Austin Appleby remembers the first appearance of his college career while at Purdue – a 38-14 loss to Iowa during his redshirt season where he came in during the second half and threw for 68 yards and a touchdown on 5-of-6 passing.
"I was a redshirt freshman and my head was spinning because it was my first time being out there,” Appleby recalls, “but I found a way to punch one in, threw my first touchdown in that game, so it was a special memory for me. … Late in the game. Kind of just garbage time, but it was fun to get out there."
However, in his three appearances with the Boilermakers against the Hawkeyes, Appleby has gone winless in three attempts. It’ll all come full circle for the graduate transfer quarterback on Jan. 2, as he’ll start for Florida against Iowa in the Outback Bowl in Tampa in what will be the final game of his collegiate career.
The No. 17 Gators (8-4, 6-2 SEC) will look to end 2016 on a high note and avoid ending the season on a three-game skid for the second consecutive year.
“This is the first bowl game I’m playing in. I went for Purdue as a redshirt. This will be my second time being in a bowl game, my first time, obviously, playing, so it’s exciting,” Appleby said. “The first game I actually played was against Iowa, so that’s kind of cool and neat in itself. First time, I’ll ever start against Iowa, but I played every year that we played against Iowa. Anytime you get an opportunity to play, especially in a game like this, just the Outback Bowl in general, it’s a big bowl game and we’re excited about it.”
The fact that Appleby will be playing in his final college game against Iowa – a contest in which he’ll start for the Gators at quarterback – hasn’t hit him emotionally just yet. For the Purdue graduate transfer, it’s been business as usual. Appleby approached the Gators’ Thursday practice, the first one in full-contact in more than a week, once again with a workmanlike manner.
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“We want to go out here and win and put our best effort forward,” Appleby said. “We've definitely been challenged. I was told and I've heard that wasn't the case last year. Guys were maybe looking ahead, thinking about the next level and maybe were trying to protect their bodies. We've been challenged. If you want to play and you want to go ahead and do this thing, let's go. Let's be all in and beat a great opponent.”
Against a great opponent a couple of weeks ago in No. 1 Alabama, the Gators struggled in a 54-16 loss in the SEC Championship Game. Although the offense managed only 14 points, Florida had one of the best offensive outings against Alabama’s dominant defense this year.
The perception may be that Appleby struggled against the Crimson Tide, but he actually had one of the top performances by a quarterback against ‘Bama this season, throwing for 261 yards and two touchdowns against three interceptions on 66.7% passing and leading the Gators to scoring drives of 64 and 92 yards. Five days after the loss, McElwain said Appleby deserved to start in the bowl game.
“I try to stay out of the media the best I can. I know you guys do a great job, but I try not to read it," Appleby said. "We know what goes on in this building. I get coached hard every single day. I know the things I do well, I know the things I need to work on. So does the rest of this team. The pass game is not a reflection of just me throwing the ball, but it’s protection, it’s receivers being where they need to be. The details of the pass game are so in-depth. At the end of the day, what most people see is the ball and where it goes. That’s the end end result. And we’re working it every single day to smooth it out and get better, because we know what we’re capable of and we know what we need to do to perform at a high level.”
Although some fans would have preferred Florida turning to the future and starting one of the freshmen quarterbacks in the Outback Bowl, Appleby will be the signal-caller under center when the Gators square off against the Hawkeyes.
“I’ve been there. I was pretty popular a couple weeks ago. Now I’m not so popular,” Appleby said. “But you know what, that’s how it goes at the University of Florida. That’s how it goes when the expectations are so high. Again, the only guys I have to answer to are my teammates, my coaches. The rest of it is just noise. Because they just don’t know. And it’s not there fault they don’t know, they’re entitled to their opinion.
“People are going to write what they’re going to write, people are going to say what they’re going to say. That has no affect on the way I go do my job. It has no affect on the way I affect my teammates in a positive way. It has no affect in the way I play. And quite frankly I have no room for it. It’s too hard already to let that kind of stuff come in, and I’m going to keep pushing forward.”
APPLEBY DISCUSSES THE FUTURE AT QUARTERBACK
While Appleby will leave the program following Florida's Outback Bowl appearance, the three other quarterbacks on the roster - redshirt sophomore Luke Del Rio and freshmen Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask - are set to compete this offseason for the starting quarterback job.
"I'll be interested to watch it. I'm a fan of all of our guys," Appleby said. "I'm a Gator fan forever. The best guy's going to play, and I'm confident that whoever that is will be the man. Don't count Luke out either. He's still the man. Luke's the best."
Appleby went on to deliver an assessment of Franks and Trask on how they've performed up to this point while in Gainesville.
"They've come so far," explained Appleby. "They're both extremely talented, but the live arms you obviously see and the size. They pass the eye test for sure, Feleipe and Kyle both. The challenge for them is going to be continuing to grow and they've grown so much since they first got here in spring and didn't know how to call a play. They had no idea who a Mike was, what's an X.
"They've come so far and now they're able to change protections if they need to and they're able to get to their adjustments and do all the things that they need to do that are kind of gradual. And they're only going to get better and it's going to be on them continuing to push each other and push themselves and learn. They've still got a long, long way to go playing in Coach Mac's offense, but the sky's the limit for them."
DEFENDING NUSSMEIER
Throughout the course of the 2016 season, the fan base has had plenty of criticism for offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier's play-calling - and the fact that the offense has statistically regressed under his guidance. Although McElwain admitted a few weeks ago that Florida had been too predictable on offense, he and Alabama head coach Nick Saban offered Nussmeier plenty of praise prior to the SEC Championship Game.
Add Appleby to the list of those defending the job Nussmeier has done at Florida.
"I think at a place like the University of Florida, when it's good, it's really good and when it's maybe not going so good, it seems like maybe the sky's falling from the outside. It's like that for even my position," Appleby said. "I think Luke and I can both attest to that. I think a lot of the quarterbacks who played here can attest to that. When it's good, it's great. We try to keep it in-house. The only things we can control is the way that we come to work every single day, and I know coach Nussmeier, he grinds like no coach I've ever been around.
"He sacrifices more for us and takes away from his family to be in here late, late, late, late. And I leave late, and he's still in there. He's trying to find the best places for us. He's trying to find the best match-ups. I've never been around a coach who has been so committed and so dialed in because of us, the way he cares about us and puts a plan together for us. When he's in his groove, there's no one better. At the end of the day, we've got to go out there and execute for him. It takes all of us. It's not just one person."
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