The Florida Gators heard the fans. They read the things the media wrote about their 31-10 loss. The felt the doubt, which was so heavy it weighed down on them as they prepared for Saturday’s contest against South Carolina.
“You come to the University of Florida, there’s noise in the system no matter what,” head coach Jim McElwain said. “That’s the beauty of a place like this. You’ve got a bunch of people who care and a bunch that know football. And so, you know, the noise piece, you can see it didn’t bother our guys.”
The Gators offense had failed to put up 250 yards of total offense in three of their last four games. Jim McElwain was hired precisely to fix that problem, and yet, here the Gators were, stuck in molasses again. McElwain was taking fire from everywhere. The once endearing terms of “offensive guru” and “quarterback whisperer” were now being used in jest, sarcastically heaved his way. Making matters worse was the opponent this week. A loss to Will Muschamp, a man that is still hated by most fans after his four seasons in Gainesville, and the honeymoon period wouldn’t just be over, some fans would be looking to file for divorce.
“I got criticized my whole life,” McElwain said. “I mean, shoot, you grow up in Montana if you don’t have thick skin, you’re in trouble.”
The Gators needed a win, sure. Florida still controls its destiny in the SEC East. Wins over South Carolina and LSU send Florida back to Atlanta but Florida needed more than that. The Gators lost two home games to Hurricane Matthew, making this the biggest recruiting weekend of the year. A loss today not only would leave fans disinterested in the rest of the season, it would likely hurt recruiting, fracturing the future of the program.
McElwain and Doug Nussmeier were under immense pressure to not only win this weekend but also show an offense that was competent and improving. Florida did just that. The Gators used the read-option with Austin Appleby; they threw screens to running backs and receivers and opened up the playbook that had become stale and predictable.
“We won first down. We were able to get into second and manageable where we were able to move the pocket, we were able to do some of the misdirection and we could run the ball,” Appleby said. “Coach Nuss is able to get creative in his calls, and once we get our tempo going we started wearing down their front, I stand back there and deliver the ball. You know, that’s going to be huge for us, to stay on rhythm, stay on tempo and play the way we can.”
The Gators won this game on the field Saturday but they really won it starting on Sunday night when the team got together for their weekly Sunday dinner. It was then that they banded together, making a conscious decision to not hang their heads after the Razorbacks rolled over them. They carried that attitude out on to the field for practice Monday — an “us against them, us against the world” mentality. It’s cliché, but it may be true in this instance and the Gators used it to their advantage, rallying around each other.
“We’re going to have guys that care about each other, and that’s what I love and that’s what I see,” McElwain said. “When you do that, you don’t get the dissension piece, you don’t get the panic, you don’t get the guys…it’s just not how it works. And building a program, that’s one of the base principles, foundations and fundamentals of being successful.”
It worked this week but the Gators face a new test. They won. They beat Will Muschamp. The players signed autographs for kids outside of the stadium. They’ll get their bellies rubbed and maybe they’ll start to feel good about themselves.
LSU awaits them.
Alabama clinched the SEC West on Saturday with a win over Mississippi State and an Auburn loss to Georgia. The Tigers don’t have anything to play for in terms of winning a championship, but they can certainly ruin Florida’s season.
The narrative changed with a 20-7 win over South Carolina but that outside noise will be even louder, harder to drown out inside the football offices if Florida doesn’t follow it up with a win over LSU. The team knows it. This isn’t a game you need to manufacture enthusiasm for.
Win and go to Atlanta. Lose and wait to see if Vanderbilt can upset Tennessee to save your season.
“I personally believe,” senior defensive tackle Joey Ivie began. “If you’re not ready to focus in with an opportunity like this you don’t love the game of football.”