Gators Notebook: Davis Racks up Tackles, Taylor Fallout, Injury Report, More Tidbits
Monday, September 14, 2015 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For Gators linebacker Jarrad Davis, the tackle represented the thrill of victory. And for defensive end Alex McCalister, well, more like the agony of not scoring a touchdown.
“Every D-lineman's dream is to get into that end zone,'' Florida safety Marcus Maye said Monday. “Yeah, he was [upset] for the most part. He wanted to get into the end zone and he had the field in front of him, so he wanted to score.”
Like everyone else at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Maye was surprised to see Davis tackle his own teammate after McCalister picked up a fumble by East Carolina quarterback Blake Kemp in the final seconds of Florida's 31-24 victory.
McCalister had nothing but open field ahead. Instead, Davis brought him to the ground at UF's 41-yard line. Florida's offense came on and ran one play to end the game.
A junior linebacker, Davis simply relied on the instructions the coaches tell the players in practice.
“It's something that you just never know,'' Davis said. “You never know what could happen. You've got the lead. The game is over. He could have scored easily, but we have just been harping on going down in those types of situations. Just seal the game, let the offense come out and do the victory [formation], and we can go and strike the band up and everybody can go home with a W.
“He didn't expect me coming for him.”
While Davis' bear-hug takedown of McCalister was a strange scene to digest for Florida fans, Davis played his best. He finished with a career-high 12 tackles, including 2.5 tackles-for-loss.
Coming off a season in which he missed the final three games after knee surgery, Davis has a team-high 14 tackles after two games.
“He's a guy that we knew was very important to this team based on how hard the guy plays, how hard he studies,'' head coach Jim McElwain said. “His play really showed up.”
*****
TAYLOR FALLOUT
By now you have probably watched or heard about McElwain's outburst directed at junior running back Kelvin Taylor in the fourth quarter of Saturday night's game. ESPN cameras captured the sideline episode and a fan video went viral on the Internet.
McElwain was upset at Taylor for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty after Taylor scored on a 7-yard run that gave the Gators a 31-17 lead with 6:57 remaining in the game. Taylor made a throat-slashing gesture after the score.
ECU took advantage of the short field on the ensuing possession to drive 66 yards on 10 plays to trim Florida's lead to 31-24 with 3:04 left. The Pirates got the ball back again with under two minutes remaining and drove to Florida's 13-yard line before McCalister's fumble recovery.
McElwain was asked several questions about the incident during his Monday press conference.
“I definitely did,'' McElwain said when asked if he learned anything from the incident. “I'm pretty passionate about what we do. There's no doubt about it. I'm not proud about it and neither is my [94-year-old] mother. I got an earful from her, too. Rightfully so.
“As you know, this is a very public job. I understand that I have a long ways to go and I make mistakes. Am I proud of it? Absolutely not. Do I feel bad about it? Yes. At the same time, I've got to understand my mistakes as well and learn from it and go forward.”
McElwain's frustration with undisciplined errors surfaced earlier in the game when defensive tackle Joey Ivie left the sideline to celebrate with his teammates without his helmet on. That also drew a 15-yard penalty.
McElwain said he and Taylor met on Sunday to discuss the matter. Taylor tweeted his support of McElwain on Sunday afternoon and said “he's going to make me a better person.”
Meanwhile, former UF standout Fred Taylor, Kelvin's father, appeared on “The Dan Le Batard Show” on Monday to talk about his son being disciplined in a very public manner.
“I thought it was a little bit of an overreaction but I do understand coaching,'' the elder Taylor said. “I understand the moment. He had an opportunity to punch one in and he got caught up in a celebration that his old man used to do. I've throat-slashed many times. I've even gotten fined for it. He has to be smarter. In the heat of the moment, you want your better players to use their heads and not hurt the team.
“He made, as Coach called it, a selfish act. They weren't playing good defense and you can't afford at that opportunity to give them that sort of field position. They went down and scored and it's a closer game than it should have been.”
