TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Unranked Florida State opens its season

Saturday with a new quarterback to go along with a bunch of spare

parts in hopes of getting through the first quarter of its

schedule.

After successive 7-6 seasons, coaches are anxious to see what

they've got Saturday against a lower division opponent, Western

Carolina.

The Seminoles will go without more than a half dozen of their

best players for the first three games because of suspensions for

academic reasons or misconduct.

That prompted school officials to schedule the Catamounts and

then Chattanooga, another Football Championship Subdivision team,

before the Seminoles' Atlantic Coast Conference opener Sept. 20

against No. 20 Wake Forest.

"We're going to have to rely more on new faces than in the

past," Bowden said.

Going into the game, he's tied with Penn State's Joe Paterno at

373 victories, the most in major college football history.

Bowden, though, has turned over many of the big decisions,

including the selection of a starting quarterback, to offensive

coordinator Jimbo Fisher, also named earlier this year as his

eventual successor.

Fisher is going with Christian Ponder, a sophomore from

Colleyville, Texas, who'll be making his first career start at

quarterback and has thrown only 18 passes in relief. He chose

Ponder over senior Drew Weatherford, who's had 33 starts in three

years, and another sophomore, D'Vontrey Richardson, the likely

backup.

"I've always said I think Christian is a big-time player,"

Fisher said after announcing his decision Wednesday.

Ponder is the seventh Seminole to a start at quarterback since

2002. That's as many as during the 1990-2000 span, when Florida

State won two national championships and contended nearly every

year.

"Obviously, I am very disappointed," Weatherford said. "I am

always willing to do whatever helps the team win, whether that's

starting or helping from the sidelines. I will be ready and able

when my opportunity comes."

Western Carolina, a Southern Conference school and part of what

was formerly known as Division I-AA, matched its 2007 victory total

with a 35-0 win last weekend over tiny Shorter, a small Georgia

college of a little more than 1,000 students. Andy Horn threw for

254 yards and two touchdowns in Western's season opener.

The schools have met twice before with Florida State winning

easily both times, 56-10 in 1981 and 50-10 in 1985.

Most of Florida State's missing players are sitting out

suspensions from an academic scandal in early 2007. Some 50

athletes in several sports have been penalized and the school is

awaiting likely NCAA sanctions.

The Seminoles' defense was particularly hard hit with at least

five starters suspended. The offense will go without tight end Caz

Piurowski and receiver Preston Parker. Parker will miss the first

two games because of a run-in with the law. He pleaded guilty to

misdemeanor firearms and marijuana charges.

Parker, though, will be back for Wake Forest, which has won the

last two meetings and is among the favorites to win the ACC this

year.

In the meantime, Bowden, Fisher and the Florida State faithful

are hoping Ponder and the other new faces can come of age quickly

in what amount to a pair of warmup games.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)