Florida will add another weapon to the running back rotation at Arkansas this weekend, as redshirt junior Mark Thompson will return after being suspended against Georgia, according to Gators head coach Jim McElwain.
Thompson was cited for marijuana possession early Thursday morning on campus and did not travel with the team to Jacksonville on Saturday against the Bulldogs. Without Thompson in the mix, Florida rode running backs Jordan Scarlett and Lamical Perine to a combined 126 yards and a touchdown on 41 carries (3.07 YPC) against the Bulldogs.
“Mark will be back and ready to go,” McElwain said Monday during his press conference.
After not traveling with the team to Jacksonville to play against Georgia, sophomore running back Jordan Cronkrite’s status is still up in the air and much hasn’t changed. McElwain said in his postgame press conference that Cronkrite was deciding if he wanted to play or not.
"He wasn’t with the team in Jacksonville. He’s been dealing with some injury things,” said McElwain. “It’s kind of his choice."
Asked what Cronkrite’s status is moving forward, McElwain replied, “It’s his choice.”
INJURY UPDATE
On the injury front, the Gators are in decent shape, as the team didn’t suffer any major injuries against the Bulldogs. McElwain says that running back and special teams contributor Mark Herndon is still banged up and linebacker Kylan Johnson (undisclosed) will be re-evaluated throughout the week before heading to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Senior linebacker Jarrad Davis played against the Bulldogs with a hurt ankle and McElwain says that Davis felt OK after the game on Saturday, which is great news for the Gators defense moving forward. Tight end DeAndre Goolsby played a limited role against the Bulldogs after injuring his hand and seems to be fine.
The Gators will add to their stout defensive line, as they should add defensive end Justus Reed back in the mix. McElwain also said that he thinks wide receiver Kalif Jackson will be back as well.
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* Notebook: Davis steps up for Gators despite ankle injury
* Instant Analysis: Florida defeats Georgia for third consecutive year
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IVEY HONORED
Gators offensive lineman Martez Ivey was honored as SEC offensive lineman of the week for his performance against the Georgia Bulldogs.
After coming back from two shoulder surgeries this offseason, Ivey struggled the first few games of the season in pass protection, but as of recent, he has really started to show that he has made strides in that area, as he and the rest of the line have done a better job protecting Gators quarterback Luke Del Rio. The group has allowed only nine sacks in seven games, which is the second lowest total in the SEC.
PRAISE FOR TOWNSEND
Johnny Townsend continues to be a weapon at punter for the Gators, averaging 47.6 yards per punt. That’s tops in the SEC and third nationally among punters.
Against the Bulldogs, Townsend averaged 47.8 yards per punt on six attempts, with two landing inside of the 20 and three going for 50-plus yards.
“This guy I don’t think gets the credit,” McElwain said. “Not only that, but his operation time. Gets the ball off. They did some overload things and he didn’t flinch. His operation time was really good. And, again, other than the one that hit on the wrong side and went through the end zone, he’s been pinning guys inside the 10 time and time again. He really works out at it. The guy is going to be a next-level punter. He can do everything.
“You wouldn't have noticed, but on the punt return that they kind of did do, we missed at the point of attack a little bit, (Isaiah McKenzie) got loose a little bit. The speed at which Johnny was there and within his spot actually helped Nick Washington being able to make the play. Because of him, and he’s a heck of an athlete too. When we do our ‘Swamp Life,’ no one wants to go against the punter in any of our competition things because he might be a better athlete than they are.”
Added center Cameron Dillard: “The guy is lethal. I’ve never seen a punter punt like that. That guy’s awesome.”
MORE NOTES FROM MCELWAIN’S MONDAY PRESS CONFERENCE
--McElwain said senior wide receiver Chris Thompson will continue to serve as Florida’s kickoff returner. Thompson returned two kicks for 55 yards against UGA, serving full-time in that role after hamstring injuries and a two-game suspension derailed his start to 2016.
“We had Chris back there and I think you might have seen in another game,” explained McElwain. “Chris is another guy that has been banged up and hasn’t been at full speed. The one thing he has is speed. Obviously with where we were at with that position and Chris being 100-percent, what he did in that game to step up and he’ll continue to be that kickoff return guy. That first one that he hit we actually missed a guy up front and he redirected and didn’t cut steps. The key to great kickoff return guys is somebody who doesn’t cut steps. He hit it on time and it was great.
“In fact, going into it, that Wednesday in practice, I actually went to a couple of our guys — Jalen Tabor and Duke Dawson — guy that are in that back end. I said, ‘What do you think about is Chris ready?’ Both of them said, ‘Yeah, it’s time to put him in there.’ That’s how much I trust our team. Those guys know and, sure enough, both of them came up to me and said coach you made the right choice.”
--McElwain on Scarlett and Perine’s increased workload: “I was getting on Lamical, after he has about three big runs he’s winded. We gotta get the guy in shape a little more. They kept their feet moving and we still need to increase the explosive run piece of it but getting the ball in space with those guys I think that they did some really good things. Both those guys played their tails off. I thought up front we did a better job playing with some pad level. This week in particular is going to be kind of one of those games.”
--McElwain on the Gators returning to the top 10 in the AP poll: “Great, I guess. Someone did point out to me, and this is kind of interesting, and I’m not sure historically - with Louisville and us both being in the Top 10, you’ve got two guys from the state of Montana as head coaches in the Top 10. That’s pretty cool.”
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