No. 23 Florida’s defense is ready for the heart of its SEC schedule, but is the Gators’ offense – especially if starting quarterback Luke Del Rio misses time?Del Rio left Saturday night’s 32-0 win over North Texas in Gainesville, Fla., late in the third quarter. Trainers and coach Jim McElwain rushed to the field as Del Rio ripped off his helmet. Del Rio limped gingerly back to the locker room.
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After Saturday’s game in Knoxville, the Gators (3-0, 1-0 in the SEC) travel to Vanderbilt on October 1 and then host LSU on October 8.
According to Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel, McElwain went “nuts” on the officials, imploring that they penalize North Texas for the hit.
On the next play, Florida guard Martez Ivey was ejected for grabbing linebacker Fred Scott by the facemask during a run.
While Del Rio’s injury does not appear to be a season-ending one, it opens the door for Austin Appleby to make his first career start.
Florida quarterback Austin Appleby is taking a Tennessee fan’s GoFundMe account in stride. He was a Freshman All-America pick a year ago, when he totaled 35 receptions for 675 yards and four touchdowns.
The injury overshadowed a dominant performance by Florida’s defense, which allowed a school-record 53 yards on 50 plays.
Luke Del Rio with team, will travel to Tennessee: Del Rio attended practice this week and was involved in the game plan. He missed the last two games with a pulled hamstring. “How can you not feel excited about 100,000 people booing you?” he said.
Appleby vied for the starting gig in preseason camp before he was edged out by Del Rio.
Earlier Wednesday on the SEC teleconference, McElwain said that Callaway “tried to go a little bit” during Tuesday afternoon’s practice – a day after the second-year Florida head coach listed Callaway as questionable for this weekend. You want to be the guy that’s got the ball in his hands. In fact, they were ranked as the #9 team in the AP Poll to start the year. “I got their back”.
During that final eight-game stretch, Florida went 4-4, including three straight losses to close out the season. As a team, the Gators have held their first three opponents (UMass, Kentucky, North Texas) to an average of under 130 yards a game in total offense.
Callaway’s biggest play in 2015 came in the Gators’ 28-27 victory at Tennessee.
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The Aztecs (3-0) have a 6.7 percent chance of winning out and a 26.6 percent chance of winning the Mountain West Conference.
