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Both teams wish they had different game

By ANTONYA ENGLISH

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 8, 2001

GAINESVILLE -- Just call it the game almost nobody wants to play. Or even watch, for that matter.

Florida coach Steve Spurrier said in a more perfect college football system, one with a playoff, the Gators would not be playing Louisiana-Monroe today.

Louisiana-Monroe coach Bobby Keasler said he wishes Florida wasn't on his schedule -- at least not this season.

Network television wouldn't touch the game, so fans just desperate to see the Gators play will have to pay.

So why is Florida (1-0), the No. 2 team in the nation, hosting Louisiana-Monroe (0-1) at 6 p.m. today?

Good question.

For Louisiana-Monroe, a small program in the newly formed Sun Belt Conference, the answer is simple: a $500,000 paycheck. And Keasler isn't even thrilled about that.

"I let the administration worry about that," he said. "I don't like to take a beating for money at all."

For Florida, the answer is a little more complicated. This is what Division I-A football has come to for many programs. Play a few cupcakes that come to your home field without a return game, and get sure wins before starting the conference schedule.

"If you had a playoff system, we wouldn't be playing Louisiana-Monroe," Spurrier said. "We would be playing Penn State, Michigan, maybe Notre Dame, maybe Washington, UCLA or Southern Cal. That's who we should be playing. But without a playoff system in place, every school needs to bring as many into their home park. This is a game that we don't have to go to their place, just like the Marshall game. But that's just the way college football is, no sense complaining about it."

Actually, you could complain. Florida is a 56-point favorite. Earlier in the week, many of the Florida players couldn't name Louisiana-Monroe's mascot or talk much about what kind of game to expect. Still, the players said they refuse to take the Indians lightly, especially with an SEC showdown against Tennessee on the horizon.

"That (the line) is what somebody's saying, but they won't go out there and play," offensive lineman Tommy Moody said. "That would tick me off. I am sure Louisiana-Monroe will look at that and that will be their inspiration. That's what I would do." The Indians are coming off a 20-9 loss to Sam Houston. Several key players are injured and Keasler admits the team isn't where it needs to be.

"We're still making these young mistakes, which is the situation we're in with our football team," he said. "Offensively we've got one senior that starts, three juniors and six sophomores. Defensively, we've got two seniors, one junior, five sophomores and three redshirt freshmen playing for us. I think we've got the makings of a good football team, but we're still in a growing process and trying to get some maturity and we need to do it in a hurry."

So with that in mind, Florida's coaches and players have spent the week talking about improving themselves, not worrying about the Indians.

"Monroe is a team that has struggled at times," Florida defensive coordinator Jon Hoke said. "The biggest thing we have to do defensively is continue to improve, play with better fundamentals, keep trying to find consistency."

Last season the Indians lost to Tennessee 70-3. It was the start of a season of playing higher-caliber opponents that nearly decimated Louisiana-Monroe. Keasler is hoping for a different outcome today, at least physically.

"You don't want to go in there as young as you are and start losing football players and create a depth problem," Keasler said. "That's the same thing that happened to us last year. We played some young folks and in the course of the season we lost 14 football players because of the schedule. Last year at Tennessee, and several other ballgames last year, when you lose 14 in the course of the season, it changes the season for you. We're looking to go there (Florida) and not get too beat up."

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