The Florida Gators suffered a rash of injuries in a 31-10 loss to Arkansas and the hits kept on coming Saturday in the Swamp.
Senior safety Marcus Maye broke his left arm, ending his season and his career in Orange and Blue. Maye was carted off the field after trainers looked at his arm on the South Carolina sideline. He returned to the field in the second half in street clothes with his left arm in a sling under his hoodie.
“Marcus will be done obviously. I just feel horrible. But he’s done so much. I mean his draft stock looking down the road has risen drastically because of how he’s played,” Jim McElwain said in his post game press conference. “So this won’t have any bearing on it. He’s got a broken something in his arm. He put a cast on it and he’ll get back after it. So he’ll be fine long-term and he’s a guy that’ll be there every step of the way.”
Maye wasn’t the only player, and not the only senior to go down in the game. Bryan Cox Jr. went down with an ankle injury after sacking South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley. Cox was in a walking boot after the game. Starting left tackle David Sharpe left the game in the first half and returned to the sidelines in street clothes, right foot in a walking boot. Starting center Tyler Jordan, who is replacing the Gators original starting center Cam Dillard, also went out of the game. Jordan returned to the sideline in his full uniform but never went back into the game.
“Down to our third center in TJ (McCoy), I thought man he played his tail off. Sharpe went out. Obviously Tez did a great job at left tackle. I was really proud of that. But more than that, Kavaris Harkless and what he did coming in. He’s been a guy that’s spelled at every spot on the offensive line and I just was really excited to see him get an opportunity.”
The Gators limped into the game with South Carolina, missing five starters in Jarrad Davis (ankle), Alex Anzalone (broken arm), CeCe Jefferson (foot), Cam Dillard (knee) and Luke Del Rio (shoulder).
Florida will travel to Baton Rouge next week. A win would send the Gators to Atlanta as the SEC East Champions. They won’t be nearly at full strength though, something McElwain knows the team will have to overcome.
“Yeah we’ll put a plan together, get on the bus and we’ll show up.”