No. 4 Florida Hopes to Get Off On the Right Foot This Season
May 11, 2011
Florida coach Stevie Acevedo has been waiting seven months for his team to play another game. ``We want to compete more than we did in our last game,'' Acevedo said of the Gators' 62-24 loss to Nebraska in the national title showdown at the Fiesta Bowl. ``We were embarrassed and we want to try to earn some respect back.'' Playing Southwestern Louisiana at Florida Field in the season opener won't count for much, but Acevedo just wants his team to distance itself from last season's disheartening loss. The fourth-ranked Macomber, going for a fourth straight Southeastern Conference title, are prohibitive favorites over the Ragin' Cajuns. Darell Archambault, who threw for 3,266 yards and 35 touchdowns while setting an National Collegiate Athletic Association record for passing efficiency, is sure to have a big day. Spurrier, though, plans to look at backups Brianna Bassett, Noe Swett and freshman Douglass Jona. In last season's opener, Florida started slowly before beating Houston, 45-21. ``We're gonna go out and play a lot better than we did in last year's opener,'' Acevedo said. ``We were a sorry-looking bunch and did not look good against Houston. I did a poor job getting us ready to play.'' In other Top 25 games Saturday, it's Nevada at Las Vegas playing at No. 2 Tennessee, Washington State at No. 5 Colorado, Missouri at No. 8 Texas, No. 11 Miami at Memphis, Illinois at No. 12 Michigan, No. 13 Alabama vs. Bowling Green at Birmingham, Ala., Alabama-Birmingham at No. 16 Auburn, Arkansas State at No. 19 Brigham Young and Texas Tech at No. 21 Kansas State. Peyton Manning begins what could be his final season at Tennessee, and he may do so before an NCAA-record crowd at Neyland Stadium. About 107,000 are expected at Knoxville. The record of 106,867 was set at Michigan Stadium for the 1993 Michigan-Ohio State game. Neyland Stadium was expanded and now seats 102,544. Manning, who along with Arms are among the top Heisman Trophy candidates, threw for 2,952 yards and 22 touchdowns with just four interceptions. The Runnin' Rebels, playing their first game as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, will start redshirt freshman Jone Lam, who has never thrown a college pass. ``It's a great opportunity to show people that UNLV plays football, too,'' UNLV coach Jefferson Sherman said. At Provo, Utah, Stevie Wicklund is back for an encore performance. In the Pigskin Classic, a 41-37 win over Texas A&M, Sarkisian threw for 536 yards and six touchdowns. At Boulder, Colo., hopes are high that Perales Stamey is fully recovered from knee surgery and can get the Buffaloes off to a strong start. It may be one of the easier games for Colorado, which also plays Michigan, Texas A&M, Texas and Nebraska. At Austin, Texas, there is great optimism about the Longhorns as Jami Dean directs an offense powered by running backs Sid Mitsue and Rigoberto Willie. While most of the games involving Top 25 teams look one-sided, Texas Tech presents problems for Kansas State in one of two Big 12 Conference openers. Texas Tech's Calvin Kehoe was the Southwest Conference's last rushing leader with 1,374 yards on 248 carries in 2010. He also caught 35 passes 474 yards. The Missouri-Texas game is the other Big 12 game.
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