GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the immediate aftermath of a performance they would prefer to forget, a small group of Gators quietly boarded an elevator at AT&T Stadium following the Cotton Bowl.
A couple of them turned to
Jordan Pouncey, standing in the back of the elevator, and offered congratulations. Pouncey, a little-used receiver, scored the Gators' final touchdown of the 2020 season when he caught a 27-yard pass from freshman quarterback
Anthony Richardson late in Florida's 55-20 loss to Oklahoma. The score served little more than a footnote in the big picture.
Jordan Pouncey
But for Pouncey, a redshirt junior who transferred from Texas following the 2019 season, it was a play he will never forget. When he exited the stadium, a group of friends greeted him with cheers and hugs.
"I was nervous. I was not expecting to get interviewed,'' Pouncey told his teammates shortly after joining quarterbacks
Kyle Trask,
Emory Jones and running back
Nay'Quan Wright at the postgame press conference. "I didn't know what to say."
Prior to the Cotton Bowl, Pouncey had appeared in only four games in his first season at UF, primarily on special teams. He arrived at UF at the same time as his younger brother, defensive back
Ethan Pouncey out of Winter Park (Fla.) High School. Pouncey played sparingly at Texas, where his career production equaled two catches for 19 yards on the stat sheet.
He was one of 15 mid-year enrollees who joined the program in January 2020, and one of three transfers among the group, joining running back
Lorenzo Lingard (Miami) and walk-on linebacker
Noah Keeter (UCLA).
While Pouncey wasn't sure what to say in his postgame remarks, he said something that stood out in terms of being a good teammate and finding a role on the team even when you're not in the lineup.
Asked what he would take from the game into the postseason, Pouncey was in a sharing mood.
"Reminding the young guys like [fellow receivers] Xzavier [Henderson], J. Fraz [
Ja'Quavion Fraziars], and [Ja'Markis] Weston, and all them, like, as a younger guy who probably doesn't get as much reps but still has the experience, I try to give maybe a situation that I was in before I got here and just lend a helping hand," Pouncey said. "It would be stupid to be selfish and keep those thoughts to myself.
"So, I just try to really help and be as supportive as I can to everybody in the room, from the older guys to the young guys. And especially next year – I have two more years of eligibility left – so I've got these young guys, I've got to pull them along with me."
That is exactly the kind of attitude the Gators need to start building toward a successful 2021 season as the program's latest batch of newcomers gets settled. Florida head coach
Dan Mullen and his staff welcomed 14 mid-year enrollees this week, the first arrivals from the 2021 signing class. The players have started classes and their acclimation into a program that is coming off a third consecutive New Year's Six bowl appearance.
The players have been busy in their brief time on campus.
Most started to check into their dorms on Friday. Like all incoming students, they had UF-administered COVID-19 testing, a newcomer team meeting in which their parents could attend, and on Saturday, Mullen and his wife Megan had the players over to their home for a few hours.
On Sunday, the players attended freshman orientation at the Hawkins Center and on Monday, classes started.
While most of the newcomers are transitioning from high school to college, two are in the same shoes as Pouncey a year ago. Running back Demarkcus Bowman transferred from Clemson and defensive lineman Antonio Shelton from Penn State in the search of a fresh opportunity.
A redshirt freshman, Bowman joins Lingard as former five-star recruits who decided to transfer to UF for a second chance. They are among a group that also includes
Dameon Pierce,
Malik Davis and
Nay'Quan Wright. Another mid-year enrollee, walk-on running back Carlson Joseph, has arrived from American Heritage High in Plantation.
Meanwhile, both quarterbacks in the class, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson and Jalen Kitna, enrolled early. That's always a plus for those at the game's most important position. With Trask's departure, Del Rio-Wilson and Kitna join Jones and Richardson in a talented and diverse quarterback room.
"We got, we think, two guys that are excellent,'' Mullen said on Early Signing Day last month. "I know they're competitors. In today's football, you never know how things shake out and what goes on with it. One guy can play early, one guy can play late. You never know. But we're really excited about both of those two quarterbacks. These guys are pretty close to competing for the backup job Day 1 that they get on campus."
Others who have arrived and started their UF careers: Canonsburg (Pa.) Peters Township safety Donovan McMillon, Carrollton (Ga.) Heard County linebacker Chief Borders, Miami Palmetto defensive backs Jason Marshall Jr. and Corey Collier Jr., Tampa Gaither defensive back Jordan Young, Jacksonville Episcopal tight end Nick Elksnis, Loganville (Ga.) receiver Daejon Reynolds, Sumter (S.C.) defensive lineman Justus Boone and Fort Myers Dunbar defensive tackle Christopher Thomas.
Other members are expected in the coming days or later this summer after National Signing Day on Feb. 3.
Perhaps by the end of their first season with the Gators, one of them will have a memory like Pouncey's.
"Transferring from Texas, we waited a couple of weeks to get the waiver through. Once I got the waiver through, kind of just got more to work,'' he said. "And I waited in the wings a little bit, waited until my time came. No matter the opponent, to step up and fill whatever role I needed to. I was able to get out there and score my first touchdown."
Some other notable items of interest:
Fifth-year senior linebacker
Jeremiah Moon, whose 2020 season was marred by a fractured left foot, announced on social media that he intends to return for another season. Moon has 102 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, six sacks, three passes defended and two fumble recoveries in his five seasons ...
Defensive back
Trey Dean III has announced plans to return for his senior season, providing the Gators with an experienced veteran in a secondary that is losing several key players in 2021. Dean finished his junior season with 34 tackles and an interceptions ...
The 8-4 Gators finished the season ranked 13th in the AP Top 25 Poll. Florida peaked as high as No. 3 during the regular season and entered its Cotton Bowl loss to Oklahoma at No. 10, three spots below the team's No. 7-ranking in the College Football Playoff ...
