Florida QB Del Rio leaves contest

"Lucky to be able to play for a coach and teammates that care for me so much!"

"Because of what we're doing and what we need to do in preparation, I know you guys have had a long, already kind of long season", McElwain said to reporters Monday.

McElwain after a break felt assured there was no intention.

"He didn't have to go under the knife yet, so that, to me, is a positive", McElwain said. "It's one of those games I'm sure they've been zeroed in on since a year ago in 'The Swamp.' We'll show up, we'll be there, so it should be a lot of fun". Preparation never changes. The process to get yourself ready to play never changes. I'll be back as soon as I can. "We'll see on Saturday". "I haven't had to". Luke Del Rio completed 19 of 32 passes for 320 yards and 4 touchdowns. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article. ESPN's College GameDay will be in Knoxville for the UF-UT game.

Callaway missed the team's game this past weekend against North Texas, and it looks as if his status remains up in the air for this coming Saturday. The Gators are now 0 for 3 on fourth-down tries inside the 10 this season. It was a dominating performance despite the opponent. "He knows how to prepare", McElwain said.

Appleby also did not have one of the nation's best defenses behind him, like he does now.

The Florida defense helped on the scoreboard as well.

Against North Texas, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Zuniga had his second two-sack game for the Gators.

Appleby and Del Rio battled throughout last spring and early in camp for the No. 1 role, with Del Rio getting the nod as the starter late in August camp. "That was pretty impressive".

Florida should remain at or near No. 23, making next week's game at Tennessee the second in eight years in which both Southeastern Conference rivals were ranked. Defensively, North Texas football is yielding 262.7 yards in passing and 239.9 in rushing against the opposing teams.

"Here's what I saw", said McElwain.

"When you lose your starting quarterback, it's always going to raise a couple eyebrows and (lead to) a couple of questions", Gators cornerback Jalen Tabor told reporters after Saturday night's game, "but the quarterback position's only as good as the people around him and the people around him are only as good as the quarterback position". "I think it all stems from the week of practice the offense had".

The offense has its work cut out...

But there was some good news for Tennessee. Fine was under constant duress from the Gators, who finished the night with seven sacks.

"We'll throw someone in there, and he'll play his tail off", McElwain said.

Bobby Dyer is a Sports Writer at End Zone Score. And I've been modeling myself after him, and ever since that I've been a Gator. "How would you like to go against that defense from the one yard line or inside the five. I don't know when it's going to be".

There were some things going on up front as well on offense. Florida will be without starting right guard Tyler Jordan (eye) and backup linebacker Jeremiah Moon (thumb).

It was clear that Florida missed injured receiver Antonio Callaway. But Tyler Jordan is still out, OK. I thought Kavaris Harkless did a little bit there and did a great job.

Florida scored 45 points in a win against Kentucky last week behind four touchdown passes from Del Rio.