10/8: Pease on Taylor, Murphy, Leak, LSU

Florida Gators offensive coordinator Brent Pease met with the media on Tuesday ahead of the sixth game of the season against the LSU Tigers on Oct. 12.

WHERE’S KELVIN TAYLOR

For weeks now, Pease and head coach Will Muschamp have talked about getting freshman running back Kelvin Taylor more involved in the offense. Nevertheless, over the last two games, he has registered a grand total of zero carries.

Pease explained Tuesday that the team had planned to get Taylor some work but Florida’s defense ruined the potential opportunity.

“We had some situations we were going to try to get him in there in the last half of the fourth quarter, but they held onto the ball and drove it and stuff,” he said. “We’ll just continue to keep working at practice and things are going to show up.”

Taylor did technically see the field Saturday – when the Gators lined up in the victory formation at the end of the game – but never touched the ball.

He has a total of 46 yards on the season from six carries, five of which came in the season opener against Toledo when he averaged 8.6 yards per touch and broke off an impressive, crowd-pleasing 27-yard run.

Taylor is healthy and has a bright future ahead of him, according to the coaching staff, but neither Muschamp nor Pease has been able to provide a legitimate reason why he has not been worked into the offense during games.

“He practices hard. He’s a good kid. He’s got a good attitude. He is a good player. I just want to see him continually do the things and just have some patience,” Pease said.

NOTES AND QUOTES

» On the poise of redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Murphy:“I don’t see him getting flustered. He’s demanding of himself. He’s demanding of what he wants from coaches, too. And he’s demanding from his teammates. He’s stepping up to be a leader more and more every time. I like what he’s doing, and I like how he’s approaching everything and still trying to make himself better.”

» On whether Murphy was overlooked by the coaching staff: “I don’t think anybody really ever said that he wasn’t good enough. I think there was some things that probably [caused] a lot of other guys to be ahead of him at a time. … I really had no concerns. I knew Tyler would stay within the scheme of what we were going to do, and I felt good about him. I think everybody is feeling good, everybody is excited about him. He’s probably doing more than we expected, making those plays.

“Now, he knows the standard. We’ve always talked about that at this position: know the standard. I don’t care who – if it’s Tyler Murphy, Skyler Mornhinweg, Max Staver, Jeff Driskel, whoever it is – they know the standard that’s in that room. Whoever steps underneath center, that standard is expected to be reached. Now, how you reach it and manage it, he’s obviously doing an exceptional job.”

» On whether LSU’s defense giving up yards in bunches stuns him: “Let me just tell you. There’s still some very talented guys there. … What you see on film is guys that are still athletic, still run around, play with good effort and understand their scheme. Now, are they playing to it as hard? That’s probably for their coaches to decide. But when you got experienced guys that have done it for a couple years like all the guys they had … those guys they get off blocks, they strike, they had very good fundamentals. … I look at game one through where they are now, and they have shown improvement. They’re kind of settling on who their guys are in these positions, whose kind of quarterbacking the defense back there at the linebacker spot. Now they’re getting more consistency, their guys are getting better at fundamentals, they’re playing faster and faster and faster. You can see them coming on.”

» On whether Florida’s offense could hang in a shootout: “We’re capable of scoring whatever we have to. That’s what we got to have the mentality of. Most definitely. I think our kids will rise to the occasion. … We’re capable of it. Guys go make plays.”

» On graduate assistant Chris Leak: “He’s going to be a good coach. He’s a young guy. He’s going to be good.”

» On whether there will be a nature walk before the LSU game: “There could be. It’s an away game. That’s where nature walks started. … It started in Rustin, LA, at Boise State with the receivers. … I’m gonna find a Swamp is what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna find some Bayous.”