With Florida’s 20-7 victory over South Carolina on Senior Day in The Swamp on Saturday in the books, Inside the Gators now presents five takeaways from the Gators’ important win.
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* Appleby sparks Florida offense in 20-7 win over South Carolina
* Injury Update: Maye (broken arm) sees his Florida career come to a close
* The Inside Scoop: Weekend Visitor Updates
* Instant Analysis: Florida handles Muschamp, South Carolina on Senior Day
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1. In the wake of numerous injuries to key starters, Gators both young and old have stepped up to the plate and filled in nicely. That was certainly on display against South Carolina.
Heading into Saturday's matchup Florida was already without starters in linebackers Jarrad Davis (ankle) and Alex Anzalone (broken arm), quarterback Luke Del Rio (shoulder), defensive end CeCe Jefferson (foot) and center Cameron Dillard (knee). However, four more starters went down against the Gamecocks: safety Marcus Maye (broken arm), center Tyler Jordan (lower leg), defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. and left tackle David Sharpe - the latter two seen wearing walking boots after the game.
Regardless, the "next man up" motto has been one that has resonated with the Florida locker room. In the absence of Davis and Anzalone, freshman David Reese and redshirt freshman Kylan Johnson stepped in at linebacker and performed excellently in starting roles. The two youngsters combined for 18 tackles Saturday.
"The game wasn’t too big for them," McElwain said. "The way they got the call, the way the spit the call out, the way they directed the call. The way they read their keys – not one time did they lose their eyes. They knew exactly what they were supposed to do, and they executed it."
