There is no marquee stage. No conference or geographic rival to stir up fans. No television. No placement in the top-25 poll.

In so many ways, this is a strange start for the Florida State Seminoles. After so many years of primetime openers on national television, the Seminoles are saddled with obscurity for Saturday's game against Western Carolina.

Who? Yes, Western Carolina, followed by UT-Chattanooga next week. It's the softest opening schedule in Bobby Bowden's tenure.

But it's also a necessity. The Seminoles will have a sizeable portion of their starting lineup on the bench, either through injury or the fallout from the academic fraud scandal. While the school will not officially say who is not eligible, it's not hard to decipher. The Seminoles' defensive line, in particular, along with linebacking corps, will be without key players for the first three games. There also will not be an experienced tight end.

For this reason, along with consecutive 7-6 seasons, the Seminoles are starting under the radar. They are not ranked, and no one really knows what to think about Florida State.

The fight for the Seminoles is to get back on a national stage.

"Well yes, it would be a good motivating factor," Bowden said. "They aren't picking us very high because we don't deserve to be picked very high. All of your pickings are based on last year.

"Whoever is picked No. 1 must have finished No. 1 last year too. We were always picked No. 1 in the '90s. We got preseason No. 1 a lot. We didn't win a championship every year. That doesn't surprise me, us being picked low. I will tell you this though, the fun part of coaching is trying to build. It's tough up there. I would rather be up there, but that's a struggle. Getting there is fun. We are going to have some good times getting back."

To get back, the Seminoles are going back to basics. Literally. They are easing into the season with freshmen players across the offensive line, and potentially a new quarterback.

The main intrigue is who will start behind center. Will it be senior Drew Weatherford, the oft-maligned passer but a three-year starter? Will it be sophomore Christian Ponder, who came off the bench in one game last year at Virginia Tech and wowed. Or will it be the wildcard in the mix, D'Vontrey Richardson, whose main impact has been as a part-time baseball player, but a guy with so much potential.

Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, the head coach-in-waiting, will not say. The guess is that FSU will take this all the way to Saturday's kickoff before announcing who will start. They do have better depth at quarterback, but the issue is finding someone dependable.

Richardson has made a late surge in preseason.

"He impressed me very much," Fisher told reporters after the team's final scrimmage. "I keep saying that kid impresses me more and more every day. There are certain guys when they play they do things right, and that's what he's learned to do. He understands how to play quarterback, not just the physical skills, but now he's beating you with his mind and really understanding."

Added Bowden: "He made some big plays that you can't coach. He goes back to pass and he gets trapped, spins over here and spins back over there and throws a 30-yard touchdown pass. There is place for him."

Whoever begins the season, the Seminoles have two winnable games to allow confidence to build and mistakes to be less dramatic.

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