Another Syracuse transfer has arrived to boost the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's best defense: tackle Charles Simpson, the newest Division I-A addition to Bethune-Cookman.
Simpson, a 6-foot-2, 320-pound standout who starred at Jacksonville Ribault, is slated to back up nose guard Robbie Reese.
Simpson spent three years as a backup offensive lineman with the Orangemen, but will return to his defensive roots for the Wildcats. He was a Super Prep defender in high school, and his 495 tackles were a Ribault career record.
Reese, on the other hand, picked a bad season to show up for camp 30 pounds overweight. Simpson's arrival creates the kind of competition coach Alvin Wyatt wants.
"He's going to be an impact player for us," Wyatt told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. "That's the only way I'll take a player for one year, if they're an impact player and they're on track to graduate.
"This is going to be good for Robbie, too, because it gives him a big push. We hope he'll get in shape. Right now, Reese is the starter, but Simpson is not yet in full gear."
Reese bench presses 540 pounds; Simpson 505. Wyatt said he hasn't seen that kind of muscle on his defensive line in years.
Another Syracuse transfer, Cedric Edmonds, arrived to battle Nick Collins and Jameal Stewart for the free safety position and the right to replace Jacksonville Jaguars' draft pick Rashean Mathis. Edmonds starred at Hillsborough High.
WIDE OPEN: Central Florida opens its season at 3 p.m. Sunday against No. 9 Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium/Worsham Field. The Golden Knights' 25th anniversary season starts on ESPN, against a Hokies team that is 2-0 against UCF.
But it is the Mid-American Conference race that most concerns the Knights, who have plenty of offensive depth to make a run at the program's first conference title in its second MAC season.
Quarterback Ryan Schneider has seven receivers to throw to, a group that represents every kind of wideout imaginable.
There's diminutive 5-9 junior Tavaris Capers, the clear No. 1; 5-11 junior Luther Huggins, another small and elusive threat; 6-5, 210-pound sophomore Brandon Marshall, the team's biggest wideout; 6-2, 190 sophomore Al Peterson, who shed 15 pounds; 6-foot freshman Brooks Turner; 6-2 freshman Mike Walker; and 6-2 senior walk-on Dabar Fluellen.
It will be their job to replace the most productive receiving tandem in UCF history: Jimmy Fryzel and Doug Gabriel, who each had 1,000 yards seasons in 2002.
"Last year, defenses knew who they had to guard," Schneider told the Orlando Sentinel. "This year, they've got to guard everybody."
BACK, BACK, BACK: One key backup offensive position was settled at Florida A&M while another became unsettled.
The battle to back up starting running back Rashard Pompey ended when Devvin Richardson injured his ankle Saturday. So freshman Michael Fisher will back up Pompey as Richardson could miss up to two weeks.
The battle to back up Ben Dougherty at quarterback is heating up. Freshmen Albert Chester and Charles McCullum are not that far from junior and top back-up Toney Scott, according to coach Billy Joe.
Of course, that's not the QB battle Joe was hoping for in 2003. But the NCAA took care of that, declaring I-A transfers Willie Simmons from Clemson and Josh Driscoll of Arkansas State ineligible this season because FAMU is a provisional I-A school. They transferred in when the Rattlers were at the I-AA level, but their appeals to remain eligible were denied.
- Information from other news organizations was used in the report.
