Gators About to Discover Who They Really Are
Sunday, November 6, 2016 | Football, Scott Carter
Florida vows to overcome Saturday's loss and not tank at end of regular season.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Gators woke up Saturday determined to make a statement on the road. They walked off the field here at Razorback Stadium beaten and bruised.
Little went the way Florida expected besides the pregame meal. Instead of making a statement, the Gators got trampled 31-10. Arkansas, coming off an embarrassing 56-3 loss to Auburn, made the loudest announcement of the day.
"They took that week off and came out to prove something and they proved it," McElwain said. "I'm very disappointed. The locker room's disappointed."
In the locker room afterward, McElwain reminded his team to stay together, stay positive, and that what transpired on a gorgeous Arkansas afternoon doesn't spoil the season. Sophomore defensive lineman Cece Jefferson followed with a passionate message of his own, echoing much of what McElwain stressed.
The questions followed.
First, did McElwain consider pulling quarterback Luke Del Rio as the offense sputtered along and failed to score a touchdown?
"It crossed our minds,'' he said. "There's a lot of positions we've got to evaluate moving forward. That's part of playing the position of quarterback. Everybody's ready to put you on their shoulders when you win and when you don't play great as a team, that's usually the first place that's pointed to."
Instead, McElwain stuck with the redshirt sophomore to let him finish what he started. He plans to consider all options – he said freshmen quarterbacks Kyle Trask and Feleipe Franks remain in the mix.
Del Rio's first pass of the game was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, and he later threw a costly interception on a deep pass toward the end zone to Antonio Callaway. Del Rio has not looked the same since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for two games, completing 52 of 100 passes with two touchdowns and six interceptions in the last three games.
To his credit, Del Rio didn't avoid taking responsibility for his dip in production of late.
"I need to play better. I haven't taken care of the ball,'' he said. "I need to be more consistent in my decision-making and in my accuracy. Guys have done their jobs. I need to do mine."
This was not a loss that could be pinned on one player.
The offensive line struggled to open holes in the running game. The defensive line was pushed around up front.
And don't forget about the Razorbacks, who had plenty to prove themselves coming off a shocking 53-point loss.
"They played really well,'' Del Rio said. "It's not like we're 2-7 here. We're a good team. We didn't play well today, but we're a good team."
There are critics who will say otherwise following Florida's first loss to Arkansas since the Razorbacks joined the SEC in 1992, snapping a nine-game losing streak to the Gators.
A question on everyone's mind after Saturday's loss is this: Where will the Gators go from here?
Will they slide into another late-season coma like a year ago, or will they find a way to shake off a difficult loss the way Arkansas did?
The answer to that question is the one McElwain wants to know.
"I still like our football team,'' he said. "I understand what we let slip away, but the key is what you learn from it. We'll choose how we work and how we come back."
While Saturday's loss – and the way the Gators lost – was certainly deflating, they were still atop the SEC East when they landed home right before midnight.
No. 10 Florida (6-2, 4-2) maintains a half-game lead on Kentucky (5-4, 4-3) in the division by way of the Wildcats' 27-24 home loss to Georgia on a last-second field goal late Saturday.
Senior safety Marcus Maye said the Gators have no plans to give up on the season even if others are.
"We never pictured it going that way,'' Maye said. "We practiced well all week. We've still got our heads up. We can't afford to go in the tank. If you drop your head now, when you step on the field next week, you are going to feel the same way."
The Gators return home to host a suddenly resurgent South Carolina team next week led by former Gators head coach Will Muschamp. If the Gators win and Kentucky defeats Tennessee, they can clinch their second consecutive SEC East crown.
If they lose or Tennessee knocks off the Wildcats, Florida's game Nov. 19 at LSU will have major and potential fatal implications on the division race for the Gators.
The Gators were very little good and ample bad and ugly on Saturday. They were outclassed and outplayed. They got beat up.
Not only are there questions about the quarterback play and the division race, the Gators lost several key players to injury, including starters Jarrad Davis, Alex Anzalone, Cam Dillard, Chris Thompson and Tyrie Cleveland.
The largest Band-Aid in history might not be enough to patch up those losses.
A win against South Carolina would ease the pain though.
That seems a much more difficult task now than before Saturday.
Perhaps the most important question asked after the game will reveal the answer.
Is McElwain concerned about the team splitting?
"I don't think this team has that at all,'' he said. "These guys care for each other. They do a great job of supporting each other. Maybe there is a brawl going on in there, I don't know. But I kind of doubt it."
There wasn't. Just Jefferson standing up to rally his teammates. We'll see in a few days how well it worked.
