Muschamp maintained Monday (sorry for the alliteration) that Florida will not officially hire an offensive coordinator until after the bowl game but that does not mean he has been stationary in his search for Charlie Weis’s replacement. “A lot of people have a tremendous interest in the job,” he said. “I’m taking my time. I’m talking to an awful lot of people and will continue to do so to find the best fit for the University of Florida. We will make that decision after the bowl game.”

Interim offensive coordinator Brian White, the team’s running back’s coach who is filling in for the bowl game, is a candidate at the top of Muschamp’s list and will have bowl practice and the game itself to convince his head coach that he deserves the job. “I’ll sit down and talk to Brian but again, he’s a guy I’ve been with every day. I like how he’s managing our offensive football team at this time,” Muschamp said. “He’s doing an outstanding job. He has experience at the position with Wisconsin and had great success. Certainly he’s a candidate.”

Other candidates – like Jacksonville head coach and former UF QB Kerwin Bell – are being interviewed in the meantime. In the end, Muschamp is looking for someone who can add his special touches but keep the status quo. “You’re also looking for the right fit. We’re not going to come in and change what we’re doing. We don’t think that it’s smart to hire a guy and have 40 guys learning as opposed to one guy learning,” he explained. “Obviously will he tweak some things? Certainly. Will he change some things? Yeah, maybe. But we’re not going to just take a playbook, throw it out the window and bring another one in. We got a young football team, and I think continuity is the most important thing at this point with our football team.”

IT STARTS WITH SELF-EVALUATION

Already looking back on the Gators’ 6-6 regular season, Muschamp (as he has all year) puts the blame primarily on himself, saying he is responsible because it all falls on his shoulders. Nevertheless, he thinks there is plenty for Florida fans to look forward to with the bowl game and offseason upcoming.

“At the end of the day, are we headed in the right direction? Yes, I emphatically believe that. Is it where we want to be at this point? No. Are we going to get there? Yes,” he said. Muschamp added that the 2011 season did not go as expected because, simply put, Florida did not play for a SEC Championship. “That’s what I understand, and that’s what I expect,” he said.

Asked if there was one thing he could change about how the year went, Muschamp said it would be one of the very first decisions he made as head coach. “The most disappointing thing or poor decision I made was training camp not having been more physical because of numbers. You get nervous about injuries. You get nervous about situations with guys as far as having a more physical camp to prepare our team for the season. If I had one thing I wish I could have changed, that would be it,” he said.

NOTES AND QUOTES

» Florida began practicing on Friday and worked on fundamentals and technique over the weekend. Preparations for Ohio State began on Monday, and the team will practice Monday-Thursday this week before going to Jacksonville next week.

» On the sophomore class: “Without getting specific, there’s no question the majority of our playmakers are in that class. You look offensively, defensively and special teams of the guys who really contributed to our football team.”

» On there being so much attrition this year: “I would attribute it to a lot of different things. I think it is hard to really put your finger on one thing and say, ‘This is it.’ Anytime you have transition there is a natural attrition that occurs. Whether it is the coach that recruited you, the position coach, the coordinator, the head coach is different, the scheme is different. There are a lot of things.”

» On why Brantley impresses him: “Regardless if you pay attention to it or not, you hear negativity a lot. Quarterback is a tough position to play. It is the hardest position o play on the field. When it’s going well, you normally are put on a pedestal that you actually are playing probably better than you really are. At times when things aren’t going very well, you’re probably painted to be a little bit worse than you really are. From that standpoint, a guy that went through a frustrating year the previous year, came into our situation [and] really embraced it, did a good job with our offense, unfortunately had some injuries and some setbacks. The one thing I’m going to tell you about John is that he’s a positive guy. He loves being a Florida Gator. And that’s important to me. He’s a guy that does everything he can do in a first-class manner. He’s got a great family that supports him and is a guy I’m really proud of to be a part of this football group.”

» On how he will approach recruiting with so many empty spots: “You still want to evaluate and take the right guys. It’s a little different now because we have a whole year to evaluate. My philosophy at that point was not taking a guy you weren’t sure about. That’s the most important thing – right now we’ve had a full year to evaluate. We know what we’ve evaluated. We’ve ranked everybody at every position. We understand the numbers at certain positions that we want to take, but we’re not going to take a guy to take a guy. We’d rather – if there’s five at this position and you want to take three, you know you’re going to get two so you take four more at this position if you really feel good about those four. More than anything, at the end of the day, it’s kind of like the NFL Draft. You take the best player available at those situations.”

» On redshirt junior tight end Omarius Hines not seeing the field much: “He had some injuries early in the year. As we moved forward, you look at Jordan Reed and A.C. Leonard were very productive at the position. [...] We expected more of an impact on special teams as well, not just on offense. The injury put him behind a little bit as far as moving forward.”

» On his plan for redshirt freshman QB Tyler Murphy: “To compete at the quarterback position.”

On sophomore Buck linebacker Ronald Powell: “He played better as the year rolled on. He’s having a nice bowl practice as we progress to this point. He’s had his best practice since we’ve been here the other day as far as just his pad level, his hand placement and affecting the quarterback in the rush. He always plays with good effort and toughness.”

Attempting to overcome his poor play in the first half, Brantley remained composed with 1:49 left until halftime and delivered a 21-yard strike to redshirt freshman wide receiver Quinton Dunbar. He was sandwiched on the play, and a helmet-to-helmet hit knocked him out for the remainder of the game.

Brissett took over for Brantley but failed to do anything with the Gators offense until Florida redshirt senior defensive tackle Jaye Howard recovered a fumble caused by redshirt freshman linebacker Michael Taylor with 4:32 remaining in the game.

