Jim McElwain on Florida’s ability to win close games, evolution of QB Luke Del Rio

The Gators survived again last week, this time beating an undefeated Kentucky team on the road, and currently atop the SEC East standings with a perfect 2-0 mark in league play. This week, Florida will host Vanderbilt looking to go 3-0 in the SEC.

Jim McElwain was among the first coaches to speak during the SEC’s weekly Coaches Teleconference.

Here’s a summary of what the Florida coach had to say on the call:

• How do you deal with winning close games, yet not having your team get overconfident in winning despite not playing well for four quarters? “Does it really have to come down to that? Does it have to be right at the end? Can we take care of that business up front? How about playing this way in the first and second quarter? Let’s come out of the gates firing. With that, I can’t tell you how proud I am of our guys in such a short time but there’s a lot we need to improve on.”
• Will there be a hangover there? “Time will tell, every team is different. If you look at it historically, this game, a lot of games have been tight. We expect we will be in that same position. Let’s build on what we’ve been doing and be better at that start.”
• Why are you winning so many one-possession games (9-1 at Florida)? “You hope it’s due to preparation in spring and fall and the guys going back to that. We try to stay at an even emotional level, just go win this play, don’t worry about anything else.”
• Evolution of Luke Del Rio, going from third-string to starter? “Well, I didn’t look at him as third-string. He had some injuries and as I’ve said, he’s worked to get himself back. Feleipe didn’t do anything horrible last game we just needed a kickstart in that game and Luke gave us that. Luke prepares as the starter, he never looks at it any other way.”
• What does that say about him? “He grew up around football. I think the biggest thing is it doesn’t matter what the position is, it’s about what you do with the opportunity when it arises.”

Michael Wayne Bratton

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com