Noles Continue Preparations For An Athletic Florida

FSU Sports Information Excerpts:

While most of America is preparing for a long holiday weekend, the 22nd-ranked Seminole football team is working through Thanksgiving in preparations for the second-ranked Florida Gators. The Seminoles finished installing most of their game plan for Tim Tebow and the high octane Gator offense on Wednesday but the coaches know Urban Meyer’s offense isn’t the only concern. Florida will bring one of the nation’s best defenses to Tallahassee as well. The team practiced for 21 periods in shells. Due to Thanksgiving, the squad was able to hit the practice fields 45 minutes early on Wednesday.

Head Coach Bobby Bowden:

On preparation for Florida

“I think we’ve done about everything that we can do to prepare for this ballgame. There’s been a lot of preparation.”

Offense Coordinator Jimbo Fisher:

On film study of Florida

“Their offense is tremendous, but when you score 47 points a game you score them in a lot of different ways. Their special teams get field position and the turnovers their defense creates not only scoring, but putting them down there to score. They score with their team, their whole team scores and like I said their offense is so dynamic and everyone talks about it, but their defense is just as dynamic and they make a lot of plays to set them up.”

Quarterback Christian Ponder:

On Florida’s defense:

“I don’t think we have faced a team that is as athletic as Florida. Miami was, but Florida is very athletic as a team. This is going to be the biggest test all year. I think we should be able to handle it. They play a lot of man and that is something I think we can match up against. We can create a lot of opportunities for big plays. We are not changing what we’re doing. We are going to be able to stick to our normal stuff.”