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Pressley On Fast Track To Contribute For Noles

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2008

TALLAHASSEE With the wait to be cleared finally over, RB Tavares Pressley is on a fast track to contribute in the Florida State backfield.

That was the case even Wednesday as the junior college transfer worked out in shorts under the NCAA's five-practice acclimation period.

"He's got to," offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher said of Pressley playing immediately. "You got to get him as many reps as he can and get him in there and get him going. See what he's capable of doing and see where we're at. We need the numbers.

"He's in good shape. He says he's been running on his own."

Pressley was cleared to enroll at FSU on Tuesday after his junior college posted his associate of arts degree. Pressley will work out in shells (shoulder pads and shorts) today and then in full pads Friday.

The powerful yet speedy back's full contribution can't come soon enough. Freshman Ty Jones and returning starter Antone Smith were held out of contact drills Tuesday because of injury.

"He's going to be thrown in the fire," running backs coach Dexter Carter said. "He got a lot thrown at him quickly. I've got to do a pretty good job of coaching and just hope when he's in there that the plays that you call he understands them thoroughly."

Pressley impressed FSU during the recruiting process by rushing for 832 yards and 11 TDs at El Camino (Calif.) Community College. He shared snaps with two other backs.

"He had the ability to run with power," Fisher said. "He was very physical. He's body-quick and makes you miss and the other thing I like is he had good hands. For a big back, a lot of long touchdown runs … he had top-end speed to go along with the power and agility."

HELD OUT: Senior WR Richard Goodman was again held out of contact during Wednesday's practice and he said he's not sure when his knee will be even close to 100 percent.

With that in mind, the 20-year-old - who will be suspended the first three games of the year due to the program's academic scandal - might just be better off sitting out the entire season and taking a redshirt.

"I'm going to leave that to the coaches," the Fort Lauderdale native said. "I want to be part of this 2008 team if I can. But I don't want to be silly about the situation. If I can't be 100 percent I don't want to go out there and let the team down by going half speed."

Goodman hasn't been full speed for 10 months.

Against Duke last year, in a game in which he finished with 11 catches for 73 yards, the Dillard High grad broke his ankle and was lost for the rest of the season.

When he returned for the Seminoles' spring practice, the ankle was fully healthy.

The rest of him was not.

"After spring ball was over with, I got an MRI," Goodman said. "And it showed me I had torn the lateral part of my meniscus in my knee."

He tried to fight through the injury, to overcome the pain in his knee.

But after a week of preseason practice in full pads, Goodman was ordered to shut it down by FSU head trainer Randy Oravetz.

He's not sure when he'll be able to start back up.

"It's a big question mark right now," he said. "Randy told me to take it easy right now and see if I can recover and see.

"I'm basically going to give it one more shot and go from there."

If he can't physically go, Goodman said it won't stop him from contributing to the team.

He will continue to do what he's been doing in the preseason, acting as a pseudo coach for the newcomers at wide receiver.

"I'm helping the best way I can," he said. "I'm just letting the guys know what they are supposed to do as far as attacking the defense, how to sit in zones, how to read coverages and everything. Right now, basically I'm playing football through them."

PLAN B: FSU will have a contingency plan if Fay reaches the Tallahassee area Saturday as expected. A scrimmage scheduled for that evening could be moved to Monday.
But Fisher, after watching the wayward path of the storm, is still planning on a Saturday scrimmage.

"Let me tell you what on these storms," Fisher said. "We're going to plan on practicing on Saturday. First it was going to hit Tampa, then it was going to come here. Tampa ain't got a drop of rain. Then it was going to get Orlando.

"Now it's going to Jacksonville and hook a hard left and come back [here]. I'm going to tell you what, I'm going to quit being a coach and be a weather forecaster because you ain't got to be right about nothing and still get paid."

A SHOCKING BOLT: CB Michael Ray Garvin, the six-time All-American and member of FSU's back-to-back-to-back national championships in track, was on the practice fields when the 200-meter Olympic final was held in Beijing.

Former FSU star Walter Dix participated in the event and wound up with a bronze medal. Garvin was happy for his ex-teammate, but he was flat-out stunned when he heard Jamaica's Usain Bolt had run a world-record 19.30 to take the gold.

"Wow," said Garvin as he shook his head in disbelief. "I don't even really have words for that. That's a really fast time. A 19.30? That's just moving, you know?

"All I can say is God has been blessing him. That's all I can really say. I don't really have any more words for that. A 19.30 is an amazingly fast time."

Steve Ellis, Corey Clark

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