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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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With only four days remaining until the start of the season on Saturday against New Mexico State, Florida coach Jim McElwain is preaching to his team to be more consistent this week leading up to their matchup against the Aggies.  

During Fall camp, McElwain saw on more than one occasion that the team was struggling with consistency in different aspects. So at the top of his priority list this week is for UF to be more dependable with the game-plan being implemented and finally facing a team that’s wearing a different jersey.

“We loaded a lot of stuff in the wagon, both offensively and defensively and special teams trying to make sure our checklists are filled based on the unknown going forward,” McElwain said on Monday.

The unknown McElwain speaks about is facing a defensive coordinator that the offense hasn’t seen day in and day out. During camp, quarterbacks Will Grier and Treon Harris had their moments moving the first-team offense well enough against a defense that they faced each day in practice.

But Florida’s first-year coach acknowledges that even though the quarterbacks had success in practice, there’s a long way to go before the offense reaches its potential, and facing an opposing defense is a different animal.   

“It hasn’t been consistent to the point that we were hoping,” McElwain said. “And yet, what I think you’ll find out over time when you ask people in the past, we always strive to make that consistency in everyday action. Not sure we’ve gotten there yet.”

One of the reasons the offense hasn’t lived up to McElwain’s expectations is the inability of the wide receivers to make even the simplest of catches.  

It’s something McElwain has harped on after each practice, as the Gators have had their share of problems with dropped passes the past few years, and he’s seen it first-hand how much of an issue it is with some of the wideouts including Ahmad Fulwood.

The Jacksonville native has had flashes in practice according to McElwain, but he still needs to develop and utilize his skillset.

“He’s shown glimpses of it. We’ve talked about it before, I’d like to see that he plays 6-foot-3 rather than 5-foot-8 at times,” McElwain said of Fulwood. “Go up and get the ball. Be aggressive in the air. Don’t take no for an answer.”

On special teams, McElwain has touched on everything from the timing of the long snappers to how well the punting and kicking units perform. Redshirt junior kicker Austin Hardin has had an up and down career at Florida.

In 2013, the Atlanta native was only 4-12 in field goal attempts. But he bounced back last season and went 7-10 as he took over the field goal duties from Frankie Velez during the second half of last year.

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Hardin said that the belief the coaching staff has in him has helped him take his game to another level.

“(I’m) continuing to build on consistency and confidence,” Hardin said. “I think I’m, technique wise, more sound. I believe the coaches believe in me and that has really helped me out a lot. I've proven to them that I can go out there and do the job and compete at a high level.”

Now just a few days before he gets to see his team take on an opponent for the first time as the coach of Florida, McElwain wants to see the Gators become dependable in all aspects because they have to be ready for everything the Aggies and all the rest of their opponents will throw at them.    

“You’ve gotta be sound in what you’re doing … so really for us it’s being able to develop a consistency and really have answers moving forward as to what they (New Mexico State) throw at you.”

Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII

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