A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO BASTE No, I'm not talking about the time Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire, but about my mind, which is all over the pace the last couple of days. So, here are a few meanderings from some of my more lucid moments: A really good reason why the Gators will score a win in Lexington: Everybody in the ball yard last week at Kentucky knew Eastern Michigan was going to get off the bus throwing the football. The Eagles (I like it better when they weren't politically correct and known as the Hurons) chunked it 54 times, gained 337 yards and allowed only two sacks. That was with an O-line from the MAC with only two returning starters. Florida will be able to run the ball on the Wildcats and the O-line will keep Feleipe Franks upright. Franks has only been sacked twice in two games. Expect a really big night. Another really good reason the Gators will score a win in Lexington: This also has everything to do with the passing game. Kentucky starts three newbies in the secondary and if they can't get to Franks with the pass rush by halftime folks at Kroger Field will be asking around to find out who's got spare tickets for Midnight Madness next month. Shall we go for three?: Yet a third reason the Gators will win in Lexington. Liberty, South Alabama, Louisiana-Lafayette, Georgia Southern,Texas State, Appalachian State and Buffalo. Those are the seven teams Sawyer Smith started games against last year, none of which had a pass rush even remotely close to what Smith will see Saturday night against Florida. And because it's Kentucky, Jonathan Greenard is drooling. Ranking the most dysfunctional college football programs (the top five):(1) Tennessee; (2) Southern Cal; (3) UCLA; (4) Florida State; (5) Arkansas. Any school that had a chance to hire Mike Leach and instead got Jeremy Pruitt has to be #1. They want to fire Clay Helton at Southern Cal and all he's going to do is win nine or ten games. UCLA thinks it can compete with Southern Cal in football. They can't even when Southern Cal is dysfunctional. They're a basketball school, damn it! FSU's athletic department is broke and stuck with Willie Taggart. Somebody needs to remind Arkansas that it is in the same SEC division as Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Texas A&M. If Southern Cal has a brain (questionable), they'll hire this guy as their AD: They will do something seriously stupid at USC and hire another former USC football player, who will go down in flames like the previous USC football players.The smart hire would be UCF's Danny White, who has shown how smart he is by hiring Scott Frost and Josh Heupel as his football coaches and Johnny Dawkins for basketball. You may laugh that he proclaimed UCF the 2017 national champ in football, but he's put the school in the national football conversation. If South Florida loses to Bethune-Cookman will Charlie Strong be fired?:Yes. Phil Fulmer wouldn't fire Jeremy Pruitt and name himself the UT football coach, would he?: The short answer is yes. The more detailed answer is if he could get a booster like Jimmy Haslam (owns Cleveland Browns, Pilot Travel Centers) to spring for $10 million (his net worth is in excess of $3.7 billion) it would take to buy out Pruitt, then Phattus Maximus will exact revenge on the same school that fired him as football coach after the 2008 season by hiring himself as the replacement football coach. If I were an AD thinking I might have to hire a new football coach (young guys and head coaches only), I'd have these three guys on speed dial:Josh Heupel, UCF; Miike Norvell, Memphis; Bryan Harsin, Boise State; Nick Rolovich, Hawaii; and Seth Littrell, North Texas. SEC FOOTBALL STUFF #2 Alabama (2-0, 0-0 SEC): Center Chris Owens, who missed last week's game against New Mexico State with an injury, is back practicing with the first team again which moves Landon Dickerson back to right guard. Saturday: at South Carolina (1-1, 0-0 SEC) Arkansas (1-1, 0-1 SEC): Arkansas will try to bounce back from its loss to Ole Miss last week against non-conference Colorado State. On the SEC Coaches Teleconference, HBC Chad Morris said, “I think how we respond will tell a lot about us.” Saturday: vs. Colorado State (1-0) #8 Auburn (2-0, 0-0 SEC):True freshman quarterback Bo Nix is 2-0 and though there have been some rough patches in both games, doesn't seem overwhelmed by anything he's seen. Said HBC Gus Malzahn, “I think you will see him get more comfortable each game … Mentally, the moment hasn’t been too big for him … He can tell you want he saw and when we go to the film, he’s correct.” Saturday: vs. Kent State (1-1) #3 Georgia (2-0, 1-0 SEC):Kirby Smart seemed to be channeling his inner Vince Dooley on the SEC Coaches Teleconference when he stated that Saturday opponent Arkansas State has “as good athletes as we will face.” Dooley wanted everyone to believe a homeless shelter was the second coming of the Vince Lombardi-era Green Bay Packers. Saturday: vs. Arkansas State (1-1) Kentucky (2-0, 0-0 SEC):HBC Mark Stoops says the Kentucky offense won't change at all with Sawyer Smith at QB. Stoops says Smith is a very accurate passer who throws an excellent deep ball. Saturday: vs. #9 FLORIDA (2-0, 0-0 SEC) #4 LSU (2-0, 0-0 SEC):As good as LSU's offense has been, Coach O knows it can be better. “There is another level and it starts with protection; we gave up two sacks we shouldn’t have given up [against Texas],” he said at his Wednesday morning press conference. Saturday: vs. Northwestern State (0-2) Mississippi State (2-0, 0-0 SEC): At this point, it appears QB Tommy Stevens will be able to go Saturday when K-State comes to Starkville. Stevens suffered a first half injury to his arm last week in the Bulldogs' win over Southern Miss. Saturday: vs. Kansas State (2-0) Missouri (1-1, 0-0 SEC): Backup corner Chris Mills suffered a knee injury on a special teams play last week and will be out indefinitely per HBC Barry Odom. Saturday: vs. Southeast Missouri State (1-0) Ole Miss (1-1, 1-0 SEC):MoMo Sanogo's injury (fractured tibia, torn ligament) means Willie Hibler will have to step in at the inside linebacker slot opposite Lakia Henry. Sanogo was injured in the win over Arkansas in which the Rebels held the Razorbacks to 61 rushing yards. Saturday: vs. Southeastern Louisiana (1-0) South Carolina (1-1, 0-0 SEC):D-lineman Kier Thomas (infection in his ankle) is out for the Alabama game. Running back Deshawn Fenwick (shoulder) and D-lineman Brad Johnson (groin) are listed as doubtful while WR Randrecous Davis and O-lineman Eric Davis are listed as questionable. Saturday: vs. #2 Alabama (2-0, 0-0 SEC) Tennessee (0-2, 0-0 SEC): Corner Bryce Thompson, who has been suspended due to an altercation he had with his girlfriend and threats to shoot up the university, has been allowed to return to practice. Saturday: vs. Chattanooga (1-1) #16 Texas A&M (1-1, 0-0 SEC): With Jashaun Corbin done for the year (surgery for a hamstring injury), freshman Isaiah Spiller takes over as the #1 running back. Spiller has 14 carries for 130 yards so far and two receptions for 22 yards. Saturday: vs. Lamar (2-0) Vanderbilt (0-2, 0-0 SEC): Vanderbilt has a week off to shore up some problems in a secondary that has given up six touchdown passes and is allowing 8.9 yards per pass attempt by opponents. Next up for the Commodores is LSU and QB Joe Burrow, who has thrown nine touchdown passes in two games while averaging 11.3 yards per attempt. Saturday: Open GOOD QUOTES FOR THURSDAY From Gary Danielson of CBS Sports on what he's seen so far from Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa: “Tua has improved a ton … is handling the progressions better. He’s taking first-down throws instead of AAU throws. I like to call them AAU throws because it is all flash and dash, and there aren’t consequences if you don’t make the big throw.” From Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic on Rutgers' Australian-born punter Adam Korsak and his stunningly good performance against