Jim McElwain and the Gators seek a fourth straight win Saturday when they go to Arkansas.
McElwain Expecting Best Version of Razorbacks
Monday, October 31, 2016 | Football, Chris Harry
UF goes to Fayetteville Saturday for the first time since 2008 and just second since Hogs joined SEC in 1992.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Before joining Jim McElwain's first-year Florida staff in 2015, Randy Shannon coached linebackers two seasons at Arkansas and therefore has a window into the mind of Razorbacks coach Bret Bielema and, with that, the mindset of the program's locker room.
Shannon's voice figures to be a prominent one this week, what with the 10th-ranked Gators (6-1, 4-1), winners of three straight, heading to the Southeastern Conference West Division to face the Hogs (5-3, 1-3) Saturday at 3:30 at Reynolds Stadium. UF, with a clear win-and-in path to the East Division title, would be wise to put more credence into what Shannon says versus what tape of Arkansas' most recent game — a 56-3 debacle defeat at Auburn on Oct. 22 — might suggest.
"With Coach Shannon having been there it gives us a little bit of a perspective on what their mindset was during a bye week, how they go about their preparation during that week and obviously the old back-to-basics thing — they'll come in with that mindset of, 'Look, we're going to take this to 'em,' " McElwain said Monday. "Their bye probably came at a good time. I know what kind of pride they have in their program and their organization to come back and prove that was one of those one-hit deals that happened."
And what a "hit" it was. The Hogs are a wounded bunch, mentally. That makes them dangerous. So for the Gators, this week will be about focusing less on the opponent and more on the task at hand.
"It's another step and an opportunity to define a little bit about who we are and what we're all about," McElwain said. "I look at it as a definition."
The Razorbacks likely will see it as a chance for redefining.
Since arriving at Arkansas in 2013, Bielema has looked to mold the program into the kind of physically dominant teams he rolled out during a tremendous seven-year run at Wisconsin. That means running the football. His 2016 team is not there, not by a long shot, but the Hogs' track record the last two seasons has been one of strong finishes; seven wins in their last eight games in '14; three of the last four in '15.
In '16, though, the Razorbacks check in 13th in rushing in league play at just 104.5 yards per game. In that disaster of two weeks ago, Arkansas went to Auburn and got trampled for 543 rushing yards — surrendering touchdown runs of 78, 20, 23, 31 and 51 yards — while gaining just 25 on the ground via 31 carries (that's 0.8 per attempt).
"I really don't take that into perspective too much, because I feel like we're the Florida Gators and everybody gives us their best shot no matter what," said UF senior defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. "So you can't really take their last game as what we're going to see, because we're going to see something completely different."
Maybe they'll get the version of the Hogs that cranked out 473 yards of offense, plus 25 first downs, against No. 1 Alabama in a 49-30 loss on Oct. 8. In that one, quarterback Austin Allen passed for 400 yards and three touchdowns, but was intercepted three times and sacked six times.
Allen ranks third in the SEC in passing at 256 yards per game, due in great part to the high-scoring nature of Arkansas games. They have to pass to keep pace — and pass they will, with McElwain praising the Razorbacks' creativity and efficiency in play-action.
Defensively, the Hogs give up 31.4 points per outing (next-to-last in the league), compared to a league-best 11.7 for the Gators, and ranked 12th in total defense, surrendering 428 yards per game. That's not to say, however, UF is going to go up and down the field in Fayetteville. The Gators may have done so against Missouri and Kentucky, who rate near the bottom of the league in total defense at 10th and last, respectively. Florida, though, managed just 231 yards against Georgia and gained only 100 yards on the ground. That turned out to be plenty, thanks to another terrific defensive display.
"We know that we're not going to see a whole lot of defenses that are that much better than ours," Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio said. "Those guys are unbelievable."
The Gators gave up 164 yards to the Bulldogs and limited a very capable rushing attack to just 21 yards on 19 carries.
But regardless of what the Arkansas-Auburn tape may show, UF has to hit the road this weekend knowing the Razorbacks not only are going to hit back, but are capable of it.
"It's an SEC game," junior center Cam Dillard said. "[We] have to care of us. We have to take care of now and all those things down the road will take care of themselves, if we [concentrate] on what we have to win on right now."
The Gators figure to be a week healthier, with no additions to the injury report out of the Georgia game. They'll get running back Mark Thompson back from a one-game suspension over an off-field issue, but the status of tailback Jordan Cronkrite remains uncertain as the sophomore contemplates if he wants to play football.
The game will mark UF's first trip to Arkansas since 2008 and just the second since the Razorbacks joined the SEC in 1992. It also be Florida's first game as a top-10 team since the Gators went to LSU in Week 7 last season.
