Bowden Respectful Of Tebow's Talent
At his weekly Sunday morning media breakfast following home games, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden already had Florida quarterback Tim Tebow on his mind.
With a 31st straight winning season and 300 victories safely tucked away following Saturday's 24-16 win over Maryland, the 78-year-old Florida State coach described the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Tim Tebow as "the quarterback of the future."
"I can't believe how good he is as a sophomore," Bowden said Sunday. "The guy has broken all kinds of records."
In Saturday's 59-20 win over Florida Atlantic, Tim Tebow became the first player in NCAA history with at least 20 touchdowns passing and rushing in the same season and solidified his bid to become the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy.
Bowden said that Florida's vertical game with Tim Tebow's strong, accurate arm will be "the ultimate test" for a Seminole secondary that has been brutalized much of the season with long plays.
"Florida will put a lot more problems on you than Virginia Tech," Bowden said. "You've got to know where the other guys are too."
Virginia Tech defeated Florida State 40-21 nine days ago.
Saturday's game in Gainesville could go a long way in deciding where the two schools wind up in bowl games.
The 12th-ranked Gators (8-3, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) may be headed for one of the state's New Year's bowls, possibly against its former coach Ron Zook's Illinois club.
Florida State (7-4, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) could upgrade its bowl attractiveness with an upset in Gainesville.
"Florida's ahead of us right now, but we're going to catch up with them," Bowden promised. "We're gonna get that back.
"When somebody gets the upper hand it's not the end of the world because you can come back," he said.
Florida State players gave Bowden the game ball Saturday in honor of his 300th win at the school and 373rd overall. Bowden is two wins ahead of Penn State's Joe Paterno, whose team lost at Michigan State in its regular season finale Saturday.
"It's very exciting to be a part of the history," quarterback Drew Weatherford said. "He's got a lot of accomplishments, but we're just excited to be a part of one of them."
Florida has won the last three games in the series.
Baylor Fires Morriss
Baylor fired coach Guy Morriss, a day after the Bears finished their 12th consecutive losing season with their 12th straight Big 12 loss.
Morriss was unable to produce a winning record in his five seasons, going 18-40 overall and 7-33 in conference games. He had a year left on his contract.
Mississippi Suspensions
JACKSON, Miss. | Mississippi put 20 players on probation Sunday after they twice stole items from hotels.
A news release said the players have paid for the items, which included radios and pillows. Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron said in the release that the players will be on probation indefinitely.
Officials said the items cost between $15 and $40.
A spokesman said a list of disciplined players was not available. Neither Orgeron nor athletic director Pete Boone immediately returned messages Sunday. Boone is scheduled to attend Orgeron's weekly news conference Monday to answer questions about the disciplinary action.
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