Florida State has been the bridesmaid in the chase for the national championship the last four seasons.
FSU is 42-6 in the same period of time, but early losses each season have killed the Seminoles’ chances of ending the season as the top team in the country. Following four consecutive national finishes in the top four, including a 10-2 season in 1990 that was supposed to have been a rebuilding year, FSU finally could be on the verge of winning it all.
“The best thing I can say about this team is last year we had more talent than any team I’ve been around,” said FSU coach Bobby Bowden, who with 205 victories ranks eighth on the all-time list of Division I coaching winners. “The one thing we didn’t have was experience. Well, this year we’ve got the one thing.”
Most of the preseason publications, as well as a poll of 55 NCAA Division 1A head coaches, agree, ranking the Seminoles No. 1 as they begin their first season as an independent before beginning competition in the Atlantic Coast Conference in ’92.
This could finally be the year for Bowden and FSU, if they can survive a schedule that opens with 1990 Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer and the Brigham Young Cougars in the Pigskin Classic. The schedule also includes a trip to Michigan, as well as dates with Syracuse, Louisiana State, Louisville, South Carolina, Miami and Florida.
“It does seem like if we lose, it’s early, and we lost the two back-to-back to Auburn and Miami last year,” Bowden said. “If we didn’t have to go out and play the dadgum games in the first part of the season, we’d have won more national championships in August than anybody. So my No. 1 job is to make sure we don’t have any letdowns, especially early, but that’s so dadgum hard with our schedule.”
Casey Weldon, who became the starter for an ineffective Brad Johnson following consecutive losses to Auburn and Miami in 1990, responded by leading the Seminoles throughout the rest of the season unbeaten to finish third nationally in passing efficiency behind Detmer and Virginia’s Shawn Moore and was named the most valuable player in FSU’s spring game. Returning with Weldon is the entire backfield – fullback Edgar Bennett, tailback Amp Lee, who scored 19 touchdowns in ’90 – and six other returning offensive starters.
On defense, the Seminoles return nine starters, led by their leading tackler, 6-foot-2, 220-pound sophomore inside linebacker Marvin Jones. Jones was in on 133 tackles last year, including eight for losses.
In the secondary, Terrell Buckley has been referred to as “the second coming of Deion Sanders,” and for more reasons than just his flamboyant style and flashy clothes. Buckley returned two interceptions for touchdowns last year and scored twice more on punt returns.
Even considering all of that talent, FSU’s road to its first national title won’t be an easy one. Bowden calls this season’s race for No. 1 “as wide open as it’s ever been and similar to last year.”
There are certainly quite a few teams confident of their chances:
Three-time national champion Miami went into the season with a battle for starting quarterback twice in the 1980s – with Bernie Kosar, Vinnie Testaverde and Kyle Vanderwende in ’83 and Craig Erickson and Steve Walsh in ’87. The Hurricanes won the national championship both years. Again, Dennis Erickson has a quarterback controversy on his hands as he tries to find someone to replace Craig Erickson.
Junior Gino Torretta, who already owns the school record for passing yards in a game with 468, played sparingly behind Erickson in ’90, completing 21 of 41 passes for 210 yards and appears to be the front-runner after Bryan Fortay broke a finger and missed most of the spring. Whoever wins the quarterback’s job will have to deal with the losses of receivers Randall Hill and Wesley Carroll, and the Hurricanes also must find replacements for Outland Trophy winner Russell Maryland and All-American linebacker Maurice Crum.
Miami opens the season at Arkansas and will play three top-25 teams – Houston and Penn State on Sept. 14 and Oct. 12 at home and at Florida State on Nov. 16.
Michigan appears to be the favorite outside the state of Florida. Quarterback Elvis Grbac returns behind what could be the best offensive line in the nation. The Wolverines, who haven’t won a national championship since 1948, were six points from an unbeaten season in ’90, but face another typically challenging Big 10 schedule. Outside the conference, Michigan must also deal with Notre Dame and FSU early, but both games will be in Ann Arbor.
Notre Dame survived the NCAA investigation of head coach Lou Holtz’s program at Minnesota, rumors of his departure for the NFL and allegations of steroid abuse by former player Steve Hoffman. The question this year is can Notre Dame also survive the departures of Lombardi Award winning nose tackle Chris Zorich, linebacker Michael Stonebreaker, cornerback Todd Lyght, and of course, the defection of Rocket Ismail to the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.