"I'm looking forward to it," McElwain said. "Everybody points at what happened in the Auburn game, but I think that was an anomaly. It got out of hand, maybe became a little uncomfortable in what they wanted to do offensively, and they got thundered early. Took them out of their normal game. But they're physical. They understand what they want to do and how to do it, they're sound on both sides of the ball — and, for us, we've got to be right."
Shannon's voice figures to be a prominent one this week, what with the 10th-ranked Gators (6-1, 4-1), winners of three straight, heading to the Southeastern Conference West Division to face the Hogs (5-3, 1-3) Saturday at 3:30 at Reynolds Stadium. UF, with a clear win-and-in path to the East Division title, would be wise to put more credence into what Shannon says versus what tape of Arkansas' most recent game — a 56-3 debacle defeat at Auburn on Oct. 22 — might suggest.
"With Coach Shannon having been there it gives us a little bit of a perspective on what their mindset was during a bye week, how they go about their preparation during that week and obviously the old back-to-basics thing — they'll come in with that mindset of, 'Look, we're going to take this to 'em,' " McElwain said Monday. "Their bye probably came at a good time. I know what kind of pride they have in their program and their organization to come back and prove that was one of those one-hit deals that happened."
And what a "hit" it was. The Hogs are a wounded bunch, mentally. That makes them dangerous. So for the Gators, this week will be about focusing less on the opponent and more on the task at hand.
"It's another step and an opportunity to define a little bit about who we are and what we're all about," McElwain said. "I look at it as a definition."
The Razorbacks likely will see it as a chance for redefining.
Since arriving at Arkansas in 2013, Bielema has looked to mold the program into the kind of physically dominant teams he rolled out during a tremendous seven-year run at Wisconsin. That means running the football. His 2016 team is not there, not by a long shot, but the Hogs' track record the last two seasons has been one of strong finishes; seven wins in their last eight games in '14; three of the last four in '15.
In '16, though, the Razorbacks check in 13th in rushing in league play at just 104.5 yards per game. In that disaster of two weeks ago, Arkansas went to Auburn and got trampled for 543 rushing yards — surrendering touchdown runs of 78, 20, 23, 31 and 51 yards — while gaining just 25 on the ground via 31 carries (that's 0.8 per attempt).
"I really don't take that into perspective too much, because I feel like we're the Florida Gators and everybody gives us their best shot no matter what," said UF senior defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. "So you can't really take their last game as what we're going to see, because we're going to see something completely different."
Maybe they'll get the version of the Hogs that cranked out 473 yards of offense, plus 25 first downs, against No. 1 Alabama in a 49-30 loss on Oct. 8. In that one, quarterback Austin Allen passed for 400 yards and three touchdowns, but was intercepted three times and sacked six times.
Allen ranks third in the SEC in passing at 256 yards per game, due in great part to the high-scoring nature of Arkansas games. They have to pass to keep pace — and pass they will, with McElwain praising the Razorbacks' creativity and efficiency in play-action.
Defensively, the Hogs give up 31.4 points per outing (next-to-last in the league), compared to a league-best 11.7 for the Gators, and ranked 12th in total defense, surrendering 428 yards per game. That's not to say, however, UF is going to go up and down the field in Fayetteville. The Gators may have done so against Missouri and Kentucky, who rate near the bottom of the league in total defense at 10th and last, respectively. Florida, though, managed just 231 yards against Georgia and gained only 100 yards on the ground. That turned out to be plenty, thanks to another terrific defensive display.
"We know that we're not going to see a whole lot of defenses that are that much better than ours," Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio said. "Those guys are unbelievable."
The Gators gave up 164 yards to the Bulldogs and limited a very capable rushing attack to just 21 yards on 19 carries.
But regardless of what the Arkansas-Auburn tape may show, UF has to hit the road this weekend knowing the Razorbacks not only are going to hit back, but are capable of it.
"It's an SEC game," junior center Cam Dillard said. "[We] have to care of us. We have to take care of now and all those things down the road will take care of themselves, if we [concentrate] on what we have to win on right now."
The Gators figure to be a week healthier, with no additions to the injury report out of the Georgia game. They'll get running back Mark Thompson back from a one-game suspension over an off-field issue, but the status of tailback Jordan Cronkrite remains uncertain as the sophomore contemplates if he wants to play football.
The game will mark UF's first trip to Arkansas since 2008 and just the second since the Razorbacks joined the SEC in 1992. It also be Florida's first game as a top-10 team since the Gators went to LSU in Week 7 last season.
"I'm looking forward to it," McElwain said. "Everybody points at what happened in the Auburn game, but I think that was an anomaly. It got out of hand, maybe became a little uncomfortable in what they wanted to do offensively, and they got thundered early. Took them out of their normal game. But they're physical. They understand what they want to do and how to do it, they're sound on both sides of the ball — and, for us, we've got to be right."
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