Florida Gators junior long snapper Drew Ferris broke his collarbone during the team’s season opener on Saturday and is out of action indefinitely, head coach Will Muschamp officially announced on Monday.
Ferris, who snapped the ball to punter Kyle Christy with about two minutes remaining in the game, hustled 39 yards down the field to play coverage following Christy’s strike. The punt wound up being muffed, which gave Ferris the opportunity to retrieve the fumble and begin running with the ball before being tackled and injured. He was unable to move his left shoulder and was helped off of the field after a few minutes.
Losing Ferris, who played every down as the starting long snapper on the punt and field goal teams in 2011 (13 games), is a big blow for Florida, which will now turn to second-stringer redshirt freshman Kyle Crofoot.
Crofoot, whose brother John is a redshirt junior holder and kicker on the Gators, did not play in his first season with the team. He did serve as a long snapper in high school and has been working at the position throughout the offseason.
6 Comments