As Jim McElwain made his way off the field following Monday’s Outback Bowl victory, players snuck up behind the second-year head coach and bathed him in blue Gatorade.
That was new.
Florida’s resounding 30-3 victory over Iowa was in blatant contrast with 2015’s bowl game, a 41-7 loss to Michigan.
Granted, Iowa is no Michigan.
But until the win over the Hawkeyes, Florida had legitimately shown no progress.
It lost to Alabama — badly — just like a season ago. It lost to Florida State — badly — just like a season ago. And it also lost to Tennessee and Arkansas, unlike a season ago.
Still, McElwain managed to lead the Gators to a second-consecutive SEC Championship game, which was clinched by a victory over LSU in Death Valley.
Those are solid accomplishments, and McElwain likes to remind his critics about them when his team fails to perform. But those accomplishments are more-or-less equal to what the team did a year ago.
McElwain admitted as much, saying UF needed the bowl victory to carry momentum into the offseason. And his players felt the same way.
"It's a really big thing,” running back Jordan Scarlett said. “We have Michigan coming up for our opener next year. I think this set us up really good for next year."
Scarlett’s thoughts echo why 2016 can be categorized as a success, even though it wasn’t what Gators fans wanted: It showed improvement. And not just any improvement, but improvement on the area of the game that has plagued Florida since the Tim Tebow era.
"It feels great finally seeing the offense come together,” Scarlett said. “I knew we had a great offense all along. It just took a little bit more communication and a little bit of focus."
Obviously one strong-ish showing does not indicate that Florida will have a competent offense moving forward, but it gives Florida supporters something they really didn’t have much of following the blowout loss to Michigan.
Hope.
Admittedly, it’s a moderate improvement. Hope only carries an SEC coach so far when it comes to job security.
And admittedly, hope will not equate success moving forward.
But just look at Austin Appleby’s response when asked where Florida will end up under McElwain:
“A national championship,” he said after the Outback Bowl.
It’s expected praise, sure, given that Appleby was Florida’s starting quarterback. But would he have said it following a shellacking like the one the Gators got from Michigan a season ago?
Absolutely not, especially with McElwain now in his second year.
So while an Outback Bowl title wasn’t what Florida was hoping for, it sets UF up for a big season in 2017. That’s more than could be said a year ago.
If McElwain can’t turn things around with the momentum advantage, then he can be called a failure.
But for now, with some visible improvement evident, the results are still acceptable.
Ethan Bauer is the sports editor. Contact him at ebauer@alligator.org or on Twitter @ebaueri.
UF coach Jim McElwain smiles during a press conference after Florida's 30-3 win over Iowa in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2, 2017, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
