No.1 Florida Gators try to avoid flu epidemic in locker room

[clevfan]

No.1 Florida Gators try to avoid flu epidemic in locker room

Dick Weiss
NY Daily News
Monday, September 21st 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Medic!

Florida may be No. 1 in the polls again this week, but Gators coach Urban Meyer revealed Sunday that running back Jeff Demps, tight end Aaron Hernandez and defensive end Jermaine Cunningham were isolated with the flu bug in the days leading up to Saturday's 23-13 victory over Tennessee.

Meyer is concerned the virus could spread through his team.

"It is a panic level of a proportion I've never seen before," Meyer said yesterday. "That's coming from me. You hear about, I think, Wisconsin had 40 players. Ole Miss had 20 players. ... My gosh."

Meyer said team doctors and trainers are doing everything they can to prevent a full-scale outbreak, including getting separate dorm rooms and hotel rooms for infected players. Demps, Hernandez and Cunningham all played against the Volunteers, but none performed at a high level. Demps, who had a 101-degree temperature and probably shouldn't have played, ran four times for 31 yards and a touchdown. Hernandez caught four passes for 26 yards and Cunningham had one tackle.

Florida (3-0) travels to Kentucky this week.

TROJAN HOARSE: It is becoming a troubling pattern. The University of Southern California - which won and shared a national championship in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, played for another BCS title in 2005 and perennially has the most blue-chip recruits and NFL prospects of any program this side of Florida - lost to an unranked, double-digit underdog for a fourth straight season.

UCLA, Stanford, Oregon State and now Washington.

That's no way to build a dynasty.

This year's fall of Troy came Saturday when Washington (2-1) - which suffered through an 0-12 season last year and had lost 15 straight games before beating Idaho the previous week - stunned USC, 16-13, on a 23-yard field goal by Eric Folk with three seconds left in Seattle. The Trojans (2-1) dropped nine spots to 12th in this week's AP poll.

Yes, starting quarterback Matt Barkley and free safety Taylor Mays missed the game with injuries. But that's no excuse for the Trojans going 0 -for -10 in third-down situations and 0 -for -1 on fourth down. If Pete Carroll wants to point the finger at himself after his team played a sloppy game and he was outcoached down the stretch by his former offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian, he'll be more than justified. Carroll may be a great recruiter, but his teams are starting to reflect his casual attitude at practice.

"That's me," Carroll admitted. "We didn't get any better from last week. I'm not doing a good enough job of making points of how we win."

This was the second straight week the Trojans sputtered on offense, although the problem was initially camouflaged by Barkley's 14-play, 86-yard drive for a 18-15 victory over Ohio State on Sept. 12 in Columbus.

"We're not real good right now," Carroll said. "We weren't that good last week, either, to tell you the truth."

Sophomore Aaron Corp, who replaced Barkley, had a bad game by his or anyone else's standards, throwing for just 110 yards - a low for the Carroll era - with a lethal interception deep in Washington territory that occurred when he threw into double coverage. He was so ineffective that Carroll actually thought about putting Barkley, who had missed most of the week with a shoulder injury, into the game. Three drives inside the UW 35 ended in turnovers and USC was flagged eight times for penalties, common denominators in all these upsets.

The Trojans, who entered the game as a 21-point favorite and have the largest stable of quality running backs in the country with Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson and Stanley Havili, rushed for 250 yards on 33 carries for a 7.6-yard average. They should have chewed up yardage against Washington's young defense, but they seemed to disappear after the first quarter, when the Trojans rushed for 110 yards and jumped out to a 10-0 lead. The Trojans managed just one field goal in the second half and were held to their fewest points since their 13-9 loss to UCLA on Dec. 2, 2006, by a defense that had allowed Idaho 412 yards last week.

"Washington wasn't the better team," McKnight said. "Clearly, we have superior athletes. But hard work beats athleticism any day."

Unless things improve drastically, this may be the year Cal cracks USC's seven-year hold on the Pac-10 title. It may even be the year Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis beats the Trojans.

[clevfan]

UF faces Swine Flu fears after 3 starters met Tennessee with flu-like symptoms

By Jeremy Fowler

SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

September 21, 2009

GAINESVILLE — The Florida Gators are more concerned than ever about a potential Swine Flu outbreak in the locker room.

