Tabor Touchdown Highlights Hargreaves-less Secondary's Night
Sunday, September 13, 2015 | Football
By TARYN BRAY
GatorZone.com Writing Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When Florida's defensive players learned Saturday night the team would be without cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III against East Carolina, they had no choice. Someone had to step up.
“Man down, man up. That's our motto,” senior defensive back Brian Poole said.
Hargreaves was ruled out during pregame warmups due to a leg injury sustained in practice Thursday. That didn't mean the Gators defense was going to roll over.
“Vernon's our leader out there,” said defensive back Jalen Tabor. “But I still feel like we have a lot of guys that can hold their own on the field.”
Tabor is one of them.
With four minutes left in the third quarter, the sophomore stepped in front of a Blake Kemp pass intended for tight end Bryce Williams along the ECU sideline and returned the interception 39 yards for his first career touchdown.
“They came to [my zone] before the half so I felt they were going to come back to it,” said Tabor. “I just got a good read and got a great pick.”
Opposite Tabor, it was sophomore Quincy Wilson who made his first career start in place of Hargreaves, the 2014 first-team All-American. Wilson was beaten on a touchdown early in the game, but settled down and was solid the rest of the night.
The Pirates finished with 333 yards passing and three touchdowns through the air, but Tabor helped counter those numbers with his big play that came when the Gators were clinging to a 17-14 lead.
“We knew we had good secondary players. We didn't expect a dropoff,” McElwain said. “You lose arguably one of the best players in all of college football but those guys stepped up and competed.”
Although McElwain may have not been happy with some aspects of the game, he was pleased with the way his defense played.
The Gators forced four East Carolina turnovers, one arguably being the biggest play of the game.
“For the most part, the defense did a heck of a job,” McElwain said. “They scored the winning touchdown with the interception.”
Tabor came to UF as one of the top defensive backs in his class. He played in all 12 games as a true freshman last season, starting five times. In the nail-biter win Tennessee last October, Tabor's sack-fumble turned the game in the fourth quarter and led to the Gators only touchdown of a 10-9 victory.
Tabor makes things happen.
“[The touchdown] was huge,” defensive back Jon Bullard said. “It put us up.”
The touchdown gave the Gators a much-needed 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter before Kelvin Taylor scored with 6:57 left in the game to give the Gators a short-lived 14 point lead.
The Pirates got back in it scoring with three minutes left in the game, but were unable to close it out thanks in part to Tabor's great anticipation.
Although the Pirates were able to make it close, even without Hargreaves, the defense got the job done.
“When they said he wasn't playing, Quincy stepped in and I have 100 percent confidence in those guys,” Bullard said. “In my opinion, our [defensive backs] are still the best in the country.”
