The Florida Gators committed 12 penalties for more than 100 yards but were able to hold on to a slim 31-24 win over East Carolina to move to 2-0 on the season. The win, however, did not come without a casualty.
Junior linebacker Alex Anzalone left the game in the second quarter and returned to the sideline with ice on his right shoulder.
“It’s the same [shoulder], I guess he had a chicken wing what last year or something,” McElwain said in his post game press conference. “Two years ago was it? So same whenever that is. We won’t know until afterwards, but obviously [Anzalone] wasn’t able to finish the game.”
Anzalone underwent shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum shortly after he enrolled early at Florida in the spring of 2013. Anzalone did return to play during his freshman season, but by his own admission, was never truly fully healthy that year.
Fellow junior linebacker Jarrad Davis stepped up in Anzalone’s absence, leading the team with 10 tackles, but it wasn’t until halftime that Davis even knew that Anzalone had left the field.
“At first, I really didn’t notice it. I was looking for him on the sideline every time I came off the field,” Davis said after the game Saturday night. “I came in at halftime and I went into the training room to look for him and he was getting an X-ray. I saw his parents in there and they didn’t really look too excited. I didn’t know what they were thinking.”
Anzalone had come a long way this offseason. With Antonio Morrison sidelined for most of the offseason Anzalone had stepped up into a leadership role for the defense. Playing middle linebacker is like being the quarterback of the defense. You’re responsible for all 11 players on the field and it’s a role that Anzalone had accepted fully and blossomed into. Morrison went as far as to say that Anzalone had taken over his own role as the leader and was the quarterback of the defense.
“He earned his job this year, he really did. To see him go down like that, that hurts my heart because I know what he put in,” said Davis. “I was right there next to him when he was putting in that work. We put it in together. To see him go down like that, I don’t like seeing that. It really hurts me.”
After Anzalone departed from the game the Pirates were able to take advantage of the middle of the field with crossing routes and passes to tight ends. Cornerbacks Jalen Tabor and Quincy Wilson shut down the Pirates passing game outside of the hash marks but without Anzalone’s athleticism in the middle of the field the Florida defense was exposed by ECU’s quick passing game.
With Anzalone’s future up in the air, the Gators will be tested by Kentucky next week and it will be on the rest of the linebackers to make sure that they communicate with each other, and with the rest of the defense to pick up the slack and make sure Florida’s defense continues to play at a high level with conference play set to begin.
“We all got to communicate because Antonio was right,” Davis said. “[Anzalone] comes out and he knows his stuff. He’s in there for a reason. With him going down, we all have to make sure communication is the emphasis this week.”