Sept. 22, 1999

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Top-ranked Florida State may be undefeated, but it is not satisfied.

The Seminoles (3-0, 2-0 ACC) will look to put on one of their vintage performances Saturday when they play their first road game of the season, traveling to Chapel Hill for an Atlantic Coast Conference battle with North Carolina (1-1, 0-1).

Florida State's offensive and defensive units haven't been in sync at the same time, resulting in some ugly games - a fact not lost on coach Bobby Bowden.

"We haven't been impressive yet," he said. "We've been winning because we have superior personnel."

Despite their lack of dominance, the Seminoles do have two wins over conference opponents, including a 42-11 rout of North Carolina State last Saturday.

Highlighting Florida State's struggles is the fact that kicker Sebastian Janikowski was its most valuable player. He kicked five field goals, blasted all of his kickoffs into or out of the end zone - twice hitting the goal-post crossbar - and ran down a Wolfpack linebacker to save points

"The offense has been kind of inconsistent," Bowden said. "But there's no need in me complaining about 42 points."

The Seminoles' offense could be facing the Tar Heels at just the right time.

North Carolina linebacker Brandon Spoon tore his left biceps tendon two weeks ago in a 42-30 victory at Indiana and is lost for the season. Spoon was the top returning tackler in the ACC and was the heart and soul of the North Carolina defense.

That leadership job is now open, coach Carl Torbush said.

"It will take every backup linebacker that we have to be somewhere as productive as Brandon was," Torbush said. "We not only lost a great football player, the leader of our defensive football team, but we lost a great practice player, a guy with a tremendous amount of experience."

In addition, the Tar Heels, who come off a bye week, have not had any success against Florida State. They are 0-9-1 against the Seminoles, including a 39-13 defeat in Tallahassee last season.

The Seminoles are the only team North Carolina has played at least 10 times without a victory.

Wide receiver Peter Warrick (26 receptions, 338 yards, one touchdown) will look to catch a pass in his 35th straight game as he climbs toward the school record set by E.G. Green, who had a reception in 38 straight games from 1994-97.

Quarterback Ronald Curry leads the Tar Heels attack. He is 29-for-52 for 338 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, and has also rushed for 100 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries.