McElwain says Florida won’t be caught looking past Vandy and ahead to Atlanta
By John Hollis
Published:
It’s always been about the next game and the next challenge for Jim McElwain.
The first-year Florida coach isn’t one to ever get caught looking ahead, and that means making sure his Gators don’t either. Fresh off Saturday’s 27-3 thumping of rival Georgia, Florida is now comfortably ahead in the SEC East and in need of only a win over visiting Vanderbilt this Saturday or a victory at South Carolina the following week to clinch the SEC East crown and assure its first SEC Championship game appearance since 2009.
But McElwain is leaving nothing to chance.
“No, we won’t be looking toward Atlanta,” he said during Monday’s weekly press conference, “because, if we do, we won’t get there.”
But McElwain expects there to be challenges as this week is Homecoming and distractions will be everywhere as excited fans and alums return and descend on Gainesville. The school has cancelled classes for Friday.
Additionally, the 11th-ranked Gators will be playing their first noon game of the season, meaning their schedules will be completely thrown off kilter from previous weeks.
“The way they handle this week is really going to be interesting to me,” McElwain said. “To me, this is an opportunity to see how far we’ve come as an organization.”
It’s for those reasons that McElwain characterized this week’s game against the struggling Commodores as perhaps his team’s biggest trap game of the season.
So the Gators will need to worry about the daunting challenges facing them in the present before peeking ahead.
“We’ve got an opportunity to go win a ball game and solidify us being in Atlanta,” he said.
Out for a half
• Freshman tailback Jordan Cronkrite will miss the first half of Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt after being ejected for targeting a Georgia player on Saturday.
Injury Report
• OT David Sharpe (foot) is doubtful after getting hurt against Georgia.
• OT Martez Ivey (knee) is also doubtful after experiencing swelling in the same knee on which he underwent arthroscopic surgery earlier this fall.
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
