COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY BOWL REPORT : SUGAR BOWL : West Virginia Gets No Respect Here

Under the category of “fightin’ words,” file this:

Florida receiver Jack Jackson said he’s tired of all the talk about No. 3-ranked West Virginia not getting any respect.

“Respect?” Jackson said. “They’re looking for something they don’t deserve. You beat teams like Rutgers, and you talk about respect?

“We beat Tennessee. The two teams we lost to, one (Florida State) is playing for the national championship and the other (Auburn, on probation) would have been playing for the national championship.”

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Add Jackson: Wednesday night, he said he ran into some Mountaineers on Bourbon Street. “Some wide receiver was talking about his stats,” Jackson said. “I don’t even know his name. He gave us his numbers and we just laughed and walked off.”

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Both teams made it to the Sugar Bowl with a platoon system at quarterback. West Virginia has alternated seniors Jake Kelchner and Darren Studstill. Kelchner, who fell three attempts shy of winning the NCAA passing title with a rating of 176, starts for the Mountaineers, with Studstill entering the game on the fourth offensive series.

Junior Terry Dean and redshirt freshman Danny Wuerffel split time for Florida this season, but Wuerffel is not expected to play Saturday because of an injury to his right knee suffered in Florida’s loss to Florida State on Nov. 27.

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A Bourbon Street casualty? Florida defensive back Monty Grow didn’t have a good day at practice Thursday. “He was throwing up,” Gator Coach Steve Spurrier said. “Must have eaten a bad oyster.”

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There were rumors that several West Virginia players had themselves tattooed on Bourbon Street, to which defensive back David Mayfield replied: “There are no tattoos on my body that I’m aware of.”