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College football around the state

By ALEX ABRAMS, ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 19, 2001

FSU's Boldin injures a knee

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida State's receiving corps, already depleted by injuries, may have suffered another blow. Projected starter Anquan Boldin went down with a left knee injury during Saturday's scrimmage.

Boldin is scheduled for an MRI Monday to determine the extent of the injury. "I don't know how bad. I hope it's not bad," coach Bobby Bowden said.

Boldin was hurt attempting to block a defender. Three plays earlier, he was slow getting up after getting hit by defensive tackle Travis Johnson on a reverse.

Boldin was moved from quarterback to wide receiver Wednesday after senior Robert Morgan suffered a season-ending injuring.

Wideouts Atrews Bell, Talman Gardner and P.K. Sam, nursing strained hamstrings, did not play. Guard Otis Duhart will be out at least six weeks with a lateral tibial fracture in his right knee.

Quarterback Chris Rix looked impressive, completing 8 of 18 passes for 132 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown to senior Javon Walker. -- ALEX ABRAMS

UF QB still up in the air

GAINESVILLE -- Florida coach Steve Spurrier said he still isn't ready to name a starting quarterback, but after nearly two weeks of practice he can tell Rex Grossman has improved since last season.

Grossman was 7-for-11 for 112 yards and led the offense to touchdowns on its first two possessions in a scrimmage at Florida Field.

"When Rex played last year, he really didn't know much about what was going on to tell you the truth," Spurrier said. "He was very fortunate in some of those games. It seemed like we had the perfect play called. If you've got the right play, he can hit the guy. But unfortunately, you don't always have the exact right play called. ... So playing quarterback's all about decisionmaking and picking the right guy to throw to. So he's getting a lot better at that." Brock Berlin went 8-for-15 for 65 yards. Neither quarterback threw an interception.

Offensive tackle Bobby Williams (shoulder), defensive lineman Sylvester McGrew (ankle) and fullback Reid Fleming (ankle) were the only significant injuries reported. -- ANTONYA ENGLISH

USF's Blackwell shines

TAMPA -- From the moment quarterback Marquel Blackwell led a six-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, South Florida's No. 1 offensive and defensive units were the most impressive in a 90-snap scrimmage.

But coach Jim Leavitt cautioned that some of the success may have been from a drop-off between the first and second teams. "Our ones didn't get challenged at all," he said. "The one offense and one defense did pretty good but the two offense and the two defense are a long ways away."

Blackwell, leading the first-team offense against the No. 2 defense, completed 7 of 10 passes for 71 yards in three touchdown drives, the second capped by his 20-yard pass to DeAndrew Rubin. Freshman Clenton Crossley had three carries for 61 yards in the first drive, including a 41-yarder and 15 yards for a touchdown. He added a 1-yard scoring run and finished with five carries for 62 yards. Santiago Gramatica was 3 for 4 on field goals, including a long of 47 yards. -- TIMES WIRES

UM's defense dominates

CORAL GABLES -- A stifling defense highlighted Miami's scrimmage at the Orange Bowl. "They were really making some plays and flying to the ball," coach Larry Coker said. "Their speed and aggressiveness caused problems for our offense.

"That said, our offense struggled. While I was disappointed in our offensive performance, I must say that I would be much more concerned about our team had the offense marched up and down the field all day."

Starting center Brett Romberg sat out the scrimmage while trying to recover from flu. His backup, Scott Puckett, did not participate because of a knee injury. Defensive end John Square returned after missing Friday while his wife gave birth to a son. -- TIMES WIRES

FAMU tries 3-8 defense

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida A&M, which lost seven starters on defense, is toying with a 3-8 defensive scheme to take advantage of its veteran depth at linebacker and defensive back. FAMU will attempt to confuse and disrupt offenses with blitzes from different areas of the alignment, coach Billy Joe said. "So far," he said, "there has been very little separation at a lot of positions, so I think it will take up to next weekend to filter out the starters from the reserves and redshirts." -- TIMES WIRES

Gaskins catches 2 TDs

ORLANDO -- Ivery Gaskins caught eight passes for 152 yards including 49- and 18-yard scores from backup quarterback Brian Miller.

"He's a threat with a ball in his hands," coach Mike Kruczek said of Gaskins. "I put him in there at the slot because of the threat running the little bubble screens and throwing underneath and making plays and he made a lot of big plays after he caught the football."

Miller was 23-for-31 for 283 yards with no interceptions. Starter Ryan Schneider was 11-for-25 for 132 yards and was picked off once. He left complaining of dizziness after taking a hit to the head. -- TIMES WIRES

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