GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The state of Texas has four teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25, and a fifth, Texas Christian, barely fell out after an overtime loss to Arkansas this past weekend.
Meanwhile, as Houston, Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor have made the
Don't Mess With Texas slogan come to life on the field early this season, North Texas is in a different category.
The Mean Green have one of the best nicknames in college football, but coming off a 1-11 season that included a 66-7 loss to Portland State -- the worst loss ever for an FBS program to an FCS opponent -- North Texas is in a rebuilding mode under first-year head coach Sean Littrell.
Don't tell that to Gators coach
Jim McElwain.
As the No. 23-ranked Gators (2-0) prepare to host North Texas (1-1) on Saturday night, McElwain is uninterested in the state of the Mean Green. The state of the Gators is his No. 1 concern.
"This game is going to be one that is going to be a real test for our character as to what kind of team we are,'' McElwain said. "We're not good enough to
show up against anybody."
The Gators definitely showed up Saturday against Kentucky in their Southeastern Conference opener, a 45-7 victory in which Florida outgained the Wildcats 564 yards to 149.
Coming off a less-than-impressive 24-7 win over UMass in the season opener, the Gators turned it up a notch and extended their winning streak over the Wildcats to 30 games in dominant fashion.
"A complete performance as I ever think we've played with,'' McElwain said Monday.
The Gators had plenty of highlights:
-- Quarterback
Luke Del Rio passed for 320 yards and four touchdowns, including a 78-yard scoring strike to
Antonio Callaway.
-- Florida rushed for 244 yards, led by freshman
Lamical Perine's 105-yard performance in his second college game.
-- The UF defense forced four turnovers, three of them interceptions by
Quincy Wilson, Jalen Tabor and
Marcus Maye.
-- The Gators converted 14 of 20 third downs, becoming the only SEC school in the last 20 years to have a 70 percent third-down conversion rate with 20 or more opportunities.
-- Florida had five sacks and allowed Kentucky to complete just 3 of 14 passes for 55 yards.
Defensive tackle
Caleb Brantley summed up the Gators' performance afterward.
"It was a well-oiled machine,'' he said.
They were, but McElwain heard a few squeaks, most notably missed opportunities in the passing game and mistakes on special teams (penalties and two missed field goals by
Eddy Pineiro).
The Gators also returned to practice Monday dealing with a handful of injuries, including a quad injury to Callaway. McElwain said Callaway would not practice Monday and is considered day-to-day.
"I'm a little nervous about his leg,'' McElwain said. "We'll see how that plays out as we go on. I watched Doogie Howser the show, but I don't know [how serious]. The guy is hurt. If he doesn't practice Wednesday, you know he doesn't play."
Right tackle
Fred Johnson, who started against Kentucky but was replaced by freshman
Jawaan Taylor, continues to battle an ankle injury, and running back
Mark Herndon (unspecified) is limited. McElwain said freshman receiver
Tyrie Cleveland, who made his debut Saturday, is out with a hamstring injury.
Otherwise, the Gators escaped perhaps their most impressive victory under McElwain healthy.
Next is maintaining their mental health against a North Texas team that like UMass, will step onto
Steve Spurrier-Florida Field on Saturday night as a heavy underdog.
"The MO of this program has been, you know, you play high and you play low and not consistently," McElwain said. "This will be a huge week for us as far as our guys understanding never, ever let an opportunity pass you by.
"You choose to show up or you choose to be cautious."
Brantley saw what everyone else did in the victory over UMass.
"We played down to the opponent's level,'' he said. "When the team comes together for a common goal, we're better because you've got everyone striving for the same thing."
The Gators did that against Kentucky.
While Del Rio has faced the most criticism from McElwain since Saturday's win due to some missed scoring chances, the redshirt sophomore gets it.
He is a team leader and often, how he goes the Gators go.
Del Rio's focus this week is to make sure that he gets better and the Gators get better. North Texas might not be ranked like much of its home-state brethren, but that should be of no concern.
Not to the Gators at least.
"The biggest thing is that it's our goal every week -- and it doesn't change -- is to go 1-0,'' Del Rio said. "And what you learn when you play well like we did on Saturday is it really doesn't matter who you're playing.
"It matters how you execute the game play, the intensity and enthusiasm for which you play with. If you're worried about how you're playing and not about your own job, then you're not going to play well."
