Jim McElwain stood at the lectern on Monday and made a bold declaration. With a matchup against No. 1 Alabama — a team with the No. 1 scoring defense, rushing defense and total defense in the country — looming following a double-digit loss to Florida State, the second-year coach was asked about the obvious mismatch of his No. 114-ranked offense facing the elite Crimson Tide defense.
“I don’t look at it as a mismatch at all,” he said. “I look at it as a great opportunity and, you know, that’s part of the chess match.”
Odds makers feel differently, labeling the Gators as 24-point underdogs against Alabama in Saturday’s Southeastern Conference Championship game.
However, it was clear on Tuesday that McElwain’s attitude has influenced his players.
“No not at all,” said left tackle David Sharpe when asked if the game was a mismatch.
Fellow offensive lineman Fred Johnson agreed.
“It’s not a mismatch,” he said. “It’s just the mentality that you come out there to play the game and the toughness that you have to finish every drive and every single play that you’re in.”
And so did defensive lineman Khairi Clark.
“I feel like we’re not underneath them because we’re back to where we were last year,” he said. “But we’re trying to come out with the victory this time. I feel like we can match up just as well as them, so I think we’re going to get it.”
Aside from odds makers, though, recent history also favors the Crimson Tide. UF hasn’t beaten Alabama since the 2008 national championship-winning, Tim Tebow-led season. Since then, the Gators are 0-5 against the current defending national champions.
Still, even with the high-ranking Crimson Tide defense facing the deplorable Florida offense, Clark said the team is legitimately optimistic.
“I feel like it’s going to be a great matchup,” he said.
Offense looking to the past for future improvement
When asked what UF’s offense has to do to compete with Alabama, Sharpe, Johnson and guard Tyler Jordan all pointed to the same thing: capitalizing on opportunities.
“When we get down in the red zone,” Sharpe said, “we got to get points.”
That was a problem for the Gators last weekend against FSU, embodied most dramatically when Florida easily drove inside the Florida State 10-yard line on its first drive before being stonewalled on fourth down.
Against Alabama, the Gators are hoping to avoid repeating that same mistake and others like it.
“We would drive it down but not finish in the end zone like we should be,” Johnson said. “And it’s really just everybody being on the same page and just little things and little details of the game and play calls and stuff like that.”
Sharpe wants a more active role in offense
Sharpe said on Tuesday that he’s been hampering coaches with an unusual request.
“I’ve been trying to tell them all year, run that left tackle pass,” he said. “I’m definitely going to catch it.”
Using offensive linemen in tight end packages isn’t unheard of. In 2015, Baylor even moved former offensive lineman LaQuan McGowan — a 6-foot-7, 405-pound player — to tight end full time, though a move for the 6-foot-6, 357-pound Sharpe is highly unlikely.
Johnson, meanwhile, said he’d also be open to some pass-catching action.
“Shoot, I want a right guard, right tackle pass,” he said when told about Sharpe’s ambitions. “I want it first.”
Contact Ethan Bauer at ebauer@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @ebaueri.
Offensive lineman David Sharpe, right, stands over quarterback Austin Appleby during Florida's loss to Florida State on Nov. 26, 2016, in Tallahassee.
