Gator Country brings you our Wednesday podcast and Matt Vautour of the Daily Hampshire Gazette joins the guys to further preview the Florida Gators vs. UMass game on Saturday night.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre talk to Matt about the key players from UMass, plus Andrew and Nick get a prediction from Matt.
Andrew and Nick also talk about the five players suspended for this weekend’s game, plus discuss the depth chart.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew: What’s up, Gator Country? Wednesday before game day, my fellows. Three more days until kickoff. Nick, it’s one of those things where every year we say, “Is football season ever going to come?” But it’s here. Finally. One more day, and we get to see Tennessee and App State, and I’m hoping for an App State victory.
Nick: I wouldn’t hold my breath there, but yeah, Tennessee/App State. Will Muschamp taking on Derek Mason. I’m excited. One more day till football.
Andrew: Is Derek Mason/Will Muschamp going to break football?
Nick: They broke offense.
Andrew: Yes. There will be no forward passes.
Nick: They might break offense, but it’s still football. I think that Vandy’s kind of a sleeper team. I don’t know what kind of offense they have. I’m talking about the whole year, so kind of a sleeper team for me. I just don’t think they’ll be able to score enough, but I love that defense.
Andrew: Defense is good. Defense is smart, people. It’s good up there.
Nick: Yeah. Very excited for the start of football season and UMass, and we only have to wait one week before we get some SEC football in our lives, specifically, so ready for that.
Andrew: It is. That Kentucky game, it’s still Kentucky. They’re better than they were. It’s still Kentucky, but at the end of the day, it’s still an SEC game to where you kind of get to see where it is. Then you get another cupcake, and then we get my favorite game of the year, up in Knoxville. Should be a fun couple of weeks. Nick, just to kind of preview the show, we’ll recap what happened on Monday with Coach Mac, had a couple things. Also got our buddy, Matt Vautour, from UMass. He covers the Minuteman, and he’s going to come on here in just a second, talk all things UMass with us. He’s going to preview some things, talk about how the team up there is excited to come down, and just really talk all things UMass. I’m speaking for myself here, Nick, and that is that I don’t know a ton about UMass. Speaking to Matt should be very educational for us, because I don’t know a ton about them. I know a little bit about what Coach Mac says, a little bit what I’ve read about them, but that’s about it.
Nick: Yeah. That’s kind of how it always is. That’s how it will be the week before Florida State week, when it’s Presbyterian, but it’s kind of like the informational conversation that you and I need to have before most of Florida’s openers.
Andrew: Yeah. Not next year though.
Nick: No. Florida is very familiar with Michigan.
Andrew: It will be a fun game. I’m pumped. Never mind. I don’t want to miss this football season, but I’m so fired up to go to Dallas.
Nick: I haven’t even started thinking about that yet. There’s a lot of games.
Andrew: You know you’re excited to go Dallas. Shut up.
Nick: As your buddy, Jim McElwain says, “There are 15 opportunities before that.”
Andrew: That’s right. That’s the end of recruiting class, and another full summer of recruiting. We got a long time to go.
Nick: This time next year we’ll be probably heading to Arlington, right around Wednesday.
Andrew: Wednesday, yeah. Need to holler at my buddy, Jerry Jones, and see if he can get us a private access. He still owes me promise from about four years ago. I’ve never told this story. I’ll tell it real quick. My buddies and I, when we were in college and in high school, we would always go to all the Senior Bowl practices, and we would always sit on the side with the coaches, just to see who it is. One of my buddies was a big Cowboys fan, and asked Jerry to take a photo with us. Jerry was awesome about it, and was like, sure, and he was like, “Anything else you guys need? Popcorn or anything else?” I might need him here in a couple, in about a year. Maybe he remembers me.
Nick: I’m going to say he doesn’t.
Andrew: Say he doesn’t.
Nick: Just a guess.
Andrew: Just a guess?
Nick: A hunch.
Andrew: Alright, Nick, let’s bring on our buddy, Matt. We’ll talk to him, talk UMass. Then we’ll talk what happened with Mac on Monday. Some players suspended. Some injured players coming back. Jam packed Monday press conference from Mac on Monday. Let’s bring in our buddy, Matt, real quick.
