I'm not sure he is more accurate. Didn't he throw more interceptions than TD's at Perdue?
GoGators!!!
Mark
On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 07:45:14 -0500, "Oliver Barry" <barryo@realtracs.com> wrote:
--Ok, here’s a theory about the quarterback change…
I think Austin Appleby might have a better game than Luke Del Rio because he’s a more accurate passer.
Since our running game is so strong right now, UT is probably practicing to load up the line of scrimmage to stop it.
If Appleby can get a few seconds to find a target, the WR will probably be behind most of the coverage when the ball gets to him.
Our defense stops their offense. Gators win.
Simple, right?
Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI
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From: gatornews@googlegroups.com [mailto:gatornews@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of JunoGator
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2016 6:22 AM
To: GatorNEWS
Subject: [gatornews] GatorNews from the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, courtesy of JunoGator
Gators QB Luke Del Rio comments on his injury
Getty Images
Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio was injured late in the third quarter of Saturday's game.
Additional article content not readily reproduced here can be seen at URL at the top of the story.
As Luke Del Rio winced on the field Saturday night, his coach screamed in frustration.
Jim McElwain had to be restrained at midfield after yelling at North Texas coach Seth Littrell for his player’s low hit on Del Rio. The Florida quarterback went to the locker room with an apparent knee injury, but the severity is still unknown.
McElwain said his injury “doesn’t look great” and he’ll probably miss the Tennessee game. Del Rio took to social media after the 32-0 win over North Texas.
Lucky to be able to play for a coach and teammates that care for me so much! Thank you for your love and support Gator Nation as well, I'll be back as soon as I can #BeatTennessee
Sources: Florida QB Luke Del Rio’s injury not season ending
Getty Images
Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio.
Additional article content not readily reproduced here can be seen at URL at the top of the story.
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.
LOOK: Odd costume posted on Florida QB Austin Appleby’s Twitter account in 2011
Rob Foldy/Getty Images
Florida quarterback Austin Appleby
Additional article content not readily reproduced here can be seen at URL at the top of the story.
One Tennessee fan unearthed a strange costume choice found on Florida quarterback Austin Appleby’s Twitter account.
Someone is dressed as Osama bin Laden in a photo released on Appleby’s Twitter account in October 2011. Of course, Appleby must take on a larger role with quarterback Luke Del Rio expected to miss about 2-3 weeks because of a left knee sprain.
The Gators and Volunteers play in Knoxville this Saturday in a key SEC East showdown.
Here’s the original tweet:
Jelani Jenkins ends protest, but three Dolphins kneel again during anthem
FOXBORO, MASSACHUSETTS
Dolphins players again kneeled during the playing of the national anthem Sunday. But their numbers dwindled by one.
Ahead of the Dolphins’ game against the Patriots, Arian Foster, Michael Thomas and Kenny Stills again used the anthem to protest the treatment of African-Americans by police officers.
But Jelani Jenkins, who participated in last Sunday’s demonstration, did not. Jenkins said in recent days that he would “stand united with my teammates and the Miami Dolphins organization during the national anthem” this week.
Stills in a statement Tuesday said that he would continue to kneel with his hand over his heart to “continue drawing attention to the important issues we face as a society.”
Their actions have been met with anger in some quarters. Some fans have threatened to cancel their season tickets going forward. The union that represents Broward sheriff’s deputies is asking for team-sponsored police escorts to stop until the team forces players to stand for the anthem.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article102600267.html#storylink=cpy
Official SEC Country Power Poll (Week 3)
SEC Country Week 3 Power Poll
Additional article content not readily reproduced here can be seen at URL at the top of the story.
After outscoring its first two opponents this season 90-16, Alabama’s path to another SEC title and spot in the College Football Playoff was beginning to look inevitable (again).
But leave it to Ole Miss to make it interesting. The Rebels — the owners of back-to-back upset wins vs. the Tide in 2014 and 2015 — nearly did it again in the SEC’s most-entertaining game of the season.
As Nick Saban’s Alabama teams have done in 108 out of 126 games since he arrived in Tuscaloosa, they won. But they did it in a not-so-Saban kind of way by overcoming a 21-point first half deficit and then holding off a fast finish by Ole Miss for a 48-43 victory.
