If Florida State officials are going to get rid of Bobby Bowden, they will have to do so on the heels of a bowl game.

The Seminoles became eligible to play in the postseason for the 28th consecutive season, the longest active streak in the nation, after their 29-26 victory over Maryland on Saturday. The victory was far from impressive — the injury-depleted Terrapins are just 2-9 this season, including 1-9 against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents — but it was important.

Why? The game was Florida State’s last real chance to extend its bowl streak. The Seminoles (6-5, 4-4 ACC) must travel to the Swamp for a date with No. 1 Florida this week, and to say a victory in that game is unlikely would be an understatement.

Florida State’s players already know they are saying goodbye to one longtime coach — defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews is retiring at the end of the season after 26 years on the FSU sideline — and a failure to earn a bowl berth could have increased their chances of losing Bowden, too.

Bowden’s job still isn’t safe at this point, but it should be. He has said he wants to coach one more season, and Florida State officials should allow him to do so.

It’s true that excitement surrounding the program has diminished in recent years along with the Seminoles’ win totals, as evidenced by the thousands of empty seats at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday. But Florida State should take advantage of the opportunity that the 80-year-old Bowden has presented. For years, Bowden has refused to look into the future and announce which season might be his last. Now, he has done so. He has said he wants to coach one more year, and that means the finish line is in sight.

The Seminoles could announce before next season that 2010 will be Bowden’s last year, then spend the season celebrating his great career while sending him off into the sunset after he takes one final tour of the ACC. Or Florida State could end his tenure after this season, his 34th at the school, and deal with future bitterness from Bowden’s family and his loyal supporters.

It’s a no-brainer. In this case, the easy decision is the best decision.

Scoreboard

Clemson 34, Virginia 21
Florida State 29, Maryland 26
Miami 34, Duke 16
North Carolina 31, Boston College 13
Virginia Tech 38, NC State 10

ACC championship rematch set

As expected heading into the weekend, the ACC championship game will feature Clemson against Georgia Tech. The Tigers (8-3, 6-2) clinched the Atlantic Division on Saturday before they took the field against Virginia, earning a spot in Tampa, Fla., when North Carolina defeated Boston College. The Yellow Jackets (10-1, 7-1) had clinched the Coastal Division title the previous week with their 49-10 victory at Duke.

Georgia Tech won the regular-season meeting between the teams, defeating Clemson 30-27 in Atlanta on Sept. 10.

Rivalries highlight final week of schedule

The final week of the ACC regular-season schedule lacks drama as far as determining division championships, but it is loaded with rivalry games. Travel will be kept to a minimum this week, with six of the seven games not requiring either team to leave the state: Clemson at South Carolina, North Carolina at NC State, Wake Forest at Duke, Florida State at Florida, Miami at South Florida and Georgia at Georgia Tech.

The lone exception is Boston College at Maryland, but even that game features a couple of rivalry-like qualities. Both teams are in the Atlantic Division, and Maryland is the closest school in the ACC (in terms of geography) to Boston College.

NC State’s Bible faces cancer fight

One rivalry game in particular seems less important already. The North Carolina-NC State game, highly anticipated by fans of both teams every year, will go on without NC State offensive coordinator Dana Bible.

Coach Tom O’Brien announced Monday that Bible, who missed the Wolfpack’s loss at Virginia Tech on Saturday after undergoing tests, has been diagnosed with leukemia. The 56-year-old Bible will not coach for the rest of the season and will spend the next 30 days receiving treatment at UNC Hospitals Cancer Center in Chapel Hill.

O’Brien has enlisted the help of Jay Civetti, who worked under him as a graduate assistant at Boston College and NC State, at practice this week. Civetti now works as the offensive coordinator at Division III Tufts University, whose season is complete. His knowledge of the offense will help the Wolfpack prepare for North Carolina’s stingy defense.

Tar Heels on a roll

Clemson has received plenty of credit — and deservedly so — for bouncing back from a 2-3 start to win six consecutive games and earn a spot in the ACC championship game. But the Tigers have company with regard to their late-season surge. North Carolina, which blew an 18-point lead in the second half en route to losing to Florida State 30-27 on Oct. 22, has won four consecutive games since that meltdown.