Nick: Now we welcome in Matt Vautour. He is the guy to know for UMass football, and certainly knows it better than we do, Andrew. Matt, how are you?
Matt: Great guys. How you doing?
Nick: Good.
Andrew: We’re great. Are you a Minuteman? Are you considered one of the Minutemen? We like that this week.
Matt: I don’t know that I’d consider myself one of them. I am a UMass alum, but I’ve been a reporter a long time. Unbiased is not hard to be.
Andrew: First off, I guess, you told us before you’re excited to come down. I guess, is there an excitement up there around the team, around that fan base, to come down to Florida, being a big game for you guys?
Matt: I think UMass fans are definitely looking at this. There’s always the games on the schedule for teams that aren’t in the Power 5. When you’ve got a Power 5 team on your schedule that’s one that people kind of circle, and I don’t think people go into it thinking UMass is going to win that game, but I think they look at it like, if it ever happened that would be the moment to say, “I remember where I was when UMass beat Florida, or UMass beat Notre Dame,” something like that. I think that’s the type of game that people outside of the Power 5 get excited for, especially UMass. This is only its fifth year as an FBS program, so there is these games still sort of inspire a sense of excitement. Even though at this point UMass certainly wouldn’t be considered one of the big boys, to be on the same field as one of the sort of iconic programs in college football, and I think it’s certainly fair to call Florida that, is something I think people get excited about. I think people will gather. They will go to sports bars or living rooms, and they’ll put the game on and kind of hope that it’s competitive at half time. They’ll at least be able to spend that 15, 20 minutes of half time dreaming of what might be after that. Even though most people, I don’t think, would look at it, and I don’t think anybody can really conjure an answer where they say, “UMass is going to win that game.” I don’t think anybody, maybe outside of the locker room, is confident of that, but I think it’s a measuring stick.
Nick: This schedule is pretty impressive. It will be at Florida, later on in the year at South Carolina, at Hawaii, which would be a nice trip if you can talk the bosses into sending you out for that one.
Matt: I will not be making that one. That’s Thanksgiving in Hawaii. I’ve been to Hawaii for basketball before, for Maui, but that one game on Thanksgiving weekend you can imagine what the price of that might be.
Nick: Yeah. Then Mississippi State will be coming up there. Three SEC teams on the schedule. That’s pretty impressive by UMass to kind of schedule that. How did the Mississippi State home game come about?
Matt: I think they needed a game. Mississippi State needed a game late. There was a game that somehow fell apart on their schedule. I forget which game it was that fell apart late, and so they needed to add a game. UMass can get some teams to come that wouldn’t necessarily go to a lot of group of five or independents, because they play at Gillette Stadium there’s a draw. For Dan Mullen, who is from New Hampshire, I think there was a little bit of an appeal to go play the game in New England, and a game, I can’t think if you’re Mississippi State you look at that and think it’s that threatening. So first time in a very long time if you’re a Mississippi State alum that lives really anywhere in the northeast, probably anywhere from Maryland north, they look at that as this is an opportunity, and I think you see some cars driving up 95 with those Mississippi State flags on the windows.
Andrew: I guess, my next question is, you’ve been able to look at Florida. I’m sure that the coaching staff at UMass has talked about Florida. Outside opinion of Florida, what is the outside opinion of Florida?
Matt: I’m guess it’s probably a little bit different from a school in UMass’s situation than it would be a school that is a little bit stronger. I think UMass sort of you look at any of these Power 5 schools, especially one that’s ranked in the top 25, as kind of they’re all this big monolith that would be hard to crack. I think if you were, let’s say Syracuse or you were a Colorado, something like that that’s a lower end Power 5 school, you might look at Florida and say, there’s some suspensions; there’s some question marks at quarterback, and you play them in the first week of the season. You might catch them in a situation. I think Florida might look a little vulnerable to somebody coming from a little bit more of a position of strength. However, if you’re a school like UMass, you’re going to look and say that Florida didn’t recruit a single player on your roster, and wouldn’t have recruited a single player on your roster, and that this is a pretty mammoth climb. So many things would have to go right for you to have a chance, and so I think UMass is looking at Florida as this is a ranked team. This is a pretty difficult opponent.
