From ESPN’s Heather Dinich:

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said that in another year, quarterback Christian Ponder “might be where Tebow is.”

As in, Florida’s Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.

“He can run the ball and throw it, and he’s very intelligent and is making some good strides,” Bowden said of Ponder. “It looks like he’s about a year behind, though, in production.”

A light year, maybe.

Make that 100 light years.

This game absolutely screams ‘trap’. FSU is fielding their best team since 2004 — which is not saying much, I know. But it’s still the best they’ve had in awhile, they’re coming off a strong win over Maryland and they get the Gators at Ron Zook Field.

Since they’ve already lost 3 games this season, their best hope at this point is to play spoiler to UF. It would positively rock the Nolies’ world to beat the Gators and destroy Tebow’s national title hopes.

They will be sky-freaking-high for this game.

I’ve got to give props to Jimbo Fisher for making strides with this team. Drew Weatherford under center was a major limitation for this offense in both 2006 and 2007; once Fisher benched his redshirt senior in favor of rawer, younger, more talented quarterbacks, the ‘Nole offense began to show signs of life. Bobby Bowden wouldn’t have done that.

Speaking of Bowden, pay no mind to the octogenarian wandering aimlessly on the sidelines, far removed from the action. He is just a spectator like the rest of us; he just happens to wear a “head coach” credential badge and has all-access to the ‘Nole sideline. In fact, if you see him wander onto the field, please call stadium security… he could get hurt. The younger dude wearing the headset? The guy with the face like a frying pan and the creased Cro-Magnon brow? That’s the guy running the show.
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“You’ll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season.”

Cut out the first three quarters of Arkansas, and you have a pretty apt description of Florida after Ole Miss.

In a conference that has prided itself on defense, the Gators have an Arena League offense alongside a top SEC defense.

But, as the old truism holds, what goes up must come down.

For the team, their biggest challenge is not Vanderbilt , the Citadel, South Carolina, or Florida State.

It’s balancing the fine line between playing too intense as compared to playing uninspired. Both extremes are dangerous.

Football is an intense sport, demanding intense emotion. Consequently, with the Gators scoring 50 points in one game, 60 in another, and close to 50 in a third, they run the risk of “running out of steam” and suffering a letdown.

Finding inspiration will be tough. Thus, some bulletin board material for each remaining opponent. Because let’s face it, every football team needs more bulletin board material:

*Vanderbilt: The Commodores are a prestigous private school, and they’re ranked higher academically in most magazines than UF is. Since this is a reflection on the student body, that means that their football team is, on average, smarter than the Gators’ football team. Thus, because the Dores have several dozen Einsteins on their roster, they will use their wit to outsmart the Gators in a compelling upset. Then, they’ll find a way to do it again, win the SEC East in an improbable turn of events, and somehow outsmart Alabama en route to the SEC title.

40 times be darned!

*Citadel: They’re a military school, and thus, their football players will have gone through longer and more rigorous training than you have. That mean’s they’ll be more athletic than any squad in the SEC. Using their better training, they’ll play tougher than you and grind out back-to-back improbable upsets.

And because Mr. Two-bits never graduated from Florida, and is actually a Citadel alum, he will do the honorable thing and pull for his alma mater in the game. After all, seeing as he went to that school, Bulldog pride is a part of every fiber of his being. Let’s face it, we need to hold every fan to the same standard.

Six decades of service be darned!

South Carolina: The OBC will invoke the spirit of Gators past (to say nothing of Lou Holtz’s genius) to torch the youthful Gator secondary. Pundits will wonder what on earth has happened to your spirit, your morale. Besides, since Meyer and Spurrier have coached one Heisman winner and won one national title apiece, that means that their coaching acumen has to be regarded as completely equal, with neither coach being more or less brilliant than the other.

6-3 record and QB issues be darned!

Florida State: Bobby Bowden has two national titles and coached two Heisman winners. Therefore, he is twice as smart as Urban Meyer. D’Vontrey Richardson is listed on the Noles website as “an incredibly gifted athlete” and is the next coming of Charlie Ward. Christian Ponder graduated in two and a half years. Therefore, FSU has a supergenius at quarterback who will find a way to beat Major Wright in coverage so badly that the only thing taking a big hit will be his reputation.

The Noles will find a way to win on their home field and saintly FSU fans will remind the Gators of their (the Gators’) need to maintain a sense of humility. After all, pride always comes before a fall.

Coaching experience and ineptitude be darned!

That should be more than enough to get you to Atlanta. Until then, keep it up.

We interrupt Georgia Hate Week for this brief announcement: we also hate FSU.