As usual, the Irish should also challenge for the national title, with Rick Mirer returning at quarterback and flanker Clint Johnson. Johnson, nicknamed “Cosmic,” has already been tagged as the next Rocket and does have his speed (4.3 in the 40-yard dash). A key for the Irish offense will be whether Mirer can get the ball to tight end Derek Brown, who has yet to catch more than 15 passes in a season.
Although Notre Dame no longer has to contend with Miami, the Irish again have their usual tough schedule – playing Michigan, Michigan State, Southern California, Tennessee and Penn State.
Florida is the favorite to win an official Southeastern Conference championship this year, but the Gators also expect to challenge for the championship on the national level. Steve Spurrier, who was named the SEC Coach of the Year for leading Florida to a 9-2 season in his debut year in Gainesville, will have the SEC Player of the Year, junior quarterback Shane Matthews, at his disposal again this season.
Matthews completed 229 of 378 passes for 2,952 yards, the second-best single season mark in conference history, and 23 touchdowns.
With NCAA probation lifted, the Gators are now ready to reap the rewards of their success after posting the best SEC record three times in the past seven seasons without championship rings to show for their efforts. Twenty-five years after Spurrier won the Heisman Trophy at Florida, the Gators are optimistic about their chances in ’91.
“I think all the Gators are pretty happy with the way things are going,” Spurrier said. “All the NCAA sanctions are behind us. I’ve got to tell you this is probably the most high-pressure situation I’ve ever been in, but it is one I would want to be in and expect to be in at the University of Florida.”
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Showing posts with label NCAA college football. Show all posts
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Saturday, May 17, 2014
Auburn Officials Deny Claims by Ramsey
While Eric Ramsey spent virtually all day at his home answering telephone calls from reporters, officials within Auburn’s athletic department were trying to understand why he lashed out at the football program.
Ramsey, a two-year starter at cornerback who was selected in the 10th round of the NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, wrote a term paper for a sociology class entitled, “Life on the Plains: A Non-fictional Account of One Black Athlete’s Experience at Auburn University.”
In that five-page essay, he accuses the coaching staff of perpetuating stereotypes of black players and encouraging segregation in Sewell Hall, Auburn’s athletic dormitory.
Black athletes at Auburn, he said, are encouraged to succeed in athletics – not academics. Ramsey will be one class away from graduation when he leaves for Kansas City on Friday.
He felt the paper was a fitting vehicle for him to finally express the problems he observed within the program.
“What happened was I just got tired of every time I try to get myself on my feet, somebody just comes around and knocks me down time after time again,” Ramsey said.
“And I’ve talked to other black players who talk about what all Auburn has done to their lives, crying and upset because they didn’t get a fair shake. Somebody had to finally say something and get this in the open.”
Frank McIntosh, who backed up Stan White at quarterback during his senior season, was one of those players who were surprised to learn of Ramsey’s accusations.
“The whole time I was here, I didn’t notice any real big problems with racism,” said McIntosh, who is white. “I always got along with everybody. You have a few disagreements here and there, but I don’t think there were any major problems.
“It was a shock to me that he would say those things. If he was unhappy, I hate to see it. I always thought Eric was the kind of guy you’d enjoy being around. He wasn’t around the team very much off the field. On the field, he was a very happy-go-lucky guy, but he pretty much kept to himself off the field.”
Athletic department officials insist Ramsey’s criticism is merely a case of an unhappy, young man venting his anger at authority. The coaches describe Ramsey as a prodigal son.
“I’m not going to get into a dispute over this, but we try not to stereotype anybody,” said assistant head coach Wayne Hall. “Eric evidently had something happen to make him feel this way, but we’ve had 400 kids come through here in 10 years, and probably some of them became unhappy. But the biggest thing is I want the best for Eric, and I want the best for this program.”
Auburn head coach Pat Dye was at home recuperating from liver and spleen surgery and was unavailable for comment.
“Every program has had unhappy players before and will have unhappy players again, both black and white,” said David Housel, Auburn’s sports information director. “You can’t measure an entire program by the players, who, for whatever reason, have been unhappy.”
Ramsey charges the coaches with writing him off after he married Twilitta Webb of Montgomery and moved off campus during his freshman year.
He also attacked the atmosphere in the dormitory, accusing the coaches of making housing arrangements on the basis of race. In the essay, he writes that there were no blacks and whites rooming together.
Rusty Deen, Sewell Hall resident counselor, says players decide who they want to be their roommates, and that there are some inter-racial rooms.
“I moved in here in 1970, and we signed one black that year, and there was already one on the team,” said Deen of his playing days for Shug Jordan. “That white chose to live with that black in 1970, and there have been blacks and whites living together ever since. There’s no basis to what he’s saying there.”
