When Florida was ranked second in the initial BCS standings, coach Will Muschamp had one message for his team: ignore the polls.
“I sat with them [on Oct. 15] and said ‘Let’s have a conversation about the BCS and the AP and the UPI and the USA Today and all the polls,’” Muschamp said after Saturday’s game. “’Is any of that information going to help us win against South Carolina?’ They all agreed that it wasn’t going to help us.”
After defeating the Gamecocks 44-11 on Saturday, the Gators maintained their No. 2 BCS ranking. With a victory against Georgia, Florida will clinch the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division and move one step closer to a national championship.
However, Muschamp again downplayed the big picture on Monday.
“When there is obvious possible distractions for your football team, you can stick your head in the sand and pretend everything’s OK, or you can address it with them, and that’s what I choose to do,” Muschamp said. “So, I address things and say, ‘All right, if we need to talk about it, let’s talk about it.’ And we’ll all agree that we don’t need to.”
Muschamp does not expect to address the BCS rankings with his team again, but said he is willing to do so if the seniors feel it is necessary. Becoming preoccupied with rankings is an unlikely problem for the players, especially considering their hesitation to address the implications of Florida’s de facto SEC East championship game against Georgia on Saturday.
“It’s another SEC opponent for us,” Jon Bostic said. “That’s how we’ve got to look at it. We’ve got to prepare the same way we’ve been preparing for pretty much every SEC opponent we’ve played this year. We can’t change our preparation.”
“If you lose, you don’t go anywhere,” Frankie Hammond Jr. said. “There’s conversations about this and that, where we can go, ranking and stuff like that. But (if) you lose to Georgia ... all of it falls apart.”
Christy earns SEC honor: Punter Kyle Christy was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts against South Carolina. Christy set a single-game school record by averaging 54.3 yards per punt.
He recorded a season-best 62-yard punt during the first quarter against the Gamecocks.
“It’s been outstanding for our football team this year,” Muschamp said. “He’s a been a guy that’s flipped the field, created momentum, (and) hung some punts up there.”
Injury update: Damien Jacobs did not practice on Monday, but Muschamp expects the defensive tackle to return to practice on Tuesday.
Muschamp said Jacobs is “probable” for Saturday’s game against Georgia.
Jacobs injured his hamstring on Saturday against South Carolina but told reporters after the game that he was “fine.”
Latroy Pittman returned to practice on Monday, but his status for Saturday remains in question. Pittman injured his ankle against Vanderbilt on Oct. 13 in Nashville, Tenn.
Matt Patchan (strained pectoral) and Cody Riggs (fractured right foot) will miss Saturday’s game.
Florida-Missouri Kickoff Time: CBS Sports exercised its six-day window to select which SEC game will air at 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 3. The network will broadcast Alabama’s trip to LSU at 8 p.m.
CBS has placed a hold on Florida’s matchup with Missouri, Georgia’s home date against Ole Miss and a Top-25 showdown between Texas A&M and Mississippi State.
The two games not selected for the 3:30 p.m. window will air at 12 p.m.
One will be broadcast on ESPN and the other will air on ESPN2.
Contact Joe Morgan at joemorgan@alligator.org.
Damien Jacobs (4) gets helped off the field during Florida’s 44-11 win against South Carolina on Saturday in The Swamp. Jacobs is expected to practice today.
