Colleges

College football: 3 key matchups between Florida State and Miami

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published September 4, 2006

FSU QB DREW WEATHERFORD vs. MIAMI DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR RANDY SHANNON

As a redshirt freshman with all of one play under his belt before taking the field against Miami, Weatherford, below, the former Land O'Lakes standout, was understandably nervous. That gave way to confusion. He was unprepared for Shannon's bunch, whose trademark for years was man-to-man coverage, to play a zone defense. "We had a lot of new plays and, to be honest, I didn't know how to execute them against a zone . . . and that gave me fits the whole game," he said. He completed 7 of 24 passes for 67 yards, and five of those completions were to his running backs. He's far more experienced and far more confident in himself and his teammates now. He expects to be able to adapt if or when Shannon, a key holdover from a revamped coaching staff, does throw something unexpected his way.

FSU LB LAWRENCE TIMMONS vs. MIAMI TE GREG OLSEN

Timmons, a junior who is taking over for Ernie Sims, is making his first collegiate start and is expected to be a big-time playmaker. He'll get his chance as the probable key defender assigned to Olsen, left. Miami historically has relied on its tight end, and that player, whether it has been Jeremy Shockey or Kellen Winslow Jr. or Olsen, has had big games against FSU. The 6-5, 252-pound Olsen had eight catches for 137 yards (and it would have been more were it not for a couple of drops) last year. Half of Kyle Wright's completions were to Olsen vs. FSU's defense, and this year, with new offensive coordinator Rich Olson implementing more quick throws, the tight end could be an even bigger factor. Timmons said of Olsen: "He's a pretty complete player. He can block, he can catch. . . . He's a good athlete. I've got a lot of work to do."

FSU K GARY CISMESIA vs. MIAMI K JON PEATTIE

So many times, the FSU-Miami game comes down to a kick, and so many times it has gone wide right or wide left for FSU. Last year, the shoe was on the other foot. Peattie, right, a former Countryside High standout, missed field goals from 47 and 39 yards, then didn't have a shot at a tying 28-yarder in the final minutes thanks to a poor snap and hold. Cismesia has won the job again for FSU, but when we last saw him, he missed a point-after and then two field goals in overtime in a loss to Penn State in the Orange Bowl. "I'm not too worried about the past right now," he said, adding he has worked in the offseason to fix his alignment and has found that extending his arm in the direction he plans to kick the ball has helped. "I don't have to worry about hooking it," he said. So, if this game came down to a field goal, how would FSU coach Bobby Bowden feel: "Who's kicking, us or them?"

[Last modified September 4, 2006, 02:12:29]