DOWN IN THE SOUTH BOWDEN HAS LED FSU TO UNPARALLELED SUCCESS, BUT SEMINOLES HAVE FALLEN ON TOUGH TIMES.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - The capacity of Doak Walker Stadium was 40,500, Florida State was still known more for its history of being a women's college, and there were a staggering 29 losses in 33 games.

Then Bobby Bowden was hired after the 1975 season for $37,500 annually, five years after he was turned down for the same position, and college football never was the same.

The College Football Hall of Famer won two national titles, 11 straight bowl games and finished in the Associated Press' top 5 for 14 consecutive seasons. During his 31-year stay at Florida State, the size of the football stadium has more than doubled to 82,300, which on game day represents more than half of the 153,658 residents within Tallahassee's city limits, so it is understandable why he still wields carte blanche in the southeastern part of the nation.

At 77, Bowden has more wins in major college football than anyone, but a recent slide -- at least by the standards he has set at Florida State -- made him the recipient of more criticism than anyone not named Joe Paterno.

For the first time since 1990, the Seminoles are not playing in a January bowl game, instead relegated to playing UCLA at AT&T Park in Wednesday's Emerald Bowl, which represents Florida State's least prominent postseason game since the 1986 All-American Bowl.

And just like Paterno, sans the broken leg and with a much more friendly and humble demeanor, Bowden refuses to discuss retirement.

``My dad retired when he was 64, and he died a year later,'' said Bowden, who is 365-113-4 in 41 seasons. ``I've seen others that, once they hang it up, they lose their vitality or something. I'm not anxious to get into that. I've already said the next big event after retiring is you know what, and I'm not going to volunteer for that.''

Bowden remains an engaging speaker, whether he is wooing a recruit's mom, providing daily sound bites to the media or delivering a sermon at a local church in the offseason.

His daily in-season routine is precise, down to his arrival via golf cart under a tree about 45 minutes before practice. He then exercises -- ``sometimes we'll actually see him jogging around the field a little bit,'' defensive tackle Andre Fluellen said -- and often is seen picking up trash on the field before retreating alone to his tower to watch over practice.

``I think the best part about him is everything that he's done, every award that's he won and every championship that he's gotten, he's never lost his humility,'' said Florida State tailback Lorenzo Booker, the former St. Bonaventure of Ventura star. ``I don't have to make an appointment to see my coach. As a matter of fact, I've been to my coach's house more times than half my teammate's. You can't help but like the guy.''

However, his most trying season in three decades appears to have worn deeply on Bowden, and for good reason.

His son and longtime offensive coordinator, Jeff, announced he is resigning after the game (LSU's Jimbo Fisher is the expected replacement), the Seminoles have not finished in the top10 since 2000, and a loss to the Bruins would give Florida State (6-6) its first losing season since 1976, Bowden's first in Tallahassee.

``It's been a very disappointing season for me, because we thought we would do better going into this season and we ended up 6-6,'' Bowden said. ``Now, the thing about the season is this; we had one team that really blew us out, Wake Forest, 30-0. And there were three teams we blew out. But the other eight games all came down to the last minute.

``Losing my son as offensive coordinator, naturally, was disappointing to me.''

But Florida State's predicament isn't necessarily a sign of the end to the program's success.

Three of Florida State's past four seasons ended with a BCS bowl berth, and the only reason Bowden's .658 winning percentage (50-26) the past six seasons is considered reprehensible in some circles is because he went 152-19-1 from 1987-2000.

``You have to marvel at what he's done,'' Booker said. ``When you hear people talking about coach Bowden should leave and things like that, it's not like when coach Paterno was going 2-8 and 3-7. It's funny, but we won our conference three of the last five years.''

It is easy to forget that Larry Jones, the man hired by Florida State after the 1970 season instead of Bowden, and his successor, Darrell Mudra, were a combined 19-37 in the five seasons before Bowden's arrival.

Just like it is easy to forget Bowden won 10 or more games for 14 straight seasons.

``I know he rally wants to win another national championship, so that's a big goal for him,'' Fluellen said. ``As long as he stays healthy and as long as he stays sharp, I don't see him retiring any time soon.''

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) A loss to UCLA on Wednesday would give Florida State its first sub-.500 season under Bobby Bowden sincer 1976, the coach's first year with the school.

(2) Florida State coach Bobby Bowden's teams went 152-19-1 between 1987-2000.

Doug Pensigner/Getty Images

Box:

EMERALD BOWL: UCLA vs. FLORIDA STATE