Florida’s defensive line will have some holes to fill against Florida Atlantic.
Coming off of a dominant performance against South Carolina in which the unit gave up just 21 yards rushing, the Gators will be without three significant contributors on Saturday due to injuries.
Redshirt junior Alex McCalister (foot), redshirt sophomore Jordan Sherit (hamstring) and junior Joey Ivie (leg) will all miss the contest against the Owls, depleting a pass rush that ranks second in the Southeastern Conference in sacks.
McCalister, who was hurt in a collision with teammate Jarrad Davis in the first quarter against the Gamecocks, leads the Gators with 6.5 sacks this season.
Sherit, who missed the first half of Saturday’s game due to the carryover of a targeting suspension from the week before, aggravated a nagging injury to his hamstring against South Carolina. He has 19 tackles and 1.5 sacks on the season.
Ivie ranks third on the team with 3.5 sacks, despite the fact that he has missed three of the last four games with his leg injury.
All three players’ absences opens the door for players such as freshman CeCe Jefferson and redshirt freshman Justus Reed to step up, along with others.
McElwain said he has no doubts that guys will fill the gaps, just as they did Saturday.
"Khairi Clark played a bunch more, Taven Bryan did a heck of a job in gap responsibility and integrity and trust in the guy next to him, Justus Reed did a heck of a job coming in," McElwain said.
"Somebody will show up and somebody will play and they will do it at a high level with the responsibility and the attention to detail it takes to be successful."
McGee named Mackey Award Semifinalist:
Tight end Jake McGee is making the most of his one healthy season at Florida.
The redshirt senior was named a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award, given to the top tight end in college football.
McGee, who transferred from Virginia two years ago and was granted an extra year of eligibility after sitting out all of last year with a broken leg, has 31 receptions, 268 receiving yards and is tied for the team’s most touchdown receptions with three this season.
Along with his own performance on the field, the redshirt senior is helping lead the rest of the tight end group.
"He does a great job out there with that tight end crew," running back Kelvin Taylor said. "He’s the leader and he does a wonderful job just getting those players to work hard and just pushing them everyday in practice."
UF-FSU game time announced:
Florida’s regular season finale will be — you guessed it — a night game.
After three-straight noon kickoffs, the No. 11 Gators will be back in primetime when they host the No. 16 Florida State Seminoles at 7:30 on Nov. 28.
The game will be televised on ESPN.
Before this recent stretch of noon games, Florida started the season with six night games in the first seven weeks.
Judging by the way McElwain has enjoyed the early kickoffs from the last few weeks, there’s a good chance he’s selfishly disappointed to be starting so late.
"I’ve got to be honest with you, to the noon tilt," McElwain said.
"I like that. When you get home at 7 o’clock after you do everything, those three to four hours that you have seem like two days. It’s awesome."
Follow Graham Hack on Twitter @graham_hack
UF defensive lineman Alex McCalister walks off the field after warmups prior to Florida's 24-14 win against South Carolina on Nov. 14, 2015, in Columbia, South Carolina.
