Yardbarker: Drew Weatherford

TSP's College Football Conference Previews: # 4 ACC

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:15:36 -0500

We are on to the second week of our BCS conference previews. Today we take a look at our #4 ranked conference, the ACC.

Projected Finish
Atlantic Division
1. Clemson
2. Florida State
3. Wake Forest
4. Maryland
5. Boston College
6. NC State

Coastal Division
1. Virginia Tech
2. North Carolina
3. Miami
4. Georgia Tech
5. Virginia
6. Duke

Off the Radar Team
Butch Davis enters his second season at the helm in Chapel Hill. North Carolina experienced a number of growing pains in 2007 and finished just 4-8. The expectations will be pretty average again for the Tarheels, but a few factors could lead to a surprisingly good season. First, Davis has more depth this season than last. We like the way Davis recruits, and he'll have two classes in the program this season. Along with the added depth, UNC returns 17 of 22 starters. These young players showed flashes last year and will be much more confident. The final reason we like this team is that they play an extremely favorable schedule in a weak division.

Best Chance for the Heisman
The best chance for a trip to NYC will likely come from the Clemson trio of quarterback Cullen Harper or running backs James Davis and CJ Spiller. One of these three should really shine this season, and Harper is the most likely candidate. He has the one of the best receivers in the conference (senior Aaron Kelly) and can throw to either of his filthy running backs out of the backfield. Plus, teams will gameplan against the run, creating even more opportunities for Harper.

Bold Predictions

This might not seem bold, but Clemson will win the conference. The reason we are listing it here is because we still feel Bowden is a bad coach, but he has too much talent and the conference is too weak for him not to succeed.
Wake Forest will continue to compete for an ACC Championship. If Clemson slips up, Jim Grobe's team will be right there.
The only team that won't be in the hunt for the Coastal Division crown will be Duke. The other five teams all have question marks, but could find a way to Tampa Bay.
Florida State will make a move away from senior quarterback Drew Weatherford. They pretty much have to if the offense wants to produce. We hope to see true freshman E.J. Manuel gets some snaps this year.

TSP College Football Conference Preview Schedule
Monday August 11th: Big East
Thursday August 15: Pac 10
Thursday August 21st: Big 10
Monday August 25th: Big 12
Thursday August 28th: SEC

All Eyes on Tallahassee

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:50:58 -0500

With a pair of 7-6 seasons the once mighty Florida State Seminoles are under a close watch. Bobby Bowden the 79 year old wonder coach is nearing the end of his lif... career in the eyes of most fans. While he did lead them to the promised land on numerous occasions many just feel his time has come. Bowden feels differently. He is "not interested in getting out" and he believes the team is "heading in the right direction." This report comes just a day after Seminoles QB, Drew Weatherford spoke about his team. Weatherford believes that the team had an "identity crisis." He feels that the became cocky and believed that having Florida State on their jerseys meant that they would be handed wins. There is no doubt that Florida State is not living up to their potential. They have had top 10 recruiting classes pretty much every year. Somewhere along the way their talent is falling through the cracks. College football is much more than just getting the players onto the campus. Those players need to translate the hype into trophies. When players of such a high caliber fails to succeed on the field the blame usually falls on the head coach. A number of behavior issues, such as the cheating scandal last spring, over the last few seasons have also put Bowden on the hot seat. This is going to be a critical year for the 'noles. They are losing their recruiting edge as they move further and further away from the glory days. Jimbo Fisher, the offensive coordinator, is waiting in the wings. Unless Bowden shows he still has it than hes going to be hitting the old dusty trail very soon.

Blog Podge: College Football Headlines

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:23:20 -0500

Much like the NFL who does not have to be in season to make news, the college kids keep their fans checking in during the offseason as well. This week some arrests, transfers, and sad stories were just some of the headlines from around the world of college football.

FSU quarterback Xavier Lee to leave and prepare for combine

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:21:19 -0500

Florida State quarterback Xavier Lee will leave FSU after being asked to switched positions from QB to tight end. Lee has had a rocky time as a Seminole. He has been the back up to Drew Weatherford for most of his career, but came off the bench this season against Alabama and engineered a 21-14 win. He started the next three games, but was benched again after he threw two picks and fumbled twice in a loss to The U. Later, he was suspended for violating team rules for the Noles class attendence rules. He will now prepare for the NFL combine. With this news, it seems to be a fitting end to a promising career at FSU for a 5 star recruit coming out of high school.

