Jim McElwain Archives - Will Benner | Sports Multimedia Journalist

Posted by will on Oct 20, 2016 in Archive

The Gators Dominate Missouri in Homecoming Game

The Florida Gators put on a show in the Swamp this weekend, defeating the Missouri Tigers 40-14. Jalon ‘Teez’ Tabor and Quincy Wilson returned an interceptions for a touchdowns, Jordan Scarlett and Lamical Perine rushed for over 100 yards, and Luke Del Rio was back under center for the orange and blue.

A Rough Day for Quarterbacks

It wasn’t a great day for Missouri to say the least. Drew Lock, who was second in the SEC in passing, had one of those days any quarterback would like to forget. Lock finished the first half with just seven passing yards and two interceptions returned for touchdowns. Lock finished the game just four of 18, throwing for 39 yards and those two interceptions.

Luke Del Rio didn’t have a great game either, but that shouldn’t surprise too many people. Del Rio hasn’t played since week 3 against the North Texas Mean Green. He finished the game 18 for 31 with 236 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Del Rio looked rusty, but he still made some bad decisions. Head Coach Jim McElwain had his own comments about his quarterback’s performance.

McElwain said Luke Del Rio tried to do too much in last Saturday's game, which caused some problems.

— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) October 19, 2016

There’s Always a Bright Side

The Gators were able to get the run game on track last weekend. The team combined for 287 yards rushing and had two players rush for over 100. The Gators have struggled running the ball this season in part that they have so many running backs. Scarlett, Perine, Mark Thompson, and Jordan Cronkrite have all showed flashes of good potential throughout the year, but there is no clear cut number one in this rotation. Scarlett has scored in the past five games, so he may be emerging as the favorite, but only time will tell in that one.

Even Missouri had a good day rushing the ball. The Gators have one of the best defense’s in the country, and their secondary proved that last weekend. However they struggled to stop the rushing attack of Isb Witter and Damarea Crockett.

Missouri Rushing Statistics

Ish Witter: 15 rushes for 82 yards, 1 touchdown
Damarea Crockett: 14 rushes for 145 yards
Marvin Zanders: 8 rushes for 31 yards

Missouri’s secondary played also played well this past weekend. The Tigers allowed just one touchdown pass and forced three turnovers against the Gators. Missouri will look to keep the same defensive intensity against Middle Tennessee this weekend. It’s also hard to imagine Drew Lock performs this poorly two straight weeks.

The Gators are on a bye week, and are preparing to face SEC East Rival Georgia next weekend in Jacksonville.

Posted by will on Sep 15, 2016 in Archive

30 Years of Dominance

1986: The year the NFL adopted instant replay, the year Michael Jordan set a record for points scored in an NBA Playoff game with 63, and the last year The University of Kentucky beat The University of Florida in football.

After last Saturday’s 45-7 thrashing of the Wildcats, The University of Florida football extended its current 29-year win streak to 30. After struggling offensively the week before against UMass, the Gators combined for a total of 564 yards of total offense, their highest total in SEC play since 2001. Jim McElwain’s high power offense was on display in the Swamp last Saturday; here are a few notable statistics from the game:

Florida Offensive Numbers

Luke Del Rio 19-of-32 passes for 320 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Lamical Perine rushed for 105 yards on 17 carries
Antonio Callaway posted a career-high in receiving yards with 129
Florida had 13 third-down conversions, 10 coming in the first half

Florida’s defense has come out this season looking strong as well. The Gators have allowed just seven points over the first two weeks of the season, the fewest since 2011. Kentucky’s starting quarterback Drew Barker, who threw for over 300 yards in his first game, threw for a measly 10 yards on 2-of-10 passes. The team as a whole only had 55-yards through the air. Here are a few notable defensive statistics from the game:

Florida Defensive Numbers

Four forced turnovers (3 interceptions and 1 fumble)
Jachai Polite had his first career forced fumble
Jalon “Teez” Tabor had his first interception of the 2016 season.

The Gators have a long season ahead of them, but if they play anything like they did against Kentucky for the rest of the season then the Gators will have a very successful 2016 season.