MINNEAPOLIS -- University of Florida sophomore running back Octavius Gould, who was injured in the first game of the season, has transferred to the University of Minnesota.
Gould will become eligible to play for the Gophers next fall and will have at least two years of eligibility.
He may get a third year if the NCAA grants him another year because of his injury.
Gould, 6-1, 210 pounds, was the Gators' starting back in 1986 when he rushed for 562 yards and four touchdowns. He suffered a cracked rib early in the Gators' opener against Miami, then missed the next game against Tulsa and carried sparingly late in the third game against Alabama.
The Gators started freshman Emmett Smith against Tulsa and Smith rushed for 109 yards. Smith then ran for a school-record 224 yards against Alabama.
'I was caught in a bad situation at Florida,' Gould said Tuesday. 'I started in my freshman season, but after I got hurt this fall in the Miami game it became apparent I'd never get my job back.
'But that wasn't the only factor why I transferred. I'd been thinking about coming to Minnesota ever since I visited here two years ago.'
Gould was a Parade Magazine All America player at Pemberton Township High School in Browns Mills, N.J., after the 1985 high school season. He was considering Minnesota and Florida, then went with the Gators because of the rape scandal that rocked the Gophers basketball program.
'Going to Florida was a last-minute decision,' he said.
As late as Monday evening he was considering going to Michigan State, but then, 'The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to come to Minnesota.'