Iowa last week: “Korsak punted 10 times against the Hawkeyes, with a net average of 46.5 yards per punt. He had seven punts downed inside the 20-yard line, and an astonishing four punts downed inside the 5. His longest was a 69-yard punt that ended up on the 1-yard line.” From Stewart Mandel of The Athletic on the possibility that Chip Kelly of UCLA could lose his job during or after this season: “I don’t think the UCLA administration is anywhere near throwing in the towel on its 3-11 coach, either. This is not Tennessee, where there’s a crazy NFL owner booster and a former national championship coach in the athletic director’s office just itching for an opportunity to don the whistle himself again. UCLA AD Dan Guerrero is not known for an itchy finger. He’s invested a lot in Kelly, whom he outmaneuvered both Florida and Tennessee to get back in 2017. The school itself has invested a ton in its football facilities. And all parties are fully aware that Kelly walked into a full-on rebuilding job in Westwood that was bound to take some time.” From Tim Rohan of Sports Illustrated on whether Florida State should panic with Willie Taggart as its football coach: “Florida State is lucky to be 1–1, but may not be as fortunate going forward. These second-half collapses seem to be symptoms of a larger issue, a lack of composure and discipline across the board, and that falls on the coach, Willie Taggart.” From Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times, former Southern Cal linebacker Riki Ellison on what USC president Carol Folt plans to do now that Lynn Swann has resigned as the athletic director: “She’s setting up Clay Helton now a little bit with more pressure. She’s going to have her own athletic director, and if Clay doesn’t perform, that athletic director is going to pick the new head coach.” From The State (Columbia, SC) newspaper, South Carolina corner Jaycee Horn on the pending matchup with Alabama All-American wide receiver Jerry Jeudy: “As a competitor, you always want to take on the best, just to match yourself up against them, so as a competitor you gotta want that matchup.” From Jose Iglesias of the Miami Herald on the sad state of the Miami Dolphins: “The Dolphins are really bad, OK? A natural disaster. Deal with it.” RANDOM THOUGHTS:T. Boone Pickens, the oil gozillionaire who donated $652 million to Oklahoma State including $260 million to upgrade the football stadium (now named T. Boone Pickens Stadium), died Wednesday at the age of 91 … The Houston Texans have released corner Aaron Colvin one year into a $34 million deal that included $4 million at signing and $18 million guaranteed. Prediction: He will somehow wind up with the New England Patriots and his career will get jump started again playing for Bill Belichick … The US Patent Office has denied Ohio State's request to trademark The (as in The Ohio State University) for use in its merchandise sales … Also denied by the Patent Office was LeBron James' attempt to patent the name “Taco Tuesday,” claiming it's too commonplace to be patented … Florida State reportedly will hire Jim Leavitt to an analyst position to help figure out what's wrong with its defense … A high school swimmer from Anchorage, Alaska was disqualified after winning a 100-meter freestyle event in competition because of what is being deemed a “suit wedgie.” No, I'm not making this up ... Team USA went belly up at the FIBA World Championships in China, losing to France.

“It’s got to really crank up about 10 notches getting into conference play.” That was Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen’s message following the No. 8/9 Gators 45-0 win over UT-Martin. The shutout and offensive career day looked good on paper but Mullen told his team after the win that it was time for everything to intensify if they wanted to move to 3-0 after opening SEC play. “Kentucky’s an excellent football team. [Head coach] Mark [Stoops] has done a great job with that program. So we have to really kind of crank it up, and it starts Monday morning when we show up. It’s got to be a greater sense of urgency for us. We have a good attitude, I just think we need to have a little more grind and sense of urgency to be exact in every one of our details.” In the kind of full circle that sports often provides, it was a loss against Kentucky last season that really taught this Gators squad how important those details can be in determining wins. “I think it was an eye opener. That we should never take a team lightly no matter what people say about them or anything,” recalls quarterback Feleipe Franks. “There should be a standard at which you play at, every game no matter who you are playing. If you’re playing below that standard, then that’s not right and that’s not how we’re going to win.” Adds senior receiver Josh Hammond. “I think guys just gotta a little bit sense of urgency about the game and who we were playing. I think the loss helped us tremendously because we knew at that point that nobody was gonna come and give us anything, we had to go work and earn everything we were gonna get so I think that kinda changed the motivation to we need to go harder in practice, we need to make sure we execute at a high level in practice and on a day to day basis in practice to continue to win these ball games on Saturday.” That 2018 game came in Week 2, an early conference match for both teams. Kentucky won 27-16 and put up 454 yards of total offense, including 300+ rushing alone as running back Benny Snell and quarterback Terry Wilson (who was injured last week and will be out for the season) ran all over the Gators in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to end a 31 year Florida win streak. It was a humbling moment for a young team that begot a maturity leading to five straight wins and finishing with a 10 win season. The Wildcats also enter Saturday nights game currently 2-0 but the Gators are bringing with them to Lexington the lessons learned from the loss. “If you come out and play to another team’s level thats what is going to happen. So thats what we really focused on this week, just coming out with a high intensity and play to our standard,” says linebacker Ventrell Miller. “It starts in practice,” explains Hammond. “So it’s the little things, if it’s finishing blocks at practice or making sure the scout team guy knifes as hard as he supposed to knife - giving us those exact looks on how the opponent team is going to do it and get us prepared in the proper way. The biggest thing is paying attention to detail and being more focused on the little things. And guys being able to execute cleanly and properly.” While they’re keeping the lessons, this group of Gators insist they aren’t looking for revenge. They will heed their coaches request for a more intense week of practice and increased urgency, but as Mullen explains, he doesn’t have to ask for motivation. “I don’t have to come in and be a cheerleader to motivate our guys. They’re coming in to work out, they’re ready to go, everybody is getting ready to go, meetings, great attitude going out to practice, ready to work. It is the most minute of details of what you’re doing and whether it’s a practice, whether it’s a walk through, whether it’s a film study, just that ability to focus and make sure I’m exact on every single detail is huge.” For Feleipe Franks, this is the most important aspect of the Florida Gators identity and the key to not replicating last years loss. “I think that if you’ve got to tell somebody to get excited about a game, then something is already wrong. I think we have a team full of guys that are excited to go out there and play Saturday no matter who we’re playing – away, home, SEC or not SEC. You should be excited to get out there. You never want to take that for granted. “Either you have a competitive fire or you don’t. You want to go out there and play every Saturday or you don’t. You want to win or you don’t. It’s black and white, I don’t there’s any grey area in being a competitor, ether you have the passion or you don’t.”

