Drayton seeks more balance in running game
Thursday, September 23, 2010 | Football, Scott Carter
By listening to the Gators coaching staff, don't expect running back Jeff Demps to challenge his career-high 26 carries from last week's win at Tennessee.
Demps turned into the go-to guy for much of the second half and ended up with the most carries for a Florida back since Ciatrick Fason rushed 26 times against Vanderbilt in 2004.
Head coach Urban Meyer said earlier this week that the Gators want to balance the carries out a little more, and running backs coach Stan Drayton reiterated that stance Wednesday.
"I've got to even that out a little bit,'' Drayton said. "I trusted Demps at that time. I felt that he had a little bit of a hot foot. When I have a back that is kind of in the rhythm, I tend to lean on that back. But I definitely would like to balance that out, for the sake of Jeff really. His game is a very explosive game; he is a burst guy.''
While Demps got the bulk of the work at Tennessee, Mike Gillislee scored a pair of touchdowns and Emmanuel Moody had five carries before reaggravating a thigh bruise. Gillislee's tough running near the goal line has impressed Drayton enough to consider using him in other situations too.
"He's just a north-south mentality,'' Drayton said. "He plays through contact. He is an unselfish football player ... he just does his job and does it extremely well. We're going to keep expanding Gillislee and see how much he can handle.''