Andrew: To the casual Florida fan, they’re probably not too familiar with UMass. Nick and I have done our homework on UMass a little bit, but when UMass is on offense, who should Florida fans and everyone kind of pay attention to?
Matt: I would say the two players to start with are Marquis Young, who is a sophomore running back that he became the starter midway through the season last year with some injuries and really shined down the stretch. He’s a speedy back, but is decent size. He can go through holes. It’s not everything on the outside, and he’s got some good quickness. There’s been some NFL scouts around him already kind of just looking at his potential. I think he’s a guy that I think, especially early, I think he’s the guy that opposing teams will focus on.
Adam Breneman is a junior tight end who’d been in Penn State. He had at one point looked like he was going to stop playing football because of injuries, but changed his mind and came back, and he’s a guy when he was a freshman at Penn State looked very good. He’s a guy that UMass will line him up wide sometimes. They’ll line him up at tight end. They’ll even line him up at fullback in their pro set offense. I think he’s a guy that they’ll try to get the ball to a lot. This will be his first game for UMass, but they’ve raved about him in the preseason, and so I think he’s a guy that has a chance to make an impact.
The guy that I’m curious about is Ross Comis, and he’s a sophomore quarterback. This will be his first start. He’s played well. He played really well last year in the 4th quarter against Notre Dame, and the game was over at that point. It was out of hand, but he was a guy in a big crowd against a team with more talent that didn’t look phased by the situation. I’ll be curious to see how he does with the lights on.
Nick: Actually, Coach McElwain in his Monday press conference mentioned a couple tight ends, kind of as how you explained them, more of an H back kind of player. Maybe not somebody you’re hoping is going to set up that key block on the goal line, but a guy that can give defense fits when it comes to where you line him up, out of the backfield, wide, and someone that can play with the ball in their hands. Looking at Ross, what does he need to do? You say it’ll be his first start. What do you think Coach is telling him as far as just managing expectations, managing nerves, and playing within a system?
Matt: UMass plays a pro set, and they haven’t, this is Mark Whipple’s second stint at UMass, and they’ve not regularly had quarterbacks that can run, usually pocket passes. I think the thing that will be interesting for Comis is will he be comfortable throwing the ball away in some situations and trying to wait for a better opportunity? Will he know when’s the right time to run, when’s the right time to throw the ball away? I think decision making will be a big thing for him. For any kid in that situation, you’re trying to make an impression. You’re trying to get your career off to a good start, and every kid looks at it going in like, I could be the guy that was the hero against Florida. You have to be wise about that. So I think poise will be, no particular reason to think that he won’t have poise, but I think that for any first time starting quarterback in a hostile environment I think that’s a big question.
Nick: You’ve already kind of alluded to this, but it’s prediction time. Florida vs. UMass, what have you seen? I haven’t even seen a point spread.
Matt: I think it’s 37.
Nick: 37. If we were taking the point spread, where are we going with our prediction?
Matt: I think that number certainly sounds right around it. The question I have, that I’ve had going into it, is how good is Luke Del Rio? He’s a guy who’s been a lot of places without starting a football game. So how good will he be? I know that there’s some possibility of rain at game time, I think I saw, so I would say I think UMass could cover. Certainly I’m not someone that gambles anyway, and if I was the big numbers scare me anyway, because you’re deciding things, you’re deciding a result based on your second and third stringers late in the game on whether or not they cover. I think Florida’s going to win. I think they’ll probably pull away in the second half, but I don’t have a great feel for what the score is going to be. I mean, if you told me it was 45-10, that’s a big number, but that’s still UMass covering. I’m not positive. I guess, if I were coin flipping, I think UMass might cover that. 45-10, actually I just thought of that now, but that sounds like a reasonable possibility.
Andrew: Definitely. Matt, we appreciate you coming aboard, and hope you enjoy your time in Gainesville. We wish you the best of luck this year with UMass and with everything that you cover.
