Ten Wins and a Ways to Go
Monday, November 23, 2015 | Football, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- An FBS team from the same state, and with just two wins on the season, came to The Swamp and made life miserable on the home team Saturday.
For the Florida Gators, the laundry list of bad was excruciatingly long. They gained just 252 yards, completed only eight passes, turned the ball over three times, missed three kicks (including an extra point), blew a two-touchdown lead and faced a set of harrowing end-of-game circumstances that almost produced one of the darkest days in program history.
Key word: Almost.
“We're a 10-win football team that's still got a long ways to go in a lot of areas. You guys know, you guys watch,” UF coach Jim McElwain said Monday, still less than 48 hours into decompression following UF's 20-14 overtime survival of Florida Atlantic. “But part of the key is figuring out how to get wins, even through deficiencies. I can't say enough about this football team and how they overcame a lot of obstacles in this last ballgame.”
Now, they have to overcome even more. A lot more.
That forgiving margin for error from last weekend will not be there when the 10th-ranked Gators (10-1), down two spots in the latest Associated Press poll, take on No. 14 Florida State (9-2) in their annual rivalry and grudge clash Saturday night at sold-out Ben HIll Griffin Stadium. The Seminoles can only hope the Gators will flail about on offense like they did against the Owls (just 252 total yards versus a defense ranked 91st in the country). Then again, FSU is way talented enough and way good enough on defense (20th nationally) to give UF's offense (now 100th out of 127 FBC teams) more than enough problems.
Way more than the Owls.
The Seminoles average 436 yards, with more than half on the ground, thanks to electrifying tailback Dalvin Cook (1,475 yards, 16 TDs). For UF to contain Cook, who's averaging eight yards per carry, it will have to do so without defensive ends Alex McCalister (ankle) and Jordan Sherit (hamstring), and possibly minus any or all of tackles Jonathan Bullard (knee), Taven Bryan (ankle) and Joey Ivie (leg).
UF's bumps and bruises aren't confined to the defensive side, either. Slot receiver Brandon Powell (foot), plus a trio of offensive line starters in guard Martez Ivey (shoulder), center Cameron Dillard (leg) and left tackle David Sharpe (foot), are all questionable for the game.
McElwain, though, promised the Gators will have enough guys come out of the south end zone tunnel.
“It has to do with the approach of how you go into the event or the opportunity,” McElwain said. “You're going to figure out a way, no matter what, to win. That's what you do. Our guys have won a bunch of games, whether you say they deserved [them] or not.”
Since seizing command of the Southeastern Conference East Division by smashing Georgia 27-3 on Oct. 31, the Gators have beaten three teams that now own an aggregate record of 5-21. In each, UF needed plays in the game's closing minutes to ice the outcome. The majority of problems, of course, have been on offense, where opponents have found a formula for success in bottling up the improvisation skills of quarterback Treon Harris, who's completed just 53 percent of his throws for three touchdowns in those three games and accounted for six of the team's eight turnovers.
The passing game struggles have allowed defenses to key on the running game, where UF is now averaging 3.6 yards per carry. That rates 120th in the nation.
This is not to say the defense is blameless. One of the best units in college football -- UF checks in at No. 6, including second in the SEC -- allowed FAU to go 75 yards in nine plays for a touchdown after the Gators went up 14-0 in the third period. The march set in motion the frantic finale, when Florida defense's stood up and made its overtime stand in the shadows of the Gators' goal posts.
“Pretty much just keep finding ways to win. At the end of the day, that's really all that matters,” senior defensive back Brian Poole said. “They won't always be blowouts. There's gonna be some close games. In the end, we just got to find a way to win.”
The consecutive-win streak stands at four. Overall, 10 of 11. Not bad, given recent results around here.
“There's something to feel happy about that, but satisfied?” McElwain said with a slight chuckle.
Nope.
Lots of media (locally and nationally) have taken some swipes at the Gators' struggles the last three weeks, but the fact remains that, given the enormity and class of opposition remaining, all scenarios are still out there. All of them. Yes, even that one.
First things first.
There's something about a date with the Seminoles that figures to bring out the best of The Swamp and its inhabitants. UF has not beaten FSU at home since Tim Tebow's “Senior Day” swan song in 2009, with a pair of lopsided defeats (21-7 in 2011 and 37-7 in 2013) in between.
But this will be the 2015 class' Senior Day too. This one is a lot more equipped to compete with the Seminoles, regardless of recent results, than those previous two classes.
“You've got to be able to get up for this game regardless of how the season's been going -- and it's been going pretty good,” senior tight end Jake McGee said. “We've had some lulls, but it's your rivalry game with a lot on the line. I think the intensity and the effort should all be there. There should be a lot of fired up guys in the locker room.”
On the field, too.
“It'll be a emotional,” Poole said. “Hopefully, it'll be a good one.”
