Entering the season, Florida touted its running backs.
"I hope (it’s our strength),” running backs coach Tim Skipper said. “When we start, one of our goals was that if you ask anybody about the running backs, they'll say, ‘You can count on those guys.’”
But in UF’s season opener against UMass, the four-man stable failed to establish trust.
That changed on Saturday against Kentucky.
It started with a steady dose of Florida’s biggest back, 6-foot-2, 237-pound Mark Thompson, who carried the ball three times on the game’s first three plays and picked up a first down.
He also scored Florida’s first touchdown of the game, a three-yard power-run late in the first quarter. He finished with 59 yards and a touchdown.
“When I go out there, I don’t think about what happened the week before,” Thompson said. “I don’t think about what’s going to happen the next week. I just go out there and give it my all for 60 minutes.”
Thompson wasn’t the only back to play well. In UF’s 45-7 win, it was true freshman Lamical Perine who led the Gators with 105 yards rushing on 17 carries.
“He’s a beast,” Thompson said of Perine. “He’s another elite player. He knows exactly what he’s doing when he gets the ball in his hands. For a young guy, that’s amazing to see.”
In addition, sophomores Jordan Scarlett and Jordan Cronkrite combined for 72 yards. Scarlett punched one in.
A noticeable difference from Florida’s season opener was explosive running plays from the committee.
Last week, the Gators’ longest rush was 11 yards. This week, all four backs had runs at least that long.
Perfect no more:
Eddy Pineiro didn’t even have to make a field goal for fans to chant his name.
As the redshirt sophomore came on for his first attempt — a 42-yarder early in the first quarter of Saturday’s game — the crowd of 85,821 howled his name just like it did in UF’s season opener.
But Pineiro gave spectators little to cheer about, hooking the kick just left of the uprights.
Up until that miss, Pineiro was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals and 2-for-2 on extra points in his college career.
He redeemed himself with a 54-yarder later in the game, but followed it up by booting a not-even-close knuckleball through the back of the endzone.
“(I)thought it was actually good, believe it or not, for Eddy,” UF coach Jim McElwain said. “… In a game like this I thought he grew up a little bit, so that's a good thing.”
The Great Wall of Waany:
With starting right tackle Fred Johnson nursing an ankle injury, true freshman Jawaan Taylor spent most of the game in that spot.
He left quarterback Luke Del Rio impressed.
“Oh man, the Great Wall of ‘Waany, that’s what I call him,” Del Rio said. “He’s a stone wall. He is the strongest punch I’ve ever seen a freshman have.
“I’m really happy and proud of the way he played.”
Taylor entered the game for the start of Florida’s second series and played the remainder of Florida’s win.
“He did what he was supposed to do,” McElwain said. “He did his job for the most part."
Injuries:
McElwain updated the status of three injuries after the game.
Aside from Johnson, who’s expected to be fine, two receivers were injured.
One of them was star Antonio Callaway, who had a 78-yard touchdown grab against Kentucky. He’s dealing with a quadricep issue.
“I don't know how bad that's going to be,” McElwain said.
The other is highly touted true freshman Tyrie Cleveland, who has yet to play a snap in college. He’s out with a hamstring injury that he re-aggravated.
“I don't know if we'll ever get him back,” McElwain said.
Contact Ethan Bauer at ebauer@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @ebaueri.
Florida's Mark Thompson (24) runs with the ball during UF's 45-7 win over Kentucky on Sept. 10, 2016, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
