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FSU likes to hog Pigskin cash

By BRIAN LANDMAN and BOB HARIG

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 27, 2000

JACKSONVILLE -- Besides having the opportunity to learn about his team's strengths and weaknesses, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said another benefit to playing in a preseason game like the Pigskin Classic is the money. FSU received a guaranteed $650,000, which unlike the revenue from other regular-season games and bowls, it doesn't have to share among its Atlantic Coast Conference brethren.

"The boys can reap something out of it," he said, pointing to the more than $2-million the school has spent on improving the locker room with plans to upgrade the weight room.

FREQUENT FLIERS: After Saturday's game, Brigham Young will head home to Utah and then hastily turn around for a trip to the south and a game Saturday at Virginia.

"Our athletic director (Val Hale) has talked a lot about that, wanting to get in different parts of the country," BYU coach LaVell Edwards said. "It seems we have played around the country before, but we haven't played a lot in the southeast. Frankly, I'd just as soon not go down there and play because of the weather and the other factors involved. ... Being a new league we started up ... we needed recognition and that's how we got it started."

A HOMECOMING: Five Seminoles played for Jacksonville high schools -- fullback William McCray (Bolles), receiver Atrews Bell (Lee), safety Gennaro Jackson (Raines), defensive tackle Randy Wilkins (Nease) and offensive tackle Char-ron Dorsey (Bolles), who intends to redshirt this season.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW: Sunshine Network, as it will do with every regular-season game, will air its replay of the Pigskin Classic at 7 tonight and noon Monday.

RECORD-BREAKER: It was the first of what will likely be a frequent occurrence: Chris Weinke moving up in the FSU record book. In the first quarter, Weinke got 76 passing yards to move past Charlie Ward for fourth place in career passing yardage. Ward threw for 5,747 yards. Weinke also had a chance to pass Thad Busby, who threw for 5,916 yards. Going in, Weinke needed 707 yards to pass Gary Huff as FSU's all-time leader in passing yardage. He also was 11 touchdown passes behind Danny Kanell for the career lead. Weinke extended to 22 the record for 200-yard passing games.

TIDBITS: FSU linebacker Tommy Polley, who suffered a knee injury in the Sugar Bowl and had reconstructive surgery, made his first appearance with 12 minutes left in the first quarter. He made his first tackle on his first play. ... The Seminoles entered having won 17 straight regular-season night games, dating to a 33-28 loss at Virginia on Nov. 2, 1995. That was FSU's first defeat in the ACC. ... In keeping with longstanding policy of playing numerous people despite the status and situation, FSU used 59 players in the first quarter, including five freshmen. ... FSU's first-quarter safety was its first since Oct. 10, 1998 by Roland Seymour in a 26-14 victory at Miami. ... Bowden received the 1999 Vince Lombardi Award for coaching excellence on Friday night. The award is named for the late Hall of Fame coach. Bowden is the fifth winner of the award, following Joe Gardi of Hofstra (1995), Paul Pasqualoni of Syracuse (1996), Joe Paterno of Penn State (1997) and Harold "Tubby" Raymond of Delaware (1998). ... BYU went scoreless in the first half, something it hadn't done since 1998. But the last time the Cougars were shut out was in 1975 against Arizona State.

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