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When I turned on the Florida State - UNC game midway throught the second quarter and saw the 'Noles were down, 17-3, I got a little worried.

Geez, I thought. This doesn't look good. They needed this game.

And surprise, surprise: they fought back and got it.

Finally, Christian Ponder showed he's more than just a pretty face on a hot bod. 98 yard TD pass en route to a career-high 395 passing yards? Running the ball himself to make things happen? He did it all and looked good doing it. Finally.

Finally, the Seminoles managed to look like they were actually paying attention to what was happening on the field while they were out there. To be fair, they've had a few distractions, from the pre-season issues with academic violations and the potential erasure of 14 victories, to more recent calls for Bobby Bowden to step down.

Yes, in theory the football players should be focused only on preparations for the next game, but when there are issues, rumors, and controversies surrounding the program, they don't go unnoticed. Usually, they manifest themselves as dropped passes, fumbles, idiotic penalties - all ugly, all signaling a lack of focus. 

For the last few games, Bobby Bowden's come under fire from some fans, some members of the media, even a trustee. Why? Because Florida State kept losing, three in a row and maybe more to come. And why was that? In large part, because the players weren't playing very well. Sometimes you can win sloppy games. The Seminoles weren't. So the cries for Bowden to finally hang up his hat continued, as if switching coaches - or even making that decision just a few games into the season - would actually solve anything. 

The 'Noles weren't losing because of a lack of talent - Christian Ponder showed more of it last night than I think many people, myself included, realized he had, and he was't the only one. And I don't think, with the success Bowden's had at FSU, that they were losing because they were poorly coached.

No, they were losing because they played poorly. At times, in the last few games, they looked even worse than that. Changing coaches is not the magic sticky stuff that's going to keep players from dropping perfect passes or from throwing interceptions, especially not when the coach you're trying to oust is Bobby Bowden. 

Bobby Bowden is Florida State football. Florida State football would be nothing without him and his two national titles and 27-season streak of playing in bowl games and everything else he's accomplished. Anyone who's so disrespectful as to write him off as washed up after a few early losses without waiting to see how the rest of the season goes should be tomahawk-chopped. 

Yes, he's getting up in years, but age is only a number and I'd wager you feel much younger when you're winning. So why doesn't everyone stop complaining and let the man do his job, which is to win football games?

What's that you're saying? He's not winning anymore? Yeah, we heard that before, a few years back, when Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions were struggling. And we stopped hearing it when they started winning, so let's give Bowden a chance, aight?

After all, a chance at winning - a very slim chance - was all Florida State had at halftime against the Tar Heels. I don't think many people expected them to turn things around, make plays, and come out on top at the end. I certainly thought it was all over, but the Seminoles proved me wrong.

A slim chance is all anyone gave them to turn this year around, but if the second half of that game is any indication of the potential for the second half of this season, they could prove a lot of people wrong. 

For Bobby Bowden's sake, I hope they do.