Notebook: Florida Gators regroup after a strange weekend

The most important stat coming out of Saturday’s postponed game against Idaho? 1,100. That was the amount of lightning strikes within a 6-8 mile radius of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium from 5-11 p.m.

Monday, Athletic Director Jeremy Foley, Head Coach Will Muschamp and running back Valdez Showers met with the media to discuss Saturday night and the team moving forward.

Rescheduling decision

A decision regarding playing Idaho at later date, or ruling the game a no contest, has not been made. Foley said they hope to reach a decision Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. Regarding the $975,000 Idaho was set to receive from playing Florida, they have not been paid yet, as guarantees for all teams played don’t go out until February. Idaho and Florida have bye weeks October 25, as well as Georgia who the Gators play the following week. The possible schedule change doesn’t affect head coach Will Muschamp.

I think both teams have a bye week so it’s important for both teams,” he said. “But again, I can’t, really other than have the opportunity to prepare a little extra for an Eastern Division opponent. Nothing more than that.”

The (only) play of the game

Jarrad Davis received the hard hat award for a block on the only play of the game, a 64-yard kickoff by Valdez Showers. Despite the amount of water on the field, Showers was ready to play the game regardless, due to the field conditions playing high school football in Michigan, which included a playoff game in late November which saw the field covered in mud and ice.

You really didn’t want to hit the ground because it was so cold that you didn’t want to get back up,” he said of that game back in high school.

After his kickoff return Showers knew the game would probably be postponed when officials held the offense at the line. The team was obviously upset about the outcome but they’re moving on and turning their attention to Eastern Michigan.

I mean, missing the first game, a lot of us were bummed about it,” he said. “So we’re definitely looking forward to this second game and really trying to get all the nerves and all the hard work up out of us and go out there and perform.”

 

The fans

The storms delayed the game nearly three hours, but many in the student section stayed the entire time. Coming into this season, it was uncertain the amount of support the students would show, but Muschamp noted their support.

It was awesome, absolutely,” he said. “It looked like they were having fun and we needed to put on a good product on the field for them, and I told our football team that this morning.”

Showers said the team was thankful for the support despite the long wait.

To me that was the highlight of the night,” he said. “When we came out of the tunnel again and I saw all the fans there, it really shocked me.

Additions this week

The team will have three players return against Eastern Michigan, as wide receiver Demarcus Robinson has resolved a university sanction and defensive linemen Darious Cummings and Jay-nard Bostwick are back after being suspended for a violation of team rules. Marcus Maye practiced Monday and is 80-85 percent, according to Muschamp.

Ryan Randall
From Melbourne, Florida, Ryan has lived in Florida since he was three, becoming a sports fan around that age. His passion for journalism rivals his love of sports. Shortly out of high school he covered prep and community sports for his hometown paper in Brevard Country, before moving to Gainesville, where he covered the Gators in the pros as well as prep sports for a few publications. A Telecommunications major at UF, Ryan now interns at Gator Country and ecstatic to showcase his talents for the publication. When not working on stories, Ryan enjoys playing basketball, music, as well as art. Follow Ryan at @_RyanRandall_