Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
McElwain tells fans to blame him for issues
GAINESVILLE — UF coach Jim McElwain said fans should blame him, not his quarterbacks, not the offensive line and definitely not offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier.
Two days after a 33-17 loss to Michigan due largely to another no-show by his offense, McElwain defended his embattled offensive coordinator, telling fans to put the bull-eye where it belongs and vowing to solve the problem.
“Put the ire towards me, I mean, I’m the one responsible for it,” McElwain told reporters Monday. “I plan on getting it fixed.”
Outside of the UF football facility, one solution has been offered repeatedly during the past 48 hours: alleviate Nussmeier of playcalling duties.
“We’re not doing that right now,” McElwain said. “We need to make sure that the guys that need to touch it, touch it. Those things need getting called.”
Following Saturday’s loss, McElwain said players involved in the original game plan did not get the football. Fans seized on the sentiment and ran with it.
Much of the vitriol flooding social media and message boards has targeted Nussmeier. The 46-year-old entered his third season at UF with major improvement expected on his side of the ball.
Instead, the Gators opened the season failing to score an offensive touchdown and producing just 192 yards, the lowest output since the team’s loss to Alabama in the 2015 SEC championship.
Looking to spark his attack against Michigan, McElwain benched redshirt freshman quarterback Feleipe Franks and replaced him with Notre Dame graduate transfer Malik Zaire.
Franks did not return to the game, despite Zaire’s struggles to get rid of the football, which led to five sacks. McElwain said he also considered playing redshirt junior Luke Del Rio.
On Monday, McElwain said Franks will start Saturday when Northern Colorado visits the Swamp. But the quarterback position will continue to be weighed.
“We’ll look at that,” McElwain said. “We’ve got this week of practice and then the game and then we’ll evaluate after that.”
Fans are showing far less patience.
McElwain exhibits a bunker mentality and does not hear the fan fury, insisting he focuses all his time on trying to help his team improve. Yet he is aware it exists.
“I get it,” McElwain said of the criticism. “And yet the bunker piece of it, you know the work that you’ve put in, you know how hard you work at it and getting the people in place to go ahead and make plays, that’s kind of the biggest piece and we’ll continue to work on that.
“It’s part of the gig. And one thing, I’ve never really worried about it because I know how hard we work and how complete we do things.”
McElwain is convinced the effort is going to pay off and remains confident in Nussmeier, who succeeded McElwain as offensive coordinator at Alabama and called plays for the 2012 national champions.
“I’ve seen what he can do. I’ve seen what he’s done,” McElwain said.
The Gators’ offense certainly should receive a boost this weekend. During Saturday’s 41-14 win against College of Idaho, Northern Colorado allowed 336 yards to an NAIA foe with a student body of 1,141 students.
“Whether it’s a game like this or whatever I just know our guys have got to go out and play again,” McElwain said. “We’ve got to have a good week of practice in doing that, and you can’t feel sorry for yourselves.”
McElwain and Co. are going to need more than a good week or two to convince people the offense is moving in the right direction. In the end, Michigan could prove to be the best team the Gators face all season.
“It’s one game,” McElwain said.
Yet the Gators now are a combined 0-6 against Michigan, Alabama and Florida State. In those losses, UF failed to score an offensive touchdown three times and managed one twice.