One of the biggest visitors on the Florida Gators recruiting visitors list on Saturday was none other than a South Florida defensive back.
Cornerback Pat Surtain Jr. (6-2, 181, Fort Lauderdale, FL. American Heritage) is considered one of the top players in the country and he liked the atmosphere in the Swamp on Saturday.
“It was great, the game was crazy, the atmosphere was crazy,” Surtain said of the visit. “The defense did their thing, overall it was a great game. I was thinking that they were going to knell it and be conservative and hold it to overtime.”
Surtain was impressed by the win for Florida and how quarterback Feleipe Franks performed on Saturday.
“They performed well, you know the offense picked it up,” he said of the game. “The defense held it down, it was an all-around great team win. Feleipe [Franks] did good, he had a couple of miscues but he held his own. He did an awesome job.”
As a defensive back, Surtain paid close attention to the defense and to two cornerbacks from South Florida that he knows.
“You know Marco [Wilson] held his own, he named his own island,” Surtain said of the defense. “CJ [Henderson] he did tremendous too. The defensive backs did well, they held their own.”
Heading into the visit the Gators seemed to be a little behind others but Surtain says Florida helped itself on Saturday.
“Yeah it did,” he said on if the visit helped Florida. “Just the atmosphere and the vibe, the fans and the coaching staff. I felt a great relationship with the coaches today. You could feel the vibe and the brotherhood they have with each other.”
While on his visit to Florida, Surtain got to talk to several coaches and they expressed a big need for him.
“I got to talk to Coach McElwain, Coach [Randy] Shannon and a couple of other coaches,” Surtain said on who he talked too. “They just said how much they need me and how big it would be if they got me.”
Now that Florida has showed Surtain how much he’s needed in Gainesville, the cornerback plans to return to the Swamp soon.
“I’m thinking about a trip back here for the LSU game,” Surtain said on if he plans to return to Florida this fall.
Most experts and people have thought that LSU was leading for Surtain but he now says that isn’t the case and that he has always liked one team.
“It’s an evened out race now,” he said. “LSU is still up there. I want to focus on my top six schools right now. I’ve been liking Florida, I don’t why people say I don’t and stuff.”
Florida and the rest of the country will have to wait a long time before hearing any kind of news from Surtain as he wants to wait to make a decision.
“Probably signing day,” Surtain said on when he will decide. “I’m most likely going to take an official visit here [Florida] and a couple of other schools in my top six. It will be after the season.”
INSIDERS TAKE: For some time now it has seemed like it was LSU than everyone else but Florida make up some ground on Saturday to get an official visit out of Surtain. Florida State is another school to watch for Surtain.