A YEAR MAKES QUITE A DIFFERENCE If he could do it all over again and get a re-do on last year's game two with Kentucky, a game the Florida Gators lost, 27-16, there are probably a dozen things Dan Mullen would do differently, but he couldn't prepare for Kentucky's experience and the fact this was only his second game as Florida's head coach. One of the chief reasons Kentucky dominated that game on both lines of scrimmage was the bulk of the players Mark Stoops put on the field were in their second and third year in his system. With only an opening game win over D1AA Charleston Southern to go by, there wasn't much for Mullen to go by. He still didn't know which players were the best fits, who needed more and who needed less playing time, and who could best handle pressure situations. Game two, therefore, was this gigantic flop in which a 31-year winning streak over the Wildcats came to an unceremonious end in front of a stunned Ben Hill Griffin crowd. The glaring difference was in the Kentucky running game where the offensive line opened gaping holes for Benny Snell Jr., who ran for 175 of Kentucky's 303 rushing yards. When Florida tried to pressure UK quarterback Terry Wilson it seemed he always had an escape route. Whatever the Gators ran offensively only seemed to work well between the thirties. Consider it the ultimate learning experience. “Our job is to put guys in the best position to make plays and I don’t think we were doing that,” Mullen said at his Monday press conference. He went on to say that a “lack of knowing all the guys on the team and the experience of knowing the players and how they would react and respond in the game” also factored in the outcome. That wasn't an excuse being offered, just a realistic assessment. A year later, Mullen has an air of confidence about him. For the most part, he knows what his players can do and how they're going to react. It's a veteran starting lineup on both sides of the ball so Mullen knows what those guys can do under pressure and how to scheme to give them the best chance to make plays. Beyond those starters, however, there are a number of kids who figure prominently in the rotations and for some of them, the first road trip will be a brand new experience. “We’ll probably get on the plane and it’ll be some guy’s first time ever on an airplane,” Mullen said. “That’s a distraction. I’ve had it, especially if they really start freaking out.” If Mullen can keep the distractions to a minimum he has a very good chance to open the Southeastern Conference portion of the schedule with a win. Just as you can't put toothpaste back in the tube once it's been squeezed out, Mullen can't do a thing about what happened last year against the Kentucky Wildcats. He can, however, make sure there isn't a similar experience in 2019. SEC FOOTBALL STUFF #2 Alabama (2-0, 0-0 SEC): Despite a 62-10 blowout win over New Mexico State, Nick Saban still found things to grouse about. Monday it was a passing game that produced 285 yards and four touchdowns. “I don’t think we were real crisp in the passing game – I’m not talking about any fault of Tua (Tagovailoa), but just sort of sloppy in protection, sloppy in route-running,” Saban said. Saturday: at South Carolina (1-1, 0-0 SEC) Arkansas (1-1, 0-1 SEC): HBC Chad Morris has made the switch at QB, benching Ben Hicks in favor of Texas A&M grad transfer Nick Starkel. Coming off the bench in the loss at Ole Miss, Starkel hit 17-27 passes for 201 yards and a TD. Hicks was 7-16 for 98 yards. Saturday: vs. Colorado State (1-1) Auburn (2-0, 0-0 SEC): In their 24-6 win over Tulane, the Tigers allowed only 223 total yards and just one trip into the red zone … Auburn has bribed New Mexico State with $1.85 million to come to Auburn and take a beating in 2023. Saturday: vs. Kent State #3 Georgia (2-0, 1-0 SEC): A DUI used to be an automatic two-game suspension at Georgia. No longer. Freshman defensive end Bill Norton, who didn't make the trip to Vandy on opening weekend, played against Murray State … D-lineman Julian Rochester, who has been slowed by a knee injury, has been cleared to play. Offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson is out of the walking boot but isn't ready to play just yet. Saturday: vs. Arkansas State (1-1) Kentucky (2-0, 0-0 SEC):At his Monday press conference, HBC Mark Stoops said the Wildcats will miss injured quarterback Terry Wilson but they won't back down from the Gators. Stoops said, “We’re sad for Terry and it stinks because it’s part of our game, but believe me, we’re going back to work with the intent to win a football game next week, and that’s the way we’re going to approach it every week.” Saturday: vs. #9 Florida (2-0, 0-0 SEC) LSU (2-0, 0-0 SEC): Coach O says LSU didn't have air conditioning in its locker rooms in Austin Saturday night. Texas (big surprise here) issued a statement saying the AC in the locker rooms works just fine. Additionally, Texas put the LSU marching band in the end zone upper deck of Darrell Royal Stadium. Saturday: vs. Northwestern State (0-2) Mississippi State (2-0, 0-0 SEC): The injury to QB Tommy Stevens is to his right (throwing) arm. HBC Joe Moorhead remains hopeful that Stevens will be okay to play Saturday … Former Michigan running back Kareem Walker received notification from the NCAA Clearinghouse that he is eligible to play. Walker was a redshirt freshman at Michigan in 2017. He played at Fort Scott (KS) Community College last year. Saturday: vs. Kansas State (2-0) Missouri (1-1, 0-0 SEC):Of Missouri's 10 penalties for -100 yards in the win over West Virginia, two were for chop blocks. All 10 penalties were flagged in the first half. Saturday: vs. Southeast Missouri State (1-1) Ole Miss (1-1, 1-0 SEC): Linebacker MoMo Sanogo, who broke a fibula and tore a ligament in the first quarter of the Arkansas game, will be out a minimum of 10 weeks. Saturday: vs. Southeastern Louisiana (1-0) South Carolina (1-1, 0-0 SEC): After former DL Josh Belk claimed he left South Carolina because of the threat of losing his scholarship if he didn't work out while recovering from his injury, the athletic department issued a statement that pointed out all athletic scholarships are 4-year agreements that cannot be revoked because of a medical reason. Saturday: vs. #2 Alabama (2-0, 0-0 SEC) Tennessee (0-2, 0-0 SEC): This quote from HBC Jeremy Pruitt is going to go over well with Vol fans. Monday morning, Pruitt said, “There’s not much difference in winning and losing. If you look at Saturday’s game, there’s probably 80 plays on offense and right about that on defense. You never know when the play is going to present itself that could decide the outcome of the game, so that’s why you try to create the right habits in practice and you practice it until you don’t get it wrong.” Saturday: vs. Chattanooga (1-1) Texas A&M (1-1, 0-0 SEC):Sophomore running back Jashaun Corbin is out for the season after suffering a severe hamstring injury in the Aggies' loss to Clemson. His place in the starting lineup will be taken by Isaiah Spiller. Saturday: vs. Lamar (1-1) Vanderbilt (0-2, 0-1 SEC): The Commodores were flagged for 13 penalties for -100 yards in the loss to Purdue and the running game produced only 71 yards on 27 carries. Saturday: Open GOOD QUOTES FOR TUESDAY From Paul Finebaum on WJOX on his belief Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt has the Vols on a path toward a disastrous season: “You just don’t want to write someone off this quickly, but you start going week by week and as long as you get past Chattanooga, the schedule is self-explanatory, Florida, Georgia, I mean what, there aren’t any wins there. The danger is the season is going to be over so quickly that the interest in Tennessee as opposed to anything but a side show or a freak show will vaporize. That’s when he goes into late October, early November and is trying to find fans, really anyone to talk about his own ineptitude, that’s when you go from Defcon 4, to 3, to 2, to 1.” From Andy Staples of The Athletic, there is a feeling of hopelessness in Tallahassee with Willie Taggart running the football show: “It drove previous coach Jimbo Fisher nuts that Florida State was so cash-strapped compared to the programs the Seminoles recruit against, so it’s tough to imagine the school coughing up a $17 million buyout of Taggart if the Seminoles aren’t any different in 2019 than they were in 2018.” From Stewart Mandel of The Athletic on the lack of progress for Michigan and quarterback Shea Patterson: “Amid all the buzz coming into the year for Patterson, the offensive line and receivers, people may have minimized the fact Michigan would be relying on completely unproven running backs. Freshman Zach Charbonnet ran 33 times for 100 yards, but the Wolverines’ running backs struggled in pass-protection. He can improve with time. Less fixable, however: Patterson’s ceiling is lower than advertised. Which means Michigan probably has a lower ceiling than that of preseason Big Ten favorite.” From Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated on LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who threw for 471 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Tigers past Texas in Austin: “He is confident. He is brash. And he is a baller, a description used by his own coach. He misfired on just nine of 39 passes Saturday night, and one of those was a dropped touchdown. He used his athletically gifted targets, all of them getting a piece of this spread pie: Justin Jefferson (9 catches, 163 yards), Chase (8-147) and Terrace Marshall (6-123).” OOPS OF THE WEEK The winner – and there is no second place here since the error was so egregious – is ESPN play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti. When some Auburn students spelled out “Ride for Rod” it was a tribute to the late Rod Bramblett, the Auburn radio play-by-play announcer who died in a tragic auto accident during the summer. Benetti saw it and stated this was a tribute to his broadcast partner and analyst, Rod Gilmore. “They’re spelling Rod by the way,” Benetti said. “That’s very nice. It’s for Rod Gilmore. They’re spelling your name. They’ve got a heart for you. I mean that’s just for you.” Gilmore responded, “Oh, for me? Beautiful!” Prior to the game, Auburn showed a tribute video dedicated to Bramblett and his wife, who also died in the accident. ESPN and Benetti have apologized for their insensitivity. RANDOM THOUGHTS: The ESPN staff ranked the teams in all five power conferences from top to bottom of each league. They have the Gators ranked fifth in the SEC (1. Alabama; 2. Georgia, 3. LSU and 4. Auburn). In the Big Ten, they have Michigan ranked sixth. In the ACC, they have Miami ranked seventh and Florida State 14th. It's a 14-team league, by the way … Derrius Guice, who missed all of last season with an ACL tear, injured his other knee in the Washington Redskins' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Guice was scheduled for an MRI Monday … Lynn Swann has tendered his resignation as Southern Cal's athletic director after three years on the job … With two home runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday night, former Gator Pete Alonso regained sole possession of the Major League home run lead. Alonso has hit a National League record 47 homers and is within five of Aaron Judge's all-time rookie record.