The Tar Heels (8-3, 4-3), who have posted eight wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1996-97, worked their way back into the Top 25 this week thanks to another big defensive effort. UNC forced six turnovers against Boston College, coming up with five interceptions in a game for the first time since 1997, and limited the Eagles to just 198 total yards.

Cornerback Kendric Burney returned an interception for a touchdown for the second week in a row, giving him a school-record three interception returns for a touchdown in his career, but safety Deunta Williams stole the show. Williams celebrated his 21st birthday Saturday with three interceptions.

The Tar Heels face a dangerous NC State offense this weekend, but they do so with great motivation after losing to the Wolfpack 41-10 at home last season. UNC also has plenty of momentum, having allowed just 253.5 yards per game while forcing 14 turnovers during its first four-game winning streak since 2001.

And while North Carolina’s offense has struggled for most of the season, NC State (4-7, 1-6) likely will have to score plenty of points to beat the Tar Heels. The Wolfpack have allowed at least 30 points in a school-record eight consecutive games, giving up an average of 39.9 points per game in those contests. It’s no wonder that NC State is just 2-6 during that stretch.

Spiller (yawn) breaks another record

Clemson senior C.J. Spiller added another record to his resume, becoming the ACC’s leader for all-purpose yardage in a single season. Spiller has 2,066 yards this season, trumping the mark of 2,054 yards set by former Virginia star Thomas Jones in 1999.

Spiller totaled just 114 all-purpose yards against Virginia, but he rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Spiller, who has scored 15 touchdowns in 11 games, is the only player in the nation to score a touchdown in each of his team’s games this season.

Quick slants

• Florida State’s win over Maryland and Duke’s loss to Miami answered the ACC’s final questions regarding bowl eligibility. The conference, which sent an NCAA-record 10 teams to bowl games last season, will have seven bowl teams this season. The Blue Devils still can reach six wins with a victory over Wake Forest on Saturday, but they won’t be bowl eligible because they had two non-FBS schools on their schedule, meaning they would have needed seven wins.

• Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly has been the ACC’s top freshman defensive player this season. Kuechly, who made a career-high 19 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss against North Carolina, leads the ACC and ranks third nationally with 11.5 tackles per game.

• Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis passed for 303 yards and a touchdown at Miami, breaking the school record for career passing yardage in the process. Lewis has thrown for 9,678 yards, surpassing the mark of 9,614 yards set by Ben Bennett from 1980-83. Lewis also tied Anthony Dilweg’s school record with the 10th 300-yard passing game of his career.

• For one of the few times this season, Maryland received some good news on the injury front last week. Tailback Da’Rel Scott, who had been sidelined for five games since breaking his wrist against Clemson on Oct. 3, started against Florida State and rushed for 83 yards on 19 carries. The Terrapins might get back starting quarterback Chris Turner, who has missed the last two games with a knee injury, for the season finale against Boston College.

• Very quietly, junior Leonard Hankerson has emerged as Miami’s top receiving threat. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Hankerson, who made just 11 catches for 140 yards last season, posted career highs with eight receptions and 143 receiving yards against Duke on Saturday. Hankerson has been both consistent and spectacular this season. He is the only Miami player with a catch in all 11 games, and he has posted a catch of at least 20 yards in 10 of the 11 games.

• Unveiling some trick plays and its version of the Wildcat formation, Virginia enjoyed some surprising offensive production against Clemson. The Cavaliers trailed just 24-21 at halftime, scoring more points in the first half than they did in any of their previous five entire games.

• Virginia Tech senior linebacker Cody Grimm wasted no time making an impact in his team’s victory over NC State. Grimm tied an NCAA record for forced fumbles in a game, stripping the ball away from Wolfpack players on three of NC State’s first four offensive plays. The Hokies recovered two of the fumbles, which they converted into a 10-0 lead. Grimm leads the nation with seven forced fumbles this season.

• Virginia Tech tailback Ryan Williams sliced through NC State’s defense for 120 yards and four touchdowns on 32 carries. Williams, who has rushed for 1,355 yards this season, broke the school record for freshmen that Darren Evans set last season (1,265 yards). Williams also tied the ACC record for touchdowns by a freshman. He has 16 touchdowns this season, the same number former North Carolina star Leon Johnson totaled in 1993.