Matt: Guys, give me one thing. If you’re going to a Florida football game, and I’m going to try to walk around during the game, what’s one thing you have to see or one thing you have to experience for me to get the full Florida football game experience while I’m down there? Where should I stand, or what should I see, or what should I eat from the concession stand to get the whole thing? What’s the thing at a Florida football game that I need to experience?
Nick: I would say there’s two things. One is the entrance. Fans get really into the entrance. They have this, I’m blanking on the guy’s name, but he plays this, it’s called Here Come the Gators, and it’s a really long drawn out here as the team comes in. That’s how Florida’s, I think my entire life, how they’ve come out onto the field.
Then there’s also, in between the 3rd and 4th quarters, they’ll play a song called Here Are The Boys, or We Are The Boys, and everyone kind of locks arms and sways back and forth, left and right. You can’t get 90,000 people to do that all the same, so it kind of looks like, it looks cool. We Are The Boys in between the 3rd and 4th quarter, and I’d say the entrance, those two.
Andrew: Also, Matt’s going to get the experience of seeing Steve Spurrier Field get dedicated this weekend. One of the legendary coaches, you’ll get that as well.
Nick: I don’t think you’ll have a good camera angle, because where they put the letters is above the press box for us, so we won’t be able to actually see it.
Matt: See for yourself you stick out the window, right?
Andrew: There you go. Matt, tell everybody where they can find you for your coverage on UMass, and we’ll get you out of here.
Matt: Sure. GazetteNet.com is the place. Just click down through for UMass, and I’m on Twitter @MattVautourDHG.
Andrew: Definitely. Matt, we appreciate it so much, and hope to talk to you very soon.
Matt: Sounds good, guys. See you there.
Nick: See you, man.
Andrew: Alright, Nick, we’re back. That was good stuff from Matt. Talking about tight ends, running backs, good stuff from him, and you could kind of tell an excitement on his part to come down. I tried to put myself in his position a little bit, and it would be cool to be able to do that. I mean, you and I look forward to going to SEC schools, LSU being one of them, but someone like him that doesn’t get to travel to big games every week, I’m sure he is excited. That’s pretty cool.
Nick: Yeah. They do play their home games at Gillette Stadium, that’s pretty cool.
Andrew: Does Tom Brady get to come?
Nick: I don’t know. Who cares about Tom Brady?
Andrew: If Tom Brady’s not there, then, no offense, but who cares?
Nick: It’s usually Saturday before Tom might be running around. Who knows?
Andrew: Yeah. Some good things. I think that, I do think Florida covers the spread. I think you’re going to see Del Rio longer than you would usually see a starter, simply because this is Game 1 for him. Then I do think that you will see Florida, I don’t want to say run it up, but Mac’s a guy that I think is all about the continuing to run his plays. So I do think it’ll be there. We’ll talk predictions on Friday, not to get too much into it, but I am interested to kind of see that running back and to see their tight ends. The tight end coming from Penn State will be interesting to see, because he was a Power 5 signee.
Nick: That’s a lot of points.
Andrew: Yeah. But it’s alright, you know. First of all, I’m going to say this. I don’t expect UMass to score.
Nick: They could.
Andrew: I don’t expect UMass to score.
Nick: Stuff happens.
Andrew: Okay. Once again, you’re not saying they’re going to score. I’m telling you they’re not going to score.
Nick: I say they could.
Andrew: They could. Maybe, got to remember Treon doesn’t play. I was going to say, maybe they get a safety, but Treon’s not here, so I think Florida will be alright. He is gone, right?
Nick: Yes. He’s gone.
Andrew: Just making sure I didn’t have one of those dreams. I guess maybe Johnny Townsend’s judge machine thumb pops out of socket, and he loses a fumble.
Nick: How dare you? Punters are people too, and they don’t deserve to be ridiculed by you.
Andrew: Let me ask you this, Nick.
Nick: Or anybody else.
Andrew: I’m totally joking, and if you’re listening to this, just know I’m just bullshitting here on a Wednesday, having a little fun. Eddie gets to trot out for a 70 yarder, and they get a return 6.
Nick: 70 yarder is never happening.
