Thursday, November 14, 2002

Burke named Independent I-AA Offensive Player of the Week as bye week practices conclude

vs. Florida Atlantic Nov 23, 3:00 pm

hursday's 90-minute FIU football practice in shorts and shoulder pads brought cheers from the Golden Panther players on several fronts as quarterback Jamie Burke (Sarasota/Cardinal Mooney) was named Independent I-AA Offensive Player of the Week and, other than for organized running prior to Friday classes, players will be given a long weekend off.

"We got a few things done today. We put in a few new plays and took a look at them. I don't know if they'll be in the game plan or not, but we took a look at them," said head coach Don Strock. "I'm sure everyone is looking forward to the weekend and getting away from football for awhile."

Burke capitalized on errors by the University at Albany last Saturday to lead the Golden Panthers from a 20-0 halftime deficit en route to a 35-26 victory in the team's home finale. He completed 17 of 30 passes on the afternoon and tossed four touchdown passes in helping the Golden Panthers even their record to 5-5 on the year.

"Jamie's progress this year has been like night and day," said Strock. "There was just so much to learn, from picking up blitzes and dogs, to linebackers. It's difficult, especially for a young guy. In high school they didn't do a lot of that. Things have been coming at him fast and new, but he's adjusted very well."

This was also supposed to be a week for the healing process to take affect, but that hasn't exactly been the case.

Tight end Joe Struyf (Marathon/Marathon) was back to practice Thursday for the first time in three weeks after suffering a bone bruise of the left ankle and offensive lineman D.J. O'Neal (Clewiston/Clewiston) returned after sitting out Wednesday with lower back strain.

But in their places, starting defensive tackle Nick Carreño (Miami/Belen) left Thursday's workout early with a toe sprain and tight end Edwin Pierre (Miami/North Miami) went down with a left Achilles strain. Both, however, are expected back Monday.

Practice resumes Monday afternoon at approximately 3:30 p.m. on the FIU Stadium main field.