No Huddle: Gators prepare for Top 10 showdown

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida football is set to host its first Top 10 showdown since 2012 when No. 7 Auburn comes to town.

Throw Homecoming celebrations, College GameDay, and the CBS National Game of the Week, and the Swamp is going to be electric.

"Definitely high energy, we're excited, it's going to be a great game," said cornerback Marco Wilson. "We're excited and we're ready to go out there and practice hard and just get prepared all week for this."

"Guys are going to be excited," said wide receiver Josh Hammond. "Excited for this opportunity to play on this stage that we’ve been given and we worked hard for to put ourselves in this position. I think guys definitely walk in with a little bit of a sense of urgency and put a little bit more pep in their step ready to rock and roll.”

For Dan Mullen and his staff, they just need to make sure his side is focused on the right things leading up to game day.

“This is what you come here for, to play in these games. This is why you come to Florida, to play in big, big games like this. We don’t shy away from it," said Mullen. "The intensity needs to be there within our preparation all week.

"I think they know, though, this is here you’ve got to pick up the intensity. This is what you go for. I don’t want to downplay last week. I talked about last week. I talked about how last week was all about us, all improving and all of that stuff. It’s hard to keep yourself at peak intensity for every single week in a long season. This is one of those weeks you don’t really need to do that. If we do, we’re in a lot of trouble."

Medical Report

The good news for Florida is that several of its injured players are expected to feature or at least be available for the game against the Tigers.

Freddie Swain, Jeawon Taylor, CJ Henderson, Ventrell Miller, Jabari Zuniga and Shawn Davis are among those that could see the field this Saturday, after missing out against Towson.

"The key is just getting them back in the flow at practice and getting them the practice reps they need," explained Mullen. "I’m not going to say everybody is 100 percent coming back into it, but they are going to be ready to play and us getting them prepared throughout the week to get ready to be as close to 100 percent as possible on Saturday is the most important thing. That’s the concern of getting them to go, but I’m happy to have guys coming back.”

According to Mullen, the team has been cautious on how quickly these players have been given reps at practice.

"We've really been trying to rest guys," said Mullen. "Like Freddie Swain got some reps, Jeawon Taylor got some reps, Ventrell Miller got some reps. CJ, Zuniga haven't gotten a ton. Who else is coming back? Shawn hasn't gotten a ton since he's been out. So with all those guys, though, we'll get them some reps this weekend leading into the game."

The one name the Gators are not expected to see on Saturday is Kadarius Toney.

Mullen told reporters after the win over Towson that Toney could have two or three more weeks before he is fully healed.

Mullen open to schedule shake up

The last time Florida hosted Auburn at the Swamp, Mullen was the offensive coordinator at UF.

On Monday, the Gators head coach reiterated his stand that he would want to shake up how the program schedules future games.

"I told everybody last week, I think it would be great to get to play for the players," said Mullen about adding more games with Auburn. "You think, right? The last time Auburn came to the Swamp was 2007. I think for the fans and for the players to have these games be played more often would be benefit for everyone. That's why you want to come in the SEC, to play big games and to play other SEC schools. So I think it would be great for these games to be played more often."

Gator Chomps

Because of Bo’s father, did you even take a swing at him?

“Well, we called out there. We recruited him. He didn’t reciprocate that strongly to be honest with you. Not that that was a negative. We called out there and showed interest. I don’t remember if Brian went out to go watch him practice. I wasn’t holding my breath.”

On the throwback jerseys

“I just saw it. Look pretty cool. I’ll be honest with you, that’s probably something that, administratively, gets brought to my attention in the spring. And at that time, I probably say, ‘Hey, yeah, that sounds fun,’ and then I don’t think a lick about it until someone says, ‘Yeah, we’re wearing our throwback jerseys.’ ‘Oh, we are? OK, cool.’ I probably signed off on it and said, ‘That’s great,’ and have no recollection of doing so. I think it’s cool. I think kites fun sometime to mix it up. I love our traditional uniform. I’m not against throwback jerseys or roll-out black jerseys one day or something of that nature. … OK, I’m going to stir it up on the black jerseys, get everybody all fired up. I’m trying to get more followers.”

Take advantage of Trask to Pitts connection?

"Absolutely. One of the things you look at guys ... Kyle Pitts has gotten a lot more comfortable, really within the offense. You saw last year we played him a little bit more, played him at receiver, trying to get him on the field, and then being more as the true tight end this year. I just think it's a lot more of him getting to the role where we expect our tight ends to be. We expect tight ends to be a huge factor in our offense. Look, our tight ends had three touchdowns last week in the game and are big factors in our offense and I think those guys are growing into the role and understanding it and you're seeing them become bigger playmakers."

Spotlight and recruiting

“We’ll see. I’m sure it’ll be a lot of people wanting to come to this game. But we’ll see. It doesn’t hurt. It certainly doesn’t hurt. It’ll be good to have College GameDay here, not just recruiting football. I think it’s great for the university and recruiting top athletes, right? Somebody in Montana’s going to turn on the TV on Saturday morning, see 90 degrees and sunshine in Gainesville, Fla. They just got four feet of snow. That looks like a great place to go to school. I think that’s always a big positive.”

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