Youth Movement in Gators Secondary Gains Speed
Tuesday, September 5, 2017 | Football, Scott Carter
The Gators relied heavily on newcomers in the secondary in the season opener and will continue to do so in the wake of sophomore Chauncey Gardner's injury.
GAINESVILLE, Fla – The Gators knew they were going to have a young secondary in 2017.
But perhaps not this young.
With the departures of Marcus Maye, Quincy Wilson and Teez Tabor to the NFL, the Gators returned four veterans in seniors Marcell Harris, Duke Dawson, Nick Washington and sophomore Chauncey Gardner. They were joined by a highly-touted freshman class of six.
However, Harris was lost for the season prior to preseason camp with a torn Achilles tendon, Washington is coping with a nagging shoulder injury and Gardner underwent an MRI on Sunday after hurting his leg in Saturday's loss to Michigan.
Gardner's return is uncertain, which is another huge loss for the unit.
"As of right now, I haven't read the MRI and even if I did read it, I wouldn't know what I'm looking at," Florida head coach Jim McElwain said Monday. "That's what we're waiting on, so we'll see."
In the season opener, freshman cornerback Marco Wilson made his first career start and fellow freshmen Shawn Davis, Brian Edwards, Brad Stewart, C.J.Henderson and Donovan Stiner all made their UF debuts.
If Gardner is out for an extended period, Davis, Edwards and sophomore Jeawon Taylor will move up the depth chart at the safety spot opposite Washington, who had a career-high nine tackles in the opener.
McElwain was impressed by the way the young defensive backs responded in the 33-17 loss to Michigan. Wilson and Davis each registered three tackles and Henderson returned his first career interception for a 41-yard touchdown that gave the Gators a 17-10 lead in the second quarter.
"I think a bunch of those young DBs, they're going to be a force to be reckoned with," McElwain said. "And this was a good football game for them. It was a physical one, it was one where they needed to be able to cover deep balls."
The biggest miscue was in the first quarter when Michigan receiver Tarik Black broke free behind Wilson and moved into the quarter of the field Davis was supposed to defend. Davis failed to pick him up and Wolverines quarterback Wilton Speight threw to a wide-open Black for a 46-yard touchdown.
Otherwise, the group held its own despite losing Gardner and with Washington in and out due to his shoulder injury.
"It was by no means too big for them," McElwain said of the 10 true freshmen who played Saturday. "That's one of the things you worry about a little bit with guys that have never played in that kind of environment. I think playing in that environment is something that's really going to help us down the road and with those young guys."
The Gators returned to practice Monday night to prepare for Northern Colorado in Saturday's home opener. The Bears opened the season with a 41-14 win over College of Idaho last weekend and feature quarterback Jacob Knipp, who was 17 of 27 for 238 yards.
Knipp beat out Kyle Sloter for the starter's job last season before a shoulder injury in the second game cost him the season. Sloter was cut by the Broncos this week after starting Denver's final preseason game on Thursday and he appeared set to make the team as the No. 3 quarterback until Brock Osweiler returned to the Broncos over the weekend.
The Bears had 408 yards of total offense in their opener and with Knipp running the offense, Florida's young secondary will face some tests in the passing game.
The until must grow up fast with the SEC opener against Tennessee on the horizon.
"Brad Stewart's got to have a really good week. Shawn will obviously play," McElwain said. "But we'll need to make sure we're OK in that area as well with Jeawon Taylor, who had a really good week of practice and did some really good things on special teams. Those guys are going to have to step in and pick up, especially with Nick and kind of his shoulder on and off a little bit, which is something we anticipated and yet he finished the game and did some good things as well."
