Jim McElwain: Florida-Georgia Rivalry Is What College Football Is All About
Jim McElwain previews the Florida-Georgia rivalry. According to Coach Mac, rivalries like the one between the Gators and Bulldogs are what college football is all about.
The Florida Gators had a chance to catch their breath and regain their composure with a bye week after a narrow loss to the LSU Tigers. Now, with the Georgia Bulldogs awaiting, Florida head coach Jim McElwain is ready for his first taste of a classic rivalry.
Here are some of the highlights from McElwain’s press conference Monday:
On the Florida-Georgia rivalry
On what Florida focused on during the bye week
“It was a really good time for a bye. I thought we did some really good things, got our team a little bit better. We had an opportunity to self-scout ourselves, actually have our defense break us down, offense break defense down… work on some things that obviously have hurt us but more importantly maybe how a team would look at us.”
On Georgia’s offense
“Offensively, obviously, bringing [Brian Schottenheimer] that does an outstanding job and has a lot of NFL experiences. You can see that in how they shift, how they motion, how they take advantage of match-ups.”
On Nick Chubb’s injury and how Georgia’s responded
“Obviously, it’s horrible what happened to one of the best players in college football. You hate to see that. And I know he’ll come back 100 percent when he’s able to, but you know what, they got a couple other pretty good guys. [Sony]Michel and [Keith]Marshall, who are both highly recruited guys that have stepped in and, obviously, the thing that kind of stands out as you watch it is their overall team speed. They got two wideouts that can really, really go. And they use their tight ends in a lot of different ways — big physical guys.”
On preparing for Georgia’s defense
“As we kind of look at them from a defensive standpoint, nationally ranked top-20 team defensively. They do a great job on third downs. In particular, these guys have some guys on their staff that we know real well. Jeremy Pruitt’s not only a great, great coach but a good friend.”
On confusing Georgia’s defense
“Obviously, us breaking down our tendencies was huge. We had to spend a week changing all our signals ‘cause they know ‘em all… That’s what makes the chess match so much fun.”
On Georgia’s special teams
“In special teams, they’ve done a really good job in big games with fakes. So, we’ve had to be prepared, going back a lot of years seeing all the different things they’ve done.”
On practice this week
“The interesting thing will be to see how we pay attention to the details of everything that we do this week — little things.”
On getting insight into the rivalry
“We got some guys on our staff that have played in the game and been involved as well. The good part is all have been able to let us know exactly what it is, what it means but more so, kind of, what to expect. I know this, they will play at a fevered, high-pitched, no-holes-barred attitude that they’ll come into the game with. But at the end of the day, we have to make sure we take care of us and play with detail and execution.”
On what went wrong against LSU
“I thought we got a little out of sorts in our last game. I thought, in the first half, we pressed — guys doing uncharacteristic things. It wasn’t anything doing with their effort, but they were trying to do more than what they had to do. That isn’t how we’re gonna win. We’re gonna win by doing our job, and we’re gonna win together.”
On their mindset right now
“We put ourselves in a position to where what we do is relevant, and that’s kind of a neat thing, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t take care of what we need to do today to get ready for Saturday.
On developing his players
“With this team, it’s fun to see great, teachable moments that come out of everything we do… and not just from out on the football fields.”
On the entire program contributing this week
“Here’s the good thing: I don’t play. ‘Cause if I did, we’d lose.
The preparation and the attention to detail… you’re gonna lose if you don’t handle those things properly. That doesn’t matter what you go into. If you’re going into a game of Chutes and Ladders, I mean, you gotta prepare yourself to go be successful. That’s what we have to do as a team and an organization. I’m not talking just a team. I’m talking about the entire organization.”
On understanding their situation
“What bothers me sometimes is little things that are important — that may seem insignificant in some ways — are left dangling. And we had an opportunity this week to get back to some things throughout the organization, and that was good. We gotta understand how we’ve, kind of even, gotten to where we are now but really realize how far we have to go.”
On rivalries
“Rivalries… that’s what makes college football what it’s all about.”
On improving with Treon Harris at quarterback
“We have a team full of guys that needed to get better — not just Treon. There’s some plays he wants back, but there’s a whole bunch of plays a lot of guys want back. And it was an opportunity, again, for us to work on ourselves… really break down the tendency part.”
On how he treats a bye week
“Bye weeks are fun from a standpoint of the work you can get done. Bye weeks are great on Saturdays when you leave the office, where you can go catch the noon game and not worry about 3rd-and-6. That was fun. It’s really the first time that you get a chance to sit down and enjoy a ballgame as a fan, so that was kind of a neat deal.”
On Treon Harris starting against Georgia
“I think you look at a historical background of Treon, himself. I mean, he won a few ballgames in high school. That was a pretty darn successful program he came from. I mean, the stage is not too big for him at all. That’s the least of the worries. I’m just glad he’s our quarterback and looking forward to seeing how he progresses this week.”
On off-the-field improvements during the bye week
“Well, the big thing for us, too, was catching up academically on some things. As I told them, it’s a chance to let your mind relax. What do I mean by that? Get the clutter out. Go be a normal person. We’ll see how it was, and we’ll see what kind of detail we come back with as we enter today.”
On Martez Ivey
“[Martez Ivey] can play whatever he wants, and I’m sure glad he’s a Gator because that guy’s a big-time ball player. But here’s what I like most about him: ‘Coach, what can I do to help this football team?’ Now, let’s talk about giving up yourself for the benefit of others. It’s not saying, ‘I’ve gotta be a tackle.’ It’s saying, ‘Put me in, coach, wherever you want me ‘cause I’m gonna help this team get better.’ And that’s what I love about him.”
On their run game
“It’s not good enough. I mean, it’s obvious. We gotta get better. We haven’t created explosive runs. Obviously, it’s not where we expect it to be or where it’s going to be. We gotta get better there. And yet, we got a lot of guys working real hard, and we’re doing a good job up front at times. We’ve gotta be a little patient through the hole and speed through the hole. There’s a lot of things we gotta work on that way.”
On what wins games
“To be a dominant football team, you’ve gotta be able to stop the run, and you’ve gotta be able to run the football, and we haven’t done that.”
On Treon Harris’ escape ability
“[Treon] can beat you with his feet. What that does is create pass-rush-lane issues for the other team that knows that they’ve gotta make sure to control that — to not allow him to use his feet as a checkdown.”
On Treon Harris’ lack of height in the pocket
“I thought his pocket presence was pretty good. Sometimes you need to shift and, maybe, find angles to get the ball through when, maybe, you’re a little vertically challenged. But there’s been a lot of really good quarterbacks that are shorter than I am, and they figured it out, so we don’t look at it as any kind of negative.”
