Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2016 20:41:48 GMT -5
UF releases 2017 schedule - Texas A&M is finally coming to Gainesville after UF went to College Station in 2012 to play in the aggies first-ever SEC game that the Gators won 20-17. The return game is in 2017 for a game won by UF 20-17 seems odd to me.
Sept. 2: vs. Michigan | AT&T Stadium | Arlington, Texas
Sept. 9: Northern Colorado
Sept. 16: vs. Tennessee
Sept. 23: at Kentucky
Sept. 30: Vanderbilt
Oct. 7: at LSU
Oct. 14: Texas A&M
Oct. 21: Open date
Oct. 28: vs. Georgia | EverBank Field | Jacksonville, Fla.
Nov. 4: Missouri
Nov. 11: at South Carolina
Nov. 18: UAB
Nov. 25: Florida State
Dec. 2: SEC Championship Game | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Atlanta
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2016 8:31:29 GMT -5
I like CJ Worton a lot and think he's going to do good things for UF this season. It took him 2 years to get ready, but he's finally at the point where he can have a breakout season. This from Ryan Young at SEC Country:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Leading up to something of a pivotal junior season, Florida wide receiver C.J. Worton had generated encouraging momentum going all the way back to a big touchdown catch in the SEC championship game last December and a strong spring game.
That is, until he sustained a high-ankle sprain during preseason camp and needed to take a spot on the sideline while others took his position in the offense.
“Just mentally you work so hard all through the season and you keep trying to overcome injuries and everything starts looking like it’s going to be on track, and you just get that setback again,” Worton said Tuesday. “You’re just like, ‘Man, this is the same position I was in last year. I’ve got to do something to turn it around.’ ”
After playing in only three games during his freshman season due to injury, then being limited to five games last fall, Worton missed the 2016 season opener against Massachusetts with yet another setback.
But he’s hoping that’s all he misses. The third-year receiver returned to action last weekend in No. 23 Florida’s 45-7 win over Kentucky, catching 2 passes for 19 yards — both on third down to extend drives.
“I think I played pretty well,” Worton said. “You know, not my best, but I think I played pretty well when I was able to fill in there.”
Worton could be in for a larger role this Saturday against North Texas if sophomore standout Antonio Callaway isn’t able to overcome a quad injury in time to practice and play.
The Gators’ receiving depth was already thinned when junior slot receiver Dre Massey was lost to a season-ending ACL injury in the opener. And with high-profile newcomer Tyrie Cleveland out with a hamstring injury, the opportunity looks to be there for Worton to reassert himself in the offense.
That’s his plan, at least.
“You know, you miss four weeks and the offense starts filling in those pieces where you were and you just get back out here and you try to work your way back in, and you start making plays and you just start catching back on and that’s when you click,” Worton said. “The more I can do that, the more I can put myself in good places and make plays in practice, the more it will show in the game.”
Worton injured the ankle in an August practice during 1-on-1 drills when a teammate tried to dive for a low ball and rolled up on his ankle.
Initially, he said he asked Florida coach Jim McElwain to let him tape it up and return to the field.
“I heard somebody say something about, ‘Get him over to the hospital for X-rays right away.’ My first instinct was just tape it up and let me keep practicing because I definitely don’t want to go back there,” Worton recalled. “They took me over there, everything was good, though, and from that point on it was just focusing on rehab and getting back into it.”
Rehab meant arriving to the stadium as early as 5 or 6 a.m. to begin treatment and staying until 8 p.m. some nights after the players finished their meetings and responsibilities.
He would often FaceTime with his brother J.J. Worton, a former receiver at Central Florida who had dealt with a torn ACL as a senior in 2014, to help him through the sessions.
And coming off his season debut Saturday, Worton said his ankle is 100 now percent. The next step is continuing to earn a role in the offense.
He got off to an inauspicious start last Saturday when his first target turned into an interception as quarterback Luke Del Rio’s pass was a little behind him, went off his hand and into the grasp of a Kentucky defender.
