COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
Published 10:49 pm Thursday, July 17, 2008
MIAMI: When choosing between quarterbacks Robert Marve and Jacory Harris, Miami coach Randy Shannon found there was only one solution that made sense. He’ll play both. Shannon still hasn’t selected a starter, but announced that both highly touted freshmen will see playing time this season for the Hurricanes, who don’t have a single quarterback on the roster with any collegiate snaps on their resume. Marve is a redshirt freshman, Harris a true freshman, and both were Florida high school record-setters before enrolling at Miami.
“Whichever quarterback that we name, we’re going to play the other one,” Shannon said. “We need depth at every position on the field and that’s the one position that we don’t have depth at because they’re young. They’re good quarterbacks, but they’re young.”
FLORIDA: Wide receiver Percy Harvin is “ahead of schedule” in his return from heel surgery, coach Urban Meyer said. Meyer said Harvin, one of the nation’s most dynamic players, has started running full speed and should be ready to go when the Gators begin fall practice next month. Harvin had surgery in early April, hoping to relieve years of pain in his right heel that had bothered him off and on since his high school days in Virginia Beach.
PORTLAND STATE: Alum Jesse Thompson has been named the Vikings’ new running backs coach. Thompson replaces Frank Geske, who took a job as coach at Marist High School in Eugene. Last season Thompson was the running backs coach at Northern State in South Dakota. Before that, he was an assistant coach at Lewis and Clark College in his native Portland. Thompson is a 2001 graduate of Portland State with a degree in health education.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Steve Spurrier laughed off questions about speculation that he’s grown frustrated with trying to build South Carolina into a championship contender and could walk away from the Gamecocks before his contract runs out. The coach says he knew things wouldn’t change overnight and is confident the program’s best days are ahead. Spurrier will remain the chief play-caller for South Carolina and he plans to spend more time working with the quarterbacks than he has in his first three years with the program.
UCF: Autopsy results show a University of Central Florida player who died after spring drills had a pre-existing medical condition worsened by physical stress. The Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office said Thursday that Ereck Plancher had a sickle cell trait that caused problems with his red blood cells during physical exertion. Tests showed the blood flow to the 19-year-old wide receiver’s muscles and organs slowed or stopped. Plancher collapsed in March, the day before spring practice was to begin.
LSU: Offensive lineman Jarvis Jones was kicked off the Tigers’ squad for an unspecified violation of team rules. LSU coach Les Miles announced the decision. The 6-foot-7 Jones played in seven games last year as a freshman for the Tigers.
Associated Press