Three marquee starters — running back Jeff Demps, tight end Aaron Hernandez and defensive end Jermaine Cunningham — played in Saturday's 23-13 win over Tennessee with flu-like symptoms. Demps started the game with a 101-degree fever and probably shouldn't have played, Coach Urban Meyer said.

All three players left Sunday's practice with helmets in hand, appearing to have practiced. They haven't been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus — the flu strain commonly referred to as Swine Flu — but Meyer is on edge about keeping his top-ranked team healthy.

Florida spokesman Steve McClain said each player received a nasal spray vaccine over the weekend for a "seasonal flu virus".

"It is a panic level of proportions I've never seen before," Meyer said. "That's coming from me. You hear about, I think, Wisconsin had 40 players. Ole Miss had 20 players. My wife, with her great insight, said, 'Do you realize the swine flu and everything is hitting the Florida campus last week?' My gosh."

Up to 40 percent of the University of Florida student body could catch the H1N1 virus, according to school officials. UF has seen more than 400 cases of flu-like symptoms since April. Universities across the country are scrambling to educate students about combating the outbreak with various precautionary measures.

Demps, a former Groveland South Lake star, is a primary concern for Florida because he's on the front-end of the flu. Hernandez and Cunningham felt sick earlier in the week and are coming out of the illness.

All three players didn't match their normal production against the Vols.

Demps rushed four times for 31 yards and a touchdown. Hernandez finished with four catches for 26 yards and Cunningham added one tackle. Hernandez is irreplaceable as Florida's only active tight end.

Their sluggish presence could have contributed to Florida's frustrating day against Tennessee when many expected a win of 30 points or more.

"They were beat up pretty good," Meyer said of his ill players.

Purell bottles are strategically placed throughout the Gators football offices and locker rooms. Sick players are even isolated before and after games. More isolations might be in order if the sickness spreads.

"It's real," Meyer said. "We go to the extremes. They get a separate dorm room for them. They get a separate hotel room for them. They put them right on whatever the flu stuff is. Our guys, our team doctors, they're on it as fast as you can get on it."

The Gators play at Kentucky at 6 p.m. Saturday.

[nino brown]

i would guess every program has this problem. be a pig! be a pig!

[clevfan]

Sep 23, 12:14 AM EDT


Gators missing 6 more due to flulike symptoms

By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- No. 1 Florida kept six more players out of practice Tuesday because of flulike symptoms.

Gators coach Urban Meyer said starting linebacker A.J. Jones was among those feeling ill. No player has had a confirmed case of swine flu, but Meyer has expressed concern that the virus could ravage the defending national champions.

Receivers coach Billy Gonzales, who was sent home the day before because he had a fever, returned to practice Tuesday wearing gloves and a mask.

Also not at practice were defensive back Josh Evans, receiver Justin Williams, running back Mike Gillislee, defensive end Earl Okine and walk-on offensive lineman Shawn Schmieder.

"We're all right," Meyer said. "We've just got to get ready. We're doing what we've got to do. What we can control, we control. Guys are wiping down everything. We're doing everything we can. I think we'll be all right."

Meyer sounded as if he were coming down with something himself, but insisted he was just hoarse from "screaming too much" during practice.

Previously, running back Jeff Demps, tight end Aaron Hernandez and defensive end Jermaine Cunningham were isolated because of flulike symptoms.

"They're still not 100 percent," Meyer said. "We had six others come down today with it, so we're battling a little bit right now."

The Gators all had a round of flu shots Sunday, about a week after one school official predicted that as many as 40 percent of students could catch swine flu this season.

Team doctors and trainers responded by placing hand sanitizer and prevention checklists all around the facility.

When asked about the flu, linebacker Ryan Stamper jokingly coughed at reporters, then laughed.

"We're doing a real good job with that, trying to keep guys from catching that," Stamper said.

Also Tuesday, linebacker Brandon Spikes (Achilles' tendon) and receiver Deonte Thompson (hamstring) did not practice. Meyer was optimistic Thompson would be able to play Saturday at Kentucky.

"They ran him again today and he's feeling really good, but I'm just kind of cautious right now," Meyer said. "We didn't hit the mark last week, so I want to hit the mark this week."