Florida cornerbacks have a tall task Saturday.
Not only will they face quarterback Tyler Bray, a preseason awards watch list fixture, but UF also goes against receivers Justin Hunter and Cordarrelle Patterson.
Hunter, who suffered an ACL tear during the Volunteers’ first drive against the Gators last season, leads the Southeastern Conference with 17 receptions.
Hunter stands 6 feet, 4 inches, while Patterson is 6 feet, 3 inches.
“They’re guys that will go up and get the ball,” sophomore cornerback Marcus Roberson said.
“They’re nice. We all (are) looking forward to it. It’s a big challenge for us as a group: Just looking to get the ball out.”
Sophomore Loucheiz Purifoy is the tallest of Florida’s cornerback rotation at 6 feet, 1 inch.
Roberson deflected a pass on a redzone fade route to 6-foot-5 receiver Mike Evans during Texas A&M’s first drive on Saturday.
“When you play a lot of press and bump like we do, you want to have some guys with length for when you have what we call ’50-50 balls,’” defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said.
“Balls that are up in the air and can go to either guy. That’s why some of that with those two guys in particular — Roberson and Purifoy — with the length that they have, we certainly will get a lot of work at that.”
Quinn sees a cornerback corps ready to take on the challenge of defending Patterson and Hunter, even though Cody Riggs is out with a fractured foot.
“Both of them are real physical guys and accomplished players that know how to go get the ball,” Quinn said.
“Certainly it’s a matchup our guys are looking forward to as well.”
Nothing shy about Morrison: Antonio Morrison isn’t afraid of contact.
With Jelani Jenkins out roughly four weeks with a fractured right thumb, the freshman steps into the Will linebacker spot.
“This guy, he will throw his stuff up in there,” Gators coach Will Muschamp said.
“I tell you, he’s a physical player. He’s instinctive. He’s tough.”
Rivals ranked Morrison the 10th-best inside linebacker coming out of high school. The former Bolingbrook (Ill.) High standout enrolled at Florida in January and made his presence felt from Day 1.
“I always tell him that he’s soft because he’s from Chicago. But no, he’s a tough kid,” redshirt senior defensive tackle Omar Hunter said.
“And to come down here, man, he’s adapted well to being in Florida and learning from guys like Jelani and (Jon) Bostic has really helped him out a lot. He’s doing pretty well right now.”
Morrison, who squatted 600 pounds in high school, showed his strength throughout the offseason.
“He asked really good questions,” Quinn said. “He was really on it in terms of the details of playing linebacker.”
Not your average Tennessee team: Omar Hunter doesn’t lose against Tennessee.
During his time in Gainesville, the defensive tackle is 4-0 against the Volunteers.
The Gators have seven straight victories in the series, but Hunter sees a team different from the one Florida outscored 213 to 106 during that span.
“This is the best Tennessee team I’ve seen on film,” Hunter said.
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Freshman linebacker Antonio Morrison (12) chases down Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel (5) during UF's 20-17 victory against Texas A&M at Kyle Field.
