Matthew Rice is so excited to open 2006 chasing Florida State's Drew Weatherford that even when his head hits the pillow in the Sheraton Bal Harbor hotel, the freshman quarterback is still on his mind.

“I had a couple of dreams about him,” the Penn State defensive end said Sunday. “I'm going to tell him about them during the game.”

Weatherford would undoubtedly prefer that Rice never get close enough to fill him in, but in the days leading up to the game, one of the main questions surrounding the Orange Bowl is how the freshman will deal with the tenacious Penn State pass rush.

“We play an aggressive style of defense no matter who we face, but I think we can get in there and cause a little havoc,” Rice said. “Being that he's a younger guy, I think it's going to be harder for him to deal with that type of pressure.”

The struggles of the Florida State offense in general, and of Weatherford in particular, are well documented, but the freshman quarterback that takes the field against Penn State will be one who has improved his game drastically since Florida State's low-scoring, season-opening win over the Miami Hurricanes.

“I feel like I'm improving in a lot of ways,” Weatherford said. “I've gotten a little bit better in every aspect of the game. Just in my knowledge of the game and being able to stay focused and concentrate.”

All things considered, it is remarkable that Weatherford has been able to focus at all during a season that has been so tumultuous for both him and his team.

When spring practice ended last year, Weatherford wasn't sure whether he would play at all. He took a medical redshirt last fall after severely spraining his ankle on his first collegiate snap and, following spring practice, had no reason to expect the whirlwind season that would make him the Seminoles starting quarterback in the Orange Bowl.

“It happened so fast, I didn't even have a chance to think about it. I could've been, at the end of the spring, third string. It was up in the air,” Weatherford said. “All of a sudden, the situation happened with Wyatt, and I haven't had time to go back and reflect on it.”

The “Wyatt situation” was the bizarre dismissal of incumbent starting quarterback Wyatt Sexton, who was found in the street by police who said that Sexton claimed to be God. Sexton left the team to receive treatment for an ailment that was reported to be lyme disease, and Weatherford and classmate Xavier Lee battled for the starting position in the fall.

Weatherford eventually won the job, but it has been far from smooth sailing.

As the Seminoles offense struggled, and Florida State lost an uncharacteristic four games, the boo birds came calling when Weatherford took the field at home. The freshman was even yanked by coach Bobby Bowden to make way for Lee, which makes what happened in the moments leading up to Florida State's ACC Championship game victory over Virginia Tech all the more surprising.

Few freshmen at any school have the guts to become the vocal leader of the team, but Weatherford did just that with his team's season on the line. In the locker room before the game, Weatherford addressed his teammates and told them that there would be no more excuses.

“I was just frustrated. All we were hearing all week is that we didn't have a chance. I've been a fan for a long time, and I've never seen a Florida State team counted out like that,” Weatherford said. “Nobody gave us a chance to go out there and win. With the kind of players and athletes we have, I just got up and spoke my mind.”

Florida State did win, and, in leading his team to victory both on and off the field, Weatherford helped lay a foundation for the future by earning the admiration of his teammates.

“The biggest change I've seen in Drew has been leadership. He understands how to lead the team now,” wide receiver Willie Reed said. “He's taking over a lot more than he did at the beginning of the year. When he's in the huddle he looks everybody in the eye.”

Weatherford's progression has also been noticed by Penn State's defensive players and coaches.

“I think he is a heck of a decision-maker. I watched him from the beginning and he's much more comfortable now with what he's doing,” defensive coach Tom Bradley said. “He's a hard guy to get to because when you go all out, he's been making the right decisions to get the ball where he wants go get it. You can just see from game to game to game how he has progressed.”

Nevertheless, Weatherford would be the first to admit that he is far from a finished product, and Bradley will undoubtedly send his dogs after him to shake Weatherford's newfound composure.

“I think he's starting to cut back on his mistakes and become a more complete quarterback,” Lions safety Calvin Lowry said. “But he is a freshman and he is young, and so we'll have to play mind games.”

Rice has been playing these mind games at the team hotel all week, but for Florida State to pull off the upset on Tuesday, Weatherford will need to keep his eyes down field and his back off the ground.