“Having my first throw come to me from Luke, tipped and intercepted was just like, ‘Oh man.’ But then you come back and you calm down,” Worton said. “All the guys on the sideline were telling me, they were just like, ‘Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t the best throw, but we’ve seen you make catches like that before.’ Then they told me that they have my back. And then (the defense) went and held them to a three-and-out, they miss a field goal, so you just take a deep breath and you’re just like, ‘All right, let’s get back to work.’ ”
Worton hauled in a 10-yard reception on third-and-7 late in the second quarter, extending a drive that ended in Florida’s third touchdown of the opening half. In the third quarter, on another third-and-7, he caught a pass, spun back behind the line he needed to reach, then pulled himself back to the spot as a defender held on to his leg.
“He played like it was his first time playing,” McElwain said. “I thought he was a little tentative, but he came up with a couple of big catches on third down and that was good to see.”
For Worton, it was just encouraging to be involved in any way.
“Man, it felt so good being out there,” he said. “You know, the week before, (I) had to sit on the sideline and be a teammate. So, just being back out there, even for as many plays as I did play, it felt great going through practice and not having to be in the training room.”
It’s still uncertain whether Callaway will be able to play this weekend, but either way, the Gators are looking for a third receiver to emerge alongside he and junior Brandon Powell.
True freshman Freddie Swain has looked good in his limited opportunities, including a 26-yard touchdown grab last weekend, and Cleveland should eventually work his way into the mix. But it would seem the opportunity is there for a healthy Worton to finally assert himself.
Especially if he shows he can be the player who caught a 46-yard touchdown against Alabama in the SEC championship game and who had 2 catches for 62 yards in Florida’s spring game back in April.
“There’s definitely enough for all of us to really get in there and make an impact,” he said.
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2016 9:23:56 GMT -5
Depth Chart for North Texas Mean Green:
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2016 12:12:24 GMT -5
Not taking North Texas lightly, especially since injuries against overmatched teams is always a concern, but I want to take a look ahead to at UT next week. Since the SEC expanded and split into two divisions in 1992, UF has played at UT 12 times. The following are all the games played on rocky top since 1992 as provided by cfbtrivia.com
College Football Trivia
Team records for Florida vs Tennessee Years 1992-2015 Showing Actual Game Results Away Games Date H/V Opponent W/L Score Record Year Rank Game Rank Div. Conf Conf Record
09-19-1992 V Tennessee L 14-31 (9-3-0) (12/12) (14/14) IA SEC (5-3-0) 09-17-1994 V Tennessee W 31-0 (8-4-0) (22/18) (15/14) IA SEC (5-3-0) 09-21-1996 V Tennessee W 35-29 (10-2-0) (9/9) (2/2) IA SEC (7-1-0) 09-19-1998 V Tennessee L 17-20 (13-0-0) (1/1) (6/6) IA SEC (8-0-0) 09-16-2000 V Tennessee W 27-23 (8-4-0) (26/25) (11/9) IA SEC (5-3-0) 09-21-2002 V Tennessee W 30-13 (8-5-0) (0/37) (4/4) IA SEC (5-3-0) 09-18-2004 V Tennessee L 28-30 (10-3-0) (13/15) (13/13) IA SEC (7-1-0) 09-16-2006 V Tennessee W 21-20 (9-4-0) (25/23) (13/17) IA SEC (5-3-0) 09-20-2008 V Tennessee W 30-6 (5-7-0) (0/0) (34/32) IA SEC (3-5-0) 09-18-2010 V Tennessee W 31-17 (6-7-0) (0/0) (0/0) IA SEC (3-5-0) 09-15-2012 V Tennessee W 37-20 (5-7-0) (0/0) (23/29) IA SEC (1-7-0) 10-04-2014 V Tennessee W 10-9 (7-6-0) (0/0) (0/0) IA SEC (3-5-0)
Summary
Record: 12-(9-3-0)--0.750 Points: 311-218 (25.9-18.2)
You can bet that I'm going to be taking UF and the points that the bettors are dumb enough to give the Gators. From what I've seen of the vols, they are going to be in real trouble of UF setting a stand alone SEC record of 12 wins in a row in the series. It'll be interesting to see the spread which opened in preseason at -12 1/2 UT.