Andrew: I know. I’m just saying.
Nick: I don’t know if we’ve convinced Eddie that it’s never happening, but it’s never happening.
Andrew: Eddie still thinks it’s happening.
Nick: No. Sure ain’t.
Andrew: If you’re going to try it, this should be the game to try it, right?
Nick: No. But you shouldn’t try it.
Andrew: But he can make it.
Nick: You just should like never even think about it.
Andrew: He can make it.
Nick: He certainly cannot make a 70 yard field goal in game.
Andrew: Back in the day, did they really think, what was the kicker for the Broncos that hit the 64 yarder on Jason, crud. I’m missing his name.
Nick: I don’t know, but they’re a mile up. Altitude’s much different. We’re like 100 feet above sea level in Gainesville.
Andrew: There’s a lot of nitrogen in the sky, if I can steal a line from Braves announcer Joe Simpson, and when the nitrogen level is high in the air, the ball travels further.
Nick: I feel like you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Andrew: No. It’s a joke. It’s one of those things where he talks about Atlanta is so hot that the nitrogen level in the sky, it’s just a joke that he’s always had that when it rains and when it’s really hot in Atlanta he says the ball travels further. It’s always been a joke. It’s just one of his things. Anyway, let’s get back on topic here.
Mac had a lot of things to say on Monday, including the Gators releasing the depth chart. Surprised? I know, me too. Released the depth chart, and, once again, it’s a depth chart. You can call it a depth chart, but I can guarantee you Coach Mac doesn’t have this depth chart anywhere. He just gave it to Florida. Before we get into the depth chart, let’s talk this. Antonio Callaway back, Nick. You were right. I was wrong. I did think that Mac would let him out, or sit him out for a game, just because of the whole freedom, consequences. You don’t have the freedom of consequences. Part of me, not part of me, all of me agrees with Mac that he’s set out enough. He’s been punished enough. Let him go. Great news for Florida.
Nick: Yeah. I think that you’ve been sitting out long enough. I learned yesterday, I had it wrong, so he was found not guilty, not responsible, on August 12, and it was 10 days. I’ve been telling people the 22nd. It’s 10 business days, so that would be last Friday, the 26th, which is when Mac said that he found out.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: So that makes sense there.
Andrew: There you go.
Nick: To me, that’s the thing. My is he going to be suspended was is he going to be suspended for you made choices? You know what I’m saying? Like some other guys who have made choices that won’t be playing in this first game.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Which would probably be stemming to admitting to smoking marijuana during the season, and then me thinking, it’s probably not the first time he’s ever smoked weed. Did he fail a drug test at some point?
Andrew: Right. I mean, I think a guy, and when I say this I don’t mean this in a bad way towards anybody else, but a guy like Callaway, football means a ton to Antonio Callaway, and I don’t think anybody would question how much football means to him. Him being away from the team was probably punishment enough, you know? Some guys you would say, they probably enjoyed being away for a little bit. They got a break. I don’t think Antonio Callaway’s in that discussion.
Nick: No. He certainly didn’t enjoy being away. He’ll be there. Not going to be joined by some of his other teammates.
Andrew: Yeah. Of course, C’yontai and Teez, they’re suspended.
Nick: It’s funny. In Florida’s media guide they have Jalen Tabor written as Jalen I think like 48 times, and Teez written twice.
Andrew: I’ll be honest, I think you should just call him Jalen. I mean, that’s his birth name. There’s a lot of nicknames that go around. I mean, Kiki was Keanu Neal, but everybody called him Keanu.
Nick: Yeah. I don’t know. It’s kind of like your mom would call you Drew, and then when you got in trouble she would call you Andrew.
Andrew: Right. Exactly.
Nick: It’s when Jalen’s doing well, good job, Teez. When something happens, it’s Jalen.
Andrew: The middle name and all that good stuff.
Nick: Yeah.
Andrew: So he’s out, Teez and C’yontai are out. Tyrie Cleveland is out. No surprise. Him and Rick Cleveland, I mean Rick Wells, no surprise.
Nick: Rick Cleveland, that’s a good one.
Andrew: Rick Cleveland is a sports announcer when I coached high school football.
