Florida Gators notebook: What Jim McElwain said Wednesday

Head coach Jim McElwain spoke to the media on Wednesday for the last time before the Florida Gators head on the road to Kentucky this week. He updated on a few injuries and talked about keys to becoming 2-0 in the SEC.

Here’s what he said:
• McElwain said the Kentucky game will challenge Florida’s leadership in the locker room.
• “Leadership is not something that’s said. It’s something that’s earned.”
• McElwain called this Kentucky team the best in a long time.
• Duke Dawson has been practicing this week because of where he is in his concussion testing, but is still not a definite go for the game.
• DeAndre Goolsby is back to 100 percent.
• Kylan Johnson is doubtful, but is making progress. He will be very limited if he does play.
• McElwain said he felt like there were some really good adjustments, especially in the fourth quarter, after moving Doug Nussmeier upstairs last week.
• Malik Zaire has been good for preparations this week for Kentucky’s mobile quarterback Stephen Johnson.
• Zaire and Luke Del Rio are continuing to work hard despite not starting. “They will be ready to go if that time comes.”
• To be successful against Kentucky, McElwain said the Gators need to win time of possession and take care of the football.
• He said he felt he jumped the gun on taking playing time from Mark Thompson for lack of ball security last year. He does not plan on doing the same thing to Malik Davis for his fumble.

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