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2016 17:12:38 GMT -5
1. Antonio Callaway is questionable to doubtful - I think he's out, but back for UT 2. Tyler Jordan is out for up to 2 weeks with an eye issue - hope he doesn't miss at UT, but looks like it might happen 3. Jeremiah Moon will surgery on his thumb - no time frame on his return
Other than that, we look okay for this week.
Mac's Wednesday evening presser:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida head coach Jim McElwain had his final media session of the week Wednesday night before the Gators’ home game Saturday night with North Texas.
Here were the highlights: •“We’ve still got some things to clean up. That’s why we get a Thursday tomorrow and we should be ready to go.” •Injuries: LB Jeremiah Moon will have surgery on his thumb. “He was doing a heck of a job for us not only at the backer spot, but also on special teams.” … WR Dre Massey had his knee surgery today. “Everything went really good there, happy about that.” … Center Cam Dillard had an elbow issue pop up, but should be good. … WR Antonio Callaway still limited: “Callaway went bits and pieces. I would say he’s probably highly questions to doubtful. He got about three periods in and that’s about it. … It loosened up really good this morning when he was in for treatment. Got a lot out of that, but I didn’t feel we got a lot out of (this afternoon).” … Right guard Tyler Jordan has an issue with his eye. “He’s got to get some work on that so he’ll be out for a couple of weeks.” … WR Tyrie Cleveland will not play due to his hamstring injury. •On avoiding a letdown vs. North Texas: “This has been something that has been something of an Achilles heel for Florida football. I told our guys this is an opportunity to create your own identity.” •On Richerd Desir-Jones filling in for Tyler Jordan: “(Jordan) had obviously taken a lot of snaps so the communication piece from him to Fred or Waanny was very good. The thing Richerd does is he gives you a 110 percent at all times. … He’s got great quickness, he gets on you quick. I’m excited for him to play. He graded out well the last game. He got a lot of snaps in there. It will be a great opportunity for him. It will be a great opportunity for us to look at Fred and Waanny (Jawaan Taylor) together at times, not only in the heavy package but at times at guard and tackle.” •To clarify, either Fred Johnson or Jawaan Taylor could move inside to guard to help fill in for Tyler Jordan. •On the pass rush: “I’d say the biggest thing is the discipline in their pass-rush lanes. The QB were playing this week is quick, shifty … I know this, they’ll move him out of the pocket and get him on the edge. The nine sacks is great, but again, the discipline of the pass rush lanes … keeps the quarterback there so maybe somebody else can get him.” •On whether McElwain ever got chewed out by Alabama coach Nick Saban during his time there: “All the time. Yeah, it was awesome. … Maybe he just knew I was so whacked out anyway, it really wouldn’t matter.” •Again, on not having a letdown this week: “I just think there’s a certain way you go about your business no matter what it is. I think you can get too up for rivalries and stuff. I think the way you go about your business is something … what I hope is guys had enough personal pride to go out and do their job at the highest level they possibly can, knowing they’re not going to be perfect.” •On facilities and upgrades: “The vision for the future is really exciting and obviously what we’ve done already in this short time facility wise is (exciting). … When I had Coach Spurrier come in last spring to talk to the team, he said, ‘Yep, nothing’s changed around here.’ … The things that are on the horizon here, I’m pretty excited about it.”
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2016 19:59:35 GMT -5
Tyler Jordan's mother clears up Tyler's eye issue. With a successful surgery, Tyler could be back for at Vandy, but he definitely will miss at Tennessee.
