Florida in action in first busy college grid weekend
Posted: Fri August 29, 1997 at 10:21 a.m EDT
The national title defense has to start against someone, and
this year's honoree is Southern Mississippi.
The Golden Eagles have the daunting task of playing defending
national champion and preseason number one Florida in
Gainesville early Saturday evening in the first busy weekend of
the college football season.
There are another six top 25 games in store Saturday, two
involving top 10 schools. Number five Tennessee and Heisman
Trophy favorite Peyton Manning hosts Texas Tech at 7:30 p.m.
EDT, six hours after number six Nebraska kicks off at home
against Akron.
The first game of the day involving ranked teams pits number 16
Syracuse (1-0) against North Carolina State at noon, while
Alabama welcomes Houston to Legion Field in
Birmingham and Virginia Tech visits Rutgers in 12:30
starts.
Miami of Florida, ranked 14th, visits Baylor at 3:30.
The Gators have a new quarterback in Doug Johnson, who does not
have the luxuries of the 1996 Heisman winner, Danny Wuerffel.
Wuerffel had a pair of first-round NFL draft choices at wide
receiver in Ike Hilliard and Reidel Anthony. At least Johnson
has Jacquez Green, who should star as the main catch man in
coach Steve Spurrier's vaunted passing attack.
Tennessee has two key games -- visits to Florida and Alabama --
in its hopes for a national title shot, so the Texas Tech game
is not one of the biggest. In addition, the Red Raiders
suspended middle linebacker Eric Butler and left cornerback Tony
Darden for one game as part of an ongoing NCAA investigation.
A win by Nebraska would be its 300th at Memorial Stadium. It
seems like a foregone conclusion against the Mid-America
Conference Zips, who opted for the big payday instead of hosting
geographic rival Youngstown State.
Miami is a heavy favorite, but Baylor hopes to improve as coach
Dave Roberts makes his debut. The Hurricanes will be without
wide receiver Jammi German, who is suspended two games as a
result of the controversial "Limogate" scandal that, along with
a knee injury, kept him from playing last season.
Mike DuBose makes his debut as Alabama head coach, replacing the
retired Gene Stallings, against Houston. DuBose is keeping out
running back Dennis Riddle for one game because of a violation
of team rules. He is already without leading wide receiver
Michael Vaughn, who had back surgery to repair a ruptured disc.
Syracuse romped Wisconsin 34-0 in last Sunday's Kickoff Classic
and is looking to become the first team to reach two wins. The
Orangemen are led by quarterback Donovan McNabb, who was
11-of-14 for 211 yards and one touchdown passing with a 21-yard
rushing score against the Badgers.
Virginia Tech is meeting Rutgers in the Big East Conference
opener. The Hokies tied Miami and Syracuse for the conference
championship last season and will look to Al Clark to replace
quarterback Jim Druckenmiller, who was drafted in the first
round by the San Francisco 49ers.
The college football weekend began Thursday when
Ohio State earned a 24-10 victory over Wyoming in the Eddie
Robinson Football Classic on Thursday. Stanley Jackson threw for
one touchdown and ran for another and Michael Wiley ran for 121
yards and a score as the Buckeyes, a 30-point favorite,
struggled to victory.
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