Florida loaded on defense -- again
WAC fallout continues with bowls breaking deals
Posted: Tuesday August 04, 1998 01:17 PM
Florida, the home of Steve Spurrier, the home of the fun-and-gun offense, the home of pouring it on, has exactly one player on the preseason All-SEC offense, and a tackle, Zach Piller, at that.
How strange is that? Turns out, not much. In Spurrier's eight seasons at his alma mater, the Gators have had more All-SEC players on defense than offense. Same goes this season: three Gators -- end Ed Chester and linebackers Jevon Kearse and Johnny Rutledge -- made the preseason all-conference defense.
Let's break a deal
The fallout of the divorce in the Western Athletic Conference has only begun. Two of the three bowl games that have contracts with the league -- the Holiday and the Las Vegas -- have announced they intend to break the deals because of the change in membership. The Cotton Bowl, the third postseason game married to the WAC, has decided to wait and see, chiefly because officials of the Dallas game must live with WAC leftovers SMU and TCU in their backyard.
And let's give a knee-jerk award to University of Hawaii president Kenneth Mortimer, who has ruled out future competition against any of the eight schools that left his university behind. UNLV has offered a 10-year home-and-home to Hawaii. Mortimer says no. In a state so dependent on imported money, Mortimer should know what Congress is figuring out. Economic sanctions don't work.
A vote for McNown
The e-mail debate over who is the best quarterback in the Pac-10 will burn up anybody's modem. But when choosing between Cade McNown of UCLA and Brock Huard of Washington, there's no question that McNown will get more help from his supporting cast.
McNown may not have All-American tailback Skip Hicks but he has six other returning starters to help him. Huard is one of only four returning starters on the Huskies' offense. The leading returnee at receiver, top sprinter Ja'Warren Hooker, caught six passes last season. Another top candidate to start, Dane Looker, only has varsity experience at I-AA Western Washington -- as a basketball player. No offense, Huard, but this vote goes to McNown.
Cat-like speed
Kentucky coach Hal Mumme is quite proud of the increase in the Wildcats' defensive speed. The team that reports next week runs an average 4.57 40, two-tenths of a second faster than the Wildcats ran last season. They'll need that speed early. Kentucky opens against passers Chris Redman of Louisville and Jon Denton of Eastern Kentucky, who transferred from UNLV to play for legendary coach Roy Kidd after throwing for more than 6,000 yards the last two seasons. Then the Wildcats face the Florida Gators. Mumme said his defense is faster. He didn't say fast.
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