Following a pass interference call on 1st and 10 from Florida State’s 21-yard-line, Brissett hit Dunbar in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. The late score allowed the Gators to avoid their first shutout since 1988.

Joining Brantley on the trainer’s table were redshirt senior RB Chris Rainey, sophomore DT Dominique Easley, sophomore LB Darrin Kitchens and redshirt sophomore guard Jon Halapio, all of whom were injured in action and did not return to the field.

Kitchens was injured on the opening kickoff of the second half and was carted to the locker rooms after laying motionless on the field for a number of minutes. He gave a thumbs up to the crowd on his way to the back.

Brantley finished his final game in The Swamp 9/15 for 104 yards and three interceptions. Rainey carried the ball 15 times for 42 yards, and senior RB Jeff Demps touched it just four times for -8 yards.

Dunbar finished with three receptions for 40 yards and a touchdown, and freshman tight end A.C. Leonoard led all Gators with 65 yards on the evening.

Florida’s stout defense held Florida State QB E.J. Manuel to six completions on 13 attempts for 65 yards and Freeman to 44 yards on 15 carries.

The Seminoles committed nine penalties for 85 yards and held the ball three minutes longer than the Gators did on Saturday.

Florida finished the regular season with a .500 record for the first time since 1979 (0-10-1). The Gators await a bowl invite but are expected to face Ohio State in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2, 2012 in Jacksonville, FL.

Redshirt senior wide receiver Deonte Thompson: “He’s really helped himself as far as playing on special teams. He’s done a nice job on teams for us. Given his opportunities, I think he’s made some plays for us when given the opportunity. I think he’s played consistent for us. He’s blocked extremely well for us this year. [...] Deonte’s worked extremely hard. He’s done everything we’ve asked. He’s had an outstanding career here. He’s going to graduate in December. He’s done all the right things, and I’m very pleased with Deonte. He can run – that’s the one thing – he can run vertically down the field, and he’s a very physical player. You look at most NFL rosters, they’re going to carry at most six receivers. If you’re not the top one or two, you got to play special teams. I think he’s helped himself this year on our coverage units – punt, punt block – and the different things that he’s been able to contribute to our football team. I think he’s really helped himself as far as those things are concerned.”

Redshirt senior running back Chris Rainey: “I try to judge things with my own eyes. I don’t really like to form an opinion on something that you hear. In my eyes, since I’ve been here, I’ve seen a guy that loves the University of Florida. He loves to compete. He goes out to practice and in the weight room and everything he does, he does 100 percent. He’s got a great sense of humor. He positively affects everyone around him. This team loves him. It’s very obvious to see that. He’s banged up. He’s hurt. His ankle’s bad. We’re sitting there in the Vanderbilt game down on the goal line and we had decided in pregame not to play him. He’s tugging on my back telling me, ‘Put me in the game. Let me carry the ball.’ That’s the type of guy you’re dealing with. That, to me, is a competitive, tough guy that you want playing on Saturday and the type of guy you want on your football team. You need more of those kinds of guys.”

Redshirt senior guard Dan Wenger: “He’s a guy that ahs bonded very easily with our players, very quickly with our players. Maturity, knowledge of the system and what was expected. He’s been a very valuable member for us. He’s a guy that wants to be a strength coach, so he’s in graduate school right now doing very well. He’s a guy I think will be an outstanding coach because of how he deals with people.”

Freshman fullback Hunter Joyer (and his maturity): “The year he has had this season has been very somewhat unnoticed maybe outside of the building. In the building, he’s as appreciated a football player on our football team for what he’s accomplished as a freshman. To come in, block, carry, catch and do the things he’s done offensively and step into the role, he’s a good football player right now but his best football is ahead of him. He’s an outstanding young man and an outstanding student-athlete.”

NOTES AND QUOTES

» Muschamp said all nine scholarship seniors are set to graduate in December.

» Muschamp on the season so far: “We’re certainly not pleased with the season in any respect. It’s totally unacceptable here at Florida and I realize that. Our goal is to go to Atlanta. In all areas we need to improve.”

» Muschamp on the recruiting importance of UF-FSU: “I don’t think that any young man makes his decision based on the outcome of one game. I’ve never felt that way. At the end of the day, young men make their decision based on the opportunity that they have at a certain school from an education standpoint, a football standpoint, a playing time standpoint, a coaching standpoint, the position coach. I don’t think that three hours on Saturday make a decision for young men. Those ones that it does, I don’t know if you want them in your program.”

» Muschamp on not blaming players for mistakes/losses: “At the end of a game, I’m not like a lot of coaches. I’m not going to come in and blame all of our players. There are a lot of coaches that do that. I’m not going to do that. When we play well, it’s because our players played well. When we don’t, it’s my fault. That’s just been my approach all the time, and the players understand that, too. I’m the first one that’s going to stand up and say I need to do a better job. I think it’s very unprofessional for a grown man to come up here and blame a 19-20-21-year-old kid for a mistake. I think that’s ridiculous, and I’m not going to do that. So if it makes somebody mad, let me know.”

» Muschamp on what he told his team for Thanksgiving: “I love this time of the year, and I told the players this morning, ‘I want everybody to call somebody in your life and thank them. We’re in such a society of self-entitlement and how does it affect me. Somebody has helped you get to the University of Florida. Somebody has helped you accomplish the things you have accomplished in life. I want everybody in the room to call somebody and thank them for what they’ve done for them.’ I love this time of the year from the standpoint of rivalry games and Thanksgiving is a lot of fun.”

» Muschamp on if he considered selling the beach house he owns with Jimbo Fisher: “Have you seen the market up there? Do you want to buy it? The market is not real good right now. It’s a buyer’s market though, you’re more than welcome. Jimbo will cut you a heck of a deal.”

» Muschamp on leadership: “Leaders don’t have bad days. Leaders