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Florida State is again ACC's big dog, led by QB Rix

Posted: Wednesday July 24, 2002 11:04 AM
  Ivan Maisel - Inside College Football

PINEHURST, N.C. -- After a brief, one-season intermission, we now resume the heart-tugging story of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Florida State and the Eight Dwarfs. The old bar-stool philosophy question of what happens when a car-chasing dog succeeds will be answered this fall. The car, filled with Seminoles, will speed up and leave the dog once again. The most interesting statistic I heard at the ACC preseason mediafest that concluded Wednesday is this:

There is one statistical category in which Florida State had never led the ACC: returning starters. This season the Seminoles have 17, which ties them with Wake Forest (if you include Demon Deacons tailback Tarence Williams, already the winner of this season's Stupid Injury Award, having broken his foot this summer getting out of bed).

There are plenty of reasons why Florida State is much better than the rest of the league. The strangest one is the series of events that have befallen the league's other quarterbacks. Other than at N.C. State, where Phillip Rivers continues to show how he is mature beyond his years -- he is married and now the father of a two-week-old baby -- the Seminoles' challengers are beset with the oddest quarterback dilemmas in one league in recent memory. To wit:

  • At North Carolina, sophomore Darian Durant must try to regain the trust of his coaches and teammates after leaving the team just long enough to miss spring practice. "We were kind of taken aback," right guard Jeb Terry said. "To tell you the truth, I still don't know why he left." Once the players gave their approval, coach John Bunting decided to take Durant back. "They are still waiting to see what happens in training camp," Bunting said.

  • At Virginia, junior Bryson Spinner, who shared the job a year ago with Matt Schaub, left school last winter under mysterious circumstances. Schaub will now fend for himself.

  • At Maryland, sophomore Chris Kelley won the job during spring practice, then tore the ACL in his right knee in the spring game. Kelley is already throwing 7-on-7 drills and coach Ralph Friedgen is cautiously optimistic that the QB will return before the first month of the season is over. "He's preparing hard for Notre Dame," Friedgen said. "I don't know if that's possible. I would hate to injure him. I'm waiting for the doctors to clear him." The only other quarterback on the roster with any experience, LaTrez Harrison, moved to wide receiver during spring practice and became the surprise of the offense.

  • Nothing unusual happened to Clemson junior Willie Simmons, other than that he earned his degree in only three years. If you're looking for a poised, smart quarterback, that would be Simmons. But he played only 98 minutes last season behind Woody Dantzler, and 40 of those came against Wofford and Duke.

  • Speaking of which, even the Blue Devils, who are still 0-fer this century, ran into quarterback problems when senior D. Bryant became academically ineligible for this fall.

    At the other end of the league, there's sophomore Chris Rix. Given that the Seminoles went "only" 8-4 last season, the perception is that Rix had a difficult season. By Florida State standards, perhaps. However, he threw for 2,734 yards and 24 touchdowns, led the ACC in passing efficiency (156.6) and even rushed for 389 yards and three scores. He is a year smarter, as are the other seven sophomore returning starters. I played golf with Rix on Monday, and trust me when I say he didn't spend the summer working on his swing plane. The Seminoles once again are ahead of the dogs, cruising down the freeway.

    Sports Illustrated senior writer Ivan Maisel covers college football for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.


     
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