Defense Reigns Supreme In Final Scrimmage

FSU Sports Information Excerpts:

There is little doubt that senior captain Antone Smith was the star offensively for Florida State in the final scrimmage of the 2008 pre-season. The tailback from Pahokee was the lone bright spot for the Seminole offense statistically as he rushed three times for 130 yards in a scrimmage that was delayed for two days by tropical storm Fay. Deuce, as he is known to his teammates, ran for 30, 45 and 55 yards to lead the FSU offense on the ground but outside of Smith the day belonged to Mickey Andrews’ defense. There were five sacks for the D and in goal line the defense almost equaled the offense with two of their own touchdowns compared to three in eight tries for the offense.

STATS:

Quarterbacks:
D’Vontrey Richardson
· 6 for 8, 31 yards
Drew Weatherford
· 1 for 7, 17 yards
Christian Ponder
· 3 for 11, 32 yards
EJ Manuel
· 3 for 7, 87 yards

Running Backs:
Tavares Pressley
· 4-11yards
Jermaine Thomas
· 7-22 yards
Joe Surratt
· 3-3 yards
Antone Smith
· 3-130 yards
Preston Parker
· 1-3 yards
Brandon Paul
· 6-16 yards

Wide Receivers:
Preston Parker
· 2-7 yards
Rod Owens
· 1-17 yards
Corey Surrency
· 3-72 yards

Defense
Tackles:
Emmanuel Dunbar – 4
Kenny Ingram – 4, 1 sack
Brandon Paul – 3
Toddrick Verdell – 3 tackles, 1 sack

Sacks:
Toddrick Verdell
Kevin McNeil
Kenny Ingram
Jamar Jackson
Markus White

Head Coach Bobby Bowden:
“Like I told the offense for about a minute and a half out there they looked like a million dollars. The shortest run they made was probably 25 yards. Today we ran better than we threw. But after that drive, the offense simply could not get anything together.

“The quarterback would miss people that were open then we’d drop one. [Corey] Surrency had a good day; he caught about everything he could get his hands on. Penalties, offensive penalties…too many first and 20’s, it’s hard to overcome. I thought our defense looked better and that’s encouraging because you’re not going to win if they can’t hit. They looked better; their coverage was better, their rush was better. For some reason they had more spirit today then the offense.

Quarterback Drew Weatherford:
On the offense’s performance in the scrimmage:
“I don’t think we were ready to play from the get-go. Those two days off that we had really kind of put us behind. Offense is about getting into a rhythm. That’s no excuse. We have got to step up to the plate and get our minds right no matter what the conditions are and be ready to play.”