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RB Smith Making 'Encouraging' Progress

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By Michael McGuffee

Published: November 20, 2007

TALLAHASSEE FSU coach Bobby Bowden said TB Antone Smith got in another day's work Tuesday, and the coach was optimistic his junior starter would be ready in time for Saturday's rivalry matchup.

"He looks OK to me. No contact, but he looks good," Bowden said. "Running good — I think he's OK. It is [encouraging]."

While sophomore wide receiver Preston Parker filled in for Smith and was very productive from the tailback spot last Saturday, FSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher made it clear he would prefer to use Parker as more of a part-time tailback against Florida.

"We need both guys," Fisher said. "We need all the guys we can get."

Should Smith sit out Saturday in Gainesville, it would be the second straight Gators game he has missed. Last season, Smith dislocated his right elbow the game before FSU hosted Florida, a 21-14 loss.

As a freshman in 2005, Smith rushed three times for 14 yards in a reserve role against the Gators.

The running game will likely play a significant factor again Saturday, as the team with the most rushing yards is 16-2-1 in the series since 1990.

Smith did not speak to the media Tuesday after practice.

YOUNG AND OLD: As the regular season comes to a close for the Seminoles on Saturday, offensive line coach Rick Trickett says his unit has progressed this year despite the drastic changes they've experienced with him at the helm. However, he says his seniors have not come quite as far as he had hoped.

"Change is always toughest on seniors," Trickett said. "There's two or three phases of that. There's rejection and acceptance and then belief. I think we took a little longer than what we needed to get to belief with the older guys.

"I feel like the young guys, especially the center [Ryan McMahon] and the left guard [Rodney Hudson], I think they've come a tremendous way."

With the return of sophomore LT Daron Rose last week, Trickett said his unit is once again healthy and he says he will go into Saturday's game with the same lineup as last week.

"We got everybody out there that we've had," Trickett said. "Rose is back, I've got my 10. We're in good shape that way."

THE SWAMP: Bowden and the Semionles are plenty familiar with The Swamp, and the team is making a conscious effort to prepare for the crowd noise.

"The Swamp would be like Virginia Tech with 30,000 more people," Bowden said. "Every time we've played down there, every time I can remember, we've got an illegal procedure — somebody jumping offsides because they can't hear."

FSU hopes that playing in several tough road games this season — at Clemson, at Boston College and at Virginia Tech — will help them endure the crowd noise in Gainesville.

"It's basically like Clemson," senior WR De'Cody Fagg said. "You're going to have to focus in on everything Drew [Weatherford's] saying and make sure you get all the signals."

The Seminoles came back to beat the Gators in The Swamp in 2003, but were trounced 34-7 in Florida's hostile environment in 2005.

"It's a hard place to play in," DT Andre Fluellen said. "It gets really loud, especially for our offense. It's a tough, but fun place to play."

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