Nick: That’s fine.
Andrew: There you go. Rick Wells, Tyrie Cleveland suspended. No surprise, Nick?
Nick: No. Not surprised for that. You can’t be running around shooting bb guns into dorms.
Andrew: Mac had another one, and he said a senior, fifth player was a senior. He didn’t announce it, but when the depth chart came out it was pretty clear who it was. Chris Thompson is who it looks like it is. Nobody’s confirmed that from Florida, but reading through the lines that’s who it is. Nick, I’ll say this, and I mean no disrespect to Chris, but if you had to have a senior suspended, you almost are glad that it’s him and not Maye or Jarrad Davis or Joey Ivie or someone else.
Nick: I could think of a number of players that you wouldn’t want to miss.
Andrew: I’m talking about seniors.
Nick: There’s eight of them, right?
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: Yeah. There’s one other one, same position.
Andrew: I was thinking the same thing. Anyway, so it is. Spurrier used to joke and say this was the game that you handed out punishments. Here it is. It’s punishment time this week, and they’re there. The one thing I will say is this, and we do joke about that all the time, but for what one guy was suspended for there really was no choice. You have to suspend him for the first game. I mean, there is no I get to pick the game. He’s suspended for Game 1, whether you like it or not.
Nick: What happens next year?
Andrew: Next year you better prepare these guys. You better make sure they got a three week head start for what they failed this year.
Nick: You’re taking care of them all.
Andrew: Absolutely. What are you talking about? Of course you take care of your guys. I mean, as Coach Mac says, they’re his kids. Take care of your kids. Make sure of it. Lordy. Let’s talk depth chart, Nick. Let’s start with this. Give me one surprise on the depth chart.
Nick: One surprise on the depth chart to me would be the appearance of depth on the offensive line.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: You’ve got 10 guys listed on the offensive line.
Andrew: And only one or.
Nick: Yeah, which would say to you, look, Florida has a backup at every spot, and I don’t believe that to be the case.
Andrew: Right. Here’s the thing for me, Nick, and this is something that I looked at, and I’m not going to use this as mine. I have another one, but I did look at it, when I look at it I say, okay, the offensive line numbers wise has improved. It has improved, because last year every position was or. Now, here’s my thing. If David Sharpe goes down, there is 0% chance Kavaris Harkless plays left tackle for the Florida Gators in a meaningful game.
Nick: Yeah. We’re playing buy or sell, I’ll buy.
Andrew: Yeah. Exactly. Not happening. It’s not happening. Now, if Martez Ivey goes down, does Nick Buchanan or Brandon Sandifer come in? Yeah. It does. If Fred goes down, does Jawaan going in? Yeah. If Tyler goes down, is Desire-Jones coming in? Most likely. So I believe all of that. For me, I’ll say this. First glace for me when I look at that, when I looked at the depth chart, was, damn, the Gators got some speed finally. Florida has improved on offense at the skill position. When you look at Callaway, Brandon Powell, Dre Massey, Callaway’s speed is very underrated, but we saw that in the Alabama game. That’s three guys that can catch the ball and get to the two pylons for 6 very quickly.
Nick: Yeah. Those guys, they’re also all kind of small.
Andrew: Let me ask you this. Two years ago, last year, the receiver position wasn’t this good?
Nick: Only one person on that list wasn’t there last year.
Andrew: Right, but what I’m saying is when you looked at the depth chart to begin the year last year. Callaway wasn’t a starter.
Nick: He was. He started the first game.
Andrew: Right, but he wasn’t on the first depth chart. We’ll talk about that in a second. What I’m saying is Mac has improved the offense of skill position since he got to Florida.
Nick: I think yes, but I wouldn’t say that based on this, on the first depth chart.
Andrew: I didn’t ask you if you wanted to base it on that. It’s my opinion.
Nick: You stopped like you were waiting for my opinion, so I gave you it.
Andrew: No. I was just letting you voice it, but I don’t need your approval.
Nick: I feel like you might.
Andrew: No.
Nick: But you’re not getting it.
