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GAINESVILLE — For No. 23 Florida, nothing seems menacing about this week's toothless trap game against the Mean Green. North Texas is a directional school without a big name and a first-time head coach (Seth Littrell) working through his first few games. It's coming off of a one-win season and holds an offense ranked No. 119 in passing efficiency and a defense ranked No. 105 against the run. All of that is enough to scare Gators coach Jim McElwain about a program with a recent history of slipping against lackluster teams, especially with a big-time matchup looming like next week's game at rival Tennessee. "It's not something you coach them to do," McElwain said, "but let's face (the) facts." And the facts are on McElwain's side. Since the start of 2012, the Gators have played six teams from Group of Five conferences, excluding season openers. One of them was a 26-20 home loss to Division I-AA Georgia Southern in 2013, maybe the worst defeat in school history. Of the five wins, three were decided by only one score, including last year's overtime victory over Florida Atlantic and a last-second 27-20 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in 2012. "Kind of the MO of this program has been, you know, you play high and you play low, and not consistently," McElwain said. read more: http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/gators-know-better-than-to-look-past-cupcake-foes/2293436

“These people know nothing about the kid,” Littrell said, according to Vito’s report. “That is what is frustrating. He takes it personally. He is an unbelievable person. If anyone knew him who was saying those things, they wouldn’t be saying them. “He didn’t mean to do it. He was playing hard and trying to make a play. To be honest with you, if you look at it closely, he was pushed in the back and tripped. He was on his way down anyway. There is nothing he could have done. It is what it is. “I understand their coaching staff and their frustration. That is their quarterback and their player. We don’t want to see anyone get hurt. Afterward, (McElwain) said (that) we have had a couple of targeting calls. Those are not the facts. We haven’t had any targeting calls. He brought up that we took out the SMU quarterback. No, the SMU quarterback was running in the open field. He got hit, his cleat got stuck. It is what it is. It’s football. We are not trying to hurt anyone. “I feel bad for both of those young men and want them to get healthy, but trust me, I am going to take care of my guys, too. No one is going to come over and yell at me or my sideline and say that we don’t have integrity or play the game the right way. That’s not the facts. I am not going to allow that to happen.” read more: https://www.seccountry.com/florida/north-texas-coach-responds-to-criticism-of-low-hit-that-injured-gators-qb-luke-del-rio

QB - Incomplete. Fine was running for his life the entire game. When given some time he showed he can make a play. RB - C. Hard to give them a bad grade when they had so few holes. OL - D. Missed assignments, little push, lack of cohesiveness. Deserved an F but Florida is a tall order for this new group so I will be kind. WR - C. Lot's of drops. What was more concerning was they could not get separation. DL - C. Played well against a bigger team. Wore down as the game went on. LB - B. I was pleasantly surprised at the play here and Courtney Finney may deserve the game ball. DB - A. I though our secondary hung well with some of the best talent in the country for Florida. Special Teams - B. We didn't give Florida anything in the special teams area tonight unlike our payday games in the past. Special recognition goes to Coach Mike Ekeler who I thought called one of the best defensive gameplans I have seen us play against a superior talent team. Goat of the game goes to Florida Head Coach Jim McElvain who made a complete ass out of himself with his silly temper tantrum. To insinuate that Wheeler purposely tried to hurt Del Rio was assnine. If I was the SEC conference office, I would reprimand McElvain publicly for his actions. Just shameful.

Defense playing with a ton of heart. Offense just looks outmatched.

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