Florida coach Jim McElwain announced Wednesday that starting right guard Tyler Jordan will miss a couple weeks because of an eye issue.
“It actually goes back to when he broke his orbital bone,” McElwain said. “He’s got to get some work done on that.”
His mother, Kandra Jordan, discussed her son’s condition on Facebook.
“Prayer request … Tyler Jordan will have surgery on Friday morning to remove a rare cyst behind his eye that has caused his eye to be out of place thus causing vision problems. They think it happened from a previous eye injury. He will miss a couple of weeks but if all goes well, he can start conditioning in 7 days. Praying for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.”
Jordan started the first two games this season and appeared in all 14 last year, starting the final three.
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2016 8:15:59 GMT -5
Sign at entrance to Steve Spurrier's office - Lz, it's not OBC, it's HBC:
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2016 8:22:06 GMT -5
Speaking of the HBC, the TD pass to Freddie Swain when DeAndre Goolsby was also open while using Antonio Callaway as a screen-play decoy looked a lot like a resurrection of an old HBC play. I remember Chris Doering catching a TD pass on that same play. Mac could be picking out some of Spurrier's oldest and best plays. The play was designed for Goolsby, but the mildcats bit on Callaway and didn't cover either Goolsby or Swain. Luke Del Rio just threw to the guy closest to the endzone. Had the mildcats covered Swain and Goolsby, Callaway would have taken the screen pass with a lot of green in front of him. That's a tough one to cover if you only run it once or twice each game.
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2016 22:46:00 GMT -5
My guess is Luke Del Rio is done for the season. North Texas has been flagged for this shit already this season. It was a late low hit that has no place in the game of football. I knew immediately that the North Texas kid had blown out Del Rio's knee. I hate it when UF plays against teams like this that are over matched and will do anything, legal or illegal:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Jim McElwain said starting quarterback Luke Del Rio is out for next week and “it doesn’t look great” going forward.
Del Rio was hurt late in the third quarter when North Texas defensive end Joshua Wheeler plowed low into the quarterback’s planted leg as he followed through on a pass.
Wheeler was penalized for roughing the passer and Del Rio stayed down on the field for several minutes in obvious pain.
Del Rio was eventually able to walk off the field on his own and waved to fire up the crowd before exiting through the tunnel.
“Luke is getting his leg looked at right now. It doesn’t look great, so you know what, we’ll do whatever,” McElwain said. “Somebody else will play, we’ll get some guys ready and go play next week.”
The low hit on Del Rio riled up the Gators.
McElwain had raced out from the sideline to share his frustration over the play and had to be held back by tight end DeAndre Goolsby and offensive lineman Fred Johnson. Left guard Martez Ivey then got ejected for a personal foul on the next play.
“I obviously took that low hit on Luke awful personal,” McElwain said. “I told him after the ballgame I’m sure his guy was just scrambling trying to make a play, but I really care about these players. I care about them more than just as football players, and when you see something like that … it’s my responsibility (to stand up for them).”
Del Rio, who was replaced by veteran backup Austin Appleby, finished 14-of-25 passing for 186 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception. He wasn’t able to follow up his breakout performance from the week before against Kentucky, but after the game the bigger concern was his health.
Appleby, who came to Florida this year as a graduate transfer, made 11 career starts at Purdue while passing for 2,777 yards, 19 touchdowns and 19 interceptions in 17 games overall.
He finished the game Saturday night 2-for-4 passing for 30 yards and helped orchestrate a scoring drive that Jordan Scarlett capped with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Appleby will be the guy next week at Tennessee and Florida will also get freshman quarterbacks Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask more reps in practice.
McElwain said the Gators would not change the offense, though.
“We’ll play-action, we’ll throw it deep. All our guys have got good arms and we’ll stretch the field. The plan doesn’t change,” he said. “We’ll do what we need to do to get some guys downfield.”
As for the low hit that had him so fired up, McElwain said he did not blame the North Texas coaches.
