The No. 9-ranked Gators travel to Lexington for the first time since 2017 for a Saturday night clash against the Wildcats at Kroger Field. (Photo: Kelly Streeter/UAA Communications)
Carter's Corner: They Said It, They Wrote It for Gators-Kentucky
Wednesday, September 11, 2019 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Malik Davis has missed much of his first two seasons with the Gators due to injuries. In last week's win over UT Martin, Davis scored his first touchdown since rushing for a pair of scores against Vanderbilt on Sept. 30, 2017.
However, despite a knee injury that cost him the final stretch of his freshman season in 2017 or the broken foot that forced him to miss 10 games a season ago, Davis played both seasons against Kentucky. He rushed for 93 yards in the road win over the Wildcats two seasons ago, and in last year's home loss, Davis rushed for 15 yards and caught two passes for 25.
What he remembers most is the 27-16 defeat, a loss that snapped UF's 31-game win streak over the Wildcats.
"When you go through adversity, you always learn more,'' Davis said. "When we're winning and everything is going good and everybody is smiling, when we face some adversity, you see how guys really act. That was something that was big last year. I feel like we needed to do that to have the season we had."
It still seems strange to be talking about an upcoming Florida-Kentucky football game and not writing about "the streak." This week in Lexington, Wildcats coach Mark Stoops is actually taking questions about beating the Gators instead of the weight of losing to them every year.
How will the odd dynamics play out at Kroger Field on Saturday?
"Hopefully it'll have a positive effect on our team,'' Stoops told reporters this week. "I think just winning in general is important. And changing the culture, you know, it's hard, and it took a long time. But there's no guarantees."
There used to be. But last year changed that. Now the ninth-ranked Gators (2-0) seek to keep another streak intact: a six-game winning streak. That's the only streak on their minds.
For more on the Florida-Kentucky matchup, let's take a look:
THEY SAID IT
"He's adapted and grown with everything that we've thrown at him. I've been really proud of his overall development the last year and a half and, you know, he's continued to make progress and shown an unbelievable desire and work ethic to become a much better player. The results are starting to show." -- Gators assistant coach Brian Johnson on QB Feleipe Franks
***
"Obviously, very disappointed for Terry Wilson, and greatly appreciate what Terry has done for us, in the leadership that he's given this team and the way he's played the past year and two games. It's been a long time since somebody has helped us win 12 out of the 15 starts that he had." -- Kentucky coach Mark Stoops on starting QB Terry Wilson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in last week's win
***
If interested in more about Sawyer Smith, the quarterback who will replace Wilson, here is a podcast from John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader ...
***
"I thought we tackled better. I think we went from 14 missed tackles to like five or six. I thought that was good. I thought our effort to the ball was good. Those two things, I was pleased with. We've just got to continue to work to develop those kinds of things and make sure we stay on top of it." -- Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham on his unit's performance in shutout over UT Martin
***
"He knows his system. They have the answers to the questions. That's always a big one. They do enough things to cause you problems." -- Gators head coach Dan Mullen on Kentucky's defense under Stoops
***
"For the guys that were here last year, to take that loss in 'The Swamp,' was tough. There will definitely be extra energy, motivation from guys that were here from last year. But I don't think that is much of a motivation for our team." -- UF senior receiver Josh Hammond on avenging last year's loss to Wildcats
***
"His problem was he was afraid to not make a play, so he would quit before he got in position to make a play, and that was his biggest issue. So we just constantly talked about finishing plays and he's done a good job of that the first two games.'' -- Gators assistant coach on junior S Shawn Davis
***
"Shawn is just a really physical guy. He can support in the run game, he also covers really well. So when I have 31 behind me I'm confident that he's got my back and that he's going be able to make some plays." -- Gators CB Marco Wilson on Davis
THEY WROTE IT
Florida's 31-game win streak over Kentucky coming to an end was not what the Gators had in mind in their SEC opener a year ago. In the end, it wasn't such a bad omen writes Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun ...
Gators QB Feleipe Franks responded to critics following the Miami victory with the best game statistically of his career. UF beat writer Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel takes a closer look at Franks in his latest bid to have success against Kentucky ...
Will Sammon of TheAthletic.com invites another member of the Gators press corps for his exit survey following each game, and after Florida's victory over UT Martin, he had Jacquie Franciulli of GatorsTerritory.com to discuss what he and she learned and more ...
The running game has yet to get cranked up behind the Gators' young offensive line, an area Dan Mullen is looking to tune up as the Gators prepare for Kentucky writes Thomas Goldkamp of Swamp247.com ...
For a deeper look at the Wildcats, Ethan Hughes of InsideTheGators.com aims his focus toward Kentucky ...
If you are interested to see where the three national championship Florida teams stack up among the greatest teams ever in the 150-year history of college football -- according to ESPN.com -- here goes ...
However, despite a knee injury that cost him the final stretch of his freshman season in 2017 or the broken foot that forced him to miss 10 games a season ago, Davis played both seasons against Kentucky. He rushed for 93 yards in the road win over the Wildcats two seasons ago, and in last year's home loss, Davis rushed for 15 yards and caught two passes for 25.
What he remembers most is the 27-16 defeat, a loss that snapped UF's 31-game win streak over the Wildcats.
"When you go through adversity, you always learn more,'' Davis said. "When we're winning and everything is going good and everybody is smiling, when we face some adversity, you see how guys really act. That was something that was big last year. I feel like we needed to do that to have the season we had."
