JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The West Virginia players wore decals on their helmets with the initials "CH'' and the number 5 during their Gator Bowl game against Florida State Friday, in honor of former Mountaineer wide receiver Chris Henry. Henry, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals for five seasons, died Dec. 17 at age 26, after falling out of the back of a pickup truck in Charlotte, N.C.

West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart, an assistant on the staff when Henry was there from 2002-04, had floated the idea of commemorating Henry in some way during the week the team was in Jacksonville. After the game, a 33-21 loss, Stewart spoke of his players putting the loss into perspective and then showed his own cap, which all the coaches wore and which also had "CH'' and "5'' patches on it.

"That 'CH' stands for Chris Henry, our number 5 and the Bengals' number 15 ... So life is not as bad as you think. We lost a football game.''

Henry is tied for first in single-season touchdown catches and is second in career touchdown catches at West Virginia.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.(AP) -- Bobby Bowden watched the clock run down to :00, then took his last walk to midfield as his Florida State players jumped up and down, thrusting their helmets into the air.

The coach went out a winner, carried off by the Seminoles.

Jermaine Thomas ran for two touchdowns, Florida State scored 20 straight points to take control and the Seminoles knocked off No. 18 West Virginia 33-21 at the Gator Bowl in the final game of Bowden's storied 44-year career as a head coach.

``I will not forget it. I won't forget the other ones we have here, too,'' Bowden said, his hands wrapped around the silver Gator Bowl trophy. ``Nothing like a win.''

Bowden finished with a 389-129-4 record, and most importantly to him, a 33rd consecutive winning season. Next week, Jimbo Fisher takes over at Florida State, which finished 7-6 for the third time in the last four years.

That run of mediocrity was the 80-year-old Bowden's downfall - he wanted to stay at least one more season - but on this day, none of that mattered to the Florida State faithful, which serenaded him with ``Bob-by! Bob-by!'' chants throughout the day, saving their loudest cries for the very end.

With 1:39 left, Bowden trotted down to the Florida State band section, removing his autographed white cap and tossing it into the seats - and the celebration began. When it was over, Bowden was surrounded by a wall of photographers, trying to make his way over to shake the hand of West Virginia coach Bill Stewart - who was a 177-pound walk-on for Bowden's first Mountaineers team in 1970.

``It's got to be memorable,'' Bowden said. ``It's my last dadgum ballgame after 57 years of coaching.''

Bowden leaves as major college football's second-winningest coach. Joe Paterno earned his 394th victory Friday in the Capital One Bowl as Penn State beat LSU 19-17.

Bowden spent much of the afternoon hugging his former players who lined the sidelines. Some of them now were middle-aged men, their hair tinged with gray.

Noel Devine rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown for West Virginia (9-4), which ran out to a 14-3 lead, then sputtered the rest of the way.

``Well, like so many games, when you're behind like we were in that first quarter, there's always an opportunity to quit and to give up,'' Bowden said. ``And the kids did not. They kept fighting, kept coming back and won the ball game. That's what you want.''

There was even a ``wide right'' - in Bowden's favor, for a change.

West Virginia's Tyler Bitancurt pushed a 33-yard field goal try past the right upright midway through the third quarter, a big break for the Seminoles. Bowden's teams lost four epic matchups with archrival Miami over the years, and probably at least two national championships, because of FSU field goals going wide right.

Let it be noted that on the last field goal his team tried, FSU made it.

This was Bowden's day, and the Seminoles made sure he wouldn't be denied.

Everything about the matchup was arranged with celebrating Bowden in mind, and that didn't change on game day.

More than 350 of Bowden's former players were there as guests, and thousands of fans - many of whom arrived 2 hours before Bowden - braved 52-degree air and steady rain to line the route the coach and his wife, Ann, would take into the stadium, followed by the rest of the Seminole roster.

