UM-FSU mindful of opener
CORAL GABLES – Here’s how Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder gets through 110-yard sprints in Tallahassee’s searing heat: He thinks of Sept. 7.
Here’s how Miami running back Graig Cooper rises for early morning workouts without needing an alarm: He thinks of Sept. 7.
Sure enough, the countdown to Labor Day – and the season-opening, prime-time, nationally televised showdown, Miami at Florida State – is already under way on the Sunshine State’s northern and southern tips. So when the Hurricanes and Seminoles start training camp this week, it’ll be no secret about which game will weigh heaviest on their collective minds.
“We love that the first game is Miami,” Ponder said. “It definitely helps to use as motivation through the summer. Summer can be long, but when you have a first game like that it really helps, and during two-a-days when camp starts having them right off the bat really keeps guys focused on what they need to do. It’s a great rivalry game.”
No, these teams aren’t exactly locks to be in the national championship picture any more: Florida State’s last title was in 1999, Miami’s in 2001, and both programs have watched the other member of the state’s so-called “Big 3” – the Florida Gators – win two of the past three crowns and seem like a shoo-in for the role of preseason No. 1 this season.
That doesn’t minimize the matchup’s importance.
Quite the contrary, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said.
“If you want to win a national championship,” Bowden said, winking his right eye for emphasis, “you better win this game.”
A year ago, there was no true sense of urgency for either club to be razor-sharp at the start of the season.
Florida State’s 2008 campaign opened with Western Carolina, a predictably easy matchup where the Seminoles won 69-0, the most lopsided margin in the program’s history. Miami enjoyed a cakewalk as well, topping Charleston Southern 52-7.
Chances are, Sept. 7 will give both team a bit of a truer test.
“It’s an opportunity to see where we’re at as a football team,” Miami coach Randy Shannon said. “We accept that challenge.”
His team has a slew of challenges to open this season. Cupcakes need not apply.
Perhaps the most brutal opening four-game stretch in the nation awaits Miami this fall. After Florida State, the Hurricanes play, in order, Georgia Tech, defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia Tech, and last season’s BCS runner-up Oklahoma.
Florida State and Miami met to open the season in 2004, 2005 and 2006 – all of those games dominated by defense. The Hurricanes got a TD in the final minute of regulation before winning the ’04 game 16-10 in overtime; Florida State answered with a 10-7 win in 2005 and a 13-10 victory in 2006.
If those are any indication, don’t look for a reprise of last year’s wild, 41-39 shootout Florida State win this time around.
UF’s Cooper returning: Florida receiver Riley Cooper, who has agreed to play baseball for the Texas Rangers, is returning for his senior season.
Gators coach Urban Meyer announced Cooper’s decision Tuesday.
It is welcome news for Florida, whose biggest challenge this fall is replacing leading receivers Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy.
“He will be counted on heavily to be one of our go-to receivers,” Meyer said. “I’ve said numerous times during the offseason that we need someone to step up with the departure of Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy. We haven’t had someone step up yet, and Riley can certainly be someone that does.”
There was a real chance Cooper might spurn Florida for major league baseball. The Rangers drafted him in the 25th round in June’s amateur baseball draft and spent part of the summer playing with the McKinney Marshals of the Texas Collegiate League.