AUSTIN (KXAN) — Despite the roller coaster the Florida Gators have been on this season, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian isn’t about to take the team he calls “arguably the best-looking team in the SEC” lightly.
“They are big, long and athletic,” Sarkisian said about the 4-4 Gators. “They are physical at the point of attack, they’ve got good length and they play a multitude of coverages. But that’s just life in the Southeastern Conference.”
Florida head coach Billy Napier signed a 7-year contract with $50 million guaranteed in 2021. The .500 record to this point has some feeling he’s on the hot seat, but improved performance lately has cooled it a bit, perhaps. At any rate, the Gators could be on their third quarterback in redshirt freshman Aiden Warner with DJ Lagway suffering a hamstring injury Napier called “significant” after the 34-20 loss to Georgia last week.
Napier hasn’t ruled Lagway out of the game Saturday in Austin. He said Monday, “we had positive information on that front,” and he thinks the injury is less significant than initially thought. The Gators are certainly more dangerous with Lagway at quarterback and his ability to run as well as throw.
Florida led the Bulldogs while Lagway was in the game, and after his exit late in the second quarter, things unraveled in the second half. Sarkisian said his team has to prepare for an intricate offensive scheme that Napier runs, no matter who is taking the snaps.
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“There’s a lot of shifts, motion and formation adjustments that they tax you with,” Sarkisian said. “They are in a little bit of limbo from a quarterback perspective, but we’ve got to prepare for the offense they run.”
Wide receiver Isaiah Bond and defensive back Andrew Mukuba practiced Monday, Sarkisian said, and it was “really encouraging,” but he’s looking at how they respond to the workload moving forward.
“Today was a good start,” he said referring to their recoveries.
What about SEC teams faking injuries?
With the SEC paying closer attention to teams that fake injuries to slow down opposing offenses, Sarkisian said he doesn’t condone it with his team and it “doesn’t affect them much.”
“The integrity of the game is vitally important, but we haven’t really felt the effects of it,” he said. “I haven’t felt it from opponents.”
The memo from SEC commissioner Greg Sankey included punishments for head coaches and programs that were deemed to feign injuries, including a $50,000 fine and public reprimand on the first offense. The fine increases to $100,000 on the second offense and after three strikes, the head coach gets a 1-game suspension.
Sankey ended the memo to SEC athletic directors and head coaches with, “play football and stop the feigned injury nonsense.”
