The past few days have been some of Florida football’s most exciting since 2012. The Gators are 7-1, in the driver’s seat for the SEC East title and a legitimate national championship contender with the No. 10 ranking in the playoff committee’s first poll of the season. Florida’s bid to reclaim the top spot in the SEC East was solidified with a 27-3 victory over Georgia. On display front and center in the win over UGA was McElwain’s eye for talent.
Florida’s two biggest plays on offense against Georgia were made by freshmen. In what’s starting to become a regular thing, freshman WR Antonio Callaway scored on a 66-yard touchdown reception. With Callaway having already logged the miraculous 63-yard touchdown play against Tennessee and a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown against LSU, he has established himself as Florida’s No. 1 playmaker.
Callaway seems to have a natural feel for Harris’ improvisational style. It doesn’t hurt that Callaway and QB Treon Harris played high school football together at Booker T. Washington in Miami.
Tabor on chemistry between Treon Harris and Callaway: "You can just tell they've been doing this. They've been hanging out since childhood."
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) November 2, 2015
Callaway does such a great job improvising on his routes. He sees Treon scramble and helps his QB #Gators
— Dewayne Cook (@DewayneCook_) October 31, 2015
Another South Florida star could be a late-season contributor to the Gators offense. Apparently freshman RB Jordan Scarlett, a St. Thomas Aquinas alumnus from Fort Lauderdale, needed to be back by Interstate 95 to finally bust out. Scarlett’s 60-yard run against Georgia in Jacksonville should lead to more carries going forward.
That looked like Jordan Scarlett's high school tape, that 60-yard burst.
— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) October 31, 2015
Mac said Jordan Scarlett 'a little nudge' for getting tackled from behind on 60-yard run, but was happy to see him pitch in with 96 yards.
— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) October 31, 2015
When he signed with McElwain and the Gators, Scarlett was compared to FSU RB Dalvin Cook, a sensational South Florida running back who carried the Seminoles to a 24-19 win over the Gators last year. The comparisons to Cook, who is being talked about as a Heisman candidate this season, might have been overwhelming for Scarlett as he adjusted to college.
The coaches say it was their likening him to another Heisman contender that helped Scarlett turn the corner. Ever since the scout team used Scarlett as preparation for LSU RB Leonard Fournette, he became noticeably more confident in his approach. It’s worth noting that as freshmen, both Cook and Fournette first had breakout games in October and were difference-makers in November.
Scarlett has the challenge of running behind an inexperienced offensive line, but OG Martez Ivey has been a big factor, both figuratively and literally (6-foot-5, 302 pounds) in getting the Gators to 7-1. UF has plenty of room for improvement in both run blocking and pass protection, but without Ivey’s large, physical presence combined with his willingness to learn, the offensive line would have been in a world of hurt this season.
The most ballyhooed freshman signing by McElwain was five-star DE CeCe Jefferson. On a talented defensive line, Jefferson hasn’t been asked to lead the way, but has been something of an X-factor. Like most freshmen, he lacks consistency, but he has the agility, size and strength that keep offensive linemen and quarterbacks up at night.
There’s something to be said for Callaway, Scarlett, Ivey and Jefferson all wearing orange and blue this season. McElwain agreed to become Florida’s head coach on December 4, 2014. Ten days later, college football went on a month-long recruiting dead period. In the middle of January, McElwain, who had spent the past three years coaching at Colorado State, had the tall task of convincing the Southeast’s most talented athletes to buy into his vision of rebuilding Florida instead of joining more stable and upward trending programs with familiar coaches on Feb. 4 (National Signing Day).
On a team making up for 12 lost starters, it’s starting to look like the Baby Gators are zooming past the lower-tier bowls and pushing hard for a spot in the playoffs.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
