Less than six months after being handed the reins from one of college football’s legends — Bobby Bowden — newly-assigned Florida State U. head coach Jimbo Fisher ran out of the Florida State locker room tunnel to witness over 50,000 Seminole fans anxious to preview what’s to come on Sept. 4 when the Seminoles open their 2010 football season.
In years past, while the Seminoles’ Garnet and Gold game was traditionally hosted as a scrimmage of sorts rather than that of an Atlantic Coast Conference game, the fun-filled and fan-friendly day allowed Fisher, his new coaching staff and players the chance to show just how much work they have put in since the Seminoles’ Gator Bowl victory over West Virginia.
“It was good today,” Fisher said, who went from superior to supervisor after divvying up his assistants to run the two teams. “Both sides did a great job out there. It was interesting to see how all these coaches coached today on separate sidelines.”
The work that Fisher and his staff have put in since that New Year’s bowl victory resulted in a well-balanced contest in which Heisman-hopeful quarterback Christian Ponder made his highly-anticipated return after sustaining a shoulder injury last fall.
Ponder — who was named the offense’s most valuable player for spring — finished the day 16-of-34 for 266 yards, with two touchdown passes and one rushing score while leading the Gold team.
On the opposite side, freshman signal-callers Clint Trickett and Will Secord guided the Garnet squad due to expected backup E.J. Manuel recuperating still from a shoulder injury. Secord finished the day 12-of-23 for 115 yards while Trickett completed 4-of-9 attempts for 95 yards and a long touchdown pass to Bert Reed.
Sophomore wide receiver Rodney Smith showed Seminole fans glimpses of what could be this season as he pulled down three catches for 124 yards and one touchdown for the Gold team. Meanwhile veteran wideout Reed hauled in 10 catches for 163 yards and one score for the opposing side.
“We’re still nowhere close to where we need to be,” Fisher said. “(From an offensive perspective) I didn’t like the dropped balls or lack of discipline at some times, but at least there wasn’t any quitting. I thought the competition was good.”
That balanced attack for FSU started with junior-college transfer Debrale Smiley — who impressed in his first stint with FSU as he rushed for 58 yards on three carries — and continued with sophomore Chris Thompson — who had 55 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries — then moved on to senior Tavares Pressley who carried the ball three times for 40 yards, while junior Ty Jones ran for 24 yards on four attempts. The Gold team registered 399 total yards (295 passing and 104 rushing) to the Garnet’s 246 yards (210 passing and 36 rushing).
As for the defense, sophomore defensive end Brandon Jenkins had a day’s-best three sacks and six tackles for the Gold while redshirt sophomore Vince Williams bounced back after missing all of 2009 with a back injury to add six tackles of his own for the same team. Junior Nigel Carr also had six tackles for the Gold.
Redshirt freshman Xavier Rhodes had six tackles and junior Nigel Bradham had five for the Garnet.
“I thought the defense did a real good job in the second half controlling the line of scrimmage,” Fisher said.
Thompson scored the first touchdown of the day on a one-yard plunge up the middle after the eventual score was set up by a 48-yard burst by Smiley.
Like his running back counterpart Thompson, Jones was able to achieve a one-yard touchdown on the Garnet team’s next possession.
Junior Jarmon Fortson then grabbed a five-yard touchdown reception a few minutes later for the Gold team to make it a 14-7.
The Garnet squad answered back a few minutes later with sophomore Dustin Hopkins’ 45-yard field goal to the close the first half of play.
After a halftime break that saw a host of Seminole legends compete in a spirited game of flag football, both teams came back onto the field and traded Shaun Powell punts multiple times in a scoreless third quarter.
Highly-touted true freshman linebacker Jeff Luc caused a fumble and then recovered it on the Gold team’s seven-yard line at the start of the final quarter.
After back-to-back runs by Smiley and junior Jermaine Thomas, Ponder then sprinted to the left side and just over the goal line for a three-yard touchdown that put the Gold unit on top 20-10. Kicker Alex Jones’ extra point attempt was then blocked.
The Gold team’s double digit advantage didn’t last very long though. After the Garnet team took over, the very first play of their ensuing drive was executed perfectly by Trickett after he bootlegged out of the pocket before finding Reed for a 70-yard score.
Jenkins’ later sacked of Trickett in the endzone, moving the score to 22-17 before Ponder capped off his day and the Gold team’s triumph with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Smith that finalized the game’s 29-17 score.