Jim McElwain’s somber demeanor during his first press conference since Hurricane Irma ripped through the state of Florida showed the difficulty he’s having, as many across the state are having, trying to get back to a normal routine in the wake of the storm.
“Sometimes, we get really caught up in what we do and realize ultimately,” McElwain said. “Sometimes, third down and seven is not the most important thing in life.”
Throughout the weekend McElwain was trying to keep in touch with his players and their families to make sure his Florida football family was making it through the storm. The team was off on Monday but had to return back to football to prepare for their SEC opener against the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.
Florida had its planned second game of the season against Northern Colorado cancelled prior to the hurricane. That left the sour taste of a 33-17 loss to Michigan lingering for two weeks. The players understand that the university made the right decision to cancel the game, many of them had families back home they needed to check in with and several player’s reported that their family doesn’t have power still on Wednesday.
“Now that the Hurricane is out of the way we’ve been focusing more on football. At first we were more focused on ourselves, needing to make sure everyone is safe,” senior defensive back Duke Dawson, who reported his family doesn’t have power in Cross City still, said. “So I mean now it’s back to football, 24/7, so the preparation is there,”
The team was back in meetings and on the practice field Tuesday. Jim McElwain said there is really no “returning to normal” after a storm the likes of Hurricane Irma but the players are doing their best.
“You just have to re-shift your focus,” sophomore receiver Josh Hammond said. “Definitely devastating to have things like that happen, but it’s out of our control, and I think (Coach McElwain) does a good job letting the players know that it’s out of our control but we still have a football game to go play.”
It isn’t just any game that they’re preparing for. The Gators host a hated rival in the Tennessee Volunteers this week. Florida lost for the first time in more than a decade after giving up 38 unanswered points in Knoxville last year. It’s a tone-setting type of game — 1-1 feels a lot better than 0-2.
The winner of this game, historically and certainly this year takes control of the SEC East. With Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee all trying to get to Atlanta this isn’t a game the Gators can afford to be distracted for, as hard as that may be.
“It’s huge. You know, it’s a conference game so it affects us getting our goal going back to Atlanta. So this is a big game, huge game,” sophomore linebacker David Reese said. “Yeah, you could look at this game as almost like a do or die type of game. It’s like a real big point, a fork in the road. So we’re excited.”
A loss to Tennessee wouldn’t end the Gators season or chances to get back to Atlanta — 2016 is proof of that. However, from a perception standpoint, from a confidence standpoint and just the fact that Florida hasn’t started a season 0-2 since 1971, this does have a “do or die” kind of feeling to it, as Reese said.
The team will wear a decal on their helmet this week in support of those affected by Irma. They’ve also taken on a mentality of playing for their state that is in a rebuilding and recovery process after the storm. Call it, “playing for the state of Florida,” if you will. It’s just another motivator the players and staff are using for a game that shouldn’t need a whole lot of outside motivating factors. It’s Tennessee week.
“There’s a lot of people coming to see us from all over who actually have been affected by Irma, and by them coming to watch us play, I feel like we’ll be playing for them as well.”