Andrew: I’m not. Here’s the thing. I do, I think that the skill position got much, much better there. One other thing that I look at is Jeremiah Moon, Nick. The guy that you told me was never going to play the other day, is #2 on the depth chart.
Nick: Yeah. I didn’t say never. I just wasn’t sure if I was buying that he would play defense. I said I believe he would play special teams, just wasn’t sure if he was ready to be thrust in there to play defense right away.
Andrew: Well, it looks like he is. Here’s my thing on this depth chart though. Take this depth chart, that piece of paper that Florida sent out, and wad it up, and throw it in the garbage. Nick, how many times last year did we get a depth chart and look at it on game day and say, somebody different is starting?
Nick: I just stopped looking at the depth chart.
Andrew: Exactly. Depth charts are simply because fans want it. Period. End of discussion. They want it. It is what it is. They want it, and they got it. Don’t be pissed off when it doesn’t look like that. You look at the running back position, one of them, Mac said all along they were going to play all of them. You look at defense. Duke Dawson is your starting nickel and corner. Unless he is something we don’t know about, that can’t happen.
Nick: That’s it.
Andrew: Let me ask you this, who’s going to start there?
Nick: Here’s the thing to me. When you say only fans want them, I say go ahead and release a depth chart. It’s not like the guys that you say you’re protecting, the football players, can’t see what’s going on in practice. They know who’s getting the reps. They know if they are or if they aren’t getting the reps, that they’re behind someone or in front of somebody. You’re not protecting your player by not releasing a depth chart.
Andrew: It’s parents.
Nick: If you’re talking to your son after a game, or after a practice, “I’m not getting those carries.” I guess you can say that. I’m now sitting here trying to say that 18-21 year old guys are having very in depth conversations with their parents on a daily basis.
Andrew: Yeah. Here’s the thing. Also, how many kids are going to go home and say, “Mom, I’m 5th on the depth chart, or Mom, I’m 7th on the depth chart.” They’re just going to say, “I’m doing okay.” Done. That’s probably what it is. I mean, here’s the thing. They’re grown ass men, and the parents as well, they shouldn’t be upset about it, but at the end of the day you’re thinking about guys that are from everywhere. You got David Reese from Michigan. I think he’s furthest away, him and Wyoming Man, Taven Bryan. They got parents way far away that are sitting here trying to get a feel for things, and they see it, and they do get a little upset about it, I’m sure. It’s whatever for me. I don’t buy into this depth chart. I tweeted it out and had fun with it, but ask me if I believe it, and I’ll tell you no. That’s no disrespect to Mac. I just I don’t believe nobody’s depth chart.
Nick: I believe that Luke Del Rio’s the starting quarterback. He was starting on the depth chart.
Andrew: Yeah. Some of it is factual, but what I’m saying is we just pointed out two flaws in Harkless and homeboy, Duke Dawson.
Nick: This depth chart is also is reflecting that a starting quarterback isn’t there.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Probably a starting tight end, or the first off the bench, isn’t there.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: And possibly a receiver.
Andrew: Right. Exactly.
Nick: That will be playing.
Andrew: Couple things real quick. Deandre Goolsby is still hobbled by his growing injury, and Cronkrite is coming back from an injury. Andrew Mike is back. Harkless is back. CJ Worton tested it yesterday, on Monday. So looks like Florida should be pretty close to healthy from an injury standpoint there. Nick, who do you think gets the start at either corner or nickel? With Tabor out, do you think it’s Putu at corner, or do you think maybe Chauncey, despite not being listed as the #2 on the nickel position, gets to start at nickel?
Nick: Chauncey was listed #2 at corner.
Andrew: Right. Williamson was #2 at, yeah.
Nick: I would put Chauncey at nickel and put Dawson outside.
Andrew: I agree with that, but I do think you will see Duke play in some nickel and Putu playing some corner, because I think not only does that give Duke some work at corner, but it also gives Putu some live SEC action at corner, and it is simple. You’re going to need Joseph to play some corner in big games for you, so get him out there, get him some reps with Quincy, with Maye, with whoever starts at safety, whether it be Marcell or Nick. Get him some reps there.