“No bad blood there at the end at all,” he said, though still clearly frustrated. “I’m sure, like I said, their guy was probably just trying to make a play. They’ve been called on it a couple times in previous games, but it’s not something they coach, I know that.”
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 10:18:12 GMT -5
I'm still stunned this morning from the dirty hit that has likely ended Luke Del Rio's season. The report on the game from floridagators.com:
GAINESVILLE Fla. — The Florida defense was historically good against North Texas on Saturday night and, unfortunately, the performance on that side of the ball was the second-most significant storyline of the game.
The potential loss of the quarterback took top billing.
UF's defense set a school record by allowing just 53 total yards in a 32-0 victory in front of 86,848 at the "Swamp." The Gators got rushing touchdowns from four different backs, a field goal from Eddy Pineiro and an early safety from its defensive front to ring up the program's first shutout since blanking Eastern Michigan 65-0 to start the 2014 season. Collectively, it was plenty to push past the outmanned Mean Green, but the sight of quarterback Luke Del Rio laid out in the middle field, then exiting straight to the locker room, certainly left reason for concern.
"Luke is getting his leg looked at right now," UF coach Jim McElwain said in the postgame news conference, his team a week out from its annual Southeastern Conference East Division showdown with rival Tennessee at Knoxville. "It doesn't look great." Linebacker Alex Anzalone (34) and defensive lineman Cece Jefferson zero in on North Texas ballcarrier.
Del Rio left the game when defensive end Joshua Wheeler dove at the quarterback's left knee while in the pocket and throwing downfield. Officials flagged Wheeler for a personal foul on the play. Del Rio went down and stayed down. Moments later, after checking on his QB, McElwain walked to midfield and appeared to shout something in the direction of the UNT bench. A commotion followed, but was quickly diffused, although offensive guard Martez Ivy was ejected on the next play for a personal-foul penalty.
McElwain admitted he took the low blow personally. It showed.
"I care about these guys in more ways than as football players," he said.
The injury to Del Rio forced backup quarterback Austin Appleby, the graduate transfer from Purdue, into action. The Gators (3-0) led 19-0 at the time and Appleby executed all running plays in finishing a 74-yard drive that was capped when running back Mark Thompson, the junior college transfer, zipped for a 20-yard scoring run, vaulting over a UNT defender at the goal line to complete the march early in the fourth period and put UF up 25-0.
On the next series, sophomore tailback Jordan Scarlett slammed in from the 1-yard line to wrap a 48-yard march at the 7:15 mark, with Appleby mixing in a couple passes along the way. He hit two of his four attempts for 30 yards.
"My heart goes out to Luke, breaks for him. The hit was very dirty in my mind and I don't think there's any place for that," Appleby said. "You don't want to get an opportunity like that."
But that's what happened and now the Gators will move on -- likely -- with Appleby under center.
"When you lose your starting quarterback it's going to raise eyebrows and questions," junior cornerback Jalen Tabor said. "But the quarterback is only as good as the people around him and vice versa, and we've got good players all around."
Some really, really good ones on the defensive side of the ball.
The Florida defense put the finishing touches on its record-setting performance by turning the Mean Green (1-2) away on downs with just 53 total yards -- including minus-13 on the ground -- which was six fewer than Western Carolina managed in a 62-0 win for the Gators here in their 2006 national-championship season. UNT had just eight first downs in the game, was sacked seven times and punted nine times.
"We have one of the best defenses, if not the best defense, in the country," Tabor said.
Yeah, but 53 yards?
"That's what we do."
Meanwhile, on offense, the Gators cranked out 471 yards, with 255 for a ground attack that was spread quite nicely across the board. Thompson finished with 85 yards, Scarlett with 62, freshman Lamical Perine with 57 and sophomore Jordan Cronkrite with 46. They all had touchdowns.
"Four-headed monster," Thompson said, repeating a phrase put to him to describe the UF backfield. "I think that's spot on."