But Ramsey says his anger reached its breaking point when he was accused of cheating on a final examination two years ago.
“I had to talk to my coach (defensive backs coach Steve Dennis) and an academic advisor, and they were ready to end my career,” he said. “They tape-recorded our conversation and then tried to get me to say I cheated. A year later, a teacher caught (another player) cheating, and they didn’t want to do anything about it, so they wouldn’t jeopardize his senior season. In my situation, they tried to get me put out of school, but they were ready to sweep (the other player’s conduct) under the rug, just because of his name.”
Dennis refused to comment, except to repeat what he said on Tuesday.
“I just want what’s best for Eric,” he said.
Ramsey seems to feel the opposite. He said he believes the coaching staff didn’t like the fact that he was married and had a family. He also said he was mistreated because he was trying to earn a degree, which will be in criminal justice.
In his term paper, Ramsey wrote that he was treated as an “outcast,” because he was independent.
“I just felt like they were out to get me, and I’ve talked to a lot of other blacks who played there,” he said. “Everybody knows how many blacks are on team, and we’re the ones who bring in the football revenue. I have nothing against the white players because it’s not their fault their parents brought them up in the good schools.
“But Coach Dye goes into the rough neighborhoods and gets players from low backgrounds. He manipulates us and then, when we’re through, sends us back into the world to dig ditches.”
Ramsey also accused Dye of trying to hurt his chances of pursuing an NFL career.
“I know some negative stuff went to the pro scouts,” he said. “My scout at Kansas City told me that Coach Dye told him that I didn’t want to play pro ball. Coach Dye himself told me to forget about playing pro ball, that I wouldn’t have the chance. But that only made me want to work harder to get the opportunity to get drafted.”
When Ramsey wrote his paper, he was merely trying to earn a grade and express some of the frustration and anger he had built up inside of him, he said. Now, he says he’s said all he wants for the time being, but also added that much more damaging information could be forthcoming.
He is also concerned about his career and threatened to tell the rest of his story if anyone from Auburn tries to sabotage his chances of making the Chiefs or attempts to hurt his family.
“I’ve been drafted by an NFL team and can’t even get a $1,000 loan because they (Auburn coaches) make one phone call,” he said.
“But what I’ve said is just a small part of it. I haven’t even talked about the illegal things. There are a lot of other things to be said. If anything happens to jeopardize my life in Kansas City, or they threaten me or my family, the story will be told. If I have to be the Martin Luther King of this generation, I will be.”
As a former player, Deen said he couldn’t understand Ramsey’s motives or what could have turned him against the Auburn program.
“There are so many things that (Dye) has done for former players that for someone to turn their back on him is a shame,” Deen said. “You play for a coach, and you’re around him for that period of time, so he’s like a father.
“It’s one of the most impressionable times of your life when you’re away from your mom and dad. You lean on him. I’m sure it hurts Coach Dye for some of these things to come out of one of them. This is just a black eye on us. It’s a black eye on him. I’m just sorry that Eric made those comments and hope that he will be sorry later.”
Ramsey, a two-year starter at cornerback who was selected in the 10th round of the NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, wrote a term paper for a sociology class entitled, “Life on the Plains: A Non-fictional Account of One Black Athlete’s Experience at Auburn University.”
In that five-page essay, he accuses the coaching staff of perpetuating stereotypes of black players and encouraging segregation in Sewell Hall, Auburn’s athletic dormitory.
Black athletes at Auburn, he said, are encouraged to succeed in athletics – not academics. Ramsey will be one class away from graduation when he leaves for Kansas City on Friday.
He felt the paper was a fitting vehicle for him to finally express the problems he observed within the program.
“What happened was I just got tired of every time I try to get myself on my feet, somebody just comes around and knocks me down time after time again,” Ramsey said.
“And I’ve talked to other black players who talk about what all Auburn has done to their lives, crying and upset because they didn’t get a fair shake. Somebody had to finally say something and get this in the open.”
Frank McIntosh, who backed up Stan White at quarterback during his senior season, was one of those players who were surprised to learn of Ramsey’s accusations.
“The whole time I was here, I didn’t notice any real big problems with racism,” said McIntosh, who is white. “I always got along with everybody. You have a few disagreements here and there, but I don’t think there were any major problems.
“It was a shock to me that he would say those things. If he was unhappy, I hate to see it. I always thought Eric was the kind of guy you’d enjoy being around. He wasn’t around the team very much off the field. On the field, he was a very happy-go-lucky guy, but he pretty much kept to himself off the field.”
