to lose and it's disappointing it was us."