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* Tuesday Insider Practice Notes

* 10 things we've learned from fall camp

* Handicapping Florida's quarterback battle

* Projecting the defensive depth chart for week-one

* Projecting the offensive depth chart for week-one

* On the Mark: Five thoughts on the seven suspensions

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For former walk-on linebacker Cristian Garcia, getting a scholarship meant he had finally achieved one of his lifelong goals.

“Since I was nine years old, my goal when I started playing Pop Warner football, it was a dream of mine to get a Division I scholarship,” Garcia said. “I mean I was extremely bitter after high school when I didn’t get one. I had to go play Division II. I walked on. That was my goal when I got here. It was one of the most fulfilling moments of my life.”

Not too long ago, Garcia was just a Santa Fe College student and a Florida video staffer.

“It was difficult,” Garcia said. “When I was at Santa Fe College there were a lot of nights I was depressed because I wasn’t an athlete anymore. I was on the video team, so I was out here videoing them.

“Just seeing them practice every day just made me want to be out here. There were definitely a lot of lonely nights when I missed being an athlete so much. It was difficult.”

As happy as Garcia to spend his last season on scholarship, he might not be the one who’s most excited about it the big news.

“They were all so excited for me,” Garcia said. “I think the one that stuck out to me was Vosean [Joseph]. He may have been more excited for me than I was. We’re close friends. I mean, he hugged me, he picked me up.

“He’s been for the past three days, he just yells at me every time he sees me, ‘scholly, scholly, scholly’. He’s posted on Instagram, Twitter. He’s a great guy and he was so happy for me, probably more than I was for myself.”

With Michigan looming, players see a different attitude

For the veteran Gators, this offseason camp has felt different in a big way. Instead of the usual cupcake opponent (no offense UMass and New Mexico State), the first game is No. 11 Michigan. Senior punter Johnny Townsend thinks it will feel more familiar to the freshmen.

“I really think it has, especially for the young guys,” Townsend said. “A lot of the guys coming out of high school and they’re jumping right into a huge game, big-time college football. I really think it’s big for our team.”

Sophomore wide receiver Freddie Swain says it’s a reminder that everyone needs to bring their A-game.

"Yeah, because you can't really half step coming into this game,” he said. “It's a big game. Everybody's watching. Everybody wants to see what the Florida Gators are going to do, and that's a good game to do it in."

The team, however, doesn’t seem to be settled on the revenge factor of the rematch.

“Last year we opened up to like, UMass,” junior right guard Fred Johnson said, “but this year, it’s like, it’s time to go get payback I guess and start out this year fast with a win, go back home and take care of things every week by week.”

Townsend, on the other hand, has moved on.

“We forget about it,” Townsend said. “We’re on to the next one. Each and every game is the next game. We’re focused on this year’s Michigan and let’s remain focused.”

Get to know your long-snapper

Jim McElwain regularly finds way to work in junior long-snapper Ryan Farr into his press conferences in hopes of getting one of the lesser-known players some publicity. On Tuesday, Farr was one of the players made available for interviews.

It’s okay if you weren’t familiar with Farr. He’s aware that Gator fans may only know his name if he makes a bad play.

“Everybody lets you know that,” Farr said. “From when I first started long-snapping it was ‘The only time someone’s gonna know your name is when you mess up.’ So you kind of know going into it.

“It’s great seeing these guys in the media and they do give me credit for stuff. I mean that’s always nice. But no it doesn’t bother me at all, you kind of know going into it that’s how it’s gonna be.”

For Farr, it was the luck of the depth chart that brought him to Florida.

“Back when i was a junior in high school, I was just looking at the colleges that would probably line up and Drew Ferris was here and he had one more year when I came in,” Farr said. “But it ended up something with his medical redshirt didn’t work out and he wasn’t gonna be here anymore.

“I was already committed here to back him up for a year and it just worked out. This was the best fit for me. They asked me to early enroll so I did it I and it was definitely the best decision I made. I love it out here.”

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