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By ANTONYA ENGLISH
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 1, 2001
GAINESVILLE -- This was supposed to be the joyful return of Marshall coach Bobby Pruett, the former Florida defensive coordinator who left in 1996 after two seasons and went on to lead the Thundering Herd to unprecedented success.
Pruett has compiled a 58-9 record and his .866 winning percentage is tops among active Division I-A coaches with at least five years' experience. He led Marshall to a I-AA national championship, then four consecutive MAC championships.
Marshall isn't Ball State or Citadel, opponents that have been fodder for Florida's season openers in recent years. In fact, earlier in the week Florida's coaches were talking about how they respected Marshall so much that they planned to use a wide-open playbook.
"No question they (players) have a lot more respect for Marshall than they did for Ball State," defensive coordinator Jon Hoke said. "We're definitely not going to hold anything back like we have in the past. We're going to play our stuff. We're going to attack them as much as we possibly can."
Suddenly, everything has changed.
The NCAA suspended 12 Marshall football players Thursday for receiving extra work benefits before February 2000. An agreement with the infractions committee states the school can decide how many players will miss games, and when. Although school officials will not release the names, Pruett confirmed after the team's walk-through Friday that six players will miss the game. Some are starters. Marshall is appealing, but the NCAA will not hear the case until next week.
So when top-ranked Florida hosts Marshall at 7:15 tonight in a nationally televised game on ESPN2, Pruett's return most likely won't be nearly as triumphant as he had hoped.
"This is certainly unfortunate and it's a huge distraction for our team," Pruett said. "But this is our lot and we've just got to go. Ain't no sense dwelling on it. They didn't cancel the game. ... This is a diversion, but we're not using it as an excuse."
The player Marshall can least afford to lose will be on the field tonight: Byron Leftwich, the quarterback who threw for more than 3,000 yards last season and is being touted as a Heisman candidate. That means Florida could have its hands full.
"Physically he's a lot like (former Georgia quarterback) Quincy Carter," Hoke said. "He's athletic and he'll run the football."
Even with the Thundering Herd's woes, Florida's history says it should be concerned. Opening games haven't exactly been cakewalks recently.
In 1997, Florida sputtered to a 21-6 win against Southern Mississippi. The next season, Citadel's option attack stymied the Gators before they won 49-10. In 1999, Florida defeated Western Michigan 55-26, but gave up 411 yards, 405 in the air.
Last season, Ball State battled the Gators until Florida pulled away in the fourth quarter. Coach Steve Spurrier said Marshall is a formidable opponent and the Gators can't worry about suspensions.
"We can't be concerned about that," he said. "I don't know if all of them will play or won't, but we just try to worry about ourselves. I hope they all can play. We want to play their team, not half their team."
Marshall is a 32-point underdog, but linebacker Max Yates said the Thundering Herd isn't concerned about that.
"I am not insulted. I've been here long enough to accept it," he said. "We are always the underdog."