TAMPA — Add one more to the Gators’ MASH unit.
Junior fullback Steven Wilks has a neck injury and will not be able to play in Saturday afternoon’s Outback Bowl against Penn State, Florida coach Urban Meyer announced on Friday morning.
Wilks joins cornerback Janoris Jenkins (torn right labrum), defensive tackle Terron Sanders (right shoulder), defensive tackle Lawrence Marsh (right hip) and offensive lineman Maurice Hurt (right knee) on the list of Gators out of Meyer’s final game.
Meyer said there will be no disciplinary or academic suspensions.
The coach added that running back Jeff Demps, who has been limited most of the season by a foot injury, has been practicing regularly since Monday for first time in what Meyer estimated was between eight and 10 weeks.
“For those that know Jeff Demps as a person (the injury) has been (a season of) frustration,” said Meyer, who added Demps had not been practicing previously in hopes he would be at his healthiest for around 10 carries on gameday. “I just feel sorry for the guy because there’s not a guy who prepares for a season harder than Jeff Demps, and there’s not a guy on that team we needed more on that team than Jeff Demps.”
Meyer said what was a sprained foot was overworked to the point it became a stress reaction, “and that just wiped us out.”
According to Meyer, a big difference between Demps and former Gator speedster Percy Harvin is that Harvin was not the kind of player who actually needed to practice in order to be ready to play. Demps, the coach said, is not the type of athlete who is at his best without proper preparation.
Despite missing two full games and parts of five others, Demps has rushed for a team-high 531 yards.
On Monday, Demps estimated his foot – injured when he had 26 carries against Tennessee on Sept. 18 – was at about 85-percent strength.
EXTRA POINTS
*As for his 7-5 team’s motivation, Meyer said, “I think the older players will play like there’s no tomorrow, and I’m hoping the younger players carry the torch and follow. I think the (Justin) Trattous of the world, the A.J. Joneses and those guys will play (their hardest) because they’re the invested group.”
*At one point in his press conference on Friday morning, Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who turned 84 on Dec. 21, referred to Gator offensive coordinator Steve Addazio as “that kid from Florida who took the Temple job.” Addazio was hired as the Owls’ new coach on Dec. 20. Oh, and he’s 51-years-old.
*Meyer on Paterno: “I love the man, and I consider him one of my closest friends and allies in this game of college football. … You just get tired of hearing about the bad, and Joe Paterno is about the good, and there’s a time in life you just want to talk about the good. When you talk about good in college football, Joe Paterno’s name is at the top of the list.”
*Paterno said he believes Bobby Bowden got a bad deal when he was forced out by Florida State following the 2009-10 season.
*Pitcher Roy Halladay and former boxing trainer Angelo Dundee were among those to visit with Paterno when the Nittany Lions worked out in Clearwater at the Philadelphia Phillies’ spring training complex in preparation for the Outback Bowl.
*Meyer said he did not want to talk about anything beyond the Outback Bowl and deflected questions about his postgame future.
*Paterno on one of UF’s biggest strengths: “There’s no question, their speed worries me.”
*Tickets remain available for the Outback Bowl.
QUOTABLE
“If (the players) follow the plan and we coach the plan and we get ‘em to play, we’ll have a chance to win. If we don’t, we’ll fail. And we’ve failed often this year. Not so much if you want to blame players, , blame coaches, blame this, blame this… It’s the first time in 10 years we have not followed the plan to win, and there’s one person responsible for that, and that’s me. We have to follow the plan to win against Penn State or we’re going to lose.” –Urban Meyer
QUOTABLE II
“An athletic director can fire one football coach. If he fires two, he’s fired, too.” –Joe Paterno