Thursday, November 16, 2017 | Football, Scott Carter
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The Gators return home after a month away to face the upstart Blazers.
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a season such as this for the Gators, the shake-your-head moments continue to add up.
Another one happened Thursday when the Ray Guy Award announced its 10 semifinalists for the honor given annually to the nation's top punter. Florida senior Johnny Townsend, second in the country with a 48.5-yard average, was not on the list.
Townsend led the nation in punting as a junior and was named a midseason All-American by the Associated Press recently. Still, no Ray Guy Award for Florida's most consistent player in 2017.
If the Gators were 6-3 instead of 3-6 entering Saturday's game against UAB (7-3), Townsend probably makes the list. But in a season that includes a current five-game losing streak, a constant stream of players needing help off the field because of injuries and a coaching change, the Gators are on their own.
The Gators are home Saturday in search of their first win since Sept. 30. (Photo: Lady Mendoza/UAA Communications)
Interim head coach Randy Shannon is urging the team to play for itself and forget everything else in its first home game in a month.
"Pride. Being a Gator, that's what it's all about. Being a Gator. Having pride in what you do,'' Shannon said. "Pride as a football team. Pride to represent this university and pride of being something that's special. I mean, these guys, we've got two games left. We've got two home games that's coming off a two-game skid on the road. Now it's an opportunity to come back home and get the fans back into it, get this place back into and keep moving forward."
In a season of transition, constant change has been the theme.
The same is true this week as Feleipe Franks takes over as the starting quarterback for the third time. Franks was the opening day starter, was benched in favor of Luke Del Rio, regained the job when Del Rio suffered a season-ending injury, and then lost the job to Malik Zaire.
Zaire suffered a knee injury in the loss at South Carolina last weekend and was replaced by Franks, who will make his seventh career Saturday.
It's been a long season for the Gators. They hope their fans turn out for the final two games to provide a home-field advantage. They will take all the help they can get with more than two dozen scholarship players unavailable due to injuries and suspensions.
"I just want to see people in 'The Swamp' still supporting us," running back Mark Thompson said. "At the end of the day, they're fans of the Gators. We're the Gators. We're going to play for them and hope they cheer for us. Hope it will be a good atmosphere. Go out there and have some fun."
Time for The Opening Kickoff and a closer look at the Florida-UAB matchup:
THREE QUESTIONS WITH … SENIOR RUNNING BACK MARK THOMPSON
Q: What are your thoughts on UAB's defense? Caption A: They were recruiting me pretty hard out of junior college. I know they have a lot of junior-college guys on their roster because their program got shut down a couple of years ago. So I know they have a lot of two-year guys, some people that were already there. They're a competitive team. They'll have some guys that fly around and do their thing.
Q: As your UF career winds down, what do you think of the program's future?
A: They have a bright future. There's a lot of young guys on this roster. We're one of the youngest teams in college football. I know we were last year, so they have a lot of upside. A lot of young guys here that can play. They should be excited for the years to come.
Q: How will you remember your senior season in 20 years?
A: My senior year. I did everything I could do. I came out and practiced hard every day. I played when it was time to play. That's how I'm going to remember things.
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THREE STORYLINES
The Gators are back home at "The Swamp" for the first time in a month. They haven't won since Sept. 30 and suffered their fifth consecutive loss last weekend at South Carolina. They have two games left: UAB and Florida State, both at home. They need a win to boost their confidence prior to the Seminoles visiting town.
UAB is one of the best stories in college football. The Blazers, after their program was disbanded following the 2014 season, rebooted this season and are 7-3 and already bowl eligible. The Blazers need one win to set the school record as an FBS program and head coach Bill Clark is a national coach of the year candidate.
Florida's search for its next head coach headlined the coverage of the program this week. Still, no hire appears imminent as Athletic Director Scott Stricklin continues to conduct the search as media coverage centers on Chip Kelly, Scott Frost and Dan Mullen as the top candidates.