Taylor, whose appearance on the show lasted around six minutes, was played an audio clip of the exchange that included some harsh language from McElwain.
Taylor responded this way:
“I don't think he should test has manhood. The last coach that tested my manhood, I ended up making a totally opposite decision and went to the University of Florida. That coach was Bobby Bowden,'' Taylor said. “It's been a while, but it comes with the territory in most cases. I thought that was a little bit extensive, a little bit much, but they will figure it out.
“Either my son is going to fall to it or he's going to use it as motivation, as I told him, and go out and play some real ball. He's a kid who understands humility. He was taught that way. He realizes he made a mistake there. I'm sure he's motivated and he's going to look and go crazy against Kentucky and use it as fuel.”
The Gators released a depth chart Monday that had Taylor, who leads the team with 109 yards rushing, third behind freshmen Jordan Scarlett and Jordan Cronkrite. McElwain said he and Kelvin hugged after their meeting Sunday and discussed the lessons that can be learned from the incident.
“I'm by no means perfect and I do know our players know how much I care about them,'' he said. “Look, I give everything for these guys. Why you go into coaching is because you want guys not only to be better as players, but to understand big-picture things as well.”
Fifth-year senior offensive lineman Trip Thurman had no issues with the way McElwain dealt with Taylor on the sideline.
“In my opinion, I think he did the right thing,'' Thurman said. “On any team, the coach is a father figure. He wants the best out of his players. Kelvin knows what he did was wrong. We learned from it and we're going to move along. It's the heat of the moment. Things happen.”
*****
INJURY REPORT
Safety Keanu Neal, who has missed the first two games of the season with a leg injury, is expected to make his 2015 debut on Saturday at Kentucky … Freshman offensive lineman Martez Ivey (knee) has also missed the first two games and could be close to returning. “We're going to try to get him out there in some drills this week and see where his knee is,'' McElwain said. “Really looking forward to that return.” … Junior linebacker Alex Anzalone left Saturday's game with a shoulder injury and “that's a really unknown right now” McElwain said … Junior cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, whose streak of 23 consecutive starts ended Saturday with a leg injury, remains questionable for Kentucky … Defensive lineman Jordan Sherit (foot) and running back Case Harrison (thumb) also came out of the East Carolina game banged up and their status won't be clear until later in the week.
*****
QUOTE OF NOTE I
“We stayed up all last night and re-evaluated everything we did again. Not sure we're ready to say. I foresee right now probably both guys playing.'' – Gators head coach Jim McElwain on quarterbacks Will Grier and Treon Harris
QUOTE OF NOTE II
“We had a players-only meeting [Sunday] to talk about the game and stuff like that because it's not acceptable with the amount of yards we've given up. For the most part we have everybody back now and we have to live up to that standard.'' – Florida safety Marcus Maye on secondary's concern that ECU passed for 346 yards
QUOTE OF NOTE III
“Honestly, we don't change much up front. We still have to block the guys we have to block. Obviously Treon runs a little bit more, can scramble a little bit better, but as far as changing the scheme up front, we don't do much of that and the O-line is comfortable with both of them back there.” – Offensive lineman Trip Thurman on adjustments that come with two quarterbacks playing regularly
*****
EXTRA POINTS
McElwain praised the play of young offensive linemen David Sharpe and Fred Johnson in Saturday's game … Kicker Austin Hardin is now 14-of-27 in his career after missing a pair of field goals in Saturday's victory; 13 of Hardin's 17 kickoffs have resulted in a touchback … Cornerback Jalen Tabor's interception return for a touchdown Saturday was Florida's 20th pick-six since 2008, tied with TCU for the most in the country … Florida's tight ends – DeAndre Goolsby (3 catches, 94 yards) and C'yontai Lewis (1 catch, 6 yards) – combined for 100 yards receiving, marking the first time Florida's tight ends have done that in back-to-back games since 2009 … Florida wore all-orange uniforms Saturday for the first time since Nov. 18, 1989, against Kentucky.