We’re a long time removed from Spurrier’s infamous rants about late quarterback hits and Bobby Bowden’s “echo of the whistle”. We all know that FSU plays dirty on defense, they always have, and always will, at least as long as Mickey Andrews is in charge of the Tallahassee insane asylum.

For proof, look no further than FSU’s victory over Virginia Tech, in which both starting QB Tyrod Taylor and backup QB Sean Glennon left the game with ankle injuries.

The Father of Gatorpilot emails O&B Hue:

From Sunday’s Orlando Sentinel, re: SOW’s win over VT:

Afterward, Brown said the tenacity of FSU’s defense had “definitely been missing.”

It returned, at least in some form, against the Hokies.

“Getting to the quarterback and not just getting him on the ground, but putting him out — that’s what Florida State defense is all about,” Brown said.

This is Everett Brown, an FSU defensive end. Surely our coaches don’t tell our D to twist ankles or to injure other star QBs. AT least, that’s what FSU is bragging about. These weren’t hard hits, these were twisted ankles. I hope our gameplan against Georgia isn’t to twist Knowshon’s knee while in the pile. To me, that’s not right. Am I alone here or taking this the wrong way? When I read this in the paper, my first thought was “What a THUG”.

No, Dad, you’re not alone, and you’re not taking it the wrong way. Same old Criminoles. The college game has no place for this nonsense, but it has been alive and well in the Bowden administration for decades. FSU will feel the pain when the the NCAA sanctions are finally levied; it’s too bad they can’t also be penalized for teaching their players to injure their opponents. Bobby Bowden and Mickey Andrews are a disgrace to the game of college football.

In the late 80s and early 90s there was no college football rivalry that came close to the phenomenon known as Miami versus Florida State.  It was a series where the winner had the inside track to the national championship.  The continuous streak of classic games was forever etched into the minds of all football fans of that era. 

Who could forget the 26-25 Miami win in 1987 where FSU enjoyed a 19-3 lead before finding itself trailing 26-19 in the fourth quarter.  After a late game TD, in an era of no overtime in college football, Bobby Bowden decided to go for two and when failing paved the way for Jimmy Johnson’s only national championship at UM.  Compare this to Miami’s first national championship season in 1983 when Miami edged FSU 17-16 on a late field goal.  Then you only have to refer to games known as “Wide Right” 1 through 3 or the “Miami Muff” in 2005.

But this is a new era of the Cane-Seminole rivarly, an era of insignificance.  Both schools have gone from national powerhouses to national mockeries in a relatively short time.  Let’s look at some recent history of the two schools since their decline from the nation’s elite.  In 2004 both teams were members of the ACC.

           Miami      FSU
2004     9-3       9-3
2005     9-3       8-5*
2006     7-6       7-6
2007     5-7       7-6
2008     2-3       4-1

* = ACC Championship

After watching Saturday’s 41-39 slugfest I was less trying to figure out who wanted the game more as to who wanted to GIVE IT AWAY more.  While we hear constantly about how “young” both UM and FSU are . . . they have been slipping into mediocrity for years now . . . where is the experience?  The systems have now been in place for multiple years for both Patrick Nix and Jimbo Fisher so . . . . what gives?  FSU now has two FBS wins, two FCS wins and an ACC loss.  Miami on the other hand has 1 FBS win, 1 FCS win, non ACC loss and two ACC losses.  Almost halfway into the season and Miami is 5 wins from being bowl eligible and a single loss away from being out of the ACC race.  How’s that for a kick in the face? (more…)

There was a time — a time not long ago, in fact — when Georgia was penciled in as a ‘W’, Tennessee was a nailbiting early-season test of our team’s toughness, and Florida State was the November crucible which either opened or closed the doors to Florida’s national title hopes.

How times have changed.

Urban Meyer is 9-1 against Florida’s “Big 3″ rivals, and 11-2 if you count Spurrier’s Gamecocks. The Gators have dominated FSU and the Vols, and beaten the Bulldogs two out of three tries. That’s a hell of a record for a Florida head coach. That’s one for the books.

Today, in 2008, Georgia is the biggest threat to Florida’s success, Tennessee is a relatively minor concern, and Florida State is a complete afterthought. The fires of an intense rivalry never fully go out, but Gator Nation is down to glowing coals on these two former bonfires. FSU’s fall from grace never seems to stop; the ‘Noles have yet to hit rock bottom, staring into the yawning gape of a sub-.500 season with the threat of NCAA sanctions from Tutor-Gate still looming large. Meanwhile, Tennessee is a rudderless ship, short on leadership and bereft of talent at the QB position, counting the days until Fulmer falls on his sword — assuming he ever does.

Not a bad time to be enjoying the fruits of Urban Meyer’s renaissance of Florida football. Not a bad time at all.

