Gators holding first scrimmage today
The Gators, who officially opened preseason camp with practices Saturday and Sunday, will hold their first preseason scrimmage today.
UF coach Dan Mullen said this is when the real mental and physical grind begins. And it will go on basically non-stop for the next two weeks.
“We’re going to put the players in a lot of adverse situations so that they learn how to flip the switch,” Mullen said. “As it gets harder, we go harder. We get better and tougher as practice goes on.
“As the game goes on, we play harder and tougher. As the season goes on, we’re a much more physical, tougher and play harder at the end of the season than we are at the beginning. That’s a mindset that we’re trying to instill in the guys. The great thing is I don’t see the resistance, I just see them trying to figure it all out. So we’ll go from there.”
The Gators still do not know who their starting quarterback will be. The competition remains wide open between Feleipe Franks, Kyle Trask and true freshman Emory Jones.
Mullen said he has no timetable for naming a starter, but he’s hoping it happens well before the week of the Sept. 1 opener.
“I’d love to figure it, this guy is going to be our starter then we go with it,” Mullen said. “As soon as we feel comfortable, I want to do it.”
FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES
Seminoles to practice at IMG Academy: The Seminoles will be working out this week at IMG Academy in Bradenton, but there was some confusion about announcing that news.
Florida State officials originally were concerned that announcing the location would be considered an NCAA violation because they were making a one-time trip to the school, which is home to numerous elite college football prospects.
The school now is planning to practice there in future years as well, which apparently alleviates any NCAA concerns.
FSU sent out the following release around 6:30 p.m. Friday:
“The Florida State football program will travel to Bradenton, Florida, on Sunday and will practice Monday-Thursday at IMG Academy. Today, Florida State signed a multi-year agreement to host a portion of its preseason practices at IMG Academy. By establishing IMG Academy as a preseason location in future years, Florida State is now able to publicize the activity and invite media to cover practices at the location.”
Not only is Bradenton a fertile recruiting territory, it also is where head coach Willie Taggart played high school football.
CENTRAL FLORIDA KNIGHTS
UCF secondary should be well prepared: Central Florida’s 2018 schedule includes four teams — Florida Atlantic, SMU, Memphis and USF — that ranked among the nation’s top 12 scoring teams last season.
How will these Knights prepare for such challenges? Easy. Spend all year going up against the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense.
“I think our receiving corps will probably be the best guys we play against, so it’s always good going against those guys every day,” cornerback Brandon Moore said.
Despite cornerback Mike Hughes’ early departure to the NFL and safety Tre Neal’s transfer to Nebraska, the Knights’ secondary still boasts a blend of talent and experience.
The projected starting safeties, Kyle Gibson and Richie Grant, played in every game last season. The same holds true for Moore, and fellow starting cornerback Nevelle Clarke, who made five starts. According to coach Josh Heupel, no group of players has caught his eye more during the early stages of camp.
“I think as much as anything in the first five days, I’m really happy about the maturity, the growth and the way that our defensive backfield has really attacked every single play every single day,” he said. ”