As for the passing game, it was somewhat hamstrung with sophomore wide receiver Antonio Callaway sidelined with a quad injury. Minus the unit's No. 1 weapon, Del Rio was far from sharp, finishing 14 of 25 for 186 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. He got a lot of help from that defense that allowed just 19 first-half yards, with UF building a 19-0 lead, but the ability to churn out yards on the ground was sustaining enough.
"Everything that we want to do as an offense comes off of our run game," said Appleby, who made good on that statement during his late-game work in emergency duty. "I think we've been leaning on it for the last three weeks. That's our bread and butter, what we want to do. We want to pound the rock and be a physical offense up front and set up things over the top. We're going to continue to do that."
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 14:48:03 GMT -5
Great news on Luke Del Rio. His knee injury is a sprain of the variety that will keep him out 2 to 3 weeks. It's not season ending. My guess is he'll take this week off missing at UT, limp around practice the following week leading up to at Vandy, and then will return to practice to get ready for LSU. Austin Appleby and the freshmen, Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask, get the next 2 games. Hopefully, that will be enough to get us our 12th consecutive win over UT. I actually have confidence that Appleby will do a good job:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida starting quarterback Luke Del Rio will be out against the Vols, but he’s not done for the year.
Sources told SEC Country the injury Del Rio suffered Saturday night is not season ending. It is believed to be a left knee sprain that will cause him to miss 2-3 weeks, the sources said.
He was hit low late in the third quarter against North Texas and examined by trainers for a few minutes on the field. After being helped to his feet, Del Rio walked off the field unassisted.
UF coach Jim McElwain, who had to be pulled away from midfield after the play, said Del Rio “will probably be missing” the Tennessee game.
Del Rio has thrown for 762 yards on 62 of 101 passing (61 percent) with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Graduate transfer quarterback Austin Appleby will start for the Gators in Knoxville.
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2016 12:00:08 GMT -5
UF at Vandy on October 1 is set for a 12 PM EDT kickoff on the SEC Network:
Florida's road game at Vanderbilt on October 1 will kick off at noon, the Southeastern Conference announced today.
The game will air on SEC Network. Here is the complete SEC television schedule for Saturday, Sept. 24:
DATE
TIME (ET)
GAME
NETWORK
Sat., Oct. 1 12:00 p.m. Florida at Vanderbilt SEC Network Sat., Oct. 1 12:00 p.m. Alcorn St. at Arkansas (Little Rock) SEC Network Alternate Sat., Oct. 1 3:30 p.m. Tennessee at Georgia CBS Sat., Oct. 1 3:30 p.m. Louisiana Monroe at Auburn SEC Network Alternate Sat., Oct. 1 4:00 p.m. Texas A&M at South Carolina SEC Network Sat., Oct. 1 7:00 p.m. Kentucky at Alabama ESPN Sat., Oct. 1* 7:00 p.m. Memphis at Ole Miss SEC Network Alternate or ESPNU or ESPN2 Sat., Oct. 1 7:30 p.m. Missouri at LSU SEC Network
*Network to be determined on Sept. 29
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Deleted
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2016 20:31:25 GMT -5
UF depth chart for at UT:
|
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Now THIS here...is a member
|
Post by lz2112 on Sept 21, 2016 0:50:12 GMT -5
When Mac rushed the field last Saturday, while watching it live, I suspected he was giving a demonstration to the players more than he was really pissed off. If I'm right, he really is a brilliant coach. www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/florida-gators/os-florida-gators-football-0920-20160919-story.htmlGAINESVILLE — The film did not lie, UF coach Jim McElwain said Monday. McElwain's meltdown two days earlier against North Texas was the right call to make late during the third quarter of a one-sided game and eventual Gators' shutout. "You guys saw it," McElwain said of the hit that sidelined quarterback Luke Del Rio with a knee injury. Whether Joshua Wheeler's roughing the passer penalty was the right call or justified Mount McElwain's volcanic outburst, the move made an impression on his