No. 19 Florida officially ruled starting quarterback Luke Del Rio out with a knee injury for this week’s pivotal rivalry game against Tennessee (and perhaps beyond).
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Appleby will be facing a Tennessee defense that has been decimated by injuries and will be minus three starters Saturday. On a drop-back pass, Del Rio was hit from behind near the knees by North Texas defensive end Devin O’Hara, who was flagged for a late hit on the play. The Mean Green had not allowed their opponents to convert on any of their four fourth-down attempts in their first two games.
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”.
Florida will go into the game riding an 11-game winning streak in the series, but the last two games have been decided by just one point. He completed 55 percent of his passes with as many touchdown passes (19) as interceptions in 17 games (11 starts).
It may not matter who plays quarterback for Florida given the early-season struggles of Tennessee’s offensive line. We’ve got to be able to punch the ball in the end zone.
North Texas was penalized for roughing the passer. “. He always gets us right and I just wanted to return the favor”. “He wanted all of our players to know that this week, football continues on and he’s going to support them and be with them”. What an environment to be making your first start in with a Tennessee team that needs to come in with a desperate need to win mentality.
The hit prompted a personal foul, which was assessed as Florida head coach Jim McElwain and Gators trainers ran onto the field to tend to Del Rio.
He has a reputation for having a stronger arm than Del Rio, but isn’t as accurate.
If Del Rio’s injury broke Appleby’s heart, it made McElwain’s blood boil. “Thank you for your love and support Gator Nation as well”.
“Nobody skips a beat”, Appleby said.
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And as fans transform Neyland Stadium into an orange and white checkerboard, the team will be doing something special too with their clothes by wearing the Smokey Gray uniforms against the Gators. But there’s some things we kind of need to do to that I’d just appreciate that we kept to the Gators and go on from there. UNT finished with 53 yards of total offense, the lowest total the Gators have given up in a game – EVER. “But I’m ready to roll. We feel extremely comfortable with what he can do”, senior safety Marcus Maye said. “Like, you win this game…you basically, like, I’m not saying you win the SEC East, but you get ahead”.
