Gators Seek To Be Ones Cooking, Not Cook(ed) vs. FSU
Saturday, November 28, 2015 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- If not for a sophomore running back with Heisman Trophy aspirations, the Gators might be undefeated heading into Saturday night's showdown against Florida State.
The Gators want to prevent their College Football Playoff hopes from getting wiped out by another sophomore running back worthy of Heisman attention: Florida State's Dalvin Cook.
The No. 10-ranked Gators (10-1) faced similar concerns earlier this season when they traveled to Baton Rouge to face LSU and Leonard Fournette. In LSU's 35-28 win, the Tigers often turned to Fournette, who carried 31 times for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
While Cook hasn't garnered the attention Fournette has in the run for the Heisman, he has rewritten the FSU record books with his quick-cutting feet.
"He's a difference maker," Gators coach Jim McElwain said. "Some guys in college football, they have 'it.' Every time they touch it they can make it happen and hit a home run. I mean this guy has 'it.'
"I hope we'll be able to tackle the guy."
View image | gettyimages.comCook is not a favorite in Gator Nation. The Miami native originally committed to Clemson in 2012. However, he changed his verbal pledge to the Gators and former UF coach Will Muschamp.
Cook was viewed as the potential jewel of the 2014 recruiting class but a month before National Signing Day, he committed to FSU along with another UF commitment, receiver Ermon Lane.
"Somebody told me he was committed here or something? Hmm," McElwain quipped this week. "Wonder how he ended up there."
Gators sophomore cornerback Quincy Wilson, a South Florida product who committed to the Gators with Cook and Lane, summed up to reporters this week the way many Florida fans feel.
"We're not on speaking terms,'' Wilson said of Cook.
Love him or hate him, there is no denying Cook's talent.
The 5-foot-11, 202-pound tailback out of Miami Central High is one of those players you watch every time he touches the football. He rushed for a career-high 266 yards earlier this season in a win over USF, and a few weeks later ran for 222 yards in a victory against Miami.
Prior to this season, the last time a Seminoles running back gained 200 yards in a game was Sammie Smith in 1988. Cook has rushed for 1,475 yards and 16 touchdowns, eclipsing the school's single-season rushing record owned for 20 years by Warrick Dunn (1,242 yards in 1995).
Cook needs only 57 yards to pass Smith and Greg Jones and move into fifth place on FSU's career rushing list. Perhaps as impressive as anything about Cook is that he averages an additional 3.7 yards after initial contact.
He is not as physically imposing as Fournette, but is equally adept in brushing off would-be tacklers.
"If you break it down, I feel like Dalvin Cook is the best running back in the country, the best running back we'll play all season,'' sophomore cornerback Jalen Tabor said.
Cook, Fournette, Alabama's Derrick Henry, Stanford's Christian McCaffrey and Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott form a strong class of the nation's top running backs this season.
Unlike the others, Cook has not lost a turnover this season, adding to his value for the No. 14-ranked Seminoles (9-2) as they try to defeat Florida for the third consecutive time on the road.
FSU won at The Swamp in 2011 (21-7) and 2013 (37-7) but has never won three in a row on the road against the Gators.
Cook said this week he wanted to improve on his freshman season when he rushed for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns.
"I came in this season with the mindset that I'm going to make plays," Cook said. "I'm going to be me. I'm going to be Dalvin."
Florida's quest is to turn Dalvin into something else for a day. A stationary light pole would work for McElwain.
Florida's defense is ranked sixth overall and eighth nationally (108.3 yards per game) against the run. Cook averages more than 147 per game.
So something's gotta give.
"I'm sure y'all watch the games,'' Gators senior defensive back Brian Poole said. "He do everything well."
The biggest advantage the Gators have against FSU and Cook compared to the loss to Fournette and LSU is that they are home.
The Swamp will be rocking and Florida hopes to be cooking instead of getting Cook(ed).
"Nothing needs to be said in our locker room,'' Wilson said. "Those guys up the road, we don't like them and they don't like us. We feel like we are the best team in the state and they feel like they are the best team in the state. They are coming into the Swamp. They are going to have to bring everything they got."
