Listening to 560 and the Mad dog waxed on about FAU and how they are getting it done this year. Read a few lines from the NY Times about the owls on the air. Can't wait for Saturday! I have lurked this site for awhile and decided I should start particpating…

http://www.nytimes.com…afootball/20colleges.html

Participating? Bad move my FAU friend. This site is very contagious! Just like a line from one of my favorite songs…

"you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave." ;D

We try to keep people informed about the team, coaches and the opposition. But… we still have fun 8-)

Welcome and thanks for the link.

Go Owls!

can you cut and paste the article so you don't have to sign up…….

can you cut and paste the article so you don't have to sign up…….

INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL
After Many Slow Nights, Harris Has a Faster Ride
By PETE THAMEL

Published: September 20, 2004


irst came the bus rides. The meandering 28-hour minor league baseball bus rides that cramped Kay-Jay Harris's legs and toyed with his patience.

Then came the smell, the nighttime stink of slaughtered cattle that seeped through his window every night at junior college.

After three seasons playing Class A baseball and two years playing football at Garden City Community College in Kansas, Harris has every reason to celebrate his team's 3-0 start. He has waited a long time to be in the spotlight.

Harris, a 25-year-old senior tailback at West Virginia, dived into the student section after Saturday's 19-16 overtime victory against Maryland and was enveloped by the hearty Mountaineers faithful.

"That was just wonderful," he said. "To go up there and celebrate with the fans. Everyone patted me on the head. I heard just about everything up there."

Despite having just 2 carries for 7 yards in one of West Virginia's three games, Harris is the seventh-leading rusher in Division I-A, with 162 yards a game. On a gimpy hamstring against Maryland, Harris ran for 142 yards.

He knows that his winding path to college football stardom taught him patience. It was something he said he picked up playing Class A baseball in places like Pulaski, Va.

"There were five fans there one game - five," Harris said in a telephone interview yesterday. "And they were all senior citizens."

But those endless bus rides and games shaped Harris into who he is today.

"Taking 28- and 30-hour bus rides, it matured me," he said. "I grew up 10 years faster than by not playing baseball. If I didn't do that, I wouldn't be here today."

Harris never advanced in the Texas Rangers' system in three years, so he decided to go back to football, a sport he thrived in at Tampa Bay Tech High School.

But Harris said his A.C.T. scores were not valid because they expired after two years. Because he decided to play football so late in the summer and could not take the test again, Harris went to junior college. He spent two years at Garden City, where he remembers the smell vividly.

"It's one of the biggest cattle-slaughtering regions in the U.S.," he said. "So at night, the smell came through the air, and it was the worst."

Without his baseball experience, Harris said, he would have left Garden City within a week.

"I tell people it's like the witness protection program there," he said.

His long wait resembles that of the Mountaineers, who have not taken a serious run at the national title since 1993, when they went undefeated in the regular season but lost their bowl game.

This season has some trappings of those years, and the schedule is favorable, because West Virginia does not face any more teams that are currently ranked. Miami's defection to the Big East was a major aid, though the Mountaineers do play their former Big East rival Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Oct. 2.

"Everyone in West Virginia is sticking their chests out a bit, but we've got a lot of work to do," West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez said. "I don't know if we're a top-10 program, but it's nice to be ranked there."

Harris is not afraid to stick out his chest, either. He said that the Mountaineers could go undefeated this season.

"This program is finally getting the recognition it deserves," he said. "It was hard to get with Miami in the conference, but we're finally getting it. That's a good thing."

Ainge Comes of Age

In Tennessee's 30-28 victory over Florida on Saturday, the true freshman Erik Ainge showed poise belying his 18 years.

Credit some of that to good bloodlines. Ainge is the nephew of the former N.B.A. star Danny Ainge, now the top basketball executive with the Boston Celtics.

"I just like his poise and his confidence," said Danny Ainge, who watched the game with glee. "He's a kid that's unafraid."

Quarterback Erik Ainge threw a touchdown pass with under five minutes remaining that should have tied the score. Tennessee missed the extra point, so Ainge marched the Vols into field-goal range to set up James Wilhoit's 50-yard game-winner. That drive began with the Vols on their 39-yard line with 43 seconds remaining and no timeouts.

Danny Ainge said he always knew his nephew had a chance to be a special athlete. Erik was a Division I-caliber basketball player until foot injuries pushed him to football.

"You could always see the potential, but you always wonder when it's going to come to fruition," Danny Ainge said. "He's just got that makeup that enables him to rise up and accept the challenge."

Erik Ainge had been splitting time with his fellow freshman quarterback, Brent Schaeffer. After Ainge tossed three touchdown passes on Saturday and led Tennessee on the winning drive, that split may not last much longer.

A Program on the Rise

The most impressive undefeated team of the season so far has to be Florida Atlantic. The Owls (3-0) are a transitional Division I-A program, not expected to be a full-fledged member until next year. But they have clearly shown they can compete at that level. Florida Atlantic, in its fourth year with a football program, has won road games at Hawaii, North Texas and Middle Tennessee State, all Division I-A teams.

Florida Atlantic Coach Howard Schnellenberger said the key was mining the in-state talent; 95 of his 105 players are from areas south of Orlando.

Schnellenberger used the same philosophy - termed the State of Miami - to resurrect the University of Miami in the early 1980's.

When building Florida Atlantic, which is in Boca Raton, Schnellenberger refused to take junior-college transfers.

Instead, he accepted freshmen who took beatings for a few seasons.

"Now we have 30 seniors that have played in all 35 of our games, unlike established programs where they don't usually play in their freshman and sophomore seasons," Schnellenberger said. "We're very experienced and semi-talented."

Schnellenberger said the university hoped to build a football and basketball facility similar to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse on its campus in the next few years.

I have the privilage of knowing KJ Harris from his high school days. The kid can "tote the rock".


Check out the "refused to take junior college transfers" line about Coach Schnell. Yet still the rep is out there that we're full of transfers. That's why we're winning??
That latest "winning"comment came from UCF's board.

Sorry to burst some bubbles but this place was built by true FRESHMEN folks. ;)

Awsome, we need more people to stop learking and start participating... Its great to have you on HOTEL... Welcome!