After being rocked at Rocky Top, the Florida football team left its somber locker room and jumped on the team plane back to Gainesville. Every player re-watched the 38-28 loss to Tennessee on his iPad during the flight, in disbelief that they had let an 18-point halftime lead morph into a 10-point loss. After a day to process what happened, here are three things we learned from coach Jim McElwain’s press conference on Monday.
Luke Del Rio is still the team’s leader:
After Florida experienced its worst collapse in recent memory, it wasn’t quarterback Austin Appleby who spoke to the team in the locker room after the game.
It was injured quarterback Luke Del Rio.
“It was big. He’s our leader as a quarterback, even though he didn’t play,” redshirt senior safety Marcus Maye said on Monday. “His message was just everybody stick together. We’re still good. We’re still, as a team, we’re confident.”
Before Del Rio injured his MCL against North Texas on Sept. 17, he was UF’s unquestioned leader. He had won the starting quarterback job over Appleby through UF’s preseason camp and led the team to a 3-0 record, ranking fourth in the Southeastern Conference in passing yards (762) and tying for fourth in passing touchdowns (six).
Then Appleby replaced him. And while the graduate transfer may be using this opportunity to win the starting job, it’s clear teammates still view Del Rio as their leader.
Appleby isn’t fazed.
“I don’t count my reps. I make my reps count,” Appleby said. “I would like to at least put some pressure on and be the quarterback for this team. I think I am. I didn’t come here not to be. But again, that’s a question for coach Mac and hopefully my play takes care of itself.”
Effort wasn’t the issue in loss:
McElwain was thrilled with the first half after reviewing the game tape.
He saw pressure in Tennessee’s backfield, long completions to UF receivers (five passes over 20 yards) and multiple stops on defense. The Gators forced three punts, one turnover on downs and one interception.
And then, in the second half, he saw his entire gameplan disintegrate.
But it wasn’t for lack of effort.
“Our effort was good,” McElwain said on Monday. “They took some things away and we didn’t take advantage of what they were taking away.”
The coach hinted that Tennessee had keyed in on UF’s gameplan to start the second half, and the Gators failed to make the correct adjustments in response.
And then, McElwain delivered this moment of honesty:
“They outplayed us,” he said. “Plain and simple.”
Special teams was an abomination:
Missed tackles, poor coverage and one muffed punt.
On Saturday, it seemed like everything that could have gone wrong for Florida’s special teams unit did.
Florida allowed about 10.2 yards per punt return, it’s worst of the season.
“I’m really disappointed in how our gunners covered,” McElwain said. “We’ve gotta get better there because we had them in place. The guy made us miss a couple times.”
In its own return game, the Gators were forced to fair catch each time they received a punt, and returner Antonio Callaway even muffed a punt inside his own 5-yard line in the first quarter, handing possession back to the Volunteers.
“You’re supposed to put your heels at the eight and not go backwards. He went backwards,” McElwain said. “We’ve gotta get better at that.”
Contact Ian Cohen at icohen@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @icohen.
Luke Del Rio (center) huddles with Florida's offensive line during UF's 45-7 over Kentucky on Sept. 10, 2016, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
