Del Rio the right leader at the right time for Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a 45-7 blowout win over an SEC opponent, it would be easy for the Gators to get a little full of themselves.

They moved the ball at will against Kentucky. They ran to set up the pass. They scored four times through the air. They only punted once.

It was a strong performance across the board. The coaches had the right game plan and the team executed.

“You don’t score 45 points just by playing hard,” QB Luke Del Rio said when asked about the team’s execution.

If the Gators left the game thinking of themselves as unstoppable, you couldn’t really blame them. But they won’t, not with Del Rio leading the way.

While Jim McElwain isn’t quite Nick Saban when it comes to finding ways to be displeased with a win, he had plenty of criticisms and critiques for his team. Del Rio posted a mediocre completion percentage (59), going 19-of-32 passing, and some of those incompletions could have easily been interceptions.

At the postgame presser, McElwain said the interception that did happen was “haunting” him.

When Del Rio was asked how he felt about McElwain’s criticisms, I expected the response to be a press conference cliche, something like “Coach is always pushing us to get better. We need to get better every week.” I’ve heard responses like that more times than I can count.

But Del Rio didn’t use “we” as a cop out or make it about his coach. He offered a personal response that reminds you he is a coach’s son, a personal quality that will undoubtedly benefit the team this season.

“If I wanted to be patted on the back, I’d go ask a fan or look at Twitter or something. I want to be coached,” Del Rio said.

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

If the Gators take after their quarterback, they’re in good shape. Now is not the time to get patted on the back or soak up praise from Twitter followers.

Florida faces what should be an easy opponent in Week 3 when it hosts North Texas (1-1), ranked No. 125 of 128 FBS teams at the start of the season by USA Today. Of course, one could go ask the folks in Athens and Starkville about how those supposed “cupcake” games are working out so far.

With Del Rio’s personal commitment to week-to-week improvement, the quarterback should have his team in the right mind-set for facing the Mean Green. The game is an opportunity for the offense to tighten up a bit and work out a few kinks before traveling to Knoxville to face Tennessee on Sept. 24.

The thick of the SEC season is just around the corner, and if the Gators expect to cruise past every conference opponent like they did Kentucky, they’re in for a rude awakening.

The coaches know that. And so does the coach’s son at quarterback.