dodging the upset

[radbag]

Freshman Chris Rainey had a question for coach Urban Meyer. It exemplified the youth of this Florida football team.

"To show you how young this team is, Chris Rainey asked me, he said, 'How does this travel stuff work? Do we leave the day before the game?'" Meyer said after Tuesday's practice. "Yeah, Chris. We leave the day before the game."

Third-ranked Florida, (3-0, 1-0 SEC) packs its bags for the first time this season to visit Ole Miss (1-2, 0-1) for an 11:30 a.m. local kickoff. The Gators have lost three straight games in the state of Mississippi. None of them have been under Meyer, who has not beaten an SEC west opponent on the road.

He said the best way he knew how to move past Florida's 59-20 win over Tennessee Saturday and focus on Ole Miss was to practice hard Tuesday.

"You have the hardest Tuesday in the country," Meyer said. "There isn't a whole lot of discussion about the Tennessee game out there today for the 3-hour practice we had. That's the only way I know how to do it...Pack your toughness, pack your defense and you can't do that without older players. I'm as worried as I've been in a long time about this team for this week."

Said sophomore wide receiver Percy Harvin, on possibly overlooking Ole Miss after beating rival Tennessee last week: "Coach is not going to let that happen. One of the reasons we wanted to come out and have a long, hard practice today is to make sure, we beat Tennessee, but not to get complacent and keep working hard."

Freshman offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey (low ankle sprain) did not practice Tuesday and is questionable. Redshirt freshman Maurice Hurt spelled Pouncey against the Volunteers and played well. Sophomore cornerback Markihe Anderson (knee) is not expected to play.

Meyer said freshman linebacker Jerimy Finch (broken ankle) should be a candidate for a medical redshirt. The Gators are experimenting with moving freshman Carlos Dunlap, listed at 6-foot-6, from defensive end to defensive tackle and Meyer said it has looked good in the early stages.

"He's a big body, maybe knock a ball down or something," Meyer said. "We're searching and (defensive line) coach (Greg) Mattison will find it. Maybe it might just be in passing situations but we're still experimenting with it."

Ole Miss, which lost 31-17 at Vanderbilt last week, might be without quarterback Seth Adams, who separated his shoulder on a quarterback scramble and aggravated it on a sack in the fourth quarter.

Coach Ed Orgeron said Adams probably won't practice most of the week. Tennessee transfer Brent Schaeffer and redshirt freshman Michael Herrick are Ole Miss' two other quarterback options. Schaeffer will probably start.

"(The coaches are) going back and looking at the film of last year's stuff," Meyer said. "(Schaeffer is) certainly a much different quarterback. I read somewhere that they might put in a few plays that he's good at so obviously the athleticism concerns me."

More Meyer Quotes

Meyer on Tuesday's practice: It was not a very good practice. Effort was OK. Especially on defense, I wasn't pleased at all.

On rumors freshman wide receiver Deonte Thompson wants to transfer: I talked to Deonte. He said he loves it. He's ready to go.

On why Thompson hasn't played: We have a couple guys that are pretty good. He's getting darn close. He's closer now than he was last week. He's at a position where there happens to be some pretty good players. I think he's going to be not a good one. I think he's going to be a great player. I don't want to waste a year…He's getting close to being ready to play.

On Ole Miss' fans tearing down the goal posts in the team's last win over Florida: That's old history. We're just trying to get through Tuesday's practice and we're going to have a really hard Wednesday practice. Maybe you guys never had 18-, 19-year old children. You can't do anything beyond what's important. That certainly has no impact on whether we win or lose the game. Take care of the football and play good defense.

[G8Rpmc]

Meyer said freshman linebacker Jerimy Finch (broken ankle) should be a candidate for a medical redshirt.

I hope they can do that for him. Seeing that on a replay....big time hurt. [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif[/img]