Nick: Yeah. This could be a good game, as we talked to Matt, this could be a game with a guy making his first start for UMass to maybe build up the confidence of some of these younger guys. Maybe Putu’s not young, but guys who are making their first starts, or first appearance.
Andrew: Here’s my thing, Nick. What the hell happens if Goolsby doesn’t get to play much? Who do you start there?
Nick: Florida doesn’t have another tight end. Not one that can do what Goolsby and Lewis are doing, so that’s an issue.
Andrew: I think what it would be they would go with Moral and Camrin Knight as kind of the inline, goal line blocker, and then they would just simply go to more four receiver sets for that. You can do that. You got our favorite, Ahmad Fulwood, who is a bigger receiver that can do that kind of stuff, like C’yontai. You can do that there. It’ll be interesting to see, but we’ll get more in depth on this on Friday. Nick, as far as things go, get Mac on Wednesday afternoon. You guys are listening to this on Wednesday morning. Get him on teleconference. Also get an assistant coach and some players. Then we get Mac post practice Wednesday, so plenty of things there. Mac’s on Gator Talk as well on Thursday afternoon, or Thursday evening. Still some more things coming your way, and Nick and I will rejoin you guys on Friday with our prediction podcast, with our players to watch out for, and more in depth on this matchup against the UMass Minutemen.
Nick: I’m looking forward to it. Looking forward to see what they have planned for Steve Spurrier Field, so I guess get there early, right?
Andrew: Yeah. See, it’s kind of complicated to me, because I saw one thing that said they were going to do it at half time.
Nick: Maybe. The name’s already up there.
Andrew: Yeah. So I don’t know if the dedication is at half time, or if it’s before. Saw something say that, and haven’t seen anything confirm that. Need to ask about that. We’ll try to get that information to you guys on Friday. That way you can plan for that. You should come out to Gator Walk. Welcome these young guys that are making their first appearance on Gator Walk. Let them know, you guys talk about the fan base being the best, and I’m with you. This fan base is really good. Show them at Gator Walk what it’s about. Nick, I will say this. Gator Walk has improved a ton since Mac’s gotten here. The energy level has been really good.
Nick: Yeah. The energy level was good the last year. I’m trying to think. It started to wane off towards the end of the year, probably expectedly.
Andrew: I know, for instance, that Tennessee Gator Walk was unreal.
Nick: Yeah. That Vol Walk is going to be, I think, similar. I remember going to see the Vol Walk two years ago, last time Florida was there. They have more people for that. Obviously there’s more people that fit into the stadium, but Vol Walk was very impressive to watch two years ago as well, but Gator Walk for Tennessee was very, very good.
Andrew: You know who won’t be joining you for that Vol Walk?
Nick: You.
Andrew: That’s right. Your boy will be over there checking out the Gators walk into the stadium. No chance in hell you see me over there by them boys, for sure. No thanks. Nick, tell the people where they can find us. We’ll get out of here, and we’ll see everyone on Friday. If you got any topics for buy and sell, hit us up. We’ll get to them, and we’ll see you guys on Friday.
Nick: www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gators news. Thank you to all the new people signing up. Appreciate you. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. @GatorCountry on Facebook and Twitter. I’m @NickdelaTorreGC. He’s @AndrewSpiveyGC. If you’re listening to the podcast on the website, thank you. If you’re listening to it on iTunes, drop a like, drop a comment, or some star ratings that you do over there. We appreciate you.
Andrew: Letting you know that I’m the Goat, for real. He’s kind of forgotten that, so let him know. Like Nick said, we appreciate everyone that’s signed up lately. If you haven’t signed up, what are you waiting on? Come on. Check us out. We haven’t had anyone so far tell us they hate us, so must be doing something right. Not to brag, but yeah. So come check us out. Let us know if you need anything. We’ll get you hooked up with a sweet little deal to come onboard, and if you come onboard now we got some brand new calendars. Nick, you’ve looked at them. They’re pretty badass. Our man, David Bowie, with some good photos. Come check us out, everyone. We’ll see you guys on Friday, and as always, go Braves and chomp, chomp.
Nick: You stay classy, Gator Country.