First scrimmage will separate Florida Gators running backs

The Florida Gators are eight practices practices into fall camp, with the ninth scheduled for Thursday night. Practice ten will be a scrimmage and for the tightest position battle on the team, judgment day.

“It’s decision week. We’re setting the standard,” junior running back Mark Thompson said Thursday. “The scrimmage, you’re going to see a lot of people step up. You’re going to see a lot of people not step up. That’s the way football is. You’re going to find out who wants to play, who has the ability to play and we’re going to put it on the field, put in film.”

The Gators ran the ball well last year, boasting a 1,000-yard rusher for the first time since Mike Gillislee in 2012. Kelvin Taylor’s 1,035 yards came on 259 carries. The rest of the running backs, four in total, combined to run the ball 87 times. Throughout his career McElwain has shown a tendency to find one ball carrier and get comfortable with him. Florida has a senior in Mark Herndon and a junior college transfer Mark Thompson, who came to Gainesville with a one-and-done plan in mind. There are the Jordan’s Cronkrite and Scarlett and freshman Lamical Perine. That’s five sets of hands and they still only use one ball on offense.

“It’s only one ball, so yeah, four people can’t get to one ball,” Scarlett said. “Hey, it’s the best man wins.”

That’s the attitude that all the backs have taken this fall. Sure, it’s the SEC and injuries can happen, especially at a position that takes a physical pounding like running back, but in the back of their minds they know that there will only be one feature back. It’s created a competitive environment on the field.

“We’re always just pushing each other, starting in the summer time and definitely out here on the field, because you’re going to get mentally and physically tired,” Cronkrite said. “So we just push each other every day.”

The oldest in the room is Mark Herndon. The senior has had to deal with his fair share of hardship in the form of injuries throughout his time in Gainesville. He’s been mainly a special teams contributor, carrying the ball just 11 times over the last three seasons. Herndon is the oldest and most experienced in the room, but he’s also the underdog. As the season approaches, Herndon is keenly aware that his time to make an impact is running up.

“Any collegiate athlete wants to go to the next level. That’s my aspiration, to play at the next level,” Herndon said. “I’m going to do everything that I can to keep that dream alive. This is very important to me. This scrimmage, this season.”

This will just be one of three scrimmages this fall before the season starts. The Gators won’t name starters based on what happens in an empty Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, but it will start to separate guys motivate players and it will certainly start to shake up the depth chart and rep distribution in practice.

“Tomorrow will be decision day because it’s the first scrimmage coming up in camp,” said Scarlett. “This is a time where coaches make their decisions where they see who they want to trust during the season.”