players. The Gators loved their head coach's show of loyalty to them. "It definitely kind of reiterated what he's been about since he got here," senior linebacker Jarrad Davis said. "It's not like we forgot, but it's always nice to have a nice reminder. Coach Mac is a coach that is completely for us. "I mean, it just speaks volumes to see him really do something like that, to really see him put himself out there and in a position like that. It lets us know that we have him and he has us and we will always have his back." No. 19 Florida surely will not need an extra jolt of emotion entering Saturday's SEC East showdown at No. 14 Tennessee. But there no doubt be times when the Gators will need to rally around their head coach and give him every ounce of effort. A crowd of more than 100,000 is expected to flood Neyland Stadium as the Vols look to end an 11-game skid to the Gators, the longest losing streak in a series dating to 1916. "The atmosphere up there is crazy," UF senior safety Marcus Maye said. "It's hostile, 100,000 plus screaming and loud. It's something you've got to experience, you've got to be there." The Gators (3-0) enter the game faced with challenges beyond a hostile environment. The Gators will have a new quarterback, backup Austin Appleby, and could be without leading receiver Antonio Callaway for the second consecutive game. "He's hurting pretty good," McElwain said of Callaway, who is nursing a quadriceps injury. Callaway burst onto the scene a year ago against Tennessee, catching a 63-yard touchdown on 4th-and-14 with 1:26 remaining during a 28-27 comeback win in the Swamp. The play highlighted Callaway's breakout freshman season and confirmed him as the Gators' top playmaker on offense. He has 13 catches and a team-leading 201 receiving yards in two games this season. "I think he's a first-round NFL draft pick," Vols' coach Butch Jones said Monday. "He can impact the game and change it immediately whether it's in the kicking game whether it's the receiver position. "Whenever he has his hands on the ball so it's going to be a great challenge for us." Callaway, though, is questionable and will not be on the field unless he is 100 percent healthy, McElwain said. "The guy's got to be able to go," he said. "I will never play a guy that's not ready to play. That's just not fair to that person. That's how much I care about our players. "I'm not going to put a guy out there on half a leg." McElwain did not provide specifics on the knee injury Del Rio suffered Saturday night. "He's got a bum leg and he should be back sometime," McElwain said. "I don't know when it's going to be." Appleby, a graduate transfer from Purdue, will make his first start for the Gators and his 12th at the college level. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Appleby is bigger and more mobile than Del Rio, who is a more accurate passer. "I don't think the game plan's going to change at all," Appleby said. Coaches also will prepare first-year freshmen Kyle Trask and Feleipe Franks to play, but McElwain said Appleby offers a potential change-of-pace from Del Rio. "He does some things differently," McElwain said. "So we're going to have to highlight some of those things."
|
|
Gator Bait!
|
Woah, this is a default personal text! Edit your profile to change this to what you like!
Now THIS here...is a member
|
Post by lz2112 on Sept 26, 2016 0:51:37 GMT -5
Sign at entrance to Steve Spurrier's office - Lz, it's not OBC, it's HBC:
I know, but I like the sound of Ole Ball Coach, since he ain't a head coach anymore. What happened in Knoxville is somewhat scary, and McElwain trying to claim otherwise is worse. FFS, we all saw the 9 plays of the first 3 3 and outs, and they were all straight handoffs, there were no called passes. This was a coaching loss. Our coaches were badly out coached by UT, and by themselves. You could tell on the very first series of the first half that the adjustments made were Nussmeier going hardcore "protect the win". I don't know why coaches haven't learned that that offensive philosophy usually fails against really good teams. The opponent is NOT gonna quit, and once they get momentum, it will be hard to get it back. When McElwain said there were a lot of life lessons learned in that game, I hope he meant he had learned some too, because if not we are about to endure a lot of frustrating mediocrity.
|
|
Gator Bait!
|