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen updated local media on Monday with the injury status of two Gators playmakers. Wide receiver Kadarius Toney and corner CJ Henderson both went down with injuries during Saturday nights 45-0 win over UT-Martin. As reported on Sunday by Gator Bait, Toney's injury—sustained in the first half—is a shoulder issue although no further details have been provided to this point. Gator Bait originally reported the junior would miss 6-8 weeks but on Monday Mullen said they felt he could be out for only "a couple of weeks." Henderson went down with an ankle injury diving for a pass breakup during the second half. Mullen said they believe the injury is a mild ankle sprain and is "questionable" for this Saturday's matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats (2-0). Henderson wants to play this Saturday according to Mullen but coaches are planning on holding out the corner until he's 100% recovered. Freshmen Kaiir Elam, Chester Kimbrough and Jaydon Hill all got time at corner on Saturday with Hill breaking up a 4th down pass and Elam snatching an interception in the endzone to preserve the shutout. With Toney out, Mullen said redshirt freshman Jacob Copeland could play more and see additional snaps. Copeland, who's missed significant time with injuries, scored his first touchdown on Saturday and grabbed three receptions for 23 yards and rushed once for 15 yards. Toney had three receptions for 72 yards so far this season with a touchdown. Henderson has three tackles and two pass breakups as quarterbacks continue to throw away from the junior preseason All-American.

KENTUCKY NO LONGER FEARS THE FLORIDA GATORS The Southeastern Conference portion of Florida's football schedule kicks off Saturday when the Gators travel to Lexington to face a Kentucky (2-0, 0-0 SEC) that has lost its fear of the Gators. From 1987 until 2017, you could almost pencil Kentucky into the Florida win column. Sure, there were a few close calls – “Doering's got a touchdown!” comes to mind – but you always knew that when crunch time arrived the Wildcats would find a way to lose. All that changed last season when the Wildcats came to Gainesville and dominated the Gators in the second half (outscored the Gators, 20-6) for a drought-ending, 27-16, win in which Kentucky pounded away for 303 rushing yards. Florida had absolutely no answer for Benny Snell Jr. (175 yards rushing) and every time it seemed the Gators had Terry Wilson cornered, he escaped the sack and ran for another first down. If this had been a fluke win, perhaps decided by a once-in-a-lifetime play like a Hail Mary at the end of the game, deep down the Wildcats might still be the Kentucky Mildcats, but this was a game of physicality and Kentucky was easily the more physical team. They won the game on both lines of scrimmage, which is why Kentucky has no fear of the Gators this year. The Wildcats are convinced they can once again impose their will on Florida and make it two wins in a row over an old nemesis. That Wilson is hurt (torn patela tendon in his knee) is of no consequence. Kentucky thinks it will do just fine with Sawyer Smith at QB. No matter the UK quarterback, Florida has to not only match but exceed Kentucky's physicality in this game. The Gators have to win both lines of scrimmage and put an end to any notion that Kentucky is capable of matching up, whether it's size, strength, speed or talent. The Gators need to leave Lexington Saturday night having begun a brand new streak. GATORS MOVE UP IN THE POLLS The slide didn't last very long at all. A week after the Gators dropped from #8 in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls to #11 AP and #10 Coaches, UF is back in the top ten again. Florida moved up two spots to #9 in the AP, back to #8 in the Coaches. Even though Florida's 45-0 win over UT-Martin wasn't as spectacular as Dan Mullen might have hoped, it was a shutout, the Gators were never threatened and Feleipe Franks completed 25-27 passes. That obviously impressed quite a few voters. The top three – Clemson, Alabama and Georgia – remained the same. That Clemson and Alabama are the top two comes as no surprise but I thought LSU's win over Texas in Austin would vault the Tigers past Georgia. LSU moved up two spots to #4 in the AP, one spot to #6 in the Coaches. The big surprise to me is that Michigan remains in the top ten. I haven't been impressed at all with Michigan, particularly after the Wolverines needed overtime to beat Army. That's a game in which Army let the Wolverines off the hook two or three times. The Associated Press Top 25 Poll Clemson 2-0; (2) Alabama (2-0); (3) Georgia (2-0); (4) LSU 2-0; (5) Oklahoma 2-0; (6) Ohio State 2-0; (7) Notre Dame 1-0; (8) Auburn 2-0; (9) FLORIDA 2-0; (10) Michigan 2-0; (11) Utah 2-0; (12) Texas 1-1; (13) Penn State 2-0; (14) Wisconsin 2-0; (15) Oregon 1-1; (16) Texas A&M 1-1; (17) UCF 2-0; (18) Michigan State 2-0; (19) Iowa 2-0; (20) Washington State 2-0; (21) Maryland 2-0; (22) Boise State 2-0; (23) Washington 1-1; (24) Southern Cal 2-0; (25) Virginia 2-0 The Coaches Top 25 Poll Clemson 2-0; (2) Alabama 2-0; (3) Georgia 2-0; (4) Oklahoma 2-0; (5) LSU 2-0; (6) Ohio State 2-0; (7) Notre Dame 1-0; (8) FLORIDA 2-0; (9) Auburn 2-0; (10) Michigan 2-0; (11) Penn State 2-0; (12) Utah 2-0; (13) Texas 1-1; (14) Wisconsin 2-0; (15) Texas A&M 1-1; (16) UCF 2-0; (17) Oregon 1-1; (18) Iowa 2-0; (19) Michigan State 2-0; (20) Washington State 2-0; (21) Washington 1-1; (22) Boise State 2-0; (23) Mississippi State 2-0; (24) Southern Cal 2-0; (25) Maryland 2-0 RANKING THE SEC TOP TO BOTTOM (1) Alabama (2-0; 0-0 SEC): When questioned about scheduling New Mexico State and asked what could be gained from blowout wins like this (Alabama won, 62-7), Nick Saban replied, “Why don't you start calling around and see if you can get somebody else to play us?” … In the win over NMSU, wide receiver Henry Ruggs caught four passes for 66 yards including a 39-yard TD and had a 75-yard run for another TD. Next week: at South Carolina (1-1, 0-0 SEC) (2) LSU (2-0):Beating Texas in Austin is far more impressive than anything Georgia has done. Joe Burrow is the real deal after 471 passing yards and four TDPs against Texas. For the season he is 54-66 for 749 yards (11.3 per attempt) with nine TDPs. Next week: vs. Northwestern State (0-2) (3) Georgia (2-0, 1-0 SEC): In the Bulldogs' 63-17 win over D1AA Murray State, backup QB Stetson Bennett actually had more pass attempts than starter Jake Fromm. Fromm was 10-11 or 166 yards and a TD while Bennett was 9-13 for 124 yards and two TDPs. Next week: vs. Arkansas State (1-1) (4) FLORIDA (2-0, 0-0 SEC): With his two touchdown passes against UT-Martin Saturday night, Feleipe Franks moved past Steve Spurrier into 10thplace on the