There was a pregame video of Bowden highlights. He got a new car, a gift from Toyota and the Gator Bowl. And then came a rare treat even for Bowden, the right to take the flaming FSU spear from Chief Osceola and slam the point into the turf at midfield, one of Florida State's most revered pregame traditions.

``I'm very excited. Ann and I are very excited to be here in front of the Seminoles and also the Mountaineers,'' Bowden said from the field to a sold-out crowd moments before kickoff. ``I couldn't help but get nostalgic when I heard the West Virginia band play their fight song. And then also, to hear the Seminoles play ours.''

Bowden was head coach at Samford from 1959-62, led West Virginia from 1970-75 and took over at Florida State the next season.

The tributes didn't stop at kickoff, either.

A fan donned an No. 12 Thad Busby jersey, changed some letters and - voila! - the former Florida State quarterback's surname went from BUSBY to BOBBY. The Florida State band, instead of spelling out ``Noles'' at halftime, stood in ``Bobby'' formation. And on the West Virginia sideline, fans mindful of his stint there as head coach from 1970-75 tacked a ``We (heart) U Bobby'' banner to the wall.

During the game, Bowden's demeanor didn't change much from what's become the norm in his final seasons.

He often kept to himself, hands either clasped behind his back or at his sides. He talked to players individually, sometimes offered a quick thought to Fisher, then would go back to pacing about. A few times, Bowden took a quick look around the stadium, almost as if he was taking a mental picture of it all.

Bowden knew some pundits thought a mediocre Florida State team didn't belong in a New Year's Day bowl game.

The first few minutes suggested they were right.

West Virginia took the opening kickoff and scored without much resistance, a 72-yard, eight-play drive capped by a 32-yard touchdown rush by starting quarterback Jarrett Brown - who was injured in the second quarter. The Mountaineers went up 14-3 on their second possession, after Devine broke off a 70-yard run to get inside the Florida State 5, then wound up scoring from 1 yard out.

One Mountaineer mistake helped turn things around.

After Jamie Robinson intercepted Brown early in the second quarter, Florida State got back into it on Thomas' first touchdown of the day, a 12-yard rush. Dustin Hopkins, who missed a 37-yard try earlier in the period, connected on a 42-yard field goal with 8 seconds left in the half, getting the Seminoles within 14-13 at the break.

And whatever Bowden said in his 522nd and final halftime speech, Greg Reid must have liked it.

Reid took the second-half kickoff 69 yards to the West Virginia 9, setting up another field goal. And - helped greatly by Jarmon Fortson's ridiculous, leaping, one-handed, 29-yard catch - Thomas scored from 19 yards out later in the third to give Florida State a 23-14 lead into entering the last 15 minutes of Bowden's career.

Ryan Clarke plunged in from 5 yards away for West Virginia on the first play of the fourth quarter, but the Seminoles answered with a methodical drive to restore the nine-point lead, quarterback E.J. Manuel's 2-yard touchdown burst putting Florida State up 30-21.

It would be the last touchdown anyone would score for Robert Cleckler Bowden, and soon, the man who saved Florida State's program - it almost folded before he was hired in 1976 - would start hugging anyone he could get his arms around on the sideline.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Bobby Bowden motored off Florida State's practice football field Tuesday for the final time as the Seminoles' head coach.

Forced from the sidelines by FSU's administration, Bowden will take his first steps into retirement following the New Year's Day Gator Bowl against West Virginia. While it's no secret Bowden wanted to coach another season, he also scoffed at the notion he should have walked away years earlier when the program was on top.

"In 56 years, what difference does that make?" said Bowden, who turned 80 in November and will soon complete his 34th season with the Seminoles.

Bill Stewart is among the many ardent Bobby Bowden supporters.

The West Virginia head coach calls Bowden one of his heroes and an icon to college football. Stewart completely understands -- and embraces -- the historical significance of the Mountaineers' game against Bowden and Florida State on New Year's Day in the Gator Bowl. Unfortunately, Stewart is well aware of the flip side, too.

