TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -Florida State has tremendous speed at the wide receiver position, if the wideouts can stay on the field.
A year ago many of them couldn’t – and not because of injury.
Several Seminole receivers were suspended for disciplinary or legal reasons during the 2008 campaign. Five missed a critical mid-November game against Boston College for their roles in a midweek campus brawl.
“They weren’t there on Saturday when it counts,” receivers coach Lawrence Dawsey, a former Seminole All American said. “It is definitely frustrating to me and the whole team.”
They’ve run out of room off the field and coaches are counting on the group to give the 18th-ranked Seminoles a badly needed deep threat for quarterback Christian Ponder – starting with Monday’s matchup with Miami.
“I think they’ve realized the mistakes they’ve made in the past,” Ponder said. “People know that if they make another mistake it’s going to be bad.”
Tight end Caz Piurowski didn’t mince words about the miscreants.
hey need to get their act together,” he said. “It definitely puts a damper on your game plan.”
And it might’ve cost the Seminoles a division title last season as well. Five receivers were suspended Nov. 15 when visiting Boston College defeated Florida State 27-17 to win the ACC’s Atlantic Division and qualify for the league title game.
Last season, offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher persuaded 25-year-old Corey Surrency to try big-time football, hoping his maturity might have a good influence on a young group. It didn’t work. He was suspended twice and Surrency’s appeal to the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility was denied.
Fisher begins the 2009 season with fifth-year speedsters Rod Owens and Richard Goodman, who have also each been suspended, as the starting wideouts. They have caught 57 passes for 598 receiving yards and three touchdowns between them in their careers. Bert Reed, Jarmon Forston and Taiwan Easterling, the top returning receiver with 30 catches last season, are sure to see plenty of action.
The group runs about 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
Between the five, they have eight touchdown catches in their careers – less than a quarter of the 29 TD grabs by 6-6 Greg Carr alone over the last four years. Carr is gone along with multi-purpose threat Preston Parker, who was dismissed from the team earlier this year after a third run-in with law enforcement.
andy Shannon expects Florida State will use its tight end more this year in the passing game.
“They lost everybody at receiver,” Shannon said. “If they want to get into throwing things, they’ll probably go three-receiver sets with a running back and a tight end.”
Veteran Miami defensive back Randy Phillips believes the Seminoles might throw early to some of their younger receivers.
“Try to let them make plays using their athletic ability, pretty much like last year,” Miami safety Randy Phillips. “They won’t be able to heave the ball up to Carr or Surrency any more, though.”
Reed and company would like to change some minds – Miami defenders and Florida State fans alike – that they’re not thugs and can play.
“I took my family through a lot back at home, being in the newspaper every week for the wrong reasons,” said Reed, who was suspended three times last season for a variety of misdeeds. “To see my teammates out there and me leaving them hanging the Boston College game. I don’t want to do that again.”
Dawsey left little doubt about the consequences if they can’t stay out of trouble.
“He’s let us know he’s not having it,” Reed said. “The receivers really don’t want to go the same route again.”
Add A Comment