Notebook: Gators preparing for Miami

Dan Mullen met with reporters Monday to breakdown where the Florida Gators are in their preparation for the 2019 season.

Playing “Week 0” Game
The stage is set and there are only two teams playing in primetime on Saturday night. Unlike most weekends when the entire college football world is preoccupied with their own teams, the Canes and Gators will have the stage to themselves on Saturday night. It’s the premier game to kick off the 150th season of college football and Dan Mullen is happy to be in that spotlight.

“To me one of the great things is not just the fans but all the other teams are watching us. What are they going to see? What’s our stamp? When every college person in the country turns on their TV what’s their thought when they see the Florida Gators. We have to go out there and live up to that on the field. Everybody is watching … what do you want them to think about you.”

Gators enter the season healthy
The Gators have had a couple of injuries, most notable CJ McWilliams and David Reese both tearing their Achilles tendons, but other than that Florida will head into 2019 healthy.

Gators offensive lineman Jean Delance and defensive lineman Kyree Campbell sustained minor injuries a week ago but both are healthy and available heading into the game against Miami.

“We expect everybody to play that didn’t have the, you know we have our couple guys with the season-ending injuries, but besides those we’re healthy coming out of training camp, we’re expecting everybody to practice today.”

Dan Mullen was also asked about suspensions but he said, as always, those would be announced the day of the game if there are any.

Gators depth chart released
Florida released its official depth chart ahead of the game with Miami and there was little surprise. Mullen did not distinguish a clear backup quarterback between Kyle Trask and Emory Jones.

Another note would be the lack of an “or” on the depth chart between Malik Davis and Dameon Pierce. That’s a good sign that Davis is healthy and back to form, as we’ve reported throughout camp. Pierce will still get carries but you should expect Perine to get the bulk of the carries with Davis spelling him.

Another interesting note no clear depth chart at safety. It has long been assumed that Jeawon Taylor and Donovan Stiner will be the starting safeties, as they were a season ago, but the depth chart listed an “or” between Taylor and Brad Stewart as well as between Stiner and Shawn Davis.

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