By BOB HARIG, BRIAN LANDMAN
Published September 12, 2004
Florida State's offensive line was supposed to be a strength with five starters returning.
But David Castillo, a candidate for the Rimington Trophy as the nation's top center, is out with a chest injury. Guard Bobby Meeks is hobbled by a high ankle sprain and didn't start against Miami, and guard Matt Meinrod injured his right knee during the game.
"All of a sudden, the middle is out," coach Bobby Bowden said.
Although he said John Frady did well at center, Meeks came on briefly when Ron Lunford needed a break and Cory Niblock did okay in place of Meinrod, there's a reason they're second team.
"It's funny," Bowden said. "You take your blocking and everybody can get their man, and one man misses and it's a disaster. So when you've got inexperience out there, guys who are on the second unit, they're just liable to make a mistake that costs you, especially operating against a defensive front that might be the best in the country."
Bowden hopes Castillo and Meeks can return for Saturday's game against UAB. Meinrod, the former East Lake High star, said he sprained his MCL and will have an MRI on Monday.
"I'm doing all right," Meinrod said. "I'm on crutches with a big, old knee brace, but I don't even need the crutches. It's really to keep weight off of it. I'm moving around my apartment fine without them. I can put pressure on it, so that's a good sign."
TOUGH D: So much for losing seven starters. Miami's defense looked just fine. It held the Seminoles to 57 yards rushing, caused four turnovers and sacked Chris Rix three times.
And Antrel Rolle, a star cornerback, caused the Seminoles other problems by blitzing and generally being disruptive.
"Defensively, I was really impressed," said UM coach Larry Coker, who is now 5-0 against FSU. "There's some things we have to tweak and some mistakes we made to give them a completion or two here or there. But all in all, you saw the pressure on the quarterback."
Perhaps recognizing some of the dominance was due to the shaky play of Rix, Coker was quick to say there is room for improvement. And he knows the offense will need to do better to win games.
"We can't expect that type of performance from the standpoint of not having the offense score and also putting the defense in a hole," he said.
FITTING FINISH: Coker thought it was only appropriate that tailback Frank Gore scored the winning touchdown. Gore, from Coral Gables, missed both games against FSU last season after tearing his left ACL on Oct. 2. He missed all of 2002 after tearing his right ACL. In his first game back, Gore rushed for 89 yards on 18 carries and scored in overtime on an 18-yard run.
"I was going to kick a field goal on third down (on the overtime possession) had he not made it," Coker said. "I like the way it happened. Frank is my hero. To come back from those two surgeries takes a lot of guts and heart. It shows what he is made of."
CROMARTIE UPDATE: FSU sophomore cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who returned a fumble for a score and had an interception, aggravated a hip injury. It's not known how serious it is, but he wasn't on crutches Saturday.
