McElwain's Magic: Players Quickly Bought His Stay-in-Moment Approach
Sunday, November 1, 2015 | Football, Scott Carter
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The unexpected season marches on.
The trudge Saturday took the Gators on a familiar path, one with a few speed bumps and tricky turns.
And yet for the seventh time in eight games, Florida navigated its way to a victory in the first season of head coach Jim McElwain.
The Gators just keep finding ways to win, defeating Georgia 27-3 here Saturday at EverBank Field. When it was over, the red-and-black side of the stadium was mostly empty.
Meanwhile, the orange-and-blue side yelled its approval as the No. 11-ranked Gators knocked off the Bulldogs for a second consecutive season. It felt a little like old times when the Gators dominated this border rivalry under Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer and often used a victory over Georgia as a late-season boost toward something bigger down the road.
The Gators (7-1, 5-1) need only to defeat Vanderbilt next Saturday at The Swamp -- the Commodores lost 34-0 Saturday at Houston -- to clinch the SEC East title.
Yes, their first East crown since 2009, a trip to Atlanta that ended with a loss to eventual national champion Alabama with McElwain calling plays for the Crimson Tide in a coaches booth at the Georgia Dome.
Florida fans are grateful McElwain is now in charge of the Gators and truth be told, he has made a bigger difference in Year 1 than probably anyone had a right to expect.
Florida won 11 games in two seasons before McElwain was lured from Colorado State to take over a program that needed fresh blood.
The Gators matched last season's win total with Saturday's dominant performance over Georgia, and by now, no one should be surprised if the Gators match their number of victories over the last two seasons by season's end.
The turnaround has turned McElwain into a national Coach of the Year candidate and the Gators into potential playoff participant should they continue to pull out wins regardless of style points.
"The guys grew from it,'' junior cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III said of the 11-13 record his first two years on campus. "It actually helped us a lot. I'm glad we went through it actually because I think it's kind of turning up this year. We've still got a lot to finish, but ultimately, I think it helped us."
The formula for victory Saturday included an early break when defensive back Nick Washington recovered a muffed punt by Georgia's Reggie Davis in the end zone.
Both offenses struggled to do much but Washington's score gave Florida a 6-0 lead on the final play of the first quarter.
"For us, getting off to a fast start is key,'' McElwain said. "We seem to feed off that."
Sophomore quarterback Treon Harris, making his second consecutive start against Georgia, did not get off to a fast start. He completed his first two passes of the game, but then missed nine in a row.
The streak ended when Harris scrambled from the pocket and lofted an across-the-body pass over the head of Georgia safety Johnathan Abram into the hands of Antonio Callaway.
Callaway raced to the end zone for a 66-yard touchdown and 13-0 Gators lead. The Gators scored again less than three minutes later after Hargreaves' interception set up Kelvin Taylor's 3-yard scoring run.
Suddenly, Florida entered the locker room at halftime with a 20-0 lead and Georgia never seriously threatened to get back into the game.
The Florida defense finished with four interceptions, Taylor rushed for a season-high 121 yards, and Harris did just enough (8 of 19 for 155 yards, one touchdown, 39 yards rushing) to improve to 2-0 against Georgia in his career.
Once again, the Gators won a game in whatever fashion they had to win it. That's a sign of good coaching and a confident team.
"Our guys believe,'' McElwain said. "They invest and they are doing it the right way."
Since the day McElwain arrived, his message has been the same to the players: take care of the small details and the big things take care of themselves.
Not even the midseason suspension of starting quarterback Will Grier seemed to shake McElwain's belief in his team.
Still, saying it and doing it are two completely different beasts. Eight games into his tenure the players are clearly doing it, even if McElwain apologizes such as Saturday for the way it looked.
"It wasn't fancy by any stretch of the imagination,'' he said.
The Gators are staying in the moment, focused on those little details. The process is one McElwain mentions often. Real often.
It starts on Sunday night when the team holds its family dinner, carries over into Monday meetings and practice, and repeats itself until they show up on Saturday for a game.
"We just talk about the day,'' senior defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard said. "We don't talk about the next game, the next game. We talk about getting better now to win Saturday. When it works guys buy in fast."
Take Taylor as an example. He rushed for just 25 yards on 15 carries in a 35-28 loss at LSU two weeks ago. He spent last week focused on doing his part to help the Gators win Saturday. He wanted to run more physical, hit holes when they opened, and finish off runs strong.
In other words, the little things that can perhaps make a big difference as the team's primary ball carrier.
"I feel like I'm a really good running back,'' he said. "It was time for me to start making plays."
He did. So did the Gators.
That's been the story of the season.
McElwain dumped Georgia from his mind as soon as he walked off the field Saturday. He now has Vanderbilt between the ears.
The process gets rebooted that fast.
"We can't fall off,'' McElwain said.
You think Taylor has bought in?
"The guy is a wonderful coach,'' he said.
For those who haven't been paying close attention as Florida's surprising season marched toward November's stretch run, they are now.
Responding to a question, McElwain said Saturday he believed the Gators could make it to Atlanta in his first season, adding he didn't show up to lose. But to get there, the message at Sunday's dinner must be the same. And then followed.
Stay in the moment. The rest will take care of itself.
"As soon as you start looking down the road, you run a stop sign,'' McElwain said. "That's when you get blasted."
Florida's unexpected season marches on. One moment, one step at a time.
