Butch Davis has wanted the exposure of showing Kenan Stadium to a Thursday-night ESPN audience since he arrived in Chapel Hill more than two years ago. Now the question is whether or not he must be careful what he wishes for in the future.

The Seminoles are without doubt more than capable of ruining this nationally televised party for the Tar Heels.

Florida State (2-4, 0-3 in the ACC) may not be the Seminoles of the 1990s, when FSU dominated the ACC, but, just as when Virginia came into Kenan Stadium 0-3, records can be deceiving. Considering UNC's struggles on offense, pushing the Seminoles off the line of scrimmage won't be easy. Neither will be creating six turnovers as (4-2, 0-2) UNC did against Georgia Southern.

"The challenge next week against Florida State is dramatically different than the one we faced this past week," Coach Butch Davis said after Carolina's 42-12 victory against Georgia Southern.

"We did some things that, hopefully, we can continue to build upon," Davis said. "Defensively, we did the one thing in the game that you need to do in every single game and that is create turnovers. It was one of the things that had been missing in some of the games.

"We had not been as consistent at creating some turnovers and giving our offense good field position, and actually scoring some on defense."

It's hard to imagine UNC's defense not playing well, given how well it has all year, and given the emotional stimulus of a Thursday-night ESPN game. But the question remains whether UNC's offense can move the ball at all on the ground. It could not do the job against Georgia Tech or Virginia, and Georgia Southern was not close to being the team those two are.

"We were fortunate that we made some things happen in the (GSU) game offensively, and took some steps forward," Davis said. "Clearly we still have a lot of work to do offensively to improve enough to be where we need to be, certainly for the Florida State game.

"They're a very talented team. They have a lot of speed, a lot of athletes. Chris Ponder is one of the most gifted quarterbacks we've played since I've been here."

This is about far more than a single game. This is a chance for Davis and his football team to sell the University of North Carolina as more than the home of Roy Williams and his national championship basketball team.

A victory on Thursday would have a huge impact on recruiting. A loss will not crush it, but victory never hurts.

The ESPN guys love to gush about the home team on these broadcasts, and, if the Tar Heels could give them some good football to go with the beautiful stadium on an autumn night, Davis' reputation and all the other positives that go along with being Carolina, UNC's recruiting can only benefit.

The offense this year is an obvious sign that Davis is not where he wants to be with the depth and experience on this team. If the incoming offensive line recruits grow to a similar caliber of the defensive line, Davis and his coaches will have the foundation of a team that can dominate football games.

"The University of North Carolina has a passion to be good in everything," Davis said. "Building the football program is about capturing the passion the alumni and fans have for the University of North Carolina. It takes recruiting. It takes time. It's a process. It's not something that you just snap your fingers and it happens overnight.

"We think we've made some strides in the previous first two seasons with our recruiting efforts. I think our program is moving in the right direction."

In the meantime, Davis and these kids have to hang together, work diligently to find ways to enhance what they can do on offense, and the defense and special teams have to play the best they possibly can, especially on Thursday night.