RELATED: SEC Country’s Marq Burnett reveals his AP Top 25 ballot
“What a great college football game,” Saban said afterward, even letting a smile slip from his face. “I never ever remember coming back from being 18 points down then being 18 points ahead.”
So again, the Crimson Tide unanimously hold the No. 1 position in this week’s SEC Country Power Poll.
Behind them is where it gets interesting.
Texas A&M is No. 2 after going on the road and beating Auburn 29-16 to improve to 3-0. Arkansas (3-0) made the week’s biggest leap, moving up to No. 3 from seventh last week after its easy win against Texas State.
They’re followed by the other three unbeaten teams in the league, all from the East Division. Tennessee, Florida and Georgia are separated by just nine votes.
After suffering its second loss of the season against a top-5 team, Ole Miss is seventh, followed by LSU.
From there, it’s a mashup of 1-2 teams with South Carolina (2-1) sandwiched in the middle from 9 to 14.
Here’s how this week’s panel of 26 voters from SEC Country and around the nation ranked the SEC teams:
Your Week 3 rankings
Results are below:
This week's voters:
Adam Sparks (The Tennessean)
Alec Shirkey (SEC Country)
Alex Hickey (SEC Country)
Alex Martin Smith (SEC Country)
Barrett Sallee (Bleacher Report)
Ben Wait (Columbus Commercial Dispatch)
Chip Towers (DawgNation)
Cory McCartney (Fox Sports)
Dave Matter (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
David Caraviello (Post & Courier)
Graham Watson (Yahoo Sports)
Jason Kersey (SEC Country)
Justin Ferguson (SEC Country)
Ken Bradley (SEC Country)
Kyle Tucker (SEC Country)
Marq Burnett (SEC Country)
Mike Griffith (SEC Country)
Mike Wilson (SEC Country)
Otis Krik (Hawgs 247)
Parrish Alford (Daily Journal)
Pat Dooley (Gainesville Sun)
Patrick Brown (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
Shehan Jeyarajah (SEC Country)
Suzanne Halliburton (Austin American-Statesman)
Travis Reier (BamaOnline)
Zach Abolverdi (SEC Country)
Tennessee fan starts GoFundMe for ‘funeral’ of Gators QB Austin Appleby
Rob Foldy/Getty Images
Florida QB Austin Appleby
Additional article content not readily reproduced here can be seen at URL at the top of the story.
Following the untimely injury to Florida QB Luke Del Rio, it appears that backup QB Austin Appleby will make his first start for the Gators in front of a rowdy Tennessee crowd at Neyland Stadium on Saturday.
And if the former Purdue transfer needed any hints that he was not in Big Ten country anymore, he likely got the one he needed on Sunday.
A Tennessee fan, who surely is worked up because of the Gators’ 11-game winning streak against the Vols, launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for Appleby’s impending “funeral.”
The premise of his use of the website, which has a legitimate function for fundraising efforts of serious merit, is based on Bob Shoop’s defense delivering a punishing afternoon for the Gators quarterback.
Fair warning: This is somewhat violent and disturbing language. While likely meant in jest, it can be hard to digest.
From the GoFundMe page, which at the time of this post had raised $5 of its stated goal of $3,000:
First and foremost ladies and gentleman, thank you for taking the time to view this page. September 24th, 2016 is a day that will live in infamy. A young man named Austin Appleby, the back-up quarterback of the Florida Gators, will be pressed into action against the fearful Tennessee Volunteers defensive front-seven lead by head coach, Butch Jones. After a litany of savage, brutal & ferocious hits on the gridiron, our nation will have witnessed its nightmare. A murder on live television.
I could not imagine watching from my living room as my son was brutally murdured. To help his parents deal with the pain, suffering and mental anguish of being Florida fans, I have decided to make this GoFundMe in order to assist the family with the costs of tranportation, embalming & the funeral.
If you could find it in your heart to say a prayer and donate $50 to this cause, I know that maybe we can raise enough money that his parents can forget about him by purchasing a front yard pool.
#JortsLivesMatters
Go Vols.
Help spread the word!
So what’s the call? Fair play in the heated rivalry, or tasteless joke?
