Gators redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Del Rio has plenty of childhood memories from his time at EverBank Field.
As the son of former Jacksonville Jaguars and current Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio, who coached the Jags from 2003-11, Del Rio spent a good chunk of his early years in Jacksonville, often interacting with Jaguars players as he was present for a number of the team’s home games.
“Yeah, yeah, a lot of very good memories,” Del Rio said. “The stadium is so different now. They improved it in every way, the screens, the stands, the club level. Everything they’ve kind of enhanced. Growing up there for eight-and-a-half, nine years, being able to play with my dad and watch his team compete on that field is really special.”
On Saturday, instead of being a spectator, Del Rio will finally play in the stadium in the stadium he has spent many of his childhood years in, when No. 15 Florida squares off against Georgia at EverBank Field at 3:30 p.m. ET in a matchup that’ll air on CBS. Last year during his redshirt season at Florida, Del Rio opted to watch the game at home with friends instead of in the stadium.
“I had been inside the stadium a good number of times and you know I just — to be honest I’d rather be on the field or watch it on TV,” Del Rio said. “I didn’t even use my tickets. I just watched it at a friend’s house. But we went for the pregame and it was fun to see the buses come in and the different fan bases rooting for each bus as they came in. But it’s actually, it’s almost better watching it on TV now because there’s like 50 cameras and you get to see the ball up close instead of trying to kind of look who has the ball.”
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This time around, all eyes will be on Del Rio, who is set to make his second start since missing a couple of weeks of action with a sprained MCL in his knee. Del Rio will aim to rebound from his shaky performance in a 40-14 victory over Missouri on Oct. 15, where he completed just 47.4% of his passes for 236 yards and one touchdown against three interceptions.
Florida head coach Jim McElwain said Del Rio’s biggest issue against Missouri was his footwork in the pocket.
“I think the he actually drifted himself into trouble a little bit as he was bouncing off his drops,” McElwain said. “He created some of that, it wasn’t really pressure, but in the pocket where he drifted he actually drifted into some trouble which didn’t allow him to be as accurate as he normally is with the ball.”
Added Del Rio: “You watch [the Missouri game film], you know, two or three times and you kind of bury it. Like I said, the first thing that I wanted to do was just practice, just kind of get it out of my system, get my feet right. That's really what it came down to is bad feet - bad feet the whole game - but all of it is correctable and we're making those corrections and moving forward."
Saturday will present Del Rio with an opportunity to get back on the right track. With his family in attendance – his father will be there as well as the Raiders play at Tampa Bay on Sunday – Del Rio is looking forward to taking center stage in this heated Florida-Georgia rivalry.
“Yeah, I’m learning a lot every game, good or bad, just having fun out there,” Del Rio said. “I kind of had to remind myself in that Missouri game, it’s not fun to throw picks, but it is fun to play with your teammates and win. So I’m enjoying every bit of it. I kind of have to pinch myself sometimes because I remember in high school I would just pray in bed ‘Just let me play football at some level in college,’ and I’m the starting quarterback for the Florida Gators. So I’m tremendously blessed and thankful that I’m in this opportunity and this situation, and I’m just kind of taking it day by day.”
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