RBs Perine, Scarlett pushing each other

GAINESVILLE — Lamical Perine and Jordan Scarlett. Jordan Scarlett and Lamical Perine.

The order no longer matters. The Florida Gators’ interchangeable tailback duo has become one.

There may be a single football to go around, but Perine and Scarlett are happy to share it.

“We complement each other,” Scarlett said Tuesday. “I go in and I’m seeing some stuff or he sees it from the sideline, ‘Yo Jordan, this and that.’ So we just help each other out.”

Teammates, friends and, above all, competitors, the Gators’ 1-2 punch has found a nice balance and a winning formula just in time for their biggest test.

Perine and Scarlett enter Saturday’s showdown with Georgia each coming off 100-yard games Oct. 12 at Vanderbilt. The last time two UF runners eclipsed 100 yards during the same game was when Kelvin Taylor and Matt Jones ran roughshod over the Bulldogs during a 38-20 rout in 2014.

Perine remembers the game and hopes history repeats itself.

“Hey, if God has it planned for us, then it’s going to happen,” he

said. “But we are working hard to make that happen, as well.”

Running the football effectively will be key for the Gators (6-1, 4-1 SEC) against their rival Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1). The past 12 winners in the series finished with more rushing yards.

“It’s critical,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “You look at the history of the Florida-Georgia game … the team that leads it in rushing tends to win. It’s really not that way anymore in college, but this game has been that way.

“I think the conditions and the things that are at stake, running the ball takes a little stress off whoever’s quarterback is able to have a better running game.”

Whatever happens in Jacksonville’s TIAA Bank Field, Scarlett and Perine will be in lockstep after a sluggish start to the season while the Gators assimilated Dan Mullen’s offense and coaches weighed the running back rotation.

Sophomore Malik Davis’ broken foot suffered Sept. 15 against Colorado State and freshman Dameon Pierce’s inexperience at the position’s finer points put the spotlight on Perine and Scarlett.

Each has taken his turn to shine. But Perine and Scarlett have been brilliant during the past two games — comeback wins against LSU and Vanderbilt.

Perine and Scarlett combined for 150 rushing yards against LSU, with Perine finding the end zone twice.

A week later in Nashville, Scarlett’s 48-yard touchdown proved to be the go-ahead score on his way to a season-high 113 yards. Meanwhile, Perine rushed for 121 yards and a score while also catching four passes for 93 yards, including a 63-yard gain to set up a field goal.

“They’re really coming along,” Mullen said. “They’re starting to get really comfortable in our offense, how to run plays within our offense and how plays hit within our offense. I’ve seen a huge step

from those guys from Game 1 to now.

“Hopefully they continue that confidence and progression to keep moving in the right direction.”

Scarlett, a redshirt junior from Fort Lauderdale, and Perine, a junior from Theodore, Ala., will push each other every step of the way.

“We’re always competing,” Scarlett said. “If he breaks one, I’m like ‘You know, I’ve got to get you back, man. I’m going to try to break one, too.’”

This friendly competition helped the Gators dig out of an 18-point hole to win 37-27 at Vanderbilt.

Following a sluggish start by Scarlett during chilly, overcast conditions, Perine stepped in to ignite the Gators’ languid attack. After watching from the sideline, Scarlett came to life when his given his shot.

The dynamic is nothing new to those who have seen Perine and Scarlett’s relationship grow the past few years.

“When Perine first came in as a freshman, Scarlett was telling him the game and telling him how college is going to be,” said receiver Tyrie Cleveland, a junior. “But they feed off each other in practice, they motivate each other and continue to push each other.”

Scarlett and Perine’s days together could be numbered. Now in his fourth year at UF, Scarlett could leave early for the NFL.

“I’ve thought about it a lot,” he said. “We’ll see when the time gets there.”

For now, Perine and Scarlett are focused on continuing Florida’s five-game winning streak with an upset win over Georgia, a sevenpoint favorite. Two Gators with so much shared history will look to make some more Saturday.

“That game’s special, holds a lot of history,” Scarlett said. “Just want to be a part of that history.”