College football

Nearly 60,000 Gator fans show up for scrimmage

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published April 10, 2005

GAINESVILLE - Told that nearly 60,000 people were expected to attend Florida's final spring scrimmage, coach Urban Meyer decided he needed to make it worth their while.

He held a draft to evenly distribute the teams, then limited what the defense would be allowed to do.

"Something you should know ... we handcuffed the defense today for a reason," Meyer said. "I've been doing this 20 years and two things can happen: You can leave with a bunch of defensive coaches hanging their heads; or you can let them go and end up at 3-0, and the coaches are happy, but 58,000 people are unhappy because nothing happened."

The offenses combined for 631 yards and 62 points as the Orange team held on to defeat the Blue 34-28 in the annual Orange and Blue game Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

A record 58,500 attended, an estimate announced while dozens were still in ticket lines just before halftime. It was the largest crowd for an Orange and Blue game and the largest home crowd to watch a Meyer-coached team. His high at Utah was 46,768 on Sept. 11, 2003, against California.

"That was a great day for Florida football, I really enjoyed it," Meyer said afterward. "It was the first time I was ever nervous before a spring game ... because I knew there would be a lot of people watching."

Junior Chris Leak went 14-of-20 for 221 and four touchdowns for the Orange, including a 48-yarder to Dallas Baker. "Chris Leak made some great throws, throws non-experienced quarterbacks simply don't make," Meyer said.

Baker had six receptions for 134 yards and three touchdowns.

"In the first quarter I was excited, not to take away anything from the spring game, but I was excited thinking about the fall and what it will be like," Baker said.

Josh Portis, a freshman backup quarterback, was 20-of-30 for 253 yards and four touchdowns for the Blue, and said his decision to enter college early was the right one.

"Getting to practice in the spring and play in the spring game, that was important," said Portis, who won't turn 18 until July. "I'm No. 2 in my mind, but I've got to keep proving myself. I can't say I'm better than those guys (Cornelius Ingram and Gavin Dickey), but I think my play on the field speaks for itself."

Tampa native Andre Caldwell caught a 37-yard touchdown from Portis and finished with eight receptions for 149 yards for the Blue.

Offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said three running backs emerged this spring: Wynn, Sklyer Thornton and Markus Manson (13 for 68) and depth at receiver is an asset. "When you have three or four receivers that can go out and make plays, it creates matchup problems and it's going to be a lot more fun," he said.

Meyer and the players acknowledged that 15 spring practices aren't indicative of how the fall season will play out.

"Like coach Meyer said, this is going to be the most important offseason we've had," offensive lineman Lance Butler said. "We can make great things happen if we can just pull it all together. It starts this offseason."

Although the defense was limited, players assured fans they will go all out this fall.

"We're going to be better with the way we play, technique the whole nine yards," defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. "There's going to be blitzing, it's going to be all-out.

[Last modified April 10, 2005, 00:40:18]