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Spurrier frowns on Heisman thoughts

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 1, 2001

GAINESVILLE -- The Heisman talk has started.

With his 22-of-31 performance for 393 yards against Mississippi State on Saturday, Florida's Rex Grossman became the first Gators quarterback to pass for more than 300 yards in four consecutive games. Grossman leads the nation in passing efficiency (190.98), and the Gators have the No. 1 passing offense, averaging 441.5 yards.

And talk has turned to Grossman joining the list of Heisman Trophy candidates. But if coach Steve Spurrier has his way, the talk will be short-lived. "I don't really know that we've ever sat around here and talked about Heisman; even when Danny (Wuerffel) won it, we didn't sit around here and talk about it," Spurrier said Sunday. "We talk about team victories, team championships. Right now we're trying to win the (SEC) Eastern Division and the only thing we talk about is team."

Spurrier said the coaching staff works diligently to keep players from becoming overconfident, based on what they read and hear from sports media. That continues as the Gators come off a 52-0 win and prepare to travel to LSU.

"I'm not talking (Heisman), and I can't control what the media boys talk about," Spurrier said. "But hopefully (Rex) won't start talking about it or any of our players."

But they already have.

Receiver Jabar Gaffney and tackle Mike Pearson said after Saturday's game that Grossman should be among the candidates.

NICE PROTECTION: With the talk about the Gators' stellar defensive performance, the work of the offensive line may have been overlooked. Spurrier said UF's front had its most impressive performance of the season Saturday.

"Overall, the protection, the offensive line blocked well up front," he said. "We only had one or two little messups on our pass protection up front, but overall they had probably their best game of the year. Tommy Moody (moved to backup last week) bounced back and blocked well up in there and Zac Zedalis on the shotgun snaps; they were all very good."

ODDS AND ENDS: With seven extra points Saturday, kicker Jeff Chandler moved into fourth on the SEC career list (142). Former Florida kicker Bart Edmiston is third with 160. Chandler also moved into eighth on the league's career-scoring list with 295 points. Gaffney's 49-yard catch in the second quarter gave him nine 100-yard receiving games, placing him second on the school's all-time list. Carlos Alvarez is the leader with 13 games of 100 or more yards. Ben Troupe and Kelvin Kight caught their first touchdowns.

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