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Outback Bowl Notebook: Brantley's future, Demps' knee, Trattou's travels and more
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 | Football, Women's Tennis, Scott Carter
The Gators held their first practice in Tampa on Monday in preparation for the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl against Penn State. After practice, several players went over to St. Joseph's Children's Hospital to visit with patients and their families.
The Gators practice again this afternoon before heading over to Busch Gardens for some fun. Florida head coach Urban Meyer and Penn State's Joe Paterno are scheduled to meet with the media at noon today.
I'll post updates from their press conference on Twitter (twitter.com/gatorzonescott) and will have a story later today on GatorZone.com.
For now, here are 10 things we've learned since the Gators arrived in town:
--Florida announced Monday that CB Janoris Jenkins (right shoulder), DT Terron Sanders (right shoulder), DT Lawrence Marsh (right hand) and OL Mo Hurt (right knee) will not play in Saturday's game. All four players underwent surgery after the regular-season finale and are currently rehabbing.
--Junior RB Jeff Demps practiced in full pads for the first time in quite a while on Monday. Demps has been limited since injuring his left foot at Tennessee on Sept. 18.
He has played sparingly since but his breakaway speed has been negated by the lingering ligament damage in his foot. Demps estimated Monday that he is at about 85 percent.
“I'm not 100 yet,'' he said. “It's starting to feel better," he said. “I don't know if we're going to take a chance with it or not.''
--Junior QB John Brantley faced a large contingent of media when he walked into a room at the University of Tampa following Monday's practice.
The big question was whether Brantley planned to transfer in the wake of Meyer's resignation and the hiring of Will Muschamp.
“I'm a Gator,'' Brantley said. “That's what I am right now. I think Coach Muschamp is a great coach and he's going to have a great staff come here. But I'm still going to sit down with my family and talk about things. I'm really concentrating on playing this bowl game and playing the best against Penn State as I can.''
--Based on the comments from Brantley, back-up quarterback Trey Burton and receivers Frankie Hammond and Omarius Hines, the Gators' offense will likely continue to use three quarterbacks against Penn State.
Brantley and Burton will likely share snaps with redshirt freshman Jordan Reed like they did for much of the second half of the season.
“That's what we're going to stick with,'' Brantley said. “Who knows what the defense will give us, but we're going to stick with that and keep practicing and keep trying to execute.''
--Senior DT Justin Trattou nearly didn't make it back for the start of Outback Bowl Week. Trattou was home in New Jersey for Christmas and caught one of the last flights out before a blizzard shut down many airports in the Northeast.
“Our first team meeting was at 4:30,'' he said. “I got here at 4:31 – maybe,'' Trattou said.
--Penn State coach Joe Paterno is a popular figure wherever he goes because of his status as a college football icon.
Gators junior WR/RB Chris Rainey wanted to make sure he met the 84-year-old Paterno at Sunday night's Outback Bowl Welcome Dinner. Rainey went over and introduced himself to Paterno and came away with an autograph that he showed off to his teammates.
--Gators offensive coordinator Steve Addazio is spending his final week with the Gators before heading to Philadelphia to take over as Temple's head coach. Former defensive line coach Dan McCarney has already left to begin his new job as head coach at North Texas.
Florida DT Omar Hunter already misses McCarney, one of the team's most popular assistants before his departure last month following the Florida State game.
“I miss Coach McCarney,'' Hunter said. “It's just a different voice in your head. I'm not used to not hearing his voice in my head every play, every snap: 'Omar, get going. Get going. Do this, do that.' ''
--Any time there is a coaching change, there is player attrition. We don't know what kind of roster makeover will take place after Muschamp takes over, but Hines is one player who plans on sticking around after briefly flirting with the idea of transferring.
“It went through everybody's mind because I know it went through mine,'' he said Monday.
--Penn State senior DL Ollie Ogbu is from the same Staten Island, N.Y., neighborhood where Gators DL Dominique Easley grew up. Ogbu said his cousin is a former high school teammate of Easley.
--Former Gators coach Galen Hall is an assistant on Paterno's staff. Hall finished with a 40-18-1 record at Florida in parts of six seasons from 1984-89. However, he had the best start of any coach in school history, going 15-0-1 in his first 16 games.
