UF coach Jim McElwain’s team
Del Rio epitomizes the fight the Gators have shown the past two games. Written off due to injuries and suspect arm strength, Del Rio seemed destined to close his UF career holding a clipboard.
Based on training camp buzz, Del Rio then seemed to be in line to start the team’s season opener for the second straight season. Coaches ultimately gave promising redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks the starting nod. A week ago, Franks’ 63-yard game-winning pass on the final play seemed to cement his place as the Gators’ quarterback of the future.
But after three straight incompletions and sack, coaches turned to Del Rio to jump-start the offense with 5:54 left in the third quarter and UF trailing 24-14 at Kentucky. Following two first downs in three plays, Del Rio telegraphed a pass across the middle for an easy interception.
But coaches stuck with Del Rio and he delivered, rallying the Gators from a 13-point deficit during the fourth quarter.
Del Rio relied heavily on the run game, but he played his role, too.
Trailing 27-21 and facing fourth-and-2 from the Kentucky 40, Del Rio completed a 10-yard pass across his body to tailback Mark Thompson. On third-and-8 from the Wildcats’ 28, Del Rio found tight end DeAndre Goolsby for seven yards.
A 7-yard run on fourth-and-1 by freshman tailback Malik Davis moved UF to the Kentucky 14. Two plays later, Del Rio found a wide-open Freddie Swain for the game-winning score.
Del Rio’s first action in more than 10 months helped extend the Gators’ winning streak against Kentucky to 31 games. But the he did not necessarily solve the long-standing questions under center.
Del Rio finished 9-of-14 passing for 74 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Franks was 7 of 12 for 85 yards and a score. Both TDs came on Kentucky defensive breakdowns that left receivers wide open.
Going forward, UF Jim McElwain might chose one based on feel a la Steve Spurrier.
“There was a coach around here for a long time that used to throw quarterbacks in here and there at the drop of a hat,” McElwain said. “We may have learned something from him.”
McElwain’s offenses and quarterback play have not conjured memories of those of former coach Steve Spurrier. But the past two weeks, Franks and Del Rio made winning plays when it mattered.
Both Del Rio, 22, and Franks, 19, hope to start Saturday in the Swamp against Vanderbilt .
Del Rio said whoever is under center will have the support of his fellow QBs.
“I didn’t come back to coach or mentor but if I didn’t win the job, which I didn’t, I was going to be there in every way that I could,” Del Rio said. “I feel like I’ve done that. I feel like teammates appreciate that. The coaches obviously do because it goes a long way. Feleipe was there for me too; when he came out he was supportive. He didn’t pout. It’s hard not to. You just got pulled. It’s difficult.
“Credit to him. He was really mature about it. He’s a good teammate.”
In just the third game of the season, receiver Kadarius Toney and tailback Malik Davis established themselves two of the team’s top playmakers.
No Gator is more versatile than Toney. The former high school quarterback had 36-yard touchdown run during the second quarter out of the wildcat formation and a 50-yard pass to Tyrie Cleveland on a trick play during the fourth quarter. All told, Toney accounted for 124 of Florida’s 395 yards of offense.
“Sometimes I’m just like, ‘Go, make five people miss and then throw the best ball of the night,’” Del Rio Raid. “He’s electric. He’s a great guy, he’s mature beyond his years. Smart player. He knows five positions. That’s really hard for any player.
“He’s a big weapon for us.”
Meanwhile, Davis’ contributions were a bit more subtle, but no less important to the final result. He had a team-high 21 carries and 93 rushing yards, including 53 during the fourth quarter. Davis sustained a Florida offense with an unreliable passing attack for much of the game.
“He was turning runs that should be maybe a yard, maybe two yards into 5-yard gains,” Del Rio said. “That’s how we won the game. The O-line blocked their tails off and Malik made people miss when he needed to.”
Without the production from Toney and Davis, Florida might have ended the game with a very different result — one with less explosive plays and a stalling offense.
“The young nucleus,” Del Rio said. “They’re mature and they can handle it. The moment’s not too big.”
The Wildcats entered Saturday just 2.5-point underdogs and believing this was their best chance to finally end 30 seasons of futility against the Gators.
Kroger Field was sold out, loud and wild. Emotions were riding high all week as a video of last season’s 45-7 loss in the Swamp played on loop in the weight room, firing up even coach Mark Stoops during a workout.
But all the motivation and fire were not enough for the Wildcats to overcome the Gators’ talent edge and mistakes. Despite several seasons of solid recruiting by Stoops and his staff, McElwain’s team beat the Wildcats up front.
Holding a 13-point fourth-quarter lead, Kentucky’s D wore down. The Wildcats entered the game allowing an SEC-best 57 rushing yards a game, but yielded 63 yards during UF’s final two scoring drive. Kentucky also left Swain wide open.
The Gators tied the game 14-14 during the second quarter when the Wildcats lost track Tyrie Cleveland following a timeout on fourth-and-3 from the Kentucky 45.
Kentucky took the field amid smoke, fireworks and thundering cheers from a crowd donning blue shirts and waving white pom-poms. Leading 27-14 with 11 minutes to go, the Wildcats were poised to make history for Big Blue Nation.
Instead, coach Mark Stoops’ team delivered a gut punch to their fans that will be remembered for a long, long time.
UF QB Luke Del Rio came off the bench to rally the Gators to a 28-27 win at Kentucky. Del Rio, a redshirt junior, said he was impressed how a young team did not give up.
When coaches benched Feleipe Franks, the redshirt freshman quarterback was disappointed. But UF coach Jim McElwain said he rallied around Luke Del Rio and his teammates during the Gators’ comeback at Kentucky.
