With the Florida Gators trying to get off the schneid of a four-game losing streak this Saturday against the Vanderbilt Commodores, a number of players were made available to the media early in the week to discuss how the team is progressing heading into this weekend’s game in The Swamp.
BRANTLEY OVERCOMING OBSTACLES, PLANS TO BE FULLY HEALTHY
Redshirt senior quarterback John Brantley return from a serious ankle injury was not an easy one. Every moment he was not outside watching practice, in class or studying film, Brantley was in the training room doing as much rehabilitation as he could. Because of his work ethic and desire to get better, he met the timetable that was agreed upon by the training staff – having his ankle healthy enough to return against Georgia.
“I wanted to be back out there with the guys. I missed that. As a Gator fan growing up, this is the one game you always want each year,” Brantley said after Saturday’s loss. He also spoke about how he felt immediately after the game. “[The pain was] not too bad actually. I was feeling pretty good. I had the occasional pain but nothing serious at all. When that adrenaline is pumping you don’t feel it.”
Brantley’s teammates agreed that one of the team’s elder statesmen showed fantastic poise during the contest. “He’s a great leader and he leads the team with his heart,” redshirt sophomore tight end Jordan Reed said. “That’s how he played today – with his heart. I appreciate him and I love him.”
Senior running back Jeff Demps shared his thoughts as well. “He showed a lot of toughness. I’d say he was about 75 percent today. That shows how tough he really is and how he battles through adversity,” he added. “He just cares a lot about this team and this family. Hats off to John, man.”
Brantley believes the injury is now behind him, saying Monday that it was not swollen and just “looked like a foot.” Though he could not play under center last week because “some of the twists and stuff were kind of bothering me in practice,” Brantley plans to be a full go this week against Vanderbilt.
“I’ll feel a lot better,” he said. Being able to line up under center will be much better. I’m not planning on being limited at all. I’m planning on doing everything, and we’re just going to do the best we can to put ourselves in a position to beat Vanderbilt.”
PENALTIES STILL AN ISSUE
[EXPAND Click to expand and read the remainder of this post.]The Gators committed 14 more penalties on Saturday and gave up over 100 yards to Georgia – something that simply cannot happen and can turn the tide in a very close game. Asked about Florida’s inability to learn from their mistakes, junior linebacker Jon Bostic refused to admit it was a discipline issue.
“I’m not going to say it’s an undisciplined team at all,” he said. “We’re very intelligent. You can see it when you walk in the meeting rooms. Just the type of guys [we have], they can draw up different things for you and really know the game of football.”
Redshirt sophomore guard Jon Halapio noted Tuesday that offensive line coach Frank Verducci makes players in his position group run a lap every time someone false starts. A big culprit of that on Saturday was junior tackle Xavier Nixon, who was down in the dumps big-time after the game.
“I just told him to keep his head up. I tried to encourage him,” Halapio said. “He was very discouraged after the game, so I’ve just been trying to encourage him. He’s doing real good right now.”
NOTES AND QUOTES
» Brantley on how the team will make something of this season: “We got to stick together. We got to forget about these past four games and move forward and stick together. There’s no pointing fingers. We’re a family. We just got to stick together and keep moving forward.”
» Brantley on why the wide receivers aren’t getting much work in the games: “it’s tough to say. That’s what we keep discussing each week. I have all the trust in the world with my receivers. We’re real close together and we have each other’s backs. When the opportunity comes, I’m going to keep throwing them the ball.”
» Brantley on the homecoming game: “Of course we want to get off the losing streak, but homecoming is always a big week around campus. We just want to come back here, play in The Swamp in front of our fans and give a good showing.”
» Reed on his touchdown catch: “It was a great play by Brantley. He threw me the ball after I got open on the play, but all credit is to Brantley. It was a great play by him.”
» Bostic on getting over four-straight losses: “We just got to take care of Florida right now. We got to get back to practice and do the little things right. The little things were what killed us in that game. We can’t point any fingers at anyone because everybody has something to work on.”
» Bostic said he dislocated his finger when he missed a sack on Georgia QB Aaron Murray on Saturday. He jammed his finger in Murray’s jersey, but it is OK now and he will not miss any practice.
» Bostic on what motivations are left for the team: “Everybody just wants to play. Everybody wants to go out and win. There’s not one certain motivation factor. We want to go out to play and win.”
» Bostic on how Florida would benefit by having a big running back: “It definitely wears down a defense. It’s somebody that can control the clock game in and game out. When you can sit back and rely on that running game, that just helps the offense out so much. It helps the defense out, too, because it keeps the defense off the field.”
» Bostic on how the backup inside linebackers played: “[Darrin] Kitchens and Mike Taylor are two guys that are improving week in and week out. Mike Taylor is a guy that is physical, he’s going to come downhill every play. Kitch, we all know he’s real fast and stuff, but he plays physical. That was his first shot with a lot of game experience, and he came and played real well.”
» Halapio on losing four in a row: “There’s definitely a bad taste in our mouth. It was a long month, ic an tell you that. It’s been a long, long month.”
» Halapio on how they can get the running game going: “We just got to execute better. Like I said last time I was talking, I know I can do a lot better in the run game. I just got to keep pushing forward.”
» Halapio on if he expected Vanderbilt to be a must-win game: “I don’t think anybody would have expected it to be like this but this is football.”
» Halapio on the demeanor of the coaches: “They’re not down about it – it just makes them more fired up to get us better, help the team unite together, especially during this hard time right now.”[/EXPAND]
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