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There was a passing of the baton on Saturday on Steve Spurrier Florida Field for the Florida Gators. In a game that was meant to help propel the Gators into the off-season—the early signing period, the coaching search and player-led workouts, only a handful of players really put together a performance to build off of; but it’s who those players are that make the difference.
Brandon Powell, the senior receiver, is a quiet man; only saying what needs to be said and never using five words when four will do.
Even interm head coach Randy Shannon is used to not hearing from his playmaker.
“BP did a tremendous job being a guy that, he lead by example," said Shannon. "He don't talk, he just lead by example. His example is going out and playing the game hard, playing special teams for us.
"He knew our limitations were as far as having the right numbers, but he wanted to be a part of special teams just to give us something, just to create things. Very proud of BP. He's got a bright future ahead of him. Guy that, not many words, but he's very productive in what he does."
What he did on Saturday was play his last game as a Gator with the same intensity that has endeared him to his teammates.
In a drive to end the first half, Florida was marching down field for one of their few productive drives of the day. Powell had to have trainers help him off the field at one point. A few plays later he patiently waited as the ball sailed over the defenders head to pull it in for a touchdown.
In a drive to end the game, Franks found Powell once again, as the senior concluded his last game in the Swamp with two touchdowns and a team high 75 yards on nine receptions.
“BP is a hard-working guy,” bragged fellow receiver Josh Hammond following the game.
“He wanted to finish his senior year out on a bang. And I think our offense has done a good job and out coaches have been doing a good job of letting him show his true talent and letting him come out and make the plays he can make. So he was able to come out in this game and had a really good game.”
Freshman running back Adarius Lemons continues to find ways to become a spark (when actually used) and sophomore Lamical Perine proves that with just a little more finesse he’ll be ready to lead a stable of backs in 2018.
On the other side of the ball, CeCe Jefferson was a monster on the line, ending the day with nine total tackles—three for loss. But that most likely means nothing to Florida at this point other than the bragging rights to another high draft pick.
It was the young guys who provided a glimmer of real hope for the future. Freshman Marco Wilson accumulated only two tackles during the game but his presence was felt from sideline to sideline. As senior Duke Dawson grabbed up an interception, it was thanks in large part to Marco Wilson’s attack of the Seminoles receiver.
Wilson locks down the secondary with freshman CJ Henderson (three tackles) and the two combine to create a bright future according to sophomore linebacker David Reese.
“Even for their youth they’ve done a great job. I feel like they’re going to be great players. I feel like those guys should be freshmen All-Americans. Hopefully they are. Hopefully people see that. They’ve been great DBs and they’ll probably be the strength of our defense next year.”
And sophomore Chauncey Gardner—who has turned around what began as a bumpy season—finished with three tackles, two of the score saving variety.
Reese who finished with 14 total tackles led the defense in tackles.
He has appointed himself leader of a linebacker unit which desperately was calling for one, and in doing so has also stepped forward to lead this entire young defense.
“I feel like it's been a void,” said Reese.
“That was just something I had to mature in and just grow up and grow up fast and understand this team needs me and I hate losing so just being the competitor that I am it just take my best foot forward.
In this offseason I'm gonna make sure I take the younger guys under my wing. Cause I'm getting older now…I'm just taking that role and being able to lead us in that direction so we can make sure we can win.”
According to Hammond, whoever the next Gators head coach may be will have the pieces in place to grow, thanks in large part to the teams youth. The answer will simply be to put them in the right place.
“I mean we got a lot of young DBs, all the receivers are coming back, except for BP [Brandon Powell]. So the majority of our offense is gonna come back, a majority of the defense is gonna come back. So we're a young team, we got a lot to grow on, and this offseason I think our mentality is just gonna be to grind. You know, get all those things that we have problems with last year and really work on the things that we sucked at.”
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