Other Florida Teams
FIU Roundup 8/23/04
By The Source
Aug 23, 2004

(fiusports.com) - Saturday's two-hour FIU Football practice in full gear ended with a 57-play controlled scrimmage with the top four quarterbacks--Josh Padrick (Merritt Island), David Tabor (Kissimmee), Jamie Burke (Sarasota) and Tavares Kendrick (Florida City/Homestead)--taking equal numbers of snaps.

Of major concern to head coach Don Strock has been the health of his offensive line. With returning starting tackle John Shanahan (Brandon) going down yesterday with what is being called a high left ankle sprain, that now brings the number to three missing linemen (Tim Dierk's left knee and Johnahan Taylor's right shoulder are the other two) who saw action on a combined 1,579 snaps last season.

Because of that, Strock and offensive line coach Leon Searcy have gotten plenty of good looks at the freshmen linemen they brought in and, despite matching up with a veteran defensive squad in the scrimmage, Strock gave the youngsters a passing grade.

"I think [the offensive line] did pretty good," Strock said. "We moved some guys around to different positions so we can get it on film. Obviously, we weren't expecting miracles."

- Strock did single out the play of Tad McConahie, the 6-feet-3, 310-pound All-Space Coast and all-state product from Merritt Island High School. McConahie, who earned the nickname "Cheeseburger" because of his favorite lunch selection, played only one year of contact football before he reached Merritt Island as a ninth grader. Not only is he big and strong (he squatted 550 pounds and bench pressed 320 pounds in high school) but with a head full of red hair, he also stands out in a crowd.

"Tad played center, guard and tackle for us this morning," Strock said. "He looks like he's got some natural ability at all three of those positions. So we're going to keep working with him."

- Running the first team, Padrick opened the scrimmage completing seven-of-12 pass attempts to six different receivers. Other highlights included pass interceptions by Keyonvis Bouie (Pahokee) and freshman Lionell Singleton (Tallahassee). Kicker Adam Moss (Coral Springs/American Heritage) converted three-of-four field goal attempts, including two from 42 yards. Punter Doug Jones (Miami/Monsignor Pace) averaged 42.5 yards on four punts, including one of 53 yards.

- There were no new injuries reported from the scrimmage.

- The team will take Sunday off and return to the FIU Stadium practice field Monday morning from around 9:15-11:30 a.m.