Gators Notebook: A call for kickers, Harris back in saddle, more tidbits
Monday, October 19, 2015 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators spent the first day of their bye week recruiting.
But not the kind of recruiting you might expect. In need of help at kicker – like now – the Florida recruiting office posted a message on Twitter to reach as many interested candidates as possible.
All Call for Kickers! #Gators are looking for walk-on kickers. Visit the football office today by 4:30 PM to sign up for a tryout.
— Gator Recruiting (@_Gators_) October 19, 2015
The ploy worked as more than 100 potential walk-ons answered the call by visiting Florida's football offices to sign up for the tryouts. Former Jacksonville Bolles all-state kicker Brooks Abbott, once a Gators walk-on before giving up the sport, tweeted he planned to try out.
Florida lost walk-on Jorge Powell for an unspecified amount of time when Powell suffered an injury Saturday at LSU. Powell was on crutches at the end of the game with ice on his knee.
Powell took over for Austin Hardin after Hardin missed three of his first six field goal attempts of the season. Powell made 2 of 3 field goals in his three games as the primary kicker before getting hurt on a kickoff return in the first half of Florida's 35-28 loss at LSU.
Hardin replaced Powell and made all three of his extra-point attempts. Powell kicked the point-after following 4-yard touchdown pass from Treon Harris to Jake McGee on the Gators' second drive of the game.
Overall, the Gators have made just 5 of 9 field goals while opponents have made 8 of 11. Hardin's 37-yarder against East Carolina is the Gators' longest field goal of the season but he missed his next three attempts and later missed time due to a leg injury.
The UF Compliance Office posted a tweet to inform interested candidates of the requirements:
.@_Gators_ See steps before getting cleared to tryout by Compliance. Will receive the form from @GatorsFB. pic.twitter.com/iWzqb3ZU4O
— GatorZone Compliance (@GatorCompliance) October 19, 2015
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GEORGIA ON THEIR MIND
The Gators were clearly disappointed to see their six-game win streak to open the season come to an end with Saturday's loss.
First-year coach Jim McElwain praised the team's efforts but showed little interest in the consolation prize of keeping the game close as the heavy underdog.
“They won the game, so not good enough,'' McElwain said. “What are we going to learn from it? I'll find out. You'll find out.”
The Gators don't play again until Halloween afternoon against Georgia in Jacksonville. The Gators can take a huge step in claiming their first SEC East title in six years with a victory.
“We're fine,'' safety Marcus Maye said. “We still have our destination in front of us.”
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HARRIS PASSES TEST
Treon Harris had not thrown a pass in four games prior to starting at LSU. He completed 17 of 32 for a career-high 271 yards -- the Gators' fourth 250-plus yard passing game of the season, their most since 2009 -- and two touchdowns in Florida's first loss of the season.
Harris was far from perfect – he was just 2 of 10 on the Gators' final two drives – but Harris avoided turning the ball over and played well enough to give the Gators a chance in the final minutes.
“The guy did a good job, man,'' McElwain said. “He's going to want some plays back, as a lot of our guys will on both sides of the ball.”
Harris was thrust back into the starting lineup after Will Grier, who started the previous five games, was suspended for one year for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance banned by the NCAA.
The 5-foot-11 Harris is most effective when he gets outside the pocket and uses his legs to make plays, which was the case Saturday. He rushed for 55 yards but was sacked five times for minus-35 yards. When he stayed in the pocket and tried to make plays quickly on the final two drives, he missed some throws.
With two weeks to prepare for Georgia and to tailor the offense more around Harris, the Gators have an opportunity to improve during the bye week.
“It's a tough test, really, for the first transition game,'' tight end Jake McGee, who caught both of Harris' touchdown passes, said after the game. “It's one of the loudest places we'll play on the road. I thought he handled it well.”
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THE FAKE
Florida fans have seen enough replays of LSU's fake field goal by now to turn the channel.
They can't get enough of the play in Baton Rouge. LSU scored the game-winning touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a fake field goal on fourth-and-13 from the Gators' 16-yard line.
Holder Brad Kragthorpe, LSU's third-team quarterback, told reporters Monday that the Tigers practiced the play “probably 20 times” last week.
Kragthorpe took the snap and then tossed an overhanded lateral to kicker Trent Domingue, who raced to the end zone for the touchdown.
“They made a hell of play,'' McElwain said. “We should have been high [formation] instead of flat. It's a gutsy call. Give them credit.”
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EXTRA POINTS
Florida has converted eight of its 14 turnovers gained into touchdowns this season ... The Gators dropped five spots in the AP Top 25 on Sunday, falling from No. 8 to No. 13; Florida has been ranked four consecutive weeks after a two-year absence from the poll … Movie star Tom Cruise attended his first college football game on Saturday as a guest of LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva. Cruise took numerous pictures with fans. He is filming a “Jack Reacher” sequel in New Orleans and made a Saturday night visit to Baton Rouge. “My daughter saw him, with about 50,000 other people that were straining their necks to see him,” LSU coach Les Miles told reporters Monday. “I would be a good bad guy, I think. A guy that Jack Reacher beats up.” … Georgia, after reaching No. 8 in the national rankings, lost back-to-back games against Alabama and Tennessee before defeating Missouri on Saturday. Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said the bye week before facing the Gators comes at a good time. Florida upset the No. 9-ranked Bulldogs 37-20 a year ago. “We'll have time to think about [Florida], but we just needed to get this victory to feel good again,'' Richt said. “It's no fun losing two in a row. Getting this victory was big. We're still in the race.”