One thing we know for sure– $3,000 isn’t going to get Appleby a very nice funeral in 2016.
With Del Rio out, all eyes are on Austin Appleby
Florida quarterback Austin Appleby (12) high-fives fans after an NCAA college football game against North Texas in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. Florida won 32-0.Phelan M. Ebenhack AP
BY JORDAN MCPHERSON
Special to the Miami Herald
GAINESVILLE
Austin Appleby steps foot in the huddle during the third quarter Saturday under tense circumstances.
Moments earlier, starting quarterback Luke Del Rio walked off the field with a trainer under each arm, helping him with each step as he grunted toward the locker room with a bum left knee following a low hit on his planted leg.
“Here we go,” Appleby says to the 10 players in the circle with him. “Let's do it men.’”
He leads four drives, two ending in touchdowns, one in a punt and one with the clock reaching triple zeros to conclude the Gators’ 32-0 win over North Texas, the finale of a season-opening three-game homestand.
"Nobody skips a beat,” Appleby said.
Whether Appleby can keep the group in rhythm for a full game is his next task.
With Del Rio unlikely to play in the Gators’ upcoming road game against Tennessee, all eyes are on the graduate transfer from Purdue as he heads into practice as the assumed starter for the biggest game of Florida’s young season.
“It breaks my heart that it had to come by an injury, and again I'm really hopeful that he'll be healthy and back with us as soon as possible, but I'm ready to roll,” Appleby said. “We've got a job to do."
UF coach Jim McElwain added: “We’ll put a good week of work in, put a good plan in. And I’m excited for those opportunities if that’s what happens.”
Saturday won’t be the Appleby’s first opportunity, however. The 6-4, 240-pound quarterback from North Canton, Ohio, started 11 games while he was at Purdue from 2012-2015, throwing for 2,777 yards, 19 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. His career game came in his final game as a Boilermaker when he threw for 332 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 54-36 loss to Indiana.
"There's no experience like game experience,” Appleby said. “I've played in the big stadiums before. It's not going to be new to me.”
And Appleby won’t have to do it alone.
Behind him is a stable of running backs that rushed for more than 200 yards for a second straight game. All four running backs -- sophomores Jordan Cronkrite and Jordan Scarlett, true freshman Lamical Perine and junior college transfer Mark Thompson -- recorded a touchdown on Saturday, a first for UF since 2003.
When the offense is on the sidelines, the Gators will field a defense that leads the country in yards allowed (129.7/game); scoring defense (4.7/game) & sacks (16). On Saturday, Florida held North Texas to 53 yards of total offense, the lowest yardage total UF has given up in program history, while also sacking quarterback Mason Fine seven times.
“When you lose your starting quarterback, it’s always gonna raise a couple eyebrows, have a couple questions,” cornerback Jalen Tabor said. “But you know, the quarterback position is only as good as the people around him and the people around him are as only as good as the quarterback position. So it works both ways.”
Come Saturday, Appleby will step foot in the huddle again with another chance to play. This time at the start of the game. He’s not shying away from the opportunity.
"Let's go. Next man up. That's our mentality,” Appleby said. “You come to the University of Florida to play. That's ultimately why I chose to come here.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/college/sec/university-of-florida/article102622827.html#storylink=cpy
Brissett thrust into Patriots’ starting QB job after Garoppolo injury
Jason Lieser, the Palm Beach Post
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — The kid who arguably shined more as a basketball player than on the football field when he played for Dwyer High School, was snubbed by the Florida Gators and wasn’t supposed to do much this year besides hold Tom Brady’s clipboard is now the starting quarterback for the Patriots.
Jacoby Brissett made his NFL debut for New England Sunday after an injury to Jimmy Garoppolo and helped the Patriots hold on for a 31-24 victory over the Dolphins. The Patriots didn’t ask him to do much, but he got out of Gillette Stadium without any major mistakes and could have an unbelievable opportunity over the next two weeks.
Maddie Meyer
FOXBORO, MA - SEPTEMBER 18: Jacoby Brissett #7 of the New England Patriots walks off the field after defeating the Miami Dolphins 31-24 at Gillette Stadium on September 18, 2016 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
“Look, he’s been working for this for a long time — all the way back into the spring, all the way through training camp,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “He’s gotten a lot of reps. He did a good job. Pressure situation, played two and a half quarters and he did a good job for us.”
