The first SEC road game of the season is always a big deal. Usually, it’s the first time all season that the Gators’ offense has to deal with crowd noise. The entire team has to deal with crazy fans yelling all sorts of vile things at them before, during and after the game.
For the freshmen, the SEC road opener is usually the first time that they’ve ever played in front of a hostile crowd of that size.
But No. 10 Florida’s conference road opener at Kentucky this week could be even more challenging than usual.
The Gators’ only road game so far was a date at South Florida in week two, and the Gators had more fans in the stadium for that one than the Bulls did. Crowd sizes were significantly reduced during the 2020 season.
So, for a large chunk of UF’s roster, this will be their first time invading a packed stadium as public enemy No. 1.
Gators coach Dan Mullen thinks the sellout crowds they’ve had at home the last two weeks have taught his players what to expect in Lexington.
“You’ve got to be prepared to go handle it,” Mullen said. “They see what the environment is like when we’re at home for us. They’ll see it. They’ll know. They’ll be good with our [younger] guys. The older guys have been around. They see what it’s like for other teams to come play at our place.
“That’s why you want to play in this league, though. You want to go in front of these environments where, everywhere you go, it’s a packed house, sold-out stadium. That’s part of being in the SEC that makes it fun.”
Emory Jones knows first-hand how raucous Kentucky’s crowd can be. He was the third-string quarterback when the Gators fell behind 21-10 in 2019. Of course, that was the game where Kyle Trask took over for an injured Feleipe Franks, led the Gators to a stunning comeback victory and went on to become one of the best quarterbacks in school history.
Jones is expecting a similar rowdy environment this week.
“It’s a tough environment,” he said. “The fans show a lot of passion for their team. We just have to lock in this week. We’re going to have the music blasting real loud during practice, I already know. We’re just going to have to prepare and get ready for when that time comes.
“We just have to just execute and play disciplined and handle that environment. That’s probably the main thing, and I feel like we’ll be good.”
Injury Report
The Gators should get some injured players back this week, according to Mullen.
Preseason All-American cornerback Kaiir Elam missed the Tennessee game with a sprained knee that he suffered a week prior against Alabama. Mullen is optimistic that he’ll play against Kentucky.
“I met with our trainers this morning,” he said. “We’ll know later this week, but I’d say he’s probable. They feel pretty good about him being back in the game this week.”
Starting right guard Stewart Reese also sat out against Tennessee with an undisclosed injury, while right tackle Jean Delance bounced in and out of the lineup with an injury. Mullen expects both of them to play this week.
“Stewart Reese, we held him last week,” Mullen said. “He was cleared to play but wouldn’t have been 100 percent. Josh Braun came in, [and] I thought did a great job for him. Again, one of those situations where we felt Josh at 100 percent was going to be better than Stewart at 75 percent, and now we expect to have Stewart back healthy to go this week.
“Same with kind of Jean Delance, played a little bit and banged up. Michael Tarquin did a great job last week and came in. So, hopefully, not only has it created some depth, but it’s allowed the two older guys to get healthy getting ready for a tough road battle.”
Starting center Kingsley Eguakun left the Tennessee game twice with what appeared to be a leg injury. Mullen doesn’t anticipate Eguakun having any issues this week.
“He’s doing fine,” he said. “I don’t know if he came in the second time – it was the end of the game – even after the game, he was fine. Got rolled up on, but he came back, would have been able to come back in the game later on.”
And, of course, what would an injury report be without mentioning backup quarterback Anthony Richardson, who wowed fans with three long touchdowns during the first two games of the season before sitting out the last two games after tweaking his right hamstring?
Mullen reiterated that Richardson is now 100 percent healthy, but they didn’t want to take any chances against the Volunteers.
“We haven’t practiced yet, but again, he was cleared to play in the game,” he said. “We thought just about at 100 percent last week but just decided to be cautionary. I always meet the medical staff when you’re dealing with, like, a hamstring issue. When you think you’re 100 percent, wait one more week, and then you are good. So, that’s kind of what we were able to do on that front.”
Jones is looking forward to getting Richardson back.
“He was mad he didn’t get in because he thought he was going to play,” Jones said. “I told him we need him 100 percent when he comes back. I’m excited to get him back. He’ll come in and help our offense. He’ll switch things up for the defenses and make them have to defend us in a lot of different ways. I’m all for it. I’m here for it. I’m excited to have that guy back.”
Running back rotation working as designed
If you just look at Dameon Pierce’s, Malik Davis’ and Nay’Quan Wright’s statistics individually, nothing’s going to jump off the page at you other than Pierce’s conference-leading five touchdowns.
Only Davis ranks among the top-18 rushers in the SEC. None of them are on pace to eclipse the 1,000-yard milestone.
But collectively, they are part of a rushing attack that ranks third in the country at 322.8 yards per game.
Mullen and running backs coach Greg Knox’s shared philosophy of rotating multiple running backs to keep everyone fresh is working to perfection.
Mullen said that the three-man running back rotation is a little bit different than what he did with Jones and Richardson at quarterback in the first two games. It isn’t always predetermined which series goes to which guy. They’ll make their decisions based on how the game is going and what they’re trying to accomplish as an offense.
“None of that is really set in stone for me, to be honest with you,” Mullen said. “I kind of let Greg handle that rotation with those guys because I’m pretty comfortable with whoever’s out there on the field. Now, if we have a certain play that’s designed for one of those guys, then there is a set plan. He and I kind of make sure we’re on the same page with calling a play. But, 90-some percent of the offense, just all three of them, you feel pretty comfortable with those guys rolling through.”
Mullen looking for improvements on special teams
Florida’s special teams have been a mixed bag so far this season.
They’re 2-for-2 on field goals and among the conference leaders in net punting average (46.6 yards) and punt returns (10.6 yards).
However, they missed what turned out to be a decisive extra point and muffed a kickoff out of bounds at the 1-yard line against Alabama. They’re third from the bottom nationally in kickoff return average (12.43 yards).
Mullen wants to see improvement in a couple of phases.
“I still think we can get a little bit better in our kick coverage down the field, even though we did a good job,” he said. “Most of [Tennessee’s] starting field positions were inside the 25. I think every one of them was inside the 25, to be honest with you, on that part of it in the game.”
“Kickoff return, how it all sets up, there’s talented kickers and talented dudes come running down the field. We’ve still got to be a little bit cleaner in that aspect of things. I think our punt return game’s been pretty solid so far this year when we get opportunities to do it. It seems a lot of people are kicking away from us that way.”
Mullen said his players take great pride in playing well on special teams, so he anticipates them making the necessary corrections.
“I think it’s something we’re always constantly preaching and building on,” Mullen said. “You look at the three phases of the game, if we go out and win the special teams part of the game every week, you’ve either then got to have … a great day on offense or a great day on defense. You should have a chance to win the game. So, it’s something that we spend a lot of time on.”