College Footbal : The State of Florida Is Fast Becoming a Wellspring of Gridiron Talent

Just because Florida State isn’t No. 1 doesn’t mean that Florida isn’t the No. 1 state. In fact, the evidence seems stronger than ever. Florida teams and the players those teams let get away once more seem the dominant breed.

Here’s what Shawn Battle, of Division II Norfolk State in Virginia, told the Orlando News/Sun-Sentinel:

“There are a lot of Florida players up here, and we’re all proud of our heritage. You can tell a big difference between us and players from other parts of the country. Our football skills are more advanced. We basically dominate the other athletes up here. That’s because we’re from Florida.”

There are a lot of Shawn Battles out there, coming and going. While the National Football League was drafting five Florida players in the first round, more than 250 Florida prep stars were signing Division I and I-AA scholarships.

There are any number of ways to argue the Sunshine State’s superiority. Last season, the three best backs in college football--Lorenzo White of Michigan State, Emmitt Smith of Florida and Sammie Smith of Florida State--were Florida-born. Also last season, the two best teams were national champion Miami and near-national champion Florida State. And Florida can give both of them tough games.

This year? Lorenzo White no longer is playing college football, but everything else remains the same.

Miami apparently is not going to treat this as a rebuilding year. Despite the loss of everybody behind the line of scrimmage but quarterback Steve Walsh, the Hurricanes still looked formidable in beating Florida State, 31-0. And where did all Miami’s replacements in the backfield and receiving corps come from? Florida, every one of them.

Florida is such a wellspring of talent that Florida colleges can’t accommodate it all. Although the schools, no longer restricted by segregation, take all they can--Florida has 95 Floridians on its 112-man roster, Florida State 81 of 101--there is plenty left over. Michigan State’s quarterback, Bobby McAllister, is one who got away, for example.

And the wellspring has not run dry. According to Max Emfinger, a recruiting analyst, Florida and Texas are tied for the most high school prospects, with 26 apiece. California has just 18. Now consider that Florida’s population is half of California’s. We’ve got a year or two more of this.

Now that Florida State, everybody’s preseason No. 1, has lost its opener, we can count the Seminoles out of the national championship. Or can we? According to the NCAA News, 12 teams since 1968 won championships despite a loss. Oklahoma did it twice, in 1975 and 1985, after losses to Kansas.

That’s the good news for you folks interested in the Seminoles.

The bad news is, if we are to judge from Florida State’s performance against Miami, the Seminoles will likely lose more than one game. Sammie Smith? Six yards rushing? Clemson, Sept. 17?

College Football Notes

Air Force center John Bailey lost his starting job when he took Monday off. The coach said Sunday, not Monday. . . . Gordie Lockbaum, Holy Cross’ former two-way wonder, is now an assistant coach at Glassboro State in New Jersey. Just defense this time.

Derrick Fenner, star back at North Carolina until he was arrested for murder--and later pleaded guilty to a cocaine charge while the murder charge was dropped--is hoping to play for Gardner-Webb College this season. However, his transcript from North Carolina has yet to arrive so he can’t play this week. . . . New York’s Downtown Athletic Club intends to deny or possibly repossess the Heisman Trophy if this year’s winner tests positive for drugs. “We’re not going to give it to a doper,” said Jack O’Keefe, of the club’s Heisman committee.

There was a lot of talk before the season about the remarkable coaching Bowden clan, Bobby at Florida State and son Terry at Samford in Birmingham, Ala. The Bowdens are 0-2 so far. . . . Only about 1,000 fans followed Iowa to Hawaii, where the Hawkeyes were beaten, 27-24, the reason being, according to Ticket Manager Mike Naughton, that the fans are saving their money to go to a bowl game. Maybe they should have gone to Hawaii, except they’d have had to watch the game.