The Patriots have a quick turnaround this week, and it’s a strong possibility that Brissett starts when they host Houston on Thursday.
New England ran the ball during most of Brissett’s playing time, and he completed 6 of 9 passes for 92 yards with no touchdowns or turnovers.
Charles Krupa
New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, right, talks with quarterback Jacoby Brissett during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Garoppolo was leading a scoring drive late in the second quarter when he went down after a hit by Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso. He landed badly on his throwing shoulder and was taken to the hospital for further examination.
In a game and a half filling in for Brady, who is serving his four-game suspension from the Deflategate scandal, Garoppolo went 42-for-60 for 498 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.
Brissett came in with New England up 21-0 and standing at the Dolphins’ 21-yard line. He had two quick handoffs before Stephen Gostkowski hit a 34-yard field goal and went three-and-out on his next possession.
He settled in after halftime and gave the Patriots a solid third quarter. He connected on a short pass to Martellus Bennett, who took it 37 yards. When that drive stalled because of a penalty that sent New England into a second-and-19, Brissett got things moving again with a 15-yard pass to Bennett and a seven-yarder to Julian Edelman. LeGarrette Blount finished it with a 9-yard run to put the Patriots up 31-3.
“I felt prepared and did enough for us to secure the win,” said Brissett, always a man of few words.
And his thoughts on the possibility of making his first NFL start?
“Just got to go and prepare and go out there and do my job,” he said.
Sounds like Belichick’s kind of guy.
Brissett, now 23, graduated from Dwyer as one of the most accomplished athletes in Palm Beach County history. He guided the football team to its first state championship and was the centerpiece of the school’s 2011 state title in basketball.
He signed with Florida despite the Gators already having top quarterback recruit Jeff Driskel on campus and pulled ahead of him on the depth chart during their first year. When it came time to choose a starter the next season, UF opted for Driskel’s scrambling ability because of its shaky offensive line even though Brissett had outplayed him.
Brissett transferred and restarted his career with North Carolina State. As a senior, he completed 60 percent of his passes and logged 2,662 yards with 20 touchdowns against five interceptions. He also had 370 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
The Patriots, already stocked with Brady and working with a 24-year-old protégé in Garoppolo, were impressed enough to spend a third-round pick on him this spring. He went 91st overall and was the fifth quarterback selected.
Gators move up to No. 19 in AP Poll
Posted by Jordan McPherson, the Miami Herald
The Gators are climbing up the AP poll yet again this week.
Fresh off a 32-0 shutout victory over North Texas where Florida limited the Mean Green to just 53 yards of offense, UF rose four spots to No. 19 in the AP poll, released on Sunday afternoon. The Gators ranked 16th in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Alabama once again held down the top spot in the AP poll, with Ohio State, Louisville, Michigan and Clemson rounding out the top five.
After playing its first three weeks at home, UF will travel to Knoxville to face No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday. The game, a matchup of undefeated SEC East teams vying for a trip to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on CBS and will be home to ESPN’s College GameDay. It will be the first top-20 showdown in the series since 2006.
Once again, eight SEC schools are in the top 25: Alabama (1), Texas A&M (10), Georgia (12), Tennessee (14), Arkansas (17), LSU (18), Florida (19) and Ole Miss (23).
The full top 25 list is below (first place votes in parenthesis):
1.) Alabama (50)
2.) Ohio State (4)
3.) Louisville (6)
4.) Michigan (1)
5.) Clemson
6.) Houston
7.) Stanford
8.) Michigan State
9.) Washington
10.) Texas A&M
11.) Wisconsin
12.) Georgia
13.) Florida State
14.) Tennessee
15.) Miami
16.) Baylor
17.) Arkansas
18.) LSU
19.) Florida
20.) Nebraska
21.) Texas
22.) San Diego State
23.) Ole Miss
24.) Utah
25.) Oklahoma
Florida Gators move up to No. 19 in latest AP Top 25 poll
Rob Foldy/Getty Images
Austin Appleby will get the first chance to replace injured quarterback Luke Del Rio if he can't play this week.
