Gator Country

Located just about midway between Gainesville, Florida and Glendale, Arizona is Garland, Texas, home of freshman noseguard Brandon Antwine. The trip to the Arizona desert is one that admittedly caught him by surprise, but he's not complaining. Antwine has his priorities right he is excited about the direction of his life on the University of Florida campus.

Mark McLeod: As a first year guy who has seen action in eight of the twelve games can you sum up an experience like this?

Brandon Antwine: (big smile) To me this whole experience has been a blessing. You know, I’m coming in here my freshman year and I expected to play for a pretty good team. The Gators already had been a good team. But, I never expected it to come to this. We’ve been through some ups and downs, but mostly good has come out of everything.

MM: You had some asthma problems when you started practice in August. The dry Arizona weather should be a blessing for you?

BA: Oh, no problem. No problem at all. That’s for sure. But, I’ve been doing all that I can since then to get right so that I’d have no more problems.”

MM: What is the reaction of the folks back home?

BA: The reaction of the folks back home is that they’re very proud. Not even for me playing football for the Florida Gators and that we’re going to a national championship. It’s just for me that I’m getting an education and doing what I always said I’d do.

MM: Do you see the game plan the coaches put together for you and get excited?

BA: They don’t let us know everything up front. They pretty much keep us on our toes since it’s kind of a long period of time. It’s not like we play them next week. They keep us progressing. Once we get whatever they’ve put in and get that in our head then they’ll add some more. They don’t want to overload us, I guess. So, they don’t put it all together at one time.

MM: You’ve seen some good to outstanding offensive lines. It’s been a tremendous learning experience overall for you, right?

BA: (laughs) I pretty much dominated in high school at that level. But, there are some grown men in this conference. I had to get used to it. The overall college experience has been a totally different level. I’ve tried to contribute whenever I can. When the time comes for me to get into the game, I’m going to do my best.

MM: Looking at the film of this Ohio State offensive line. Is there really anything they do that you haven’t experienced before?

BA: It could be. It could be. We watched film. Ohio State is an offensive line that is strong. They look like they rely on their power. We’re just going to have to go out there and do our best. We can’t underestimate any O-line and we’re going to have to give them our best.

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