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© St. Petersburg Times, published November 28, 2002
GAINESVILLE -- Florida receiver Taylor Jacobs will get his wish to play his final regular-season game near his hometown.
Jacobs, who has missed the past two games with a sprained right knee, has been cleared by team doctors to play at Florida State on Saturday night, coach Ron Zook said Wednesday. Jacobs is a native of Monticello and attended FAMU High.
"It's my last regular-season game at the collegiate level, and when you get to go home and play in front of the hometown crowd, it's real, real important for me," Jacobs said last week.
Offensive tackle Bobby Williams will make the trip but will not play, Zook said. Williams collided with a teammate and sustained a head/neck injury during a scrimmage last week. The sophomore from New Smyrna Beach lost feeling in his legs for about 25 seconds and spent a night in the hospital for observation and tests.
Tight end Ben Troupe (high ankle sprain) still is questionable.
BOWL BID ON THE LINE: The Gators could go to the Capital One Bowl, formerly known as the Citrus.
Capital One Bowl officials have told several newspapers that they are interested in Florida despite a shaky relationship with the school in the past.
"If they beat Florida State, they're going to be an excellent candidate," Capital One Bowl consultant Chuck Rohe said. "If they lose, we'll have to look at a lot of things."
Part of the rift stemmed from Steve Spurrier's constant teasing of Tennessee -- he used to say you couldn't spell Citrus without UT. Also, both sides were embarrassed when the Gators had trouble selling their allotment of tickets for the 2000 game against Michigan State.
The winner of the SEC title game likely will go to the Sugar Bowl.
After that, the Capital One Bowl gets first choice among the remaining SEC teams. If Georgia defeats either Arkansas or LSU in the SEC title game, and Florida beats FSU, the Gators would be a likely choice if Capital One Bowl officials are willing to set aside the past.
-- ANTONYA ENGLISH, TIMES WIRES
TALLAHASSEE -- Already down one quarterback, Florida State will be facing Florida minus center Antoine Mirambeau and guard Montrae Holland. Running back Nick Maddox is questionable and not expected to play.
Sophomore Bobby Meeks will replace Holland and sophomore David Castillo will step in for Mirambeau.
"It's going to be real exciting," Castillo said. "It's always exciting to play Florida."
If Maddox cannot play, freshman Leon Washington will start.
"It hasn't really hit me yet; I couldn't imagine starting against (Florida) so soon," the Jacksonville native said. "I'm quite sure that at game time it's going to hit me. There are a lot of guys on that team I know from Jacksonville."
MOVING TIME: Offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden will move upstairs to the coaches booth and quarterbacks coach Darryl Dickey will coach from the field.
"Darryl wanted to be down on the sideline with Chris Rix," coach Bobby Bowden said. "Darryl will still call the plays, but Jeff is going to be upstairs communicating what he sees."
TWO 'NOLES HONORED: Senior tackle Brett Williams was awarded the Jacobs Blocking Trophy for the second straight year, and junior receiver Anquan Boldin received the Brian Piccolo award.
The Jacobs Trophy is awarded to the top offensive lineman in the ACC and is voted on by ACC defensive coordinators. The Piccolo award is given to the most courageous player in the ACC.
Boldin tore his ACL before the 2001 season and returned this season. He leads the ACC in touchdown receptions with 10 and is fourth in receptions with 54 and receiving yardage with 876.
RB JONES HAS SURGERY: Running back Greg Jones had surgery on his right knee. Doctors reattached his ACL and said Jones could be back in nine months.
-- JASON SCHNEIDER