Gators Notebook: Appleby to start Outback Bowl, Iowa's O-line Named Best in Country
Friday, December 9, 2016 | Football, Scott Carter
The No. 20-ranked Gators face No. 21 Iowa on Jan. 2 in the Outback Bowl.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gators coach Jim McElwain raised a few eyebrows when, after Florida's loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, he didn't immediately squash the possibility of playing freshman quarterback Feleipe Franks in UF's bowl game.
McElwain sacked that notion Thursday night at the Outback Bowl contract signing event in Tampa.
When Florida's quarterback situation was broached and the possibility of burning Franks' redshirt, McElwain replied: "I don't think we'll have to do that."
McElwain said potentially playing Franks was "an only-if situation. That's all it was."
As in only-if redshirt sophomore Luke Del Rio, who started six games and has not played since Nov. 5 at Arkansas, was unavailable due to a lingering shoulder injury. McElwain said Del Rio is expected to be healthy for Florida's Jan. 2 matchup against Iowa at Raymond James Stadium.
A true freshman from Wakulla, Fla., Franks has served as starter Austin Appleby's backup the past four games but has not taken a snap.
Franks' fan club grew exponentially in the first half of Florida's 54-16 loss to Alabama last Saturday when Appleby threw three interceptions. Social media exploded as fans questioned why the Gators would not give Franks, an early enrollee in January, an opportunity.
McElwain offered a reasonable response Thursday.
"I don't think that'd be fair to him," McElwain said. "But he's the third-team quarterback, so if we got down to the third team that's the way it would have to be, right? I mean, they all want to play. Sometimes you hold them back because maybe they're not ready."
Meanwhile, Appleby is set to make his fifth consecutive start to cap his college career. A graduate transfer from Purdue, Appleby has completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 1,225 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions.
Appleby (26-for-39) threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns against Alabama's top-ranked defense, his highest yardage total since a 296-yard performance in his first start for the Gators on Sept. 24 at Tennessee. However, the three first-half interceptions led to 17 points for Alabama and put the Gators in a 33-16 halftime deficit.
Del Rio's return is a positive for the redshirt sophomore, who has experienced an up-and-down season. Del Rio started the first three games, then missed two consecutive games with a knee injury, returned to start three in a row, and has missed the past four games.
He has completed 56.7 percent of his passes for 1,358 yards, 8 touchdowns and 8 picks. Del Rio's accuracy suffered after coming back from the knee injury as he threw six of his interceptions in the three games after returning to the lineup.
"It's been hard on him, it really has, because he's such a competitive guy," McElwain said. "Tried to play his way through it and realized he couldn't. But it's been good to see him try to come back, do some short throws."
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IN-THE-TRENCH BATTLE
The Big Ten Conference is known for its beef on the offensive line. The No. 21-ranked Hawkeyes are no different, featuring a group of veterans who all return next season.
Despite the country's 120th-ranked offensive, Iowa's offensive line won the Joe Moore Award on Friday as the nation's top collective unit, edging out Alabama and Ohio State for the award.
"The voting was intensely close this year. And Iowa and Alabama were neck-and-neck until the very end of the voting period," Aaron Taylor, a CBS Sports analyst and Chairman of the Joe Moore Award Voting Committee, said in a release. "Many of the voters felt Iowa personified the fundamental principle that drives this award: Teamwork. Iowa excelled in that this season."
Iowa running back LeShun Daniels Jr. enters the Outback Bowl with 1,013 yards, the first Hawkeye to rush for 1,000 yards in a season in five years. Junior Akrum Wadley needs 34 yards to reach 1,000 for the season, which would make the tandem the first in school history to each rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.
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QUOTE OF NOTE I
"I'm not surprised at all. How good he was and how much he loved the game and loved to play and loved to compete ... really, what he passed down to Quincy (Wilson) and Jalen (Tabor), I think that's a testament right there, as well, to how he kind of went about his business." – Gators head coach Jim McElwain on success of Vernon Hargreaves III in rookie season with Tampa Bay
QUOTE OF NOTE II
"We're going to shorten the trip down, make it a little bit more of almost like a business trip or a Super Bowl week, if you will, and just try to keep in our game routine once we get down there." – Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz on his team's approach to snap a four-game bowl losing streak
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PHOTO OF WEEK
#Gators HC Jim McElwain meets with a pair of 6-star recruits last night in Tampa ... Photo via @outbackbowl pic.twitter.com/PrrqCiq4Md
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) December 9, 2016
