TAMPA -- The hype leading up to the Florida State and USF game this Saturday hasn't included any predictions, insults or barbs...And there have still been a ton of entertaining quotes.

Here are some of the ones we thought were the best:

Florida State's Josh Gehres in Tallahassee Democrat
On B.J. Daniels
"This one game, I swear he [B.J. Daniels] was scrambling around for a minute in the backfield, And the next thing you knew you see him shooting out behind the offensive linemen. He jukes one guy so we all start blocking, and he starts weaving through our blocks. The next thing you knew he's shooting 50 yards into the end zone and we were tying to catch up to him."

"He's a special player," Gehres said. "... He could scramble and elude someone and throw the ball right on line 40, 50 yards and hit you right in stride."

"He is a competitor. I remember in Pee Wee football and we would lose a game, he kind of cried about it. ... He's going to play his heart out."

FSU Offensive Coordinator Jimbo Fisher in Tallahassee Democrat
On B.J. Daniels
"He can be a great quarterback. He can throw it. He can run. He was a heck of a player in high school. He was one of those guys that when you went to a high school game, you didn't want to take your eyes off him because of all the things he can do. ... He is very powerfully built."

On the USF defense
"Athletic, Can run, physical. They'll hit you. They are extremely well-coached. They're  discipline. They tackle well. They are a good defense and really good football team. This is going to be one really good football game.

On Selvie and the defense...
"Relentless. Quick. Athletic. A player maker. The ends just do a good job They are football players. (Selvie) and Pierre-Paul, the big JUCO kid is 265 and athletic. They're big, they can rush and play and Bedford as well. They're backers are athletic, can run and play in-space.

On the Jerome Muprhy
"Plays strong safety. They moved him in from corner to safety and he'll hit you. He will light you up in that slot. He's physical. Nate Allen is a heck of a tackler. Those two safeties will play in the league somewhere. (USF) has NFL guys."


FSU Defensive Coordinator Mickey Andrews in Tallahassee Democrat
"He's bigger than most of our DBs and bigger than some of our linebackers," Andrews said.

FSU Head Coach Bobby Bowden in the Tampa Tribune
On USF joining the big three
"It's going to happen. There's no doubt it's going to happen. You take the last three years, hasn't South Florida been ranked higher than us and Miami?"

"You hate to be able to get the credibility with us - it hurts our recruiting. But yet it's something that's inevitable to happen, and it's happening now with South Florida."

On QB Ponder, who was wearing a knee brace at Wednesday's practice according to the Orlando Sentinel
"He was pretty beat up after that last game. Just sore – his body was sore, you know it. He was much more frisky today than he was yesterday.”

On B.J. Daniels
"I'm very impressed with him. The kid is two hundred and twelve pounds now and he can run as good as any quarterback I've seen run. He has great arm. He has everything but experience but if you let someone get open he'll put that ball right [there] and then he's such a dangerous doggone runner."

USF Defensive End George Selvie
"We don't have that prestige they have. We don't have those national championships. We don't have any championships yet. We've been to a couple of bowl games, but we need a championship and we need some wins."

"My dad … I grew up with him being a Florida State fan. Of course, he's going to go for us. He has one (FSU) hat left, but it's old. It used to be white. Now it's brown."

USF Defensive Coordinator Joe Tresey
"Let's not kid anybody, 1997 was the first year of this program. Now we're on the national stage with Florida State, Miami, etc. We've come a long (way) in a short period of time. To be able to get a victory on Saturday would elevate us a notch and do a great amount for the perception.

"These kids are all Florida kids. A lot of the kids grew up together, playing each other in high school. It's a big game, let's not fool anybody. It's a big game."

USF Head Coach Jim Leavitt
"We're in the room, but we're in the back of the room."

"To really change history, I think we've got to win. You've got to get in there and you've got to play some serious football."

On his high school recruitment
"I was a quarterback who was recruited by everybody, and then I threw six interceptions against Sarasota Riverview, and I got a lot of letters saying 'Good luck.' I remember driving up to Florida State with all of my articles and everything. Dave Porter, who played at Gibbs High School, was on scholarship there, and nobody was calling me, nobody wanted me. I sat outside the office for, oh, about six, seven hours, and finally a graduate assistant came out and said 'Listen, we're very interested in you. If you come back next year, we may talk to you.' I said, 'Thank you, sir. I really appreciate your time.' I drove back, and that was it. I wasn't really some guy they all were looking at."

On Mickey Andrews
"I know Mickey very well. A tremendous icon of defensive football."

On the styles of Matt Grothe and B.J. Daniels
"Style? I don't know what you mean. Do they dress the same? No, Matt is more like he wants to hunt and fish. B.J. probably will be wearing the nice watch and the suit. (If they) went out dancing, I imagine Matt's country-western, maybe, and B.J. might be a little more not country-western. I don't know their style."

USF Linebacker Chris Robinson in Tampa Tribune
"Win and you join the show."

On his uncle
"He's Miami all the way. One day maybe everyone is wearing South Florida gear. This is where it starts. It starts with a win."

USF Offensive Lineman Kevin McCaskill in Tampa Tribune
On playing at Doak Campbell after having sold pecans there as a teenager
"Now I'll be playing on that field," McCaskill said. "That's a dream come true."

On what a win would mean
"It's a long way from frosted pecans."

On whether he was selling pecans or watching the game
"Oh, I was watching the game the whole time."

USF Quarterback B.J. Daniels
"Fear has never been a factor for me."

"This is not a revenge thing. It's not an animosity thing. Florida State is a great football team. It's about USF playing Florida State."

USF father Bruce Daniels in Tallahassee Democrat
On how many tickets he has for Saturday
"Whatever it is, we don't have enough."

Matt Grothe in the St. Pete Times
On if B.J. Daniels is ready for his first start
"He's ready. There won't be any falloff. B.J. hasn't played a lot of football, but I know what he can do. I see it every day in practice. So does the rest of the team. I knew eventually I would have to come back and watch him play. It's just going to start early."

On his new role
"I told the guys to stop calling me Matt. It is Coach Grothe now."

USF Offensive Coordinator Mike Canales in St. Pete Times
On B.J. Daniels
"We want to unleash him and let him go. He's Mr. Excitement. You never know what's going to happen."

Tim Sullivan, New York Post
"Matt Grothe or no Matt Grothe, the Bulls have been waiting for this game a long time. Something tells us their defense will show up."