FSU's QB Troubles Continue

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:11:16 -0500

After losing their second straight ACC game, Florida State benches quarterback Xavier Lee and bring in past starter Drew Weatherford. Florida State has lost 10 of their last 14 ACC games. Last week against Miami Lee had 4 turnovers including 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown by the Hurricanes putting them up by 8 in the fourth quarter with less than a minute remaining. Weatherford started the season as QB after earning the spot in the offseason, but Lee stepped up and became the starter for the past 2 games. As a student at Florida State I hope Weatherford has learned a lot from watching from the sideline and can bring us back up with a win over Duke (1-6, 0-4) and lead us into the tough end of our schedule on a high note. The remainder of the FSU schedule: FSU vs. Duke FSU @ #2 Boston College FSU vs. Maryland FSU @ #8 Virginia Tech FSU @ #9 Florida

Florida State Beats Solid Alabama Team

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 01:25:27 -0500

Going into todays game against the Crimson Tide of Alabama, Florida State had some questions about their team. Well, after a 21-14 win in Jacksonville, many questions were answered. Both teams started very slowly, exchanging punts the first few possessions. The Seminoles had an opportunity in the first quarter, but a missed field goal by Gary Cismesia kept the score at zeros. Alabama, though, could not get anything going either. Both defenses played very well throughout the entire game, and it was evident in the first half that defense was imperative for a victory. Florida State had started Drew Weatherford at quarterback, but was replaced midway through the first half by Xavier Lee. Weatherford did not make any mistakes, but could not get a sluggish-looking offense going. On the other hand, Lee looked decent for not playing in a game for a while. But the theme was defense in the first half and at halftime, the scoreboard read 0-0. The second half was entirely different offensively, especially for FSU. They got off to a great start, a 67 yard drive by an offense who hadn't looked good all season. Xavier Lee capped the drive by throwing a 5 yard touchdown to De'Cody Fagg. Alabama still did not get any great production from its offense. With the score still 7-0 in the late 3rd quarter, Alabama faced a third down close to their own end zone. Everette Brown came around the left side, hit John Parker Wilson, and caused a fumble that the Seminoles pounced on. And on the next play, FSU capitalized with an Antone Smith TD. Alabama would answer, though. Wilson, lead a good drive down the field for the Tide's first touchdown. The comeback was on...for about 3 minutes. FSU came back with fire. Xavier Lee connected with Fagg again on a ten yard hitch, which Fagg broke a tackle and took it 70 yards for the Noles 3rd TD. Alabama looked deflated, as Wilson missed a wide open Will Oakley (from Nease High School) down the middle of the field. Bama would punt but would get the ball back and got a touchdown, but with only 1:06 left. Since they were still down a TD, they attempted an onside kick which was recovered by the Crimson Tide. A flag for illegal touching, though, was called on Bama and FSU got the football. The Seminoles then took a few knees and ended the game with a score of 21-14. The QB contreversy might be over now at Florida State, and if Xavier Lee can play consistantly like he did today, with a great defense, FSU can become a dominant team again.

Plenty of Questions for Bowden and the 'Noles Before Saturday

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:49:34 -0500

Florida State University has unpleasant and unhappy fans on campus...again. Heading into an important and exciting matchup against none other than the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday, Florida State fans are asking the famous Bobby Bowden to lead them to a strong victory, not one that keeps them on their toes until the final whistle like the game against UAB. Florida State fans want to see either a change at quarterback or a great improvement by Bobby Bowden's choice Drew Weatherford. Bowden is quoted saying that Weatherford is the quarterback that performs the best in practice, but fans also know that Xavier Lee, the backup quarterback, has feet similar to Michael Vick and an arm like Carson Palmer. The problem with Lee is that he suffers from the same problem as Weatherford, the infamous bad choices and bad accuracy. Every ten passes or so, Weatherford makes a great decision to throw the wide open man... but somehow successfully throws the ball ten feet above his head. Students and fans of the 90's dominating Florida State team are hoping for a resurgence of the guys in garnet and gold, this game against Alabama can make or break these hopes once again. But to make matters worse, earlier this week, key linebacker Geno Hayes and injured fullback Joe Surratt were suspended for unruly conduct and resisting arrest at a local nightclub. Needless to say, the game against Alabama means a lot to both teams as they meet in Jacksonville on Saturday the 29th. Alabama is coming off of a tough overtime loss against Georgia, while Florida State comes off of a bye week after traveling to Colorado for their second victory. This SEC vs ACC battle will be entertaining and a nice game to watch on CBS at 5PM (if your region applies).