all-time Florida list with 37. He needs three more to pass Terry Dean into 9th. Next week: at Kentucky (2-0, 0-0 SEC) (5) Auburn (2-0, 0-0 SEC): The offense is rather pedestrian as freshman QB Bo Nix figures things out. Nix is averaging only 5.6 yards per pass attempt has completed less than 50% of his passes. Next week: vs. Kent State (1-1) (6) Texas A&M (1-1, 0-0 SEC): When the Aggies couldn't run the ball against #1 Clemson, their offensive game plan blew up in their faces. The Aggies managed only 53 yards in 27 carries in the 24-10 loss to the Tigers. Next week: vs. Lamar (1-0-1) (7) Mississippi State (2-0, 0-0 SEC): Mississippi State won't know the status of QB Tommy Stevens until Monday. Stevens suffered an upper body injury in the second quarter of the Bulldogs' 38-15 win over Southern Miss. Prior to the injury he was 9-10 passing for 105 yards and two touchdowns. True freshman Garrett Shrader played the rest of the way, hitting 7-11 passes for 71 yards and running for 16 more. Next week: vs. Kansas State (2-0) (8) Kentucky (2-0, 0-0 SEC): With Terry Wilson done for the year, Kentucky will lean heavily on a ground game that is averaging 207 yards per game and 5.32 per carry led by the 1-2 tandem of Kavosiey Smoke (170 yards, 9.4 per carry) and AJ Rose (146 yards). Next week: vs. FLORIDA (2-0, 0-0 SEC) (9) Missouri (1-1, 0-0 SEC): The Tigers got their running game going against West Virginia with Larry Rountree III going for 99 of the net 232. In their season opener against Wyoming, the Tigers ran for only 114 yards. Next week: vs. Southeast Missouri State (1-1) (10) South Carolina (1-1, 0-0 SEC): It's officially Ryan Hilinski's team now as Jake Bentley will have surgery on his fractured right foot and will miss the remainder of the season. In his first start Saturday against Charleston Southern, the true freshman Hilinski was 24-30 passing for 282 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another score on a 4-yard run. Next week: vs. Alabama (2-0, 0-0 SEC) (11) Ole Miss (1-1, 1-0 SEC): Linebacker MoMo Sanogo suffered a broken right fibula and a torn ligament in first quarter of the win over Arkansas so he's done for the year. Next week: vs. Southeastern Louisiana (1-0) (12) Vanderbilt (0-2, 0-1 SEC): The good news is the Commodores won't lose this week. That's because they won't play. Ball State grad transfer Riley Neal threw for 378 yards against Purdue so he's nailed that position down. They still haven't gotten Ke'Shawn Vaughn untracked. Next week: Open (13) Tennessee (0-2, 0-0 SEC): In losing their second game of the season to BYU, the Vols had the Cougars pinned at their own 8-yard line with 31 seconds to go and still gave up the tying field goal that sent the game into double overtime. Tennessee is now 0-2 to start a seasonfor he first time since 1988. Next week: vs. Chattanooga (1-1) (14) Arkansas (1-1, 0-1 SEC): The Hogs still haven't settled on a QB although Texas A&M grad transfer Nick Starkel seems better than SMU grad transfer Ben Hicks. They desperately need to win these next two games (Colorado State and San Jose State) since opportunities to win will be few and far between after that. If they're lucky, they'll go 4-8. Next week: vs. Colorado State (1-1) ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL Defense was supposed to be the strong suit for Florida State (1-1) this season. Through two games the Seminoles have given up 80 points and an average of 520 yards per game. This week the Seminoles travel to #25 Virginia (2-0) which is scoring 41 points per game with a defense that allows only 228 yards. Wisconsin has outscored two opponents, 110-0, while averaging 517 yards of offense and giving up only 107.5 per game. Jonathan Taylor has run for 237 yards and five touchdowns and already he's caught three touchdown passes. How is Michigan ranked in the top ten in both polls? The Wolverines likely get some comeuppance in a couple of weeks when they travel to Madison to face Wisconsin. Since 2012, by the way, Michigan is 1-14 against teams ranked in the Associated Press top 10, 9-23 against teams ranked in the AP top 25. After a week of doom and gloom predictions about Southern Cal following the season-ending ACL injury to QB JT Daniels, true freshman Kedon Slovis threw for 377 yards and three TDPs to lead the Trojans (2-0) to a 45-20 blowout of then 23rd-ranked Stanford. Slovis was a 3-star recruit out of high school where he was coached by former Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner. Last year Washington State QB Anthony Gordon was 3-5 passing for 17 yards. Npw a senior, Gordon has completed 81.1% of his passes for 884 yards (11.9 yards per attempt) and nine touchdowns as the Cougars are off to a 2-0 start. Coaching the wide receivers for Mike Leach and Wazzoo is Steve Spurrier Jr. Through two games, Oklahoma is averaging 709.5 yards of offense per game with Jalen Hurts responsible for 407. Hurts has thrown for 591 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 223 and three more. Chip Kelly is off to an 0-2 start at UCLA. He used to be an offensive genius but the Bruins are scoring only 14 points (tied for 118th) and 239.5 yards (127th out of 130 D1 teams) nationally. Just a week removed from their win over Tennessee at Neyland Stadium, the Georgia State Panthers rallied from a 20-3 deficit to a 48-42 win over D1AA Furman. And of course we have to include an update on the Fighting McElwains. Old Yeller and his Central Michigan Chippewas rose to a 61-0 crashing defeat at the hands of Wisconsin, a game in which their scorched earth offense bullied the Badgers for 58 (count'em) total yards (15 rushing, 43 passing). Just so you know that some things never change, the Mac Attack is averaging 293.5 yards per game thanks to the 529 they gained in their season opener with D1AA Albany. That's 117th nationally. Maryland folks are getting excited after scoring 79 and 63 points in back-to-back games. RANDOM THOUGHTS: In his NFL debut, Kyler Murray rallied the Arizona Cardinals from a 24-6 deficit to a 27-27 overtime tie with the Detroit Lions. Murray completed 29-54 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns … Nick Foles, who the Jacksonville Jaguars signed to a free agent deal in the offseason, broke his clavicle in the first quarter Sunday. His replacement, rookie Gardner Minshew, completed 22-25 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns … I was surprised that Serena Williams went down in straight sets (6-7, 5-7) to 15thseeded Canadian Bianca Andreecu in the women's final of the US Open … The men's final didn't seem the same without Roger Federer … Big shock here. Duke officials say they investigated and found no evidence that Nike paid Zion Williamson or his family to get him to attend Duke. Why am I not surprised?

