Freshman linebacker Jerimy Finch is out for the season with a broken bone in his lower right leg, UF coach Urban Meyer said during his Sunday teleconference.
Finch broke his leg after he intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter and had a Tennessee player fall on top of him. He was then carted off the field.
Finch?s loss will be felt on kickoff coverage, where he received the majority of his playing time.
Meyer said Sunday he is Bnot pleasedC with kickoff coverage, so the loss of Finch will not help that, either.
As of Sunday morning Finch had just been released from the hospital, and Meyer said he had some Bligament issues.C
In addition to the interception, Finch had seven total tackles on the season, tied for 10th on the Gators.
Coming in, Finch was a four star-recruit and the top prospect in Indiana, according to Rivals.com.
OTHER INJURIES: Meyer said wide receiver Andre Caldwell will miss Saturday?s game against Mississippi.
Caldwell sprained his right MCL against Troy and was ruled out for the Tennessee game the following Monday. Meyer said he hopes to have his team captain back Sept. 29 against Auburn in The Swamp. Caldwell has 111 yards receiving and one rushing touchdown on the season.
In Caldwell?s absence, the Gators went to do-it-all sophomore Percy Harvin more, and he responded with 195 total yards of offense and one touchdown.
Meyer said he also did not have any further news on the status of offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey, who went down with a right ankle injury early in Saturday?s game.
The good news for the Gators is that X-rays on the freshman?s ankle came back negative.
Meyer said he would know more about Pouncey?s ankle, as well as the status of Markihe Anderson (right knee) today.
Pouncey is the second UF offensive lineman to go down this season. Senior tackle Phil Trautwein went out with a stress fracture in his right foot four days before the season opener against Western Kentucky.
Redshirt freshman Maurice Hurt replaced Pouncey in the lineup.
DEFENSE EARNS PRAISE: There was a common theme during Sunday's teleconference: Meyer was thrilled with the performance of his defense.
He was especially impressed with cornerbacks Wondy Pierre-Louis and Joe Haden.
Meyer said Haden and Pierre-Louis made tackles on 18 of the 19 opportunities they had.
BI want to say Joe Haden was perfect - 9 for 9 - on making plays,C Meyer said. BHe?s turned into a very good football player.
BThe reason we won that game was excellent defense.C
After the defense - especially the defensive line - had been criticized by Meyer earlier in the week, it appears the Gators learned their lessons from the first two games.
Tennessee coaches and players said they had planned to come in and run the ball against UF, but there was little give in the Gators? defensive line, as they allowed just 37 net rushing yards.
BTennessee made it public,C Meyer said. BThey wanted to run the ball against us. I don?t blame them. I was watching how our defense kept hanging in there and they were doing a fantastic job. I don?t want to say I was shocked, but I was.C
