Thursday, August 14, 2003

FIU Football beats weather but loses running back Dravian Jones

• 2003 FIU Football Schedule

he FIU Football team dodged the raindrops, Thursday, canceling the morning workout in favor of a two-hour afternoon practice in shorts and shoulder pads under windy but dry skies at FIU Stadium.

“We looked better today. We’re starting to pick up some of the things we are trying to get across,” said head coach Don Strock. “The offense struggled a bit, but that was expected. We put some in some new third-down plays so we’ll watch the films and make corrections.”

On Friday, the team will don full pads for the first time this fall and judging from the step up of intensity over the last two days, the change will be welcomed.

“Yea, they seem ready for that. They’ve had a couple days now of shoulder pads. Tomorrow, we go through Oklahoma drills, live goal line and short yardage plays—their first real chance of doing some hitting,” Strock said.

After tearing his Achilles’ tendon during the summer of 2002 and missing the entire last season, freshman running back Dravian Jones (Sebastian, Fla.) has called it quits.

“He told us that he had lost his interest in the game and didn’t want to play anymore,” said Strock. “That’s a shame, but there’s not much we can do about it.”

Recruited as a tough inside runner, Jones rushed for more than 2,400 yards and 17 touchdowns over his Sebastian River H.S. career. He was running a 4.6, 40-yard dash out of high school following a pair of team MVP seasons.

The infirmary list also continues to grow as the team nears the end of its first week of practice. Running backs Rashod Smith (right groin) and Aston Wilson (left foot), linebackers Johnathan Sturrup (right knee) and Kyle Salas (lower back), corner back Kris Thomas (right shoulder), wide receiver Joserr West (left hamstring), and linemen D.J. O’Neal (right ankle) and Brandon Higdon (right hamstring), all sat out of Thursday’s practice.