Defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. is tended to by trainers, as well as Coach Jim McElwain, during Saturday's defeat of South Carolina. Cox will be one of several Gators either ruled out or doubtful for this weekend's visit to LSU. (Photo: Jay Metz/For UAA Communications)
LSU Detour Lone Roadblock to SEC East Crown
Monday, November 14, 2016 | Football, Chris Harry
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The UF schedule says Presbyterian is coming to town, but everybody knows what happened with that.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In a perfect world, Florida and LSU would have played their game on its originally scheduled date of Oct. 8, which would mean Presbyterian would be coming to town Saturday. Hurricane Matthew, of course, took care of that.
In the perfect world make-up scenario, UF-LSU would have been rescheduled for another date at Spurrier-Florida Field, but the Southeastern Conference found that solution untenable and thus arose what now looks like a grossly imperfect solution for the Gators.
Not only was the marquee home game on the schedule wiped away, but No. 21 Florida (7-2, 5-2) now must go to Baton Rouge, La., this weekend to face LSU (6-2, 4-2) at sold-out and maniacal Tiger Stadium with no less than the SEC East Division title in the balance. If the Gators win, they clinch a second straight trip to the league championship game. If they lose, Tennessee can claim the crown by beating Missouri at home Saturday and winning at Vanderbilt the following week.
Doesn't seem fair does it?
Think anyone at LSU — be it Athletic Director Joe Alleva, interim coach Ed Orgeron, Tiger players or fans — is feeling sorry for the Gators?
"Look, anything that comes up that really is out of your control, I mean, you can sit and cry about it or you can just move on," UF coach Jim McElwain said Monday, two days after his team advanced its conference cause with a 20-7 victory over South Carolina in the home season finale. "That's what we've got to do. It is what it is. We're going there to play and that's the way it is."
That's absolutely the way McElwain will sell it to the Gators — and should. And yet, any objective look at how the circumstances relative to the stakes for UF have evolved the past few weeks cannot be overstated; not just by the game being switched to a road game at one of the nation's most hostile venues, but also when it comes to injuries.
A bad-news list for the Gators:
* Quarterback Luke Del Rio (shoulder/knee) — out.
* Center Cameron Dillard (knee) — out.
* Offensive left tackle David Sharpe (ankle) — doubtful.
* Wide receiver C.J. Worton (ankle) — out.
* Linebacker Jarrad Davis (ankle) — doubtful.
* Linebacker Alex Anzalone (broken arm) — out.
* Defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. (ankle) — doubtful.
* Strong safety Marcus Maye (broken arm) — out.
* Running back/specialist Mark Herndon (hamstring) -- out.
The good-news list:
* Center Tyler Jordan (knee) — questionable.
* Defensive lineman Cece Jefferson (ankle) — questionable.
Gators quarterback Austin Appleby faces former Purdue teammate Danny Etling on Saturday at LSU. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
No matter. The SEC has given no indication the game will be cancelled due to Florida's inordinate amount of adversity, the likes of which now pit a gutted defense against one of the most lethal rushing attacks in the country. Had the game been played six weeks ago, the Tigers would have been without then-Heisman Trophy candidate Leonard Fournette, who was nursing a sore ankle.
Fournette, though, has worked his way back to health, but along the way sophomore tailback Derrius Guice (pronounced "Gice," as in rhymes with "nice") has exploded on the scene and now ranks fourth in the SEC in rushing with 881 yards (on a league-best 8.7 per carry) and nine touchdowns.
At Arkansas on Saturday night, Guice destroyed the Razorbacks for 252 yards on just 21 carries (that's 12.0 yards per) and a couple touchdowns, including a 96-yarder. Fournette pitched in for 98 more yards and three touchdowns. The Tigers finished with 390 yards on the ground and pasted the Hogs 38-10 on the road.
In case anyone has forgotten, Florida went to Arkansas the week before and rushed 14 times for 12 yards in a 31-10 loss. They left town without an offensive touchdown.
"They've got a strong power game. They want to run the ball, establish the line of scrimmage," UF fourth-year junior defensive back Nick Washington said of the Tigers. "We have to be strong up front. We have to play assignment football, fill our gaps, those type of things."
Conversely, they'll have to get something going on offense. That will be the charge put to quarterback Austin Appleby and friends.
Appleby took over for Del Rio against South Carolina — his first front-line action since getting back-to-back starts at Tennessee (a 38-28 loss on Sept. 24) and at Vandy (a 13-6 win Oct. 1) — and made enough plays to win, hitting 17 of 21 passes for 201 yards, one touchdown and a couple turnovers (an interception, plus fumble at the Gamecocks' 5-yard line).
Appleby, though, looked really comfortable early in the game, helping the Gators jump to a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter, an advantage that easily could have been more were it not for a pair of blown red-zone chances.
"I like the way that we started fast on offense. That's been something we've been challenged to do — get our foot on the gas pedal and not take it off, no lull periods. Don't exhale," Appleby said. "I think for the most part we kept our foot on the gas pedal the whole time and kept them off balance, and that's huge for us."
Somehow, the Gators will have to find a way to accelerate through a defense ranked 13th in the country (312.3 yards allowed per game, including 16th against the run at 114.0 yards per). LSU is only allowing 198.3 yards per game through the air, which rates 28th nationally and fifth in the SEC.
Tigers quarterback Danny Etling, a transfer from Purdue where he was a teammate of Appleby's, has not been asked to do much beyond handing the ball off to that two-headed tailback monster of Guice and Fournette. The UF defense, even with so many backups, would love to put Etling in the position of having to prove his worth as a passer, but that will require an unbelievable effort by the front seven against the Tigers' vaunted running game.
Quite a task in this, well, imperfect UF world these days.
"I got confused because the folder I got on my desk when I got in Sunday said 'Presbyterian' and I was like, 'Wait a minute. Something's wrong here,' " said McElwain, who noticed far more pronounced differences between Presbyterian and LSU than different colored jerseys. "But every opportunity you have — and I know I sound like a broken record, but it's the truth — is about taking advantage of an opportunity and going and testing who you are and not being afraid to put yourself out there.
