The Florida Gators’ offense has been hard to watch all season, but through all the poor play, the one thing that made it a little easier was watching freshman running back Malik Davis with the ball in his hands.
Now, that one bright spot is gone. At least for the rest of the 2017 season, as interim head coach Randy Shannon confirmed reports on Monday that Davis is out with a knee injury.
Davis left the Georgia game after taking a hard hit late in the first quarter. He was Florida’s leading rusher seven games into the season with 526 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per carry. He rushed for at least 90 yards in five games this season, and had his best game against Vanderbilt with 124 yards and two touchdowns.
He made his mark in his first year at Florida, but he will have to wait until next year to get that chance again.
“He still has his head high,” said senior running back Mark Thompson. “He’s going to come back and be the same Malik Davis he is, a very explosive and very elusive running back. Got bright career ahead of him.”
As the door closes on Davis’ first season, another one opens for Thompson in his last. He came in with high hopes as a junior college transfer last year, but simply did not transfer that same confidence onto the field and hasn’t gotten a great deal of chances since.
With only three active running backs remaining on the roster in Thompson, sophomore Lamical Perine and freshman Adarius Lemons, he suddenly becomes the No. 2 guy after receiving just 30 carries so far this season.
“It’s time for Mark Thompson to step up,” said Shannon. “He’s a senior. He’s a guy that’s 6-2, 240, runs 4.4. It’s his opportunity to come in and play. We’ve got to challenge him on offense to make sure there was a reason why he was recruited to be a part of Florida and that’s for him to be a skilled running back like he is but also be productive and be a physical-type guy that can get open in space and make plays.”
Lemons, who got his first carries of the season against Georgia (three carries for 18 yards), will also be in line to get more opportunities in Davis’ absence, but Thompson is the guy Shannon wants to make a difference.
Overall, Thompson has looked a good bit better this season when his name was called. He has finally had some ball security and showed that he can play to his size a few times. He can’t just be there to maybe make one or two good plays per game anymore, though.
For Florida to have success on the ground, he has to step up with Perine to fill the hole Davis left, and it’s a big one. He is ready to begin taking on that challenge at Missouri this weekend.
“I had a meeting with Coach Shannon and he told me the expectations for myself and the expectations that are on me right now,” Thompson said. “That’s totally fine. That’s what I came here to do, to play football … so let’s go.”