FSU Saturday Practice in San Francisco: Preparing for UCLA

In its first full day in northern California, the Florida State football team practiced 18 periods in full pads at Laney College in Oakland, Saturday morning in preparation for its December 27th meeting with UCLA in the 2006 Emerald Bowl.

It was a bit colder, weather-wise, than the Seminoles have been used to. The temperature was in the 50's and it was mostly cloudy but no rain during the nearly two-hour workout.

In goal line situations, the Seminoles scored twice in six attempts. Xavier Lee connected with Caz Puirowski on the first attempt as did Drew Weatherford on the fourth attempt. Lorenzo Booker and Jamaal Edwards were both stopped on rushing scoring attempts although Edwards' attempt could have been ruled a touchdown as it was very close. Tony Carter recorded an interception in the exercise.

Florida State will be the visiting team in the 2006 Emerald Bowl.

Following practice, Coach Bobby Bowden, seniors Lorenzo Booker and Buster Davis and junior Andre Fluellen participated in the Emerald Bowl press conference.

The Emerald Bowl is celebrating its fifth year in 2006 and will have a lot of firsts this season. It will be the first Emerald Bowl featuring a Pac 10 team. It's the first year ever of the Pac 10 - ACC match-up. It will be the first time UCLA and FSU have played one another and it is Florida State's first appearance in Northern California. It also has a chance to sell out for the first time.

QUOTES

Head Coach Bobby Bowden

(on being at the Emerald Bowl)

We're very excited about being here. The bowls that we have been in, we haven't been in one past Texas. There's so many bowls down there in Florida, we've about covered all of them. We've got the Gator, we've got the Orange. So, it was really exciting to all of us to get to come to San Francisco. I'd hate to go 250 miles down the road again. It's been a great trip for us and our kids are all excited about it. I asked them when we found out we were coming here how many of them had ever been to San Francisco and there was maybe three."

(about playing UCLA)

"I've mentioned this before but you (Emerald Bowl) made us the offer first and I asked who would we be playing and he started naming some teams like Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona State and said there's an outside chance they could get UCLA and I said, get UCLA. That's a big name. Then I watched them play Southern Cal and I called them back and said, what were the names of some of those other guys? Anyway, it is a great thrill for us to be here and play a school with the tradition that you have here at UCLA."

Buster Davis

(on playing at Florida State)

"I've enjoyed myself really. Of course we've had our ups and downs but way more ups than downs. It's been the best experience I've ever had. I had a real good career in high school but when you get here, you almost find yourself. Coming to Florida State was the best decision I've ever made. As far as my last game, I'm not going to cry but it's going to be exciting to put that jersey on one more time."

Andre Fluellen

(on Saturday's practice)

"We practiced pretty good. We started off a little slow but then there was a lot of enthusiasm. For me, it wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be. It was a little chilly but everybody practiced well and we got a lot of good work in."

(on being in San Francisco)

"San Francisco, well it's not a place that I'd want to live. It's so congested. There's not landscaping, it's just all buildings which is a little bit different than the suburbs of Atlanta where I'm from but it's it good to be here. I've never been on the West Coast so it's a nice visit."

Lorenzo Booker

(on playing UCLA)

"It's going to be tough playing UCLA. Their defense is a lot tougher than it has been the past couple years. They're extremely unselfish as a team. They're a lot like Wake Forest. They play with an extremely unselfish attitude. They don't lack heart and they don't lack pride. Those kind of players never quit. For us, we know it's going to take 60 minutes to win the ball game and that's been one of our faults this year. We'll play for 58 minutes or 59 minutes some of the time and that last minute ends up coming back and biting us so we have to put together a complete game."

"A lot has been said about this not being a BCS bowl like we're accustomed to at Florida State but there's so much that we still feel like we have to prove to ourselves and to the whole community in Tallahassee. For me, I am home. I haven't gotten the opportunity to play in front of my family and friends and I'm about to have about 130 of them at the game so it's important."