But the question begs to be asked: who are Florida’s most important rivals today?

I posit that Georgia always occupies the Public Enemy #1 slot, and I hope few would argue with that. There’s no question that the Dawgs have what it takes to win lots of SEC games. And in terms of rivals, I suggest that LSU should now move to #2 on the list.

Georgia and LSU. Two consistently good teams, programs with great recent success, programs that have adapted to the modern climes of college football, and recruit lights-out year in and out.

In 2008, those are the teams we have to structure our program to beat.

LSU tends to focus on a power running game with a unique combination of power and speed (Charles Scott, Jacob Hester, etc.) and “game manager” style play from their quarterback. And their defense is arguably among the best in the nation, year after year.

Georgia tries to bring balance to the table by running more of a traditional pro-style offense which works by setting up the run and passing on play-action, but they also have big play ability from the shotgun.
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A funny thing happened the other day.  The Florida State spin machine went into full gear when they released their “press release” regarding the NCAA Notice of Allegations.  FSU’s president T.K. Wetherall reassured Nole fans that there were absolutely NO NEW ALLEGATIONS.

So what is this from the Orlando Sentinel?

Randy Spetman, the Florida State athletic director, had said in recent weeks that the NCAA’s notice of allegations contained no “surprises.” It did, however, include an allegation of failure to monitor.

The NCAA, according to its notice of allegations, found that FSU “failed to monitor certain aspects of its Athletics Academic Support Services (AASS) area and took insufficient steps to ensure that appropriate academic protocols were not breached.” The NCAA also accused FSU of failing to review an internal report that might have uncovered the academic fraud much sooner.

Wait a minute.  The NOA included an additional allegation of “failure to monitor” but just because it wasn’t on the original allegation list it’s not new???  Is this fuzzy math?  Or should I say FusSUzy math.

“Usually if [the transgressions are] widespread, it’s a lack of institutional control,” said Yeager, now the commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association. “A failure to monitor means there were red flags that should have been caught. . . . That’s less than a lack of institutional control charge but it’s still serious.”

Florida State President T.K. Wetherell in a statement released Friday by the university praised both FSU’s months-long internal investigation, which concluded in February, and the university’s response to the NCAA.

“We are pleased that the NCAA found no new allegations after completing its on-campus investigation,” Wetherell said. “We believe that ours was a thorough and exhaustive inquiry, including extensive examinations of computer records and files to search for any evidence of impropriety regarding NCAA or university rules.”

However ESPN, those bastards, seems to put a slightly different spin on things.

The first indication of cheating came when a single athlete reported in spring 2007 that test answers were provided for another athlete. An initial investigation turned up 22 athletes who acknowledged cheating.

The others didn’t come forward until the school announced the 30 percent suspension penalty after consulting with NCAA officials.

Oh yes T.K. you guys did a bang up job in uncovering this scandal.  That’s why the NCAA rejected your original submittal and your theory that it was just a minor incident with maybe one or two players.  You guys have done a kick ass job in keeping your program clean.  IN FACT, usually when the NCAA accuses you of academic fraud that’s just another way of saying “Nice job guys.  Keep up the good work.”

In the Orlando Sentinel Blog “Chopping Block”, Andrew Carter states:

In the press release Florida State put out earlier today, the university said that the NCAA’s notice of allegations “contained no new allegations of rules violations beyond what the university ’self reported’ in February.”

That doesn’t seem to be accurate.

For one, in its notice of allegations, the NCAA alleges that Hilliard Goldsmith, a former academic adviser in FSU’s office of Athletic Academic Support Services, instructed a tutor – one of the key figures of this investigation – to provide exam questions to athletes who were enrolled in that online music course (Music of World Cultures).

In other news, Bobby Bowden has officially announced that while some players did break the rules it’s not like the shot the president.  He said he would be more than happily ensure these dadgone rulebreakers ran the steps after practice as punishment and proudly pointed two his no-nonsense position on punishment - “If you can’t do the climb, don’t do the crime!!!”

Ira Schoffel of the Miami Herald states:

Though FSU stated ‘’no new allegations'’ were found in the NCAA report, Friday brought forth the name of a third advisor in the scandal.

The tutor told investigators that he was instructed by advisor Hilliard Goldsmith to provide exam answers for the athletes, and that Goldsmith told at least a half-dozen athletes to be present in a computer lab when the tutor would be present.

FSU admitted Goldsmith directed athletes to attend sessions with the tutor but argued insufficient evidence exists to determine Goldsmith instructed the tutor to give the answers. Goldsmith has been terminated.