Feleipe Franks hung out on the edge of the post game press conference room, waiting for his head coach Dan Mullen to give him access to the podium. Mullen was shooting the breeze with reporters, finding out about the loss and near miss of Tennessee and FSU respectively, when he turned to his quarterback laughing and said “ok I teed it up for you. They’re only going to ask you about the two incompletions.” “Not surprising,” chuckled Franks as he jogged to the podium. It was a light moment indicative of the career night Franks and the No. 8/9 (Coaches, A.P.) Florida Gators offense had on Saturday night in a 45-0 rout of UT-Martin. On a night the Gators celebrated their biggest fan—George Edmondson, Mr. Two-Bits—the offense put up 543 total yards. Franks had his best completion percentage game as a Gator and in doing so, turned in the best statistical performance in that category for any Gator quarterback…ever. His 92.6% completion is the highest in a game in Gators history and stands out for any quarterback thus far this season. There have been only three other passers to this point in 2019 that have had a completion percentage better than 80%; Joe Burrow of LSU (23 of 27 versus Georgia Southern), Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama (26 of 31 versus Duke), and Washington State’s Anthony Gordon (29 of 35 versus New Mexico State). Franks opened the game going 15-15 and was set to head to the locker room with the 100% stat until the officials declared that receiver Tre Grimes had been tackled with 0:02 left on the clock. After pulling the team back out of the locker room, Franks was sent out to chuck up a 46-yard Hail Mary that was batted away and gave him his first incompletion of the night—one we’re willing to forget given the circumstances, a lá Evan McPherson’s field goal miss against Kentucky that he didn’t really miss. “I thought everything was clicking,” said Franks (25-27, 270 yards, 1 TD; 6 rushes, 37 yards). “I think it started with our o-line, they did a great job giving me time. We knew coming into the game it’d be a three-man rush. We kind of had to create windows, receivers had to stay alive, second window throws. The o-line did a great job of staying on their blocks with the three-man rush, helping each other and the receivers did a great job staying open, it really made it easy for me. I just throw it to them, and they always do their thing.” The receivers did in fact do their thing, but credit to Franks who showed a mature patience throughout the night. Mullen has often spoke about taking the options available relative to what the defense is giving, which can mean taking the 6-yard out instead of forcing the 45-yard deep ball. But on a night when the Skyhawks were consistently dropping eight defenders to cover and the Gators offensive line was holding up in pass protection, Franks took advantage of the time given and let plays develop. One play in particular, he stood in a clean pocket for 3.5 seconds, observing the play unfold and then took a surgical shot that became his longest completion to date, a nice 69-yard bomb to Van Jefferson that was the Gators first touchdown of the night. “It just goes to show how much time I had to kind of see one guy, go back and then come back to see Van go to the corner route,” explained Franks. “[Van] wasn’t open originally. I was going to the corner, then they clouded it. It was kind of a high/low read: post, corner and then the flat route right there. I went back to the post because I had enough time.” It was also the longest passing play of Jefferson’s career. Fellow receiver Tre Grimes had a team leading five receptions for 56 yards; the five receptions tie his former career high at FSU. The junior spent much of his freshman season away from the game while transferring and was folded in to a loaded unit last season. The unit looks much the same this year but Grimes used Saturday night to show again why he should receive available targets. “He just continues to work hard. He’s an unselfish receiver. I think that’s every position group we got,” bragged Franks. “All those guys. It’s just awesome to see that. I mean, as a quarterback, knowing that you have no selfish guys in that room, that everybody’s cheering for one another, no matter who makes that play, at the end of the day we’re all happy because we all won. “[Tre] does a great job, going out there and working, and when it’s his time to shine he makes the plays.” On Grimes 56 yards, a majority of them came after contact as the 6’5”, 214 receiver picked up yards after the catch and muscled for extra room after contact. “There was a couple catches I had where there was probably like two, three guys on me. Like I said, if that’s what I have to do to catch the ball then that’s what I’m gonna do,” said Grimes. “I feel like the quarterback believes in me, throws me the ball and I have to make him look good. So runs after catches is something I do because it helps me and it helps him. So I feel like I just wanna go out there and after the catch and gain those extra five, 10 yards.” Adds Jefferson, “It’s nice to see him get involved. Tre’s a great threat for us and he’s a great receiver so feel like on these next couple games, he’s gonna take off.” More than once, Grimes came within reaching distance of the endzone and was stopped just short, lending a turf monster theory jokes the receiver. “We were all actually talking about that, it felt like it was something pulling me back that didn’t want me to get into the endzone. But like I said, my brother scored. Tyrie [Cleveland], [Jacob] Copeland, Van, they all scored so I’m just as happy.” Cleveland picked up a score on a 35-yard arc on another play when Franks had time to make lunch in the pocket. Redshirt freshman Jacob Copeland scored his first touchdown of his career, a 9-yard dart from Kyle Trask on the latter’s first play of the game. And redshirt freshman Emory Jones recorded his first rushing touchdown as a Gator, a 16-yard sprint. Franks, who spends every meeting and practice with the two, was the happiest on the field for his teammates. “Those guys are very patient. They have waited their turn. They do nothing but continue to come to the room and be the best teammate. Hard workers, every single day. Never hearing them complaining about anything. “They are always ready, like I said. That’s why I get so excited because everybody knows that these guys work extremely hard day in and day out, and on Saturday’s they’re getting no praise, no chance to go out there and shine. They deserve the praise. They’ve worked hard, and they deserve to go out there and throw touchdowns and run a touchdown. They work extremely hard week in week out, and they deserve that praise to go out there and did what they did today.” The running game with push from the offensive line still has clear progress that needs to be made. As the night went on though the line worked to adjust and at one point brought in three tight ends, lining up freshman Keon Zipperer as a fullback to help get running back Malik Davis into the endzone. After suffering numerous injuries, it was Davis’ first score since September 30, 2017. The line has one week to work on the rushing game, looking to get lead rusher Lamical Perine more than 51 yards next game, but also continue to build on the career passing night the Gators had on Saturday. As the slate of SEC games come to the forefront, more near perfect nights from Feleipe Franks and the offense could bring the shakeup in the SEC East for which the country has been waiting.

Matt Elam meandered towards the tunnel to leave Steve Spurrier Florida Field, eyes turned towards the scoreboard that flashed in bright letters “Gators Win!” The former Florida Gators safety had spent the evening on the sidelines, watching and assisting as the No. 11 Gators squad defeated UT Martin 45-0 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. His nephew, true freshman Kaiir Elam, had notched his first career interception earlier in the night, in the back of the endzone, helping to hold the Skyhawks to the first Gators shutout since 2016. He played that pretty well didn’t he, this reporter commented to Elam. “The first of many,” Matt laughed. It was a night of first for many with a Gators team that handled business the way one should against an unmatched opponent. Yet on a night when rivals Tennessee dropped their second in a row to lower tier teams (Georgia State and BYU) and in-state rival Florida State had to go to overtime and depend on Louisiana Monroe missing a PAT just for the Seminoles to win their first of the season. In Gainesville, head coach Dan Mullen and staff went to the half with a closer game than they’d have liked but opened the floodgates in the second half. And the entire game met one of their primary goals for the match; rotate in younger guys all night. “We played guys all through the game. I don’t know if you saw that. It wasn’t like we went into and say ‘we’re gonna play this group and then get them out. Then we’re going to play this group and get them out.’ We wanted to just keep rolling right through the beginning. “I’ll go see when I watch the film. That was the plan. It felt like we were rolling a lot of players through. It wasn’t like, ‘ok younger guys you’re getting these reps kind of when the game is at hand.’ They were getting reps with the one defense and real stuff going on.” In total, 15 true freshmen were able to see snaps during the win and, as Mullen mentioned, significant ones at that. Corner Jaydon Hill was forced to sit out this past spring while recovering from an ACL tear but subbed in for CJ Henderson midway through the 2nd quarter on Saturday night. Within three plays, he batted down a pass and forced the Skyhawks to punt away the ball. Later on in the night, Hill chased down UT Martin’s quarterback, John Bachus, 48-yards to bring down the scootin’ passer at the Gators 20-yard line and save a touchdown on the play. The next play was Elam’s interception. Hill’s play was reminiscent of the times Henderson has raced past every other guy on the field to chase down the ball carrier and it bode well for the future on a night when Henderson left the game in the 2nd quarter with an apparent foot injury (he returned to the sidelines on crutches and in a boot). Elam’s interception that followed was also the first turnover forced by the defense this season. “Great play by Kaiir,” bragged Mullen. “It was a jump ball and he was one-on-one and he makes a play. I'm happy, hopefully he gets some confidence to build on.” One guy who’s had all the hype and none of the opportunity thus far has been Jacob Copeland. The redshirt freshman receiver has battled injuries and family issues, all keeping him away from the game that made him such a highly touted recruit. On Saturday night in the Swamp though, Feleipe Franks (25-27 plus six rushes for 307 total yards and two touchdowns) swung a screen out to Copeland on the sidelines to the audible gasp of some 80,007 fans in attendance and the rest of the night was Copeland’s stage upon which to shine. “He just continually tries to work hard, learn the playback, get things down pat, and everybody has his back. It’s very encouraging to see him go out there and get his reps and kind of shine,” says Franks. And when Kyle Trask (4-5 for 40 yards, one touchdown) found Copeland over the middle for a 9-yard touchdown pass to open the fourth quarter, Strength and Conditioning Coach Nick Savage was having to hold back senior receiver Van Jefferson. “I mean, Jacob Copeland, I mean I thought he had a great game today. Got his first college touchdown. I was running on the field man, trying to run on the field but Coach Savage was holding me back.” Once the guys did get to Copeland, the conversation didn’t stop. “I don’t think we stoped talking to him after his touchdown,” admits receiver Tre Grims. “Just to see him back on the field and going hard, going strong, is phenomenal….it’s an honor for him to be able to go out there and show what he has to do. There was a couple of times he got a screen and took it like an extra 15-yards. He’s a phenomenal player. He’s gonna be one of the best when his time comes.” With the bulk of the Gators schedule now on the horizon, with a trip to Kentucky up next, having depth at the key positions will be crucial. Veterans to true freshmen (who can play in three more games and still redshirt) will be called up, especially in injuries to Henderson and receiver Kadarius Toney prove severe. Mullen said Toney’s arm will be looked at more on Sunday and he believes Henderson is just an ankle sprain. As defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has oft offered as a de-facto motto though, injuries create opportunities. And to paraphrase, so do blowout wins during which young bucks can work alongside veterans. Says Mullen, “We have a long way to go. But it’s interesting, the first game [against Miami] was kind of such a unique, special game and you come off it, but cleaned a little bit of things up. We have a lot to clean up off of this game [too]. We have to take some big steps forward before next week, we get into conference. You have to understand human nature, which is these guys are 18- to 22-years-old, it’s hard to peak and motivate yourself. The big challenge is, are we giving maximum effort every single day? These guys [with UT Martin], we’re a little more talented than they were. They’re really well coached, they did an excellent job, their kids played really hard, we just have a little bit more talent - and our guys know that. But it’s got to really crank up about 10 notches getting into conference play, especially going on the road. Kentucky’s an excellent football team. “So we have to really kind of crank it up, and it starts Monday morning when we show up. It’s got to be a greater sense of urgency for us. We have a good attitude, I just think we need to have a little more grind and sense of urgency to be exact in every one of our details.”

