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Fiesta Bowl coaches low-key PHOENIX, Ariz. (UPI) -- The...

Fiesta Bowl coaches low-key

PHOENIX, Ariz. (UPI) -- The war of words between Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden and Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne continued to sound Sunday like it was being orchestrated by Miss Manners, rather than rival football coaches.

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Bowden and Osborne spoke at the final news conference before Monday's Fiesta Bowl and both were effuse in their praise of each other's team.

'It's not very hard to say good things about them,' said Bowden. 'And Tom's probably trying to keep from making us mad, too. It's an old coaching ploy.'

The two coaches are longtime friends and with no national championship at stake for either the fifth-ranked Seminoles or the sixth-ranked Cornhuskers, both men have been low-key all week.

Of course that will change when both teams take the field at Sun Devil Stadium for the 2:30 p.m. (mst) kickoff.

'The ballgame ought to be one of the best football games played on New Year's Day,' said Bowden. 'With just a couple of breaks, we could be (ranked) one and two and playing for a national championship. But it didn't work out that way. But it's going to be a great football game.'

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Bowden predicted that defense will decide the outcome.

'The game will be won by the defense, there's no doubt in my mind,' he said. 'We both have great offenses. You know, we figure we're pretty good; we averaged 34 points a game. They averaged 44 points a game. So that means somebody's defense has got to play some football so that their team can win.'

On the Nebraska side, Osborne maintained that the Cornhuskers are ready to play.

'At this point in the week, I don't know what we could possibly say that hasn't already been said,' he said. 'This has been beat to death. It's time to play.'

According to Osborne, starting strong safety Reggie Cooper practiced with the team Saturday, but probably will play only in a backup role. Cooper had arthroscopic knee surgery earlier in the year and sprained the knee during the first Fiesta Bowl practice.

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