Additional article content not readily reproduced here can be seen at URL at the top of the story.
GAINESVILLE. Fla. — The offense sputtered a little, but Florida’s defense was downright dominant Saturday night in a 32-0 win over North Texas, helping the Gators move up four spots in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Gators allowed 53 total yards — the fewest for a game in program history — while improving to 3-0 and moving from No. 23 to No. 19 in the AP poll.
RELATED: Full AP poll | Coaches poll
But it was not exactly a feel-good win as starting quarterback Luke Del Rio was knocked out of the game in the third quarter following a low hit into his left leg. SEC Country’s Zach Abolverdi reports that Del Rio will not play Saturday as the Gators travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for a pivotal SEC East showdown with Tennessee (3-0), which moved to No. 14 in the AP poll.
Abolverdi reports that Del Rio’s injury is believed to be a knee sprain, and that it is not believed to be a season-ender.
Coming off a record-setting performance, defense good enough to carry Florida again
Rob Foldy/Getty Images
Senior defensive tackle Joey Ivie IV (91) and the Florida Gators defense dominated North Texas on Saturday night.
Additional article content not readily reproduced here can be seen at URL at the top of the story.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Star cornerback Jalen “Teez” Tabor was made available to reporters Saturday night for the first time since early in preseason camp, and what better time for Florida’s most quotable defensive standout to offer his perspective.
With an utterly dominant performance in a 32-0 shutout of North Texas, the Gators have now given up just 14 points during their 3-0 start.
That’s the fewest the program has allowed over its first three games since 1966.
“Oh man, that’s what we do,” Tabor said. “I’ve been saying it all along. We’ve got one of the best defenses, if not the best defense in the country. Holding opponents under 100 yards, that’s just what we do. When we get on the field, that’s what we do.”
To be exact, it was only 53 yards for the Mean Green on Saturday night — a school record for Florida.
“That’s even better,” Tabor said with a smile.
Sure, Florida has opened the season against two overmatched opponents in Massachusetts and North Texas, and a lackluster Kentucky team that got off to a miserable start this fall. But it’s time to start having this conversation: Could this Florida defense be even better than the 2015 version that carried the team to a 10-1 start, produced two first-round draft picks and put six players in the NFL overall?
More to the point, can the defense again pull the Gators to an SEC East title and another shot at the SEC championship game?
That could be the question facing Florida in the wake of starting quarterback Luke Del Rio’s injury, which overshadowed that dominant defensive showing a bit Saturday night.
Del Rio was knocked from the game late in the third quarter by a brutal low hit to his planted left leg as he followed through on a pass, and coach Jim McElwain acknowledged afterward that “it doesn’t look great.” Sources told SEC Country’s Zach Abolverdi on Sunday that the injury is not season-ending, but no formal diagnosis or status has been announced.
Nobody outside of the Florida locker room really knows what backup quarterback Austin Appleby, a graduate transfer from Purdue, is capable of doing if thrust into the starting role for any extended length of time. The Gators don’t open practices to the media beyond stretching and the opening individual drills period a couple times a week.
The coaches clearly felt Del Rio gave the team the best chance to win as he beat out Appleby in their preseason competition for the starting job, and if he is indeed going to be sidelined for any period of time, the onus is on the defense as much as ever now to deliver on the Gators’ considerable expectations for this fall.
And with what they’ve shown the first three weeks, well, there aren’t many (any?) units better equipped for that task.
“I go against them every single day and it didn’t take long to realize just how good they were, and obviously we’re seeing that here on Saturdays,” Appleby said. “And they’re only going to get better. There’s a lot of young guys out there that are getting precious experience, and the old guys are continuing to get more and more a handle on what they’re doing. I’m really happy that I only have to go against them Monday through Friday and they’re on our team on Saturday.”
Appleby later called the unit “the best defense in the country,” and that’s a claim that can be better evaluated in a few weeks with the likes of No. 14 Tennessee (this coming Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.) and No. 18 LSU (Oct. 8) looming on the schedule.
