Jacob Copeland has career day for the Gators

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Jacob Copeland was forced to watch. He was forced to see others in his class fight for playing time, while he was relegated to the sidelines.

"Receivers, like Freddie Swain, Van Jefferson, Josh Hammond, Tyrie Cleve(land), Trevon Grimes, they all kept me motivated because I kept dealing with injuries," the Gators receiver after the game. "They just told me to stay focused and it’s all going to play out.”

Copeland has dealt with a knee injury and a quad injury that saw him barely see the field his first season, while also taking him out of spring practice.

Even this season, the receiver had to wait for his opportunity behind several veteran receivers. He was a redshirt freshman that was still trying to adjust to the offense, to the college game.

"When I’m down, my teammates kept me up," Copeland said. "They stayed with me, keeping me motivated through it all. They said, ‘Stay focused and everything will play out right.

“Knowing I got people behind my back, knowing I got seniors ahead of me, and knowing that they want their touches too because they want to get out of here and make something big happen in life, just knowing they’ve got my back, that’s love.”

Copeland took every advice, and on Saturday, the receiver was rewarded.

When the Gators struggled to move the ball, Florida quarterback Kyle Trask turned to Copeland. The signal caller threaded the needle and Copeland outmuscled the South Carolina defensive back for the 50-50 ball on the 15-yard line. He would then turn on the jets to pick up the 37-yard touchdown, tying the game at ten.

“That was a really athletic catch and finish to the play," Gators head coach Dan Mullen said of the catch. "It was a great play.”

“I was just giving him a chance," said Trask. "He’s a great playmaker. He works really, really hard and he got the opportunity to make a good play and he came through for us today.”

Copeland leaned on his wide receiver group since his arrival in Gainesville. On Saturday, he was able to celebrate with those men that have helped him through each step.

"They were all excited for me, knowing that last year was a setback for me having injuries back-to-back," Copeland said.

Copeland finished the game with three catches for a team-high 89 yards receiving and a touchdown. He is the eighth Gator to eclipse the 150 yard receiving mark - something that has not happened since 1992.

“It was good. He [Mullen] always says, ‘Be ready,’ and that’s what I was," said Copeland. "I stayed in, my team kept me motivated, and I just stayed ready at all times. When my number was called, I made a play.”

"He's an athlete, he probably has one of the highest verts on the team," receiver Freddie Swain said. "He's fast, he's quick. He's a great player.

There was never a question of whether or not Copeland was a talented athlete. He just needed to adjust to college football.

"You’ve just got to stay focused at all times," Copeland said. "I was having difficulty with a little bit of the playbook or whatever, but I just stayed focused, maintained and played my game. Coach Mullen always says, ‘Play your game.’ Everybody doesn’t learn the same. Some players may have to walk through the plays, some players may have to do this and that read. He just says, ‘Play your way. Do everything you do, what’s best for you, and it will play out all right."

"In practice he goes hard every day, he comes to work, hard hat," said Swain. "He knows it's a bunch of guys in the room and it's one football so when the opportunity comes you got to make the most of it and I think he did a great job today."

Copeland worked at his craft every week, every day.

Mullen always knew that Copeland could be electric with a ball in his hands; he just needed to make strides to become a well-rounded receiver.

"The last two weeks he’s been much better in practice, a different player in practice than he was," Mullen said. "And not playmaking; I’ve watched him make plays. This a different player in the discipline in what he’s doing and knowing his assignment, knowing how to run routes, which I think for young guys that’s the hard thing.

"I think he’s gotten a lot more trust from everybody and you saw he has the ability to make plays," Mullen said.

Copeland is figuring things out just in time for when Florida's SEC East schedule heats up.

“Just keep getting better each week with my teammates, make sure that they help me and I help them," said Copeland of whats next. "Everybody stays motivated, and we keep going. Knowing that there was a big game for us with difficult weather, we stayed focused and came out with a W.”