"I just hope my guys, honest to God, are not so hyped-up that we go overboard and get all discombobulated, so to speak," the good-natured Stewart explained Tuesday on a teleconference with the media.

The Gator Bowl, as the world knows, marks Bowden's final game as a head coach after nearly 60 years in college football, the last 34 spent at FSU.

Adding to the drama is that it will come against the school that gave him his first Division I head coaching job and against a friend in Stewart, who embodies Bowden's folksy charm and down-to-earth style.

Bowden will be looking to earn his 389th career win in Jacksonville, Fla, before reluctantly stepping into a retirement that should include more time for his passion, golf, speaking engagements and traveling. Bowden and wife Ann are scheduled to tour Israel this summer.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Mack Brown, that's who.

If Bobby Bowden, once an outstanding football player at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Ala., was a top recruit in this day and age and had the opportunity to play for any collegiate coach in the land, it would be ... Brown at the University of Texas. Hook 'em Horns.

"I think we are alike in a lot of ways in that we want to try to have as much fun as we can," Bowden said Tuesday morning in an interview with FanHouse.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- While it was business as usual for Bobby Bowden Monday morning, change is in the air at Florida State.

The Seminoles returned to practice after an 18-day layoff in preparation for the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl against West Virginia. Much has transpired during the break. Bowden, 80, announced his retirement, offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher will succeed Bowden as planned, four assistants won't be retained and at least two new coaches have agreed to contract terms.

Former FSU quarterback Danny McManus, who led the 1987 Seminoles to an 11-1 finish that ignited the program's dynasty era, made the five-hour drive from his Sarasota home to personally thank Bowden for being a positive influence on his life.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Bobby Bowden may have lost his job after 34 years, but he certainly hasn't lost his sense of humor. Bowden chuckled and joked he's hopeful a convenience store could use him after Florida State's game against West Virginia in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day.

"I don't want to sit there and do nothing. That's what puts you in your grave, doing nothing," Bowden said. "I want to do something."

No longer wanted as head football coach at FSU, Bowden still believes it's best he separates himself from a university and program that he helped build into national prominence over the past 34 years. Bowden, forced to resign last week, reiterated Tuesday that it's unlikely he will return to the school as a fundraiser next year.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Retiring Bobby Bowden got his wish.

Bowden's Florida State Seminoles will play West Virginia in the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., fulfilling Bowden's hope of coaching his final game in the state of Florida. There is too much sentimental value to ignore.

The Seminoles began their NCAA record 28-year streak of bowl games in 1982, when they defeated the Mountaineers 32-12 at the Gator Bowl. Bowden left West Virginia in 1976 for FSU, which will soon begin a new era under Jimbo Fisher. Fisher has been busy, too, with coaching interviews and recruiting.

PITTSBURGH – "The Road" is a tremendous, tremendous novel written by Cormac McCarthy that's been made into a movie (haven't seen it yet).

It's set in an unknown time in the future and about a father and son walking through a future America that's been decimated by an unknown cataclysm. The scenery is grim and dreary and -- I'm finally getting to the point -- parts of the movie were filmed in and around Pittsburgh.

The Road to the Big East title ends Saturday in Pittsburgh when the No. 14 ranked Panthers play host to No. 5 Cincinnati. Temperatures are only expected to reach 36 degrees for the high noon showdown at a sold-out Heinz Field.

Before we take a quick review of last week, here's one final stab at the Big East's bowl projections.

Remember, the Big East bowls may select any league bowl-eligible team and are not required to select teams based on where they finish in the league standings. After the champion gets a BCS bowl berth, the Gator Bowl gets the next pick followed by the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Papajohns.com, St. Petersburg and International all share the final three picks and work together to make their selections.

Saturday's Cincinnati-Pittsburgh winner earns the league's BCS bowl berth and that looks like it will be the Sugar Bowl -- unless Nebraska upsets Texas in the Big 12 title game and all heck breaks loose.