Gators Seek to Get it Right at South Carolina

Offensive lineman Brett Heggie is the latest Florida player to be lost for the season due to an injury. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

Gators Seek to Get it Right at South Carolina

Tuesday, November 7, 2017 | Football, Scott Carter

Mired in a four-game losing streak, the Gators want to prove they can turn around their season and earn a bowl trip, starting Saturday against the Gamecocks.

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The outlook has gone from hopeful to hopeless over the past month for a majority of those in Gator Nation.

A month ago, the Gators opened a stretch of the schedule we knew would define the 2017 season. They had LSU and Texas A&M on back-to-back Saturdays at The Swamp, and after a bye week, the annual showdown against Georgia loomed as a potential Southeastern Conference East title game.

In retrospect, not even an appearance by Nostradamus on "College GameDay" could have prepared the Gators for what was coming. Florida (3-5, 3-4) enters Saturday's game at South Carolina (6-3, 4-3) with a four-game losing streak and without head coach Jim McElwain, who reached a separation agreement with the University Athletic Association the day after Florida's 42-7 loss to Georgia on Oct. 28.

Florida's initial dose of what-just-happened reality came when kicker Eddy Pineiro, on the 47th PAT of his career, missed the first extra-point of his career against LSU. Instead of tying the game late in the third quarter, the Gators lost 17-16 despite three offensive possessions after Pineiro's kick sailed left of the goal post.

The Gators lost their first SEC game of the season for many reasons beyond Pineiro's missed kick, but the botched attempt now stands symbolic of the team's recent slump. Florida lost 19-17 the following week on a last-minute field goal by Texas A&M, and then after the bye week, got ran out of Jacksonville by the Bulldogs. UF's slide continued last weekend in Missouri as the Tigers rolled up 455 yards in a 45-16 win, their first SEC win following a 0-4 start in league play.

In the midst of the program's longest losing streak since 2013, the Gators are trying to find their way off the ropes with South Carolina and ex-Florida head coach Will Muschamp waiting to take another shot at them Saturday.

"We've got to win these next three games to get to a bowl game, so they are must-wins,'' junior offensive lineman Tyler Jordan said. "The bowl game is a reward for a season. With all the stuff we have gone through, a reward would be nice."

"That's the goal,'' Pineiro added. "We want to do it for the coaches and do it for the seniors. We want to go out on a good note."

The Gators are the epitome of a team in flux.

In an attempt to turn around the season, interim head coach Randy Shannon has made changes, most notably starting graduate transfer Malik Zaire at quarterback in place of redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks. Meanwhile, sophomore linebacker David Reese and sophomore receiver Freddie Swain have urged their teammates to unite and finish strong.

Swain spoke up to challenge the offense at halftime of Saturday's loss at Missouri, and afterward, Reese said too many players are focusing on themselves and not the team.

"We don't have any veterans. We've got to build on a guy like Reese, build on some other guys to start fast and do certain things,'' Shannon said after Wednesday's practice. "Early in the year when we had a lot of veterans on this team, we were starting fast. We are trying to depend on these young guys to crank it up."

Already shorthanded to start the season following the suspension of nine players for alleged credit-card fraud, including standout receiver Antonio Callaway and starting tailback Jordan Scarlett, the Gators have suffered a rash of season-ending injuries in recent weeks. They lost veteran quarterback Luke Del Rio for the season in their last win, a 38-24 victory over Vanderbilt on Sept. 30. Next, senior safety Nick Washington suffered a shoulder injury against LSU and has not played since.

In the loss to Texas A&M, senior defensive lineman Jordan Sherit, playing the best of his career, suffered a season-ending hip injury. The string of bad luck has continued the past two games as freshman running back Malik Davis, the team's leading rusher, was lost for the season because of a knee injury against Georgia, and in last week's loss at Missouri, sophomore starting right guard Brett Heggie suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Shannon has been quick to point out that he isn't one to make excuses, but those kind of losses are difficult for any team to overcome in the middle of the season. The players vow to continue to keep fighting despite the coaching change and mounting losses.

"Nobody likes to lose,'' Pineiro said. "I know people are frustrated and they just need to hold on and hopefully we get a good coach that comes in and we can win some games."

#Gators LB David Reese after the game as one of the team's top young leaders ... pic.twitter.com/prNY9rNxsI
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) November 4, 2017

While that is the plan for the future, the immediate focus is on finding ways to stop the current bleeding.

No one is saying it's going to be easy. The Gators face a South Carolina team that has already matched last season's win total and can clinch a share of second in the SEC East with a victory Saturday.

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Khairi Clark, one of the team's regular voices in the media, had no problem with Reese's blunt assessment after the Missouri game.

"His comments, they were very true," Clark said. "We haven't come out and played as a unit. I feel like we need to do that before the season is over."

Time is running out. The Gators play at South Carolina and then close the regular season with back-to-back home games against UAB and Florida State.

Recent history suggests the Gators are doomed in their bowl bid. They have been outscored 87-23 the past two games and surrendered 42 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time since the 1917 season.

Still, they aren't giving up.

"I just don't think people were as committed as they need to be,'' fourth-year junior defensive tackle Taven Bryan said. "I feel that after the experiences we have been through, we've hit a couple of bumps in the road. I think they are ready to straighten it out.

"Nobody really enjoys those last two games."