The news is not good for Kentucky — but for Florida? Gators missing Toney and Henderson. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/kentucky-starting-quarterback-terry-wilson-out-for-season-after-suffering-knee-injury/

To paraphrase Erich Segal, winning means you never have to say you're sorry. I said this after the Gators beat UT-Martin 45-0 and it's worth repeating. Maybe the win over UT-Martin didn't live up to expectations – yours or Dan Mullen's – but it was a win and if you don't think beating even an inferior opponent by six touchdowns is important, then allow your brain to go to its lowest common denominator and spend a few moments in VolThink or NoleThink. You never apologize for winning. The Gators have played and won two games, yet some think the sky is about to fall. Are you one who thinks things are teetering on bad? Well, think again. Channel your inner snowball. You're starting to roll down that steep slope. You're picking up momentum and growing bigger and more dangerous with every revolution. Now put a Gator logo on that snowball. That's what is happening here. This is not sunshine pumping. This is seeing the signs that are there of a team that is gaining momentum. My late father, who spent World War II on a ship that twice took Nazi torpedoes and still managed to limp back to drydock for repairs in Norfolk, would call it getting your sea legs. When a sailor first gets on a big ship he's keenly aware of every ebb and flow so he's unsteady but as he adjusts and grows confident, he's as steady at sea as he is on dry land. The Gators are getting their sea legs under them. Here is why I think the Gators are gaining momentum and growing more dangerous. I'll focus on three important areas – patience, penalties and pass blocking. Patience first. How many of you remember Doug Johnson? Dougie had an evil twin named Skippy Johnson. When evil twin Skippy showed up, he wanted to make spectacular throws that required fitting a football in maybe a two-foot window where there was little to no margin for error. If he fit the ball into that tiny window, the results were spectacular but when he didn't bad things happened. It drove Steve Spurrier crazy because nearly every time when Skippy Johnson was trying to make chicken salad out of chicken poop, there was a receiver who was wide open, maybe not for a big gain vertically, but a safe 7-8 yard gain that would move the chains. Spurrier loved spectacular but his version of spectacular involved calculation and setting up the opponent so the spectacular throw was actually an easy pitch and catch. Doug Johnson understood this completely. Evil twin Skippy did not. Fast forward from that blast from the past to Feleipe Franks. Think about how he has progressed from the redshirt freshman who wanted to show everyone he had the great arm capable of making every throw, even the ones into double coverage and tight spaces, to Saturday night when he patiently took those dinks and dunks. When he went vertical it was calculated and pitch and catch spectacular. The chains moved. There were no turnovers. This is progress. This is patience. He's going to continue to grow and continue to get better. Receivers are going to be open. All he has to do is stay patient and understand there is nothing wrong with moving the chains six or seven or eight yards at a time. Now think penalties. The Gators had nine for -100 yards against Miami. There were holding calls, false starts, personal fouls and pass interference calls. The defensive penalties, in particular, were a serious concern. Against UT-Martin, the Gators were flagged three times for 30 yards. There was a chop block call against Chris Bleich and Brett Heggie that is borderline dubious (I've got to see the replay a couple more times before I'll be convinced that it really wasn't more than simply contact during the flow of a play). There was a holding call on Stone Forsyth when he got his hands outside the shoulder pads and there was a false start when the second team O-line was in the game in the fourth quarter. No personal fouls for late hits. No pass interference. No jumping offsides. No false starts by the first unit O-line. No blocks in the back. No ineligible downfield. The Gators were aggressive but they weren't stupid. That's progress. Pass blocking. UT-Martin runs a 3-3-5, something the Gators aren't going to see on a regular basis. Most of the night the Skyhawks dropped eight into coverage, which necessitated Franks taking the easy throw instead of forcing the ball downfield, but they also ran some blitzes from packages the Gators don't normally see. The line did a good job of recognizing, getting help when needed and giving Franks time to throw the football. We saw a much better effort on the right side by Jean Delance, who used his feet very well. We saw Lamical Perine and Dameon Pierce both make the right reads to help their O-line brethren by picking up blitzers and staying home until it was safe to release out into the flats for passes. In two games, the Gators have allowed exactly two sacks for -10 yards. Now UT-Martin's pass rush certainly wasn't the type UF will see in the SEC, but Miami had a fierce front four and brought a lot of heat from all angles on blitzes. Yet, the O-line has done a fine job protecting Franks. One other good thing about the O-line that has nothing to do with patience, penalties or pass blocking. On the UT-Martin interception that was reversed on replay, did you see second team center Tanner Rowell chase the UT-Martin guy 30 yards before he ran him down and brought him to the ground? That was impressive. The game was already out of reach and if the guy had scored it would have been meaningless in the overall scope of things, but Rowell had too much pride to give up on the play. When your second team guys are playing that hard even when a game is well in hand, that's impressive and something to build on. Those are good things. Now for some things that have to get better. We saw Franks take off on a 22-yard run in the first quarter. There were some other opportunities to run the football against UT-Martin just as there were against Miami. The Florida offense needs the Feleipe Franks who was as successful whipping the Michigan defense (see the Peach Bowl) with his legs as with his feet. The run blocking was better against UT-Martin, but it should have been. In the second half it seemed the O-line got into a better rhythm and began creating better lanes for Perine, Pierce and Davis but we still haven't seen a consistent bell-to-bell effort by the O-line in which you know they can keep the chains moving when Mullen wants to run clock or beat the other team into submission. This line is a work in progress. They are further along in their pass blocking at this point than with their run blocking. The run blocking has to improve to make Franks and the passing game more viable. There were a couple of breakdowns against UT-Martin that if they happen against SEC teams will result in touchdowns. There was a 48-yard run by the Skyhawk quarterback John Bachus in the fourth quarter in which everybody was fooled. If the QB were faster, he would have scored on a 68-yard run. Credit freshman Jaydon Hill for running him down from behind. Later in the fourth quarter, UT-Martin's backup quarterback Joe Hudson completed a 29-yard pass to Jeremy Horton with an obvious coverage breakdown. Special teams. There was nothing wrong with Evan McPherson (six extra points and a field goal, five touchbacks on seven kickoffs) or punter Tommy Townsend (his only punt was a 50-yard knuckleball that pinned the Skyhawks back at their own three) but UF is getting nothing from its punt return game. Freddie Swain had three returns for a net of one yard. Three UT-Martin punts that weren't rugby style hit the ground and that just can't happen. That has to improve and UF has to start getting some return yardage (22 on six returns so far this season) to improve field position. Intensity. Blame it on playing a D1AA team. Blame it on the idea that you can't be emotionally high for every game. Blame it on whatever you want, but something kept the Gators from playing 60 minutes with a decent level of intensity. Things improved in the second half after Mullen hammered the team at halftime. You can attribute some of the fourth quarter breakdowns to second unit guys getting into a game for extended PT for the first time, but overall intensity has to amp up. The Gators are two games into a 12-game regular season. Lack of intensity is a killer and teams that think they can flip the switches and turn it on at will are usually ones that will lose games they shouldn't lose. FLORIDA INJURIES:Corner CJ Henderson left the game with an ankle sprain. Mullen doesn't think it's serious enough that Henderson will experience anything other than some discomfort and he won't be slowed. Figure he's good to go against Kentucky. There are mixed reports coming in about Kadarius Toney. One report has him missing six to eight weeks with a serious shoulder injury but there is another that calls it a deep bone bruise that will keep him out until the LSU game. Toney has big play ability for sure, but we got a glimpse of Jacob Copeland Saturday night (3-23 receiving with a TD and 1-15 running on a jet sweep) and while he doesn't seem to have Toney's make-you-miss qualities he might have better top end speed and he's a natural pass catcher. LOOKING AHEAD:Whether or not he's out for the year hasn't been determined, but Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson will almost certainly miss the Florida game next week in Lexington. Wilson was tackled from behind on a horse collar and the result was a serious knee injury. His replacement will be Troy grad transfer Sawyer Smith, who completed 5-9 passes for 72 yards. Last season at Troy, Smith started the last six games (5-1 record) and finished the season wtih1,669 passing yards and 14 touchdowns. In two games, both wins, Kentucky is averaging 38 points and 441.5 yards per game (207.5 on the ground, 234 through the air). Defensively, the Wildcats are allowing 20.5 points and 366.5 yards per game (115 rushing, 251.5 passing). The Wildcats have six sacks (given up two) and have forced four turnovers (lost three).

