The Florida Gators Got Creative In Hopes of Returning to the Swamp and Saving Their Season
Malik Davis used a chair as his quarterback. Kyle Trask drafted his girlfriend as a receiver. And James Houston set up garbage cans as offensive opponents.
These were just a few of the ways players for the No. 10 Florida Gators kept in shape physically and mentally during an unexpected two week break while the program dealt with an outbreak of COVID-19 cases.
“We did as much as we could at home, any type of workouts we could within our home,” explains running back Malik Davis.
“Just putting the bed to the side and running plays in the house just so you get mental reps…grabbing a chair, using that as my quarterback and just reading off plays and running them from each side.”
The backyard reps and in home workouts that ignored every warning from every mother ever not to play ball in the house was a necessary adjustment for the Gators. During the 10-14 day quarantine period after more than 30 players tested positive for COVID-19, position groups weren’t allowed to congregate. Every football activity, i.e. meeting and film study, had to be done virtually. In person practice was cancelled until this week.
In normal times, even during an offseason when the facility might be closed, players can still gather together on the practice field or get into the indoor field and go over reps and plays. But stuck in quarantine, they found new ways. That commitment is what makes linebacker James Houston IV believe the Gators will return to the field ready to face the Missouri Tigers on Saturday.
“What you do in your off time,” Houston asked of his teammates.
“What you did for those two weeks? Were you in the house, sitting on the couch, eating chips and watching TV, or were you working on your craft and getting better and improving every day. There’s a quote I live by: you’re either getting better or worse. I don’t like worse, so I chose to get better.
“You just got to kind of be creative. I set up pads, I put chairs in the way, I had little balls on top of garbage cans to try to help work my hands. It’s a lot you have to be creative if you’re really interested in your craft and want to get better, you’re going to find a way.”
Still, it made it all the more sweeter when the majority of players and coaches were able to return to the practice field this week. After two weeks of being “cooped up,” Trask felt a palpable energy as the Gators reconvened to prepare for a Homecoming date with Missouri.
“It was really exciting…we’ve got all this energy built up just to get out there and just have a practice with our teammates. There was a lot of energy in the air and it was very exciting. Finally get back, pretty exciting.”
There’s the elephant in the room however…or the Aggie, for lack of a better term. Florida is coming off a shocking loss. A 41-38 stunner against the Texas A&M Aggies, a heartbreaking defeat due to a made field goal as time expired. For the past two weeks, the Gators have been forced to sit at home, sequestered off from each other, and contemplate how they—a decent pick for the College Football Playoff field—squandered away an incredible offensive performance and lost a game in which they were favored by a score. For two weeks, they didn’t have an opportunity to put the game behind them or make up for the loss or give anyone a reason to think it was a fluke.
"I think it's just how you look at it,” offers Trask however, on the two week bye coming after a loss.
“Obviously it's frustrating after a loss. You want to get back out there and get a victory. But on the other hand it gives you time to reflect on what you did wrong and what you can do better going into your next game. That's what we did, like I said, we treated it like a bye week after obviously watching the film from A&M, picking apart what we could get better on and just trying to improve from there on out.”
On defense, that will be greatly helped with the return of defensive lineman Kyree Campbell. After missing the first three games, the interior lineman appeared on the depth chart this week and on Monday he tweeted, “It’s good to be back.”
Says Houston of Campbell’s return, “He’s a two-year starter and almost the core of the defense. We definitely depended on him. We definitely were waiting and wanting him back as soon as possible. It should be interesting to see him in there next game.”
With Campbell back at defensive tackle, Zach Carter—who bulked up and had been playing at the spot—should be able to move back outside to his more natural position at defensive end.
Whatever will happen on what has been a porous defense though must come together quickly. The Gators finished their four day re-acclimation period after quarantine and were able to fit in a shortened week of practice, but one with at least a few days of full drills and reps. Now the second half of their season kicks off. It’ll be seven straight weeks of games—eight if it includes the SEC Championship on December 19—and a grind. That’s the part Kyle Trask says he and the Florida Gators are looking forward to most.
“I kind of like it honestly. There’s no bye week, so you’re in a straight grind, your routine every single week. So I mean, like I said, I like it because there’s going to be no times where we kind of step away. We’re going to be having our foot on the gas pedal every single week, which I think is going to make us play at our highest level and just continue to take that next step each and every week.”
That next step begins this Saturday against Missouri and continues next week THE showdown: Georgia. The two divisional games can save a season and a reputation for the Florida Gators.
Now with a primetime kickoff set for Saturday night against the Tigers, Dan Mullen’s squad has an opportunity to remind everyone they’re still in the Top 10 for a reason and they were picked to win the SEC East for a reason. But doing so, explains Davis, will mean not trying to make up for two weeks of bad press then no press. Instead the best way to bounce back is stay the course.
"We've just got to come out there and play our game. You know, we don't have to come out there and do anything spectacular. We practice every day, we know what to do. We just need to go out there and execute the plan.”
Adds Houston, "SEC East, it’s going to be a matchup. It’s an SEC schedule the whole year so we’ve got to come to play every game. Every game, we’re putting on film our resume. We’re showing what we got. We’re proving to the college football people, everybody around the country what the Florida Gators and what we’re coming with.
"Yeah, these next two games, I know everybody on the team is probably itching to play, itching to hit, itching to do everything and prove themselves because we just came off a loss. We’re itching to prove ourselves that we’re still the same Florida Gators. We’re coming for the National Championship. We’re coming for the SEC championship.”
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