Standing beside the Outback Bowl trophy waiting to get on stage, Jim McElwain put his arm around Chauncey Gardner and smiled.
He couldn’t contain his happiness.
“Well, guys,” he told assembled reporters when he arrived at the lectern, “that was a heck of a game for us.”
The most obvious point of emphasis as McElwain began talking was the offense, which scored its most points since October 15. But in Florida’s win over Iowa, it wasn’t just the offense that earned praises.
Special teams show up in shadow of offense and defense
Eddy Pineiro just wanted a high-five.
Following one of his three field goals in Monday’s Outback Bowl, he stood staring with an open palm at teammate CeCe Jefferson, who was completely oblivious.
Jefferson just kept bowing up and down at his kicker, whose nine points tripled the opposition’s score.
Pineiro’s afternoon put him at 21-of-25 on field goals this season, placing him in a tie for the fifth-most field goals made in a season in Florida history.
Punter Johnny Townsend, meanwhile, also played well, punting four times for an average of 45.5 yards per punt.
Linebackers go down and step up
Florida was already relying entirely on backups when Kylan Johnson went down.
The redshirt freshman grabbed his knee in pain near midfield, was helped off the turf and never returned.
Already down two starters — Jarrad Davis and Alex Anzalone — and one de-facto starter — David Reese — losing Johnson meant the Gators were nearly out of bodies at linebacker.
Interim defensive coordinator Randy Shannon turned to freshman Vosean Joseph, senior Daniel McMillian, redshirt freshman Rayshad Jackson and walk-on Cristian Garcia to fill the void. And they performed.
“I was so proud of those guys,” defensive lineman Joey Ivie said. “I can’t even express it enough.”
McMillian led to group with seven tackles, while Joseph was just behind him with six.
Garcia, who made his first start in the Outback Bowl, was close behind them with five while also calling out the defensive plays.
“I was real comfortable,” Garcia said of guiding the unit. “I mean, I’ve been playing in this defense for two years. So I’ve always known the calls.”
McElwain said that while he would’ve liked his star players to have been out there, he was thrilled with how his young linebackers performed. He added that even though it wasn’t ideal, the depleted position will be better prepared in the future.
“We've got a lot of good young players that played a lot of football for us this year,” he said, “and they'll teach the guys that are coming in next year.”
Contact Ethan Bauer at ebauer@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @ebaueri.
Florida kicker Eddy Pineiro attempts a field goal during UF's 30-3 win over Iowa in the Outback Bowl Monday at Raymond James Stadium.
