With one questionable hit on quarterback Luke Del Rio’s knee, the Florida Gators find themselves right back where they were midway through last season.
Advertisement
Backing up Ivey at the left guard spot is true freshman Nick Buchanan, who due to Ivey’s non-suspension for next week, won’t be taking over long-term, sans an internal demotion/suspension from head coach Jim McElwain. He eventually got up and walked to the locker room without any assistance. The Gator defense, not to be out done on its home turf, went straight after North Texas, and sacked Fine in the end zone for a safety to gain a quick 2-0 lead.
Upon seeing the hit, which he thought to be a dirty play, McElwain began yelling over at the North Texas sideline, so angrily that he had to be pulled back by his own players.
FATAL CRASH: The bus driver, two football players and an 8-year-old boy were killed after a bus carrying a SC junior college team to its first game ever crashed in North Carolina, state troopers said.
Next up: The Mean Green open Conference USA play on Saturday when they travel to take on Rice University.
“We’re definitely excited about the upcoming game”, Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs said after Saturday’s 28-19 win against Ohio.
“You know what, I really care about these players”, McElwain told reporters.
“He was trying to make a play and didn’t mean to do it”, North Texas coach Seth Littrell said.
When asked for the official prognosis on Del Rio, all he offered was it was a “bum leg” and “I won’t play him until he’s ready”.
Appleby has played on the big stage before, starting 11 games in his three seasons at Purdue. Graduate transfer Austin Appleby took over and presided over two touchdown drives. At the time of his injury, he had thrown for 762 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions, completing 61 percent of his passes.
Though Appleby is generally considered more athletic than Del Rio, he’s much less accurate.
“You don’t ever want to be somebody’s caddie”, he said.
Florida got the last word when junior running back Mark Thompson (11 carries, 85 yards) scored on a 20-yard run with 13:46 left and sophomore Jordan Scarlett (11 for 62) barged in from the 1 with 7:15 remaining.
The injury overshadowed a dominant performance by Florida’s defense, which allowed a school-record 53 yards on 50 plays. The defense will try to extend the streak against the Mean Green, which was outscored 141-44 in three games against ranked teams (Iowa, Western Kentucky and Tennessee) in 2015.
Advertisement
It’s certainly not a hopeless situation and this is why you have four quarterbacks on your roster (instead of two like last year).