In response to this Bobby Bowden quickly released a press statement that T.K. Wetherell actuall meant to say that there were “no new TAXES” mentioned in the latest report.  Bowden also said he would be happy to make Ms. Goldsmith run the steps before being told Hilliard Goldsmith was no longer with the school because she was paid off by FSU officials months ago.

Since these hundred of pages of documents were just released a few days ago I bet more will start to sift through to the public as the press has time to examine them in greater detail.  Stay tuned football fans!

From the mailbag, the father of Gatorpilot writes:

Found this story.

As he leaned back in his garnet leather office chair and chewed on an unlit cigar, Bowden matter-of-factly said he would like to increase his win total from 373 to 400 games and, perhaps, win another national championship before he officially hands his job over to Fisher — in other words, resurrect his once proud program that failed to finish in the national rankings for the past two seasons.

“I’d sure like to,” he said. “And if it doesn’t, I ought to get out.”

At 7 wins a year that is 4 more years! Hooray!

In a much delayed fashion it’s time to close out or review of the 2008 recruiting classes of Florida’s big three programs.  The final team to be analyzed is the Florida State Seminoles.  This is part 3 of a 3 part series.
 
To see our previous analysis go here:  Miami Recruiting review,  Florida Recruiting review
 
Florida State University
Grade C+
 
Overall:  FSU signed 30 athletes, 3 of whom are Junior College Transfers (JUCOs).   Most of the class comes from the state of Florida although 40% of it is from out of state (12).  More players signed were offensive (16) than defensive (12) with two of the class athletes who will probably split (Jarmon Fortson going to WR and Ed Imeokparia starting out at safety).
 
THE GOOD
 
FSU was in dire need at the quarterback position.  Not only is Drew Weatherford now a senior but top backup/part time starter Xavier Lee left school leaving Christian Ponder as the only legitimate backup.  For that reason signing EJ Manuel from Va Beach was significant in both the short and long term.  Manuel will need to come to camp ready to play.  Expect Christian Ponder and Drew Weatherford to battle it out for the starting slot while EJ redshirts. will have the clear experience advantage next season Manuel has a chance to compete for significant playing time and at the very least will be the backup QB by default.  Manuel is a kid in the mold of Jamarcus Russell with both size and a big time arm.
 
The Noles have always been one of the top linebacker (LB) programs in the country sending numerous players to the NFL.  To continue that lineage FSU landed some big time prospects in Nigel Bradham and Nigel Carr with Vince Williams also being a solid prospect down the road.  There is some thought that Nick Moody might eventually outgrow the safety position and end up at LB.  Then again there’s a chance Bradham could grow into a defensive end (DE) although FSU would rather he keep his weight down and remain at LB.  Speaking of DEs, FSU landed a group that should provide a solid contribution.  JUCO Markus White is the jewel of this group but Everett Dawkins could also see playing time next season.  Toshmon Stevens will need a few years as he finished HS in the 200 lb range.
 
THE BAD
 
Seminole fans can all recite the party line for offensive line coach Rick Trickett.  Supposedly there isn’t a coach in the country who can do more with less.  Well if true then Trickett has put himself in the perfect position to prove that mantra.  FSU’s offensive line talent and depth is both lacking and suspect.  Offensive line is a position where more is better.  Since it is one of the hardest positions to predict when recruiting it and is so vital for any offense, linemen can take up a large portion of a roster.  Offensive line recruiting has been identified as one of the key lapses by the coaching staff in recent years.  Trying to reverse that trend Coach Tricket picked up 6 linemen for the 2008 class with Zebrie Sanders being the highest rated prospect in the class. 
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So: after having been properly rebuked for unsubstantiated reporting by our friend Truzenzuzex, who is a paragon for journalistic ethics, we’re going to roll like Pigs in slop with some good old fashioned message board rumormongering. From Gatorcountry:

Well, I have been trying to get dirt on this for weeks, and tonight, I finally caught up with one of my best sources for info here in Tally. You will never believe who got all of this started for FSU, the one and only GENO HAYES.

There is a computer course they were all taking, and had a tutor for the athletes that was giving them the tests verbatim before they would take them. The key is he told them that they had to take their time so it would not be overly suspicious they had the answers beforehand. So what does smart ole Geno Hayes do ?! He goes in there and takes a 50 question test in 8 minutes, aces it, and walks out the room like he just sacked Tim Tebow. We all know that’s not possible, so the professor got pissed and flagged it. Low and behold all the athletes were acing it.

As one Paul Harvey would say, And now you know “The rest of the story…..”

Rumor? Yes. Did this probably happen? Again, yes. This so fits Geno “Big Mouth, Little Brain” Hayes that it’s almost impossible not to believe.

Thanks again, Geno, for all that you do!