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Jan. 1, 2000 SportsLine wire reports |
ORLANDO, Fla. -- His dream was always to play for Florida. Instead,
Plaxico Burress wound up at Michigan State -- and the Gators are sorry now.
Burress caught 13 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns Saturday as the No. 9 Spartans beat No. 10 Florida 34-31 in the Citrus Bowl, making Bobby Williams' coaching debut a smashing success.
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"Everybody knows the story by now," Burress said. "Everybody knows Florida was my dream. But I have no regrets."
Burress, wearing a large gold chain with his No. 4 around his neck, grew up in Virginia Beach, Va., where he helped Green Run High School win three consecutive Class AAA titles. When it came time for college, however, his grades needed work.
When he couldn't get in at Florida, Burress went to Fork Union Military Academy, a Virginia prep school. After that, he ended up at Michigan State.
"Our university is in charge of admissions, and not me," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. "But, he is a marvelous player. I've tried not to let my feelings be known about that situation, but I guess I just did."
Burress set a school record with his 13 receptions, and tied the mark for TD catches set by Andre Rison in the 1989 Gator Bowl.
"Plaxico really played to his capabilities," said Williams, a 10-year assistant who became the head coach after Nick Saban's move to LSU at the end of the regular season. "He had an outstanding performance."
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| After leaving Florida behind for Michigan State, Plaxico Burress got behind the Gators' secondary on Saturday. (AP) |
Actually, he needed to be good because Florida wide receiver Travis Taylor was matching him almost catch for catch, yard for yard. Taylor, who also had three TD catches, finished with 11 receptions for 156 yards.
"They both had super games," Spurrier said. "They're both big-time receivers."
Burress, who averaged 104 yards receiving in the Spartans' final seven regular-season games, finished the season with 1,142 yards and 12 touchdowns. This is the second consecutive season the 6-foot-6 junior has gone over 1,000 yards and he becomes only the sixth Michigan State player to go over 2,000 yards in his career.
Which brings up a touchy point. There is much speculation that Burress will chuck his final two seasons with the Spartans in favor of the NFL.
"I'm about 60-40 (in favor of the NFL) on that," Burress said.
Williams, of course, wouldn't want to lose a player with such game-breaking ability. But on this day, that was a problem the coach could deal with later.
"This is a great day for Spartans everywhere," Williams said. "People all over the country are happy to wear green today."
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