Athletic department officials insist Ramsey’s criticism is merely a case of an unhappy, young man venting his anger at authority. The coaches describe Ramsey as a prodigal son.
“I’m not going to get into a dispute over this, but we try not to stereotype anybody,” said assistant head coach Wayne Hall. “Eric evidently had something happen to make him feel this way, but we’ve had 400 kids come through here in 10 years, and probably some of them became unhappy. But the biggest thing is I want the best for Eric, and I want the best for this program.”
Auburn head coach Pat Dye was at home recuperating from liver and spleen surgery and was unavailable for comment.
“Every program has had unhappy players before and will have unhappy players again, both black and white,” said David Housel, Auburn’s sports information director. “You can’t measure an entire program by the players, who, for whatever reason, have been unhappy.”
Ramsey charges the coaches with writing him off after he married Twilitta Webb of Montgomery and moved off campus during his freshman year.
He also attacked the atmosphere in the dormitory, accusing the coaches of making housing arrangements on the basis of race. In the essay, he writes that there were no blacks and whites rooming together.
Rusty Deen, Sewell Hall resident counselor, says players decide who they want to be their roommates, and that there are some inter-racial rooms.
“I moved in here in 1970, and we signed one black that year, and there was already one on the team,” said Deen of his playing days for Shug Jordan. “That white chose to live with that black in 1970, and there have been blacks and whites living together ever since. There’s no basis to what he’s saying there.”
But Ramsey says his anger reached its breaking point when he was accused of cheating on a final examination two years ago.
“I had to talk to my coach (defensive backs coach Steve Dennis) and an academic advisor, and they were ready to end my career,” he said. “They tape-recorded our conversation and then tried to get me to say I cheated. A year later, a teacher caught (another player) cheating, and they didn’t want to do anything about it, so they wouldn’t jeopardize his senior season. In my situation, they tried to get me put out of school, but they were ready to sweep (the other player’s conduct) under the rug, just because of his name.”
Dennis refused to comment, except to repeat what he said on Tuesday.
“I just want what’s best for Eric,” he said.
Ramsey seems to feel the opposite. He said he believes the coaching staff didn’t like the fact that he was married and had a family. He also said he was mistreated because he was trying to earn a degree, which will be in criminal justice.
In his term paper, Ramsey wrote that he was treated as an “outcast,” because he was independent.
“I just felt like they were out to get me, and I’ve talked to a lot of other blacks who played there,” he said. “Everybody knows how many blacks are on team, and we’re the ones who bring in the football revenue. I have nothing against the white players because it’s not their fault their parents brought them up in the good schools.
“But Coach Dye goes into the rough neighborhoods and gets players from low backgrounds. He manipulates us and then, when we’re through, sends us back into the world to dig ditches.”
Ramsey also accused Dye of trying to hurt his chances of pursuing an NFL career.
“I know some negative stuff went to the pro scouts,” he said. “My scout at Kansas City told me that Coach Dye told him that I didn’t want to play pro ball. Coach Dye himself told me to forget about playing pro ball, that I wouldn’t have the chance. But that only made me want to work harder to get the opportunity to get drafted.”
When Ramsey wrote his paper, he was merely trying to earn a grade and express some of the frustration and anger he had built up inside of him, he said. Now, he says he’s said all he wants for the time being, but also added that much more damaging information could be forthcoming.
He is also concerned about his career and threatened to tell the rest of his story if anyone from Auburn tries to sabotage his chances of making the Chiefs or attempts to hurt his family.
“I’ve been drafted by an NFL team and can’t even get a $1,000 loan because they (Auburn coaches) make one phone call,” he said.
“But what I’ve said is just a small part of it. I haven’t even talked about the illegal things. There are a lot of other things to be said. If anything happens to jeopardize my life in Kansas City, or they threaten me or my family, the story will be told. If I have to be the Martin Luther King of this generation, I will be.”
As a former player, Deen said he couldn’t understand Ramsey’s motives or what could have turned him against the Auburn program.
“There are so many things that (Dye) has done for former players that for someone to turn their back on him is a shame,” Deen said. “You play for a coach, and you’re around him for that period of time, so he’s like a father.
“It’s one of the most impressionable times of your life when you’re away from your mom and dad. You lean on him. I’m sure it hurts Coach Dye for some of these things to come out of one of them. This is just a black eye on us. It’s a black eye on him. I’m just sorry that Eric made those comments and hope that he will be sorry later.”
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