Welcome back, @Campaign_Lik!#GatorStandard pic.twitter.com/ognGB0ZghV
— Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 11, 2019
It still seems strange to be talking about an upcoming Florida-Kentucky football game and not writing about "the streak." This week in Lexington, Wildcats coach Mark Stoops is actually taking questions about beating the Gators instead of the weight of losing to them every year.
How will the odd dynamics play out at Kroger Field on Saturday?
"Hopefully it'll have a positive effect on our team,'' Stoops told reporters this week. "I think just winning in general is important. And changing the culture, you know, it's hard, and it took a long time. But there's no guarantees."
There used to be. But last year changed that. Now the ninth-ranked Gators (2-0) seek to keep another streak intact: a six-game winning streak. That's the only streak on their minds.
For more on the Florida-Kentucky matchup, let's take a look:
THEY SAID IT
"He's adapted and grown with everything that we've thrown at him. I've been really proud of his overall development the last year and a half and, you know, he's continued to make progress and shown an unbelievable desire and work ethic to become a much better player. The results are starting to show." -- Gators assistant coach Brian Johnson on QB Feleipe Franks
***
"Obviously, very disappointed for Terry Wilson, and greatly appreciate what Terry has done for us, in the leadership that he's given this team and the way he's played the past year and two games. It's been a long time since somebody has helped us win 12 out of the 15 starts that he had." -- Kentucky coach Mark Stoops on starting QB Terry Wilson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in last week's win
***
If interested in more about Sawyer Smith, the quarterback who will replace Wilson, here is a podcast from John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader ...
Have you heard 'Kentucky football: A deep dive on Sawyer Smith' by Herald-Leader on #SoundCloud? #np https://t.co/6RocPEgl4V
— John Clay (@johnclayiv) September 11, 2019
***
"I thought we tackled better. I think we went from 14 missed tackles to like five or six. I thought that was good. I thought our effort to the ball was good. Those two things, I was pleased with. We've just got to continue to work to develop those kinds of things and make sure we stay on top of it." -- Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham on his unit's performance in shutout over UT Martin
***
"He knows his system. They have the answers to the questions. That's always a big one. They do enough things to cause you problems." -- Gators head coach Dan Mullen on Kentucky's defense under Stoops
***
"For the guys that were here last year, to take that loss in 'The Swamp,' was tough. There will definitely be extra energy, motivation from guys that were here from last year. But I don't think that is much of a motivation for our team." -- UF senior receiver Josh Hammond on avenging last year's loss to Wildcats
***
"His problem was he was afraid to not make a play, so he would quit before he got in position to make a play, and that was his biggest issue. So we just constantly talked about finishing plays and he's done a good job of that the first two games.'' -- Gators assistant coach on junior S Shawn Davis
***
"Shawn is just a really physical guy. He can support in the run game, he also covers really well. So when I have 31 behind me I'm confident that he's got my back and that he's going be able to make some plays." -- Gators CB Marco Wilson on Davis
THEY WROTE IT
Florida's 31-game win streak over Kentucky coming to an end was not what the Gators had in mind in their SEC opener a year ago. In the end, it wasn't such a bad omen writes Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun ...
Loss to Kentucky in 2018 motivated Gators to finish season strong ...https://t.co/QZGc9gYVAO
— Gatorsports.com (@Gator_sports) September 10, 2019
Gators QB Feleipe Franks responded to critics following the Miami victory with the best game statistically of his career. UF beat writer Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel takes a closer look at Franks in his latest bid to have success against Kentucky ...
Kentucky has had the number of #Gators QB Feleipe Franks. He gets his third crack at the Wildcats Saturday night in Lexington: https://t.co/jL5dyZInen pic.twitter.com/1eGQUqUfRO
— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) September 10, 2019
Will Sammon of TheAthletic.com invites another member of the Gators press corps for his exit survey following each game, and after Florida's victory over UT Martin, he had Jacquie Franciulli of GatorsTerritory.com to discuss what he and she learned and more ...
The Florida exit survey this week features @JacquieFran_
— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) September 8, 2019
Contents:
*How we feel about Jacob Copeland, his capabilities this season
*What's up w/ the running game
*Whether or not our expectations of the Gators have changed
*An initial thought on Kentucky https://t.co/NDZ5ycchqp
The running game has yet to get cranked up behind the Gators' young offensive line, an area Dan Mullen is looking to tune up as the Gators prepare for Kentucky writes Thomas Goldkamp of Swamp247.com ...
The mistakes the #Gators made on the O-line vs. UT-Martin that needed cleaning up were mostly minor technical things. Dan Mullen just wants to see that group pick up those seemingly minor in-game adjustments quicker - https://t.co/McY4bZNvbY pic.twitter.com/oWf4iAceAb
— Thomas Goldkamp (@ThomasGoldkamp) September 11, 2019
For a deeper look at the Wildcats, Ethan Hughes of InsideTheGators.com aims his focus toward Kentucky ...
Behind Enemy Lines: Scouting Kentucky https://t.co/lStx2v9Pjk via @InsideTheGators
— Ethan Hughes (@ehughes97) September 11, 2019
If you are interested to see where the three national championship Florida teams stack up among the greatest teams ever in the 150-year history of college football -- according to ESPN.com -- here goes ...
I cannot imagine the time, effort, debate and care that went into creating this: the 150 greatest teams in CFB history.
— THE™️ David Hale (@ADavidHaleJoint) September 10, 2019
Now, twitter, it's your job to skim it briefly then trash the whole thing because the 1 team you like isn't ranked high enough.https://t.co/cUSGzUDZ8f
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