Jimbo Fisher anxious as coaching debut draws near

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/01/2010 -

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -Jimbo Fisher's last play on a football field was for Samford. His first play as a college coach will be against the same small Alabama school.

After more than two decades as an assistant coach at a handful of southeastern schools, Fisher debuts as Florida State's head coach Saturday when the 20th-ranked Seminoles open their season against the small Baptist-affiliated school in Birmingham where he claims to have enjoyed some of his happiest years.

``That was a great time in my life,'' said Fisher, who played one season for the Bulldogs before joining Terry Bowden's Samford coaching staff. ``Maybe one of the most fun times I've ever had, developing as a person, developing as a coach, building a program. A lot of my roots are there.''

Fisher was the Division III Player of the Year at Samford in 1987 when he threw 34 touchdown passes. He spent the next 11 years on Bowden's staffs at Samford and Auburn, establishing a connection with the coaching family that resulted two decades later in Fisher being the choice to replace Bobby Bowden at Florida State.

Fisher, 44, is not only stepping in behind one of the most successful and revered college coaches of all time, but Saturday marks the first time he'll be in charge of a game as the head coach.

``It's really starting to dawn on me right now,'' Fisher said during Wednesday's Atlantic Coast Conference coaches teleconference, acknowledging he was getting jittery as Saturday's noon kickoff draws nearer. ``Anxious butterflies.''

Fisher, however, can achieve something Bowden failed to do - win his first game at Florida State. Memphis State defeated the Seminoles 21-12 in Bowden's Florida State debut in 1976.

After a 5-6 start in his initial season at Florida State, Bowden finished with a pair of national titles during 33 straight winning seasons.

Samford, which is also Bobby Bowden's alma mater, was known as Howard on its last trip to Tallahassee - 60 years ago with the elder Bowden starting at quarterback.

``It's a banner day for Samford in that it starts off with coach Bowden, playing on a field that's named after a Samford graduate ... a legend,'' Samford coach Pat Sullivan said. ``Then he's been replaced by another Samford graduate. For us to be able to be there, I think it's tremendous for us.''

Fisher knows his Seminoles are a prohibitive favorite against the Football Championship Subdivision school, but he invokes the long-standing coaching standard of saying only nice things about an outgunned opponent.

``You've got to expect a great game,'' he said. ``We've got to stay aggressive.''

After two years as coach in waiting to the iconic Bowden, Fisher was named head coach less than 72 hours after archrival Florida throttled the Seminoles for the sixth straight time, leaving Florida State with a 6-6 regular season record for the second time in four years. A win over West Virginia in the Gator Bowl in Bowden's coaching finale left the Seminoles with a 7-6 record for the third time in the last four years.

Bowden will not attend Fisher's debut Saturday. He has said for years that he wanted to give his successor plenty of space and avoid any second-guessing. Bowden will, however, be in town the previous day for a book signing.

Samford, which is in the Southern Conference, finished 5-6 last year under Sullivan, the former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from Auburn.

Fisher, a West Virginia native, said earlier this week that he'd prayed for years that one day he'd get an opportunity to coach at a major university. Now that day is here.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Many fans thought it was the best side in the nation by the end of last season. This year, the polls have built on Georgia's momentum and granted it the No. 1 preseason ranking, followed by Ohio State and USC. (The Associated Press has the Buckeyes at No. 2; USA Today took the Trojans.)

"To have people believing we have one of the best teams in the nation going into this thing, it's exciting for us," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt told the AP. "I don't think anything is guaranteed, but we certainly have put ourselves in position where at least the college football world thinks we're pretty good."

Georgia Bulldogs - 9.5 wins

There's no question they're good, but the Bulldogs have one of the toughest 12-game schedules in the nation, mostly because they play in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. Away games at No. 15 Arizona State, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 Auburn loom large, with contests between the hedges versus No. 24 Alabama and No. 18 Tennessee as well as the World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville versus No.5 Florida.

Ohio State Buckeyes - 10 wins

Like the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes also have a number of tough road contests in 2008. After two scrimmages dressed up as real games versus Youngstown State and Ohio, it's off to face USC. Other tough away games include No.13 Wisconsin in October and No. 20 Illinois in November. Granted, it should be pretty easy sledding at the Horseshoe. In fact, the only ranked team that travels to Columbus is No. 22 Penn State, in October.

USC Trojans - 10.5 wins

A similarly light schedule awaits the Trojans of Southern California, which is why the oddsmakers' total is one win more and the over is currently commanding -150 odds. Pete Carroll's troops only play three ranked teams in 2008, and all of those games are at home. After what should be an easy trip to Virginia to start things off on Aug. 30, the Trojans get two weeks to prepare for Ohio State in Los Angeles. Their two other ranked opponents, No. 21 Oregon and No. 15 Arizona State, visit in consecutive weeks to start the month of October. After that, the competition eases up. Of course, this is the same highly-touted school that lost to Stanford in 2007 and Oregon State in 2006. And don't discount the fact that USC plays its biggest rivals, Notre Dame and UCLA, back-to-back to close out the regular season. On paper, the Trojans are far superior, but motivation will be high for the Irish and Bruins, especially if their historic foes are in national-title contention.

Odds to Win the Heisman Trophy

Tim Tebow, Florida - 7/2
He won it last year, so it's no surprise he's the favorite to do it again, making him just the second player to go back-to-back. Ohio State's Archie Griffin turned the trick in 1974 and 1975, and Tebow's coach, Urban Meyer, is pretty sure his star quarterback can match the Buckeyes legend.

"There has never been anyone quite like him," Meyer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am very lucky to be his coach."

Chris Wells, Ohio State - 5/1

The man they call "Beanie" was a star recruit out of high school, so it's not like nobody knew who the star tailback was before he rushed for 576 yards as a freshman in 2006 and 1,609 as a sophomore. But perhaps his finest moment came last year versus Michigan when he rumbled for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 14-3 victory over the hated Wolverines.

Knowshon Moreno, Georgia - 8/1

If the Bulldogs are to live up to expectations, they'll need a huge effort from their sophomore running back. This might be the last year of college ball for Moreno, who rushed for 1,334 yards and for 14 touchdowns as a freshman, while adding 253 receiving yards on 20 receptions, so expect big things for the man from Belford, N.J.

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