Gators being asked to show character while showing signs of fatigue
By Corey Long
Published:
Of all the factoids I’ve seen on Twitter in the past 18 hours, this is a telling one.
Jim McElwain is now 5-10 in games that the opponent has scored more than 14 points in. #Gators
— Thomas Goldkamp (@ThomasGoldkamp) October 8, 2017
Fourteen points is pretty much a given in most college football games, so maybe the Florida Gators’ defense is being leaned on a little too much.
But this isn’t the day to write about the Gators’ offense and its problems because Neil Blackmon did that more than capably yesterday. This also isn’t the day to write about the Gators’ defense and their struggles at stopping the run because Neil did that yesterday as well.
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Instead it’s about character and fatigue.
The dictionary definition for character: the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.
Fatigue: extreme tiredness, typically resulting from mental or physical exertion or illness.
In football terms, character is better defined as what keeps a team competing when it seems like there is nothing left to play for.
The Florida Gators are a 3-2 football team after a 17-16 homecoming loss to LSU, so technically they are not out of the SEC East race. And given the previous two seasons, there’s no reason to write their death certificate just yet. Another conference loss, however, would be tough to overcome, and the remaining games on the schedule are full of potential landmines, including next week’s home date against Texas A&M.
So far the Gators have shown plenty of character. They are down several scholarship players, and freshmen such as running back Malik Davis and wide receiver Kadarius Toney have grown up and shown to be solid replacements on offense for the players unavailable. That should not change as their opportunities increase in the second half of the season.
However, where the Gators appeared strong in character, the team itself appears mentally and physically fatigued.
It’s been a long season already. A season filled with off-the-field problems, a disastrous Hurricane, quarterback controversies, fourth-quarter comebacks, the successful Hail Mary and the loss at homecoming. There have been enough storylines to fill a book and we’re just five games in.
If the fanbase is already exhausted from week-to-week, just imagine how the players feel.
It’s easy to bash head coach Jim McElwain for some of his in-game decisions and easier to bash him for his milquetoast post-game press conferences, but the season is no longer about “back-to-back Mac” but rather the back-against-the-wall Gators.
The players are saying all the right things.
“We have a long season ahead of us and I don’t think you can let one or two losses define us,” quarterback Feleipe Franks said after the game. “This is one loss. You can’t let it define you.”
Sounds good.
Offensive lineman Martez Ivey wanted to remind all that the Gators still control their destiny.
That sounds good too.
And there’s no doubt the Gators have the character to bounce back this week against Texas A&M and make a spirited effort to ruin Georgia’s dream season. They have done it before.
But do they have the energy?
The depth is being tested. There’s no quarterback behind Franks. Malik Zaire hasn’t seen the field since the Michigan game and there doesn’t appear to be any urgency on either side for him to see it again this season. Luke Del Rio is out for the season with a broken collarbone. So this Franks’ season for better or worse.
Franks, who’s been benched, started, benched and started again, is a first-year starter who remains unsure of what kind of player the coaches want him to be. And the coaches seem to be equally unsure of what they want Franks to do.
The wide receivers, already without Antonio Callaway because of felony charges stemming from allegedly improper credit-card usage, missed leading catcher Tyrie Cleveland on Saturday. It’s anyone’s guess if he’ll return from the dreaded high ankle sprain and if he’ll be 100 percent again at any point this season.
Defensively, the Gators are stretched out playing all these close games. The depth at linebacker has been tested all season because of the suspensions and now has to deal with injuries, most notably to redshirt freshman Jeremiah Moon.
The secondary, which is already playing a bunch of freshmen, could be without its most experienced player after Nick Washington injured his shoulder. The other starting safety, Chauncey Gardner, has been dealing with ankle issues since the Tennessee game.
McElwain knows his team his banged up, but said they will have to show character and play through pain.
“This will be interesting because … you know, little nicks, injuries, things like that, some things take longer to heal,” McElwain said. “And we don’t have the time to let it heal. If we’ve got guys that can go, they have got to go.”
And he hopes that they won’t collapse because of fatigue.
Corey Long is a freelance writer for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Corey on Twitter @CoreyLong.
