Sept. 14, 2000

"Is dis Mick Mixon?" A husky, male voice was on the phone. Yes, I replied.

"Mick, dis is Vinnie `da Worm' Castellano. Howareyouse? Look, my people tell me dat you predicted da final score of da Carolina - Tulsa game and da final score of da Carolina - Wake game widdin two points. Dat so?"

"Well, yes," I said. "On UNC's official website, tarheelblue.com. But they were just lucky guesses. I usually don't predict. And who exactly are `your people', anyway?"

"None of your concern. Say, who do you like in da Penn State - Pittsburgh game dis weekend?"

Then, I woke up. It was a dream, thank goodness. No, a nightmare. Shoot, I'm just trying to provide a little pre-game thought or two to my readers. But the NCAA is flat terrified of gambling, and for good reason. Maybe I should refrain from writing what I feel the final score might be.

WHEN FLORIDA STATE HAS THE BALL: There was a kid in my neighborhood growing up who had the gift of true elusiveness, Mark Yonce. A college intramural football buddy of mine, Freddie Womble, had it. You couldn't catch him. Ronald Curry has it. Bosley Allen appears to. Jamal Jones might.

At Florida State University, you don't touch the football unless you have it. Carolina has two who are special. The Noles play with a dozen or more. And that is why they are Florida State. Their offense is all based on probabilities. They spread you out and QUICKLY get the ball into the hands of a marvelously talented athlete. If you give them cushion to guard against the deep ball, that gives them room to dodge you and turn a 6 yard out into a 45 yard gain. If you play bump/man coverage and line up tight on them, they can run by you for a touchdown.

Getting pressure on Weinke is tough because he gets rid of the ball so fast. Often, he'll line up five yards deep in the shotgun, take the snap, backup, survey the field and fire. Bam. The ball is away in 1.7, 1.8, sometimes 2 seconds.

Therefore, two huge Carolina keys Saturday afternoon are how well the UNC secondary plays the airborne ball and how well they tackle. FSU will complete some passes and make some yards, but the Tar Heel defensive unit is good enough to frustrate the Noles IF they don't allow FSU cheap touchdowns through missed tackles or by misplaying the ball in the air.

WHEN UNC HAS THE BALL: In the past, proud Carolina teams have lost to the Seminoles because their edge pass rushers overwhelmed UNC's offensive tackles. This year, with the option attack back in Carolina's arsenal, the Heels have the ability to read that rush end and option off of him. That could slow down the fearsome Seminole pass rush.

Florida State's secondary is awesome, but Carolina's receiving corps is no box of chocolate either. The matchups should be interesting ones, if Ronald Curry will throw on time and not hold the ball.

The FSU defense loves to get you running side to side. Sweeps and outside runs get chased down like prey on the Discovery Channel's Cheetah Week. Therefore, you have to take your shots running right at these sons of guns. You may get stopped, but you also may find a crease up in there every once in a while.

INTANGIBLES: This will be the defending national champions' first appearance of the season at home, so the crowd will be rocking. Will the boys in blue draw some energy from that, too? Can the Tar Heels stop FSU from scoring on a blocked punt, a punt return or a kickoff return? Can UNC win the giveaway/takeaway game? Can Carolina's young secondary hold up? Is the moon in the seventh sun? Will Jupiter align with Mars? (Then peace will guide the planets, and love will fill the stars.)