Dan Mullen was offering neither excuses nor apologies at his post game press conference Saturday night in the South End Zone of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Nobody is more keenly aware than Mullen that Florida's 45-0 win over the UT-Martin Skyhawks didn't measure up to what was wanted or expected, but there will be time to dissect how his team played in the next 24 hours before the Gators begin putting on their Kentucky game faces on Monday. For Saturday night, the only important measure was the Gators walked away with a win and winning means you never have to say you're sorry. Florida should have won the game and did by the 40-some points the Vegas oddsmakers said they would. The Gators had superior talent and depth at every single position. While numerous mistakes were made, none of them were the stupid kind that allow a team from D1AA to do an Appalachian State and score an impossible dream win on the road in an iconic stadium. The Gators were never threatened even if their performance was – with a couple of notable exceptions – average, at best. A brilliant performance would have been nice, but on this night even a little below average was all that was necessary to score an easy victory. As for the Skyhawks, their main goals were (1) don't embarrass themselves; (2) don't get anyone seriously hurt, not with an Ohio Valley Conference schedule on the horizon; and (3) go home with a $500,000 paycheck that will help balance an athletic budget that supports 16 other sports than football. When it comes to meeting their goals, the Skyhawks went 3-for-3 Saturday night and along the way offered up more than token resistance against the Gators. Their base defense was a 3-3-5 but they were determined to take Florida's vertical game away so they spent the night dropping eight into coverage. That forced Feleipe Franks to spend a good portion of the night dinking and dunking away with easy completions in the flats. Franks completed his first 15 passes and finished the night completing 25 of 27 passes, most of which were the five and eight-yard variety but still good enough for 270 yards and two touchdowns. There weren't all that many downfield shots available but when Franks got the chance he delivered – a 69-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson and a 35-yard scoring throw to Tyrie Cleveland. On the Jefferson TD, the Skyhawks were in a three-deep on the back end that was designed to take the deep ball away but Franks had so much time to throw that when Jefferson reversed his pattern he found himself wide open heading toward the East sideline. It was an easy pitch and catch. The Cleveland TD was another easy throw, made possible by all the dinks and dunks that loosened up the coverage. Defensively, the Gators came away with a shutout and those are difficult to come by no matter the opponent. On the Skyhawks' only real threat of the game, freshman corner Kaiir Elam got great position in the corner of the end zone and made a leaping interception to keep the shutout intact. Mullen felt the Gators cleaned up some of the blatant issues from the win over Miami a couple of weeks ago. They didn't turn the ball over. They eliminated 70 yards of penalties (only three for 30 yards against UT-Martin), particularly pass interference and stupid personal fouls. They did a better job protecting Franks (only one sack allowed for -1 yard) and ran the ball better, particularly as the game moved along. They cut in half the number of missed tackles, a major sore spot in the Miami game. So, yes, there were a lot of good things that happened against UT-Martin, but shouldn't there have been? Considering they escaped with a first game win in Orlando, shouldn't the Gators have played at a higher, more intense level from start to finish at home? Shouldn't they have gone into the locker room at halftime with more than a 17-0 lead and without needing Mullen to chew a few butts? Said Jefferson, who had four catches for 94 yards, “We’re playing UT Martin, I mean not knocking them or anything, but he [Mullen] wanted to see us execute better and just see us play better. So he came in there and he gave us a good talk and we came out in the second half and were stronger.” A good talk? In Mullen's words, “I don't know that it was a super friendly halftime to be honest with you.” Perhaps the halftime demeanor had something to do with the improved effort after intermission because the Gators had six possessions, scored touchdowns on four of them, only had to punt one time and then ran out the clock at the end. The Gators finished the game with 312 yards passing and 231 rushing while holding UT-Martin to 140 passing yards and only 54 rushing. Mullen didn't seem too impressed with the statistical advantage. “As the game went on, you look, I guess if you look statistically, a pretty solid night for us,” Mullen said. Solid might be the best way to describe the win. Mullen would have preferred spectacular, but what he got was another upcoming Monday filled with teaching moments. “We have a lot to clean up from this game,” he said. Cleaning up almost sounds too simple when you consider next week the Gators open Southeastern Conference play in Lexington against a Kentucky team that lost its fear of the Gators in 2018 when they won at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mullen walked away from his press conference Saturday night well aware that this week in practice the intensity has to “crank up about 10 notches.” He knows fully well the Gators should have played better, but the important thing is they won the game and wins, no matter the opponent, aren't easy to come by. “It's hard to win,” he said. “Don't ever take it for granted.” If you don't believe that, try having a rational conversation today with a Florida State or Tennessee fan.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson was carted off the field with an apparent leg injury during the third quarter of the Wildcats' game against Eastern Michigan. Wilson was running when he was grabbed from behind by an Eastern Michigan defender and thrown to the ground. A horse-collar penalty was called, but the damage had been done. No update has yet been made available by the school. Wilson had a brace on his knee as he was carted off. Wilson was 14 of 26 passing for 114 yards before leaving the game with an injury. He rushed for a touchdown from two yards out to put the Wildcats ahead 24-3 in the third quarter. The Del City, Oklahoma, native has started every game at Kentucky since enrolling in the spring of 2018.

3 points and 64 yards by Dan Mullen against Tenn Martin in the first quarter was not only uninspiring, but downright woeful. And watching Kadarius Toney go into the lockerroom favoring his left shoulder did nothing to lift the Gators’ spirits. Finally with 8:35 left in the first half Feleipe Franks connected on a 69-yard scoring strike to Van Jefferson and it brightened up the scoreboard for Gator fans, 10-0.