But by any metric, it has been an incredible start by the defense. Consider these numbers:
- The Gators’ 7 sacks Saturday night were the most for the program since 1999, and with 16 sacks already this fall they lead the country and have 4 more than any other SEC team.
- Florida has held each of its first three opponents to fewer than 200 yards, and the 1997, 2006, 2009 and 2014 teams are the only other Gator defenses to produce three such games in an entire season over the last 20 years.
- As a result, the Gators lead the country in total defense, giving up an average of 129.7 yards per game. The next closest team on that list, Virginia Tech, is giving up 204.7 yards per contest. (Florida ranked eighth nationally in total defense last year at 310.2 yards allowed per game).
- After holding North Texas to -13 rushing yards, Florida is allowing an average of 42.3 rushing yards per game and 87.3 passing yards per game (both second-best in the country).
- And the Gators really could have had three shutouts to this point. UMass’ lone touchdown was aided by 35 yards of Florida penalties and a fourth-and-14 conversion against a young cornerback filling in for Tabor during his one-game suspension, and the only points Kentucky scored came in the final minutes of the fourth quarter against backups.
“I’ve been saying it all along, we have the best defensive staff in the game, (we’ve) got the best players in the game,” Tabor said. “Like, if we do what we do and the other team can’t score they can’t win. At the end of the day we hold ourselves to a higher standard. It doesn’t matter who’s playing quarterback, running back, receiver, calling the plays — it don’t matter. When we step out on the field, our job is to not let the opposing team score.”
It’s not just about the numbers, though. It’s the way in which they’ve been attained, the jaw-dropping hits and stunning speed with which the Gators get into the backfield for momentum-shifting plays.
Most of those 16 sacks were not the result of protection gradually breaking down up front. No, on most of those sacks, the opposing quarterback barely had a chance to spin the laces around in his hand before being pummeled.
On North Texas’ second play of the game Saturday, redshirt-junior defensive tackle Caleb Brantley barreled through an overmatched offensive line with barely any resistance and sacked quarterback Mason Fine in the end zone for a safety.
In the third quarter, on what might have been the Mean Green’s best chance at getting on the scoreboard, they had moved to the Florida 30-yard line before promptly being moved backwards 17 yards with back-to-back sacks.
North Texas tried a trick play with wide receiver Tyler Wilson getting the ball on a reverse and looking to uncork a pass down the right sideline, but redshirt-senior defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. read the play perfectly and followed Fine — the intended target on a wheel route — downfield to take away the play. Meanwhile, redshirt-senior safety Marcus Maye hammered Wilson for the sack.
On the next play, senior linebacker Jarrad Davis broke through the line and had Fine on the ground in what seemed like a split-second.
Those same kind of hits seemed to shake Kentucky quarterback Drew Barker’s confidence the previous week, as he looked uncomfortable in the pocket all game while completing just 2-of-10 passes for 10 yards and 3 interceptions.
Tabor and fellow junior cornerback Quincy Wilson, who may be the best pairing of corners in the country, both had highlight-reel interceptions in that game. Maye had one too, and junior safety Marcell Harris joined in with a pick against North Texas.
“I saw a bunch of guys that did a really good job of film study. They’re starting to understand what it takes for the preparation to help you even play faster by the keys that some of these teams give you,” McElwain said Saturday night. “… Our guys are starting to understand, it’s more than just the practice on the field. It’s the cerebral practice that it takes in knowing your opponent, and I think they’ve done a heck of a job in that.”
Now the tests get harder, starting with Tennessee this Saturday. The Vols have not played to the level of their preseason hype to this point, but quarterback Josh Dobbs and running back Jalen Hurd are a greater challenge than anything Florida has yet faced.
For that matter, the tests will be harder most weeks the rest of the way.
“I feel like our defense is ready for any team in the country. Tennessee, whoever,” senior defensive tackle Joey Ivie IV said. “Obviously the focus is Tennessee this week, but I feel like we have that type of defense that we’re ready for whoever we play.”
That’s what Gators fans hope. Once again cast with uncertainty at the quarterback spot, the Florida defense may need to keep staking its case as one of the best in the country.
Not that the group was ever short on motivation.
Said Tabor: “We’ve got something to prove every week.”
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007)
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007)
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007)
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