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THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
The best player on the field Saturday might be UAB freshman running back Spencer Brown, who has six 100-yard games and 1,177 yards overall. Brown is the second-leading rusher in the country among freshmen and 15th overall.
Gators linebacker Vosean Joseph once again showed his ability to make highlight-worthy plays when he crushed South Carolina receiver Bryan Edwards a week ago. Joseph must play disciplined and make the sure tackles against Brown, who figures to get plenty of carries.
UF freshman receiver Kadarius Toney continues to battle a lingering shoulder injury that sidelined him for a pair of games. Maybe another week of rehab and practice can help Toney factor more prominently into a Florida offensive that desperately misses his playmaking ability when he's not 100 percent.
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THREE DIGITS
0– Field goal attempts for Gators kicker Eddy Pineiro this season of 50 or more yards.
17-0 – Florida's record against Conference USA opponents at home since 2000.
2-24 – UAB's record against schools currently in the Southeastern Conference. Beat LSU in 2000 and Mississippi State in 2004.
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THE QUOTE FILE
"This whole season I haven't been playing at 100 percent. I got hurt back in camp, my meniscus, I tore part of it. I practiced through it, because I love playing football and I love fighting for my teammates. This whole season I sacrificed myself and just gave it my all every game. Just trying to execute, that's all it is. Even though I'm not a 100 [percent] I'm giving it all to my team." -- Gators offensive lineman Jawaan Taylor
"I feel like this is something that had to be done. I feel like this is something that guys before me had done at my position, things like that. So I feel like it was just time for me to step up. Just grow up quick, you know, just be able to lead this defense to try and become the best defense we can become." – Gators sophomore linebacker David Reese on becoming more vocal of late
"I put this on me. I put this on all of the seniors. This year shouldn't have turned out the way it did. It's definitely tough. You just gotta role with the punches, though." – Gators linebacker Cristian Garcia
"They're kind of going through some tough times. They've had injuries, etc. But their backups are four- and five-star guys. They'll be plenty dangerous. We're just going to go down there, turn it loose and see what happens." – UAB coach Bill Clark
"It's easy to get out of bed because it's an exciting time here at UAB. I'm always eager to get up and go because at one time we didn't have football." – Blazers linebacker Shaq Jones
The Gators are mired in a five-game losing streak, the program's longest stretch of futility since a seven-game skid to end the 2013 season.
Florida's first season of football was 1906 under the direction of head coach James Forsythe. In the 111 years since, the Gators have rarely sunk to the depths they currently reside.
In fact, if UAB defeats the Gators on Saturday and the losing streak grows to six, that's happened only five previous times.
A look at the longest losing streaks in Gators history:
STREAK
SEASON(S)
COACH
NOTABLE
13
1945-47
Raymond Wolf*
Gators lost first 12 under Wolf
9
1979
Charley Pell
Finished 0-10-1, winless after tie with Georgia Tech
7
2013
Will Muschamp
Injuries derailed a season that started 4-1
6
1942
Thomas Lieb
Lost last six games on way to 3-7 season
6
1932
Charles Bachman
Beat UCLA in final game to snap streak in 3-7 season
*Streak started with a loss in final game of 1945 season with Thomas Lieb as head coach.
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THE OTHER SIDE
We mentioned UAB freshman running back Spencer Brown earlier as a player to watch on Saturday.
While Brown is not a Heisman candidate or even a player many fans outside Conference USA has probably heard of until recently, he has started to gain notoriety for his impressive season.
Those in Birmingham certainly know Brown as the star of the upstart Blazers in their first season back from the dead:
A lot of people expect the Blazers, who have won five of their last six games, to pull off the upset the way Georgia Southern did in 2013 against a beaten down and beat up Florida team. This UAB team already has wins over Louisiana Tech, Rice and Southern Miss, so it's not that far of a stretch. The Gators are a shell of the team they expected to be at the start of the season. Still, they showed me enough spirit in last week's loss at South Carolina to convince me they will come out to play Saturday. Being back home will make a difference as Florida wins a close one.
