By RAY McNULTY
Scripps Howard News Service
May 09, 2008

FORT PIERCE, Fla. - It doesn't hit you, really, until you look back at the names and numbers.

Then it's obvious.

Then it's easy to see why Florida State, which put together 14 consecutive seasons in which it was ranked among the nation's top five teams in the final Associated Press polls, hasn't been the same college football powerhouse in this millennium.

The Seminoles haven't had a quarterback.

Not a great one, anyway.

Not even a really good one.

Not since Chris Weinke, who led Florida State to a national championship in 1999 and won the Heisman Trophy in 2000.

"We haven't had that one great player in a long time," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden was saying here earlier this week while speaking to the Treasure Coast Seminole Club -- the latest stop on his annual, banquet-circuit tour of school's booster clubs.

"We've lost a lot of close games the past few years. And when you're that close, it takes but one player to put you over the top."

Especially when that player is a quarterback.

And the Seminoles haven't had him.

They haven't had a Weinke. Or a Charlie Ward, who won the Heisman in 1993. Or even a Casey Weldon, the Heisman runner-up in 1991.

They haven't had the kind of top-shelf quarterback you'd expect to play for Florida State, where passers are surrounded by wonderful weather, terrific receivers, plenty of media attention and, until lately, a winning tradition.

Nor have the Seminoles, these past seven years, had a quarterback groomed and ready to step in and handle the challenges of playing against college football's best teams.

That wasn't the case during Bowden's glory years, a remarkable run that began with Danny McManus in 1987 and ended with Weinke in 2000. Throughout that stretch, seven of Florida State's eight starting quarterbacks were upperclassmen.

The lone exception was Weinke, who signed to play professional baseball out of high school and was a 26-year-old sophomore when he started his first game for Florida State.

"That was kind of the key to that run," Bowden said. "We always had an experienced quarterback ready to go."

Always.

Weldon in 1990, Ward in 1992, Danny Kanell in 1994 and Thad Busby in 1996 were juniors when they took over as Florida State's starting quarterback. Each of them kept the job for two seasons.

Chip Ferguson was a senior when he replaced McManus in 1988.

Peter Tom Willis was a fifth-year senior when he finally got his shot in 1989.

All eight were forced to wait for their turn.

"That's just the way it worked out," Bowden said. "We went into recruiting figuring that we had to get one great quarterback every year."

So what went wrong? Why wasn't there anyone waiting to replace Weinke? Bowden pointed to the losses of Jared Jones in 2001 and Wyatt Sexton in 2005.

Jones was Florida State's only experienced quarterback in 2001 when he was dismissed from the program for multiple violations of team rules. Sexton never returned to football after a highly publicized incident in June 2005, when his bizarre behavior was attributed to the effects of Lyme disease.

"The Jones kid looked like he was going to be pretty good, but we had to let him go," Bowden said. "And Sexton was coming back as a red-shirt junior, but he got sick."

And the result? "We had to start a freshman," Bowden said.

Florida State started Chris Rix in 2001 and suffered through four years of growing pains as he failed to live up to expectations. Then, after Sexton bugged out, the Seminoles started Drew Weatherford in 2005.

Four years later, they're still not sure if they have a championship-caliber quarterback.

"He's intelligent and hard worker," Bowden said of Weatherford, who missed a chunk of spring practice because of knee surgery. "If he improves, he can be the guy. I hope he has a good year."

Otherwise, the job could go to Christian Ponder, who played in only one game last season but split snaps with Weatherford earlier in the spring.

Ponder, though, is only a sophomore.

And the only other option would be E.J. Manuel, a prized recruit from Virginia Beach.

"A real good one," Bowden said of Manuel.

But just a freshman.

Again.

"It's hard for (freshman) quarterbacks," Bowden said. "But if they're great, they can do it."

The Seminoles haven't had one of those since Weinke -- something that has contributed mightily to their disappointing showing the past few years.

Look at the names and numbers.

Then and now.

And it hits you.

"Name me a great team," Bowden said, "without a great quarterback."

(Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. Contact him at ray.mcnulty@scripps.com or on the Web at www.tcpalm.com.)