It’s week three, which means week four is approaching, and we all know what that means — Tennessee. The rivalry is revamped more than ever this season and both teams are out to prove they’re as good as the trash they talked all summer.
Before that happens, the Florida Gators must get through one more test against North Texas. While some of us may already have our sights set on Tennessee, Florida still has to keep focus on the next game ahead of them. With the game that was the talk of the summer just over a week away, how can the team stick to their game by game approach?
The Gators are feeling good this week after putting on a dominating performance against the Kentucky Wildcats in week two. Now in week three, the Mean Green of North Texas are coming to town. This is a team that only won one game last season, so it would be extremely easy for Florida to just go ahead and put a win in the books and get ready to head to Knoxville. Rest assured, Jim McElwain is not going to let that happen.
The Florida Gators are infamously known for having close calls with teams who simply should not compete with them. Oh, the dreaded trap game. Dare we think back to East Carolina a year ago? It’s no secret, and McElwain is fully aware of the history that plagues the program and leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the fans. “Just organizationally, program-wise, from a historical standpoint, this has been something that’s been a little bit of an Achilles heel for Florida football,” he said. “So I stressed to our guys this is an opportunity to create your own identity and be different.”
McElwain is working to change the culture of Florida football. He wants this team to change the standard that has been set over the last few years. After a “just okay” performance in week one against UMass, he has continuously made a point of the importance of not looking past weaker opponents. “This is definitely a team that has a mentality of we don’t care who we line up against or who we play,” said junior wide receiver C.J. Worton. “We’re going to get after them from the first snap to the last snap and that’s something that Coach Mac really emphasizes.”
That mindset that McElwain is teaching is so ingrained in each and every one of the players’ heads that every one of them spit back almost a mirror answer of the player before them when asked how they plan to avoid a letdown against North Texas.
“It’s just taking it day by day,” said redshirt senior defensive lineman Bryan Cox Jr. “They’re the next opponent and we’ve gotta win this game before we can do anything, so that’s our only focus.”
McElwain has preached “win the now” since day one and that is what this team must do at all times, because Florida is not good enough yet to just show up whether they are playing North Texas, Tennessee, or the New England Patriots.
Whether Kentucky was a good team or not, Florida showed in that game what they can do when they bring intensity from start to finish. McElwain believes if they can do that same exact thing against North Texas this week, it will prove how good of a football team the Gators actually are. More than talent, it will prove the character of the team.
“In life it doesn’t matter what you’re doing,” said McElwain. “Why do something halfway? I don’t get it. Until we understand that whatever opportunity it is that you have, you have to go out and play with urgency and understand that it’s about being prideful about who you are and what you put on film.”