Florida Gators – New Mexico State mailbag

It’s here.

Jim McElwain’s journey as the head football coach at the University of Florida begins today as the Florida Gators open their 2015 campaign by hosting New Mexico State.

With kickoff not until 7:30, we pushed back the weekly mailbag to give you something to read and a few things to think about before you make your way into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, or tune in to SEC Network at 7:30.

As always we turned to our members for their questions and can now bring you the first mailbag of the 2015 football season.

TebowNut6: Can we expect that Mac/we will know who the true starting QB is after this game based on their ability to move the offense, inspire teammates, etc? Or is possibly looking at giving both guys at least a couple games to prove themselves and determine that “consistency” he talks about?

I think McElwain is telling the truth when he says that he needs to see how both quarterbacks perform under the lights with 11 guys standing across from them trying to take their heads off.

I don’t think the quarterback battle will be settled on the practice field, it will be settled on Saturday night in The Swamp.

Given the opponent this week, I think both guys have very good games and we’re left in the same situation next week with ECU coming into town. Mac wants to settle on a quarterback but this is the biggest decision of his career and he’s going to make sure he has every bit of information he needs to make it, including how two young quarterbacks handle the stress of a game day… even if the opponent is overmatched.

Unless one quarterback clearly goes out and can’t run the offense, this quarterback battle will last another week.

Gatorstuckey: How much PT will Morrison actually get?
Does K.T. get a majority of the carries, or do the sit him early and see what the young guys can do?

Morrison has been cleared to play by Florida’s medical staff or else McElwain wouldn’t allow him to play. Being cleared means that he could play the entire game but I don’t see McElwain doing that.

I wouldn’t want to be the guy to tell Morrison he’s coming out of the game, but I’m sure Florida’s coaching staff will take every measure possible to protect Antonio.

Based on the opponent, I expect the Gators to be able to run at will on Saturday night. I expect that Kelvin Taylor will get a lot of playing time, carry the ball 20 times or so and that will be a night for him.

Both freshmen you mentioned as well as Mark Herndon will also be able to get their fair share of touches as I think Florida will have a lot of time to work in some players who might not regularly get playing time the rest of the season.

 

2xGator: Any word on Jeremi Powell’s nickname?

OMD, I was told it means “One Man Defense”

 

2xGator: Predicted first offensive play?

Play-action pass to Demarcus Robinson.

 

2xGator: If we win the toss, what does Mac do?

Receive.

 

MrGator: Do you think Mac keeps the foot on the gas pedal all 4 quarters or does he go conservative in the second half? Is UK our first true litmus test or will we be able to glean information from NMST and ECU?

I think it will be interesting to see if the coaching staff gives us a vanilla offense in the first game. The defense can afford to be plain against the first two opponents but I don’t think the offense can afford to be plain.

Frankly, the offense has a lot of work to do and McElwain continues to preach that the greatest test is not what guys do on the practice field but what they do in the games. Florida needs to get the kinks ironed out before they get to Kentucky. Don’t hold something back because you’re worried about putting it on film. The offense needs to get live work in before the SEC season starts.

 

SVSqueek7: Will we be running two TE sets often?

Yes, absolutely.

Gatordon: Is the QB competition getting testy? Could it affect the locker room?

Not yet. The team says all the right things to the media but I know that a lot of the guys already have trust in Treon because they’ve seen him in a live game before, he’s led them already. Not to say that they wouldn’t trust Grier, just that they’ve already been to battle with Treon leading the charge.

No locker room division to report yet.

 

Grandkids3: Any word on redshirts for this year?

We asked McElwain that question and his response is that it’s way too early to think about that. He doesn’t want kids to pack it in for an entire season because they are told that they’re redshirting, then something happens and the kid has to go in at some point during the season? Is he ready? Where is his confidence? We’ll be able to tell which players are destined for a redshirt after a couple of games have passed.

 

Firefightinggator: Who scores the first TD?

Kelvin Taylor.

 

Gatorace: We all know Caleb Brantley has a ton of potential, and we have read on this site about his maturation, but not much about how he has performed in practice. I recall reading somewhere that he has been unblockable, what have you guys seen or heard about him? Can we expect D Easley type of production out of him?

Caleb had a very good spring camp and followed it up with a better fall camp. He’s a force on the defensive line and the reason you haven’t heard more about his physical play is because his performance on the field was never the issue. The issue with his was mental, so him maturing and growing up some was the biggest development to report on. The physical tools have always been there, now he’s mature enough to handle everything he needs to on and off the field.

 

Juggernautz: Isn’t it taking a big risk having VH3 returning kicks?

I don’t think so but I’m in the minority there. Hargreaves will be featured on offense, defense and special teams this season. Maybe Florida is trying to get Hargreaves into the Heisman race.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC