Florida WR Harvin expected to play in title game

Jan 3, 2009 - 4:16 PM FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (Ticker) -- Florida figures to be at full strength when it faces Oklahoma in the BCS national championship game Thursday.

Gators coach Urban Meyer said Friday night that he expects wide receiver Percy Harvin, who has been nursing a high ankle sprain, to be in the lineup against the Sooners.

"He's playing," Meyer said after the Gators arrived in Fort Lauderdale, where they continue preparations for Thursday's game at Miami's Dolphin Stadium. "Unless there is a setback (in practice). He's good."

Harvin suffered the injury against Florida State on November 29 and did not play in the Gators' 31-20 victory over Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game the following week.

The junior spent the past month rehabbing on a daily basis but practiced Friday for the first time since sustaining the injury.

Harvin is Florida's second-leading receiver with 35 catches for 595 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns.

He was a factor in Florida's 41-14 victory over Ohio State as a freshman in the 2007 BCS title game, catching nine passes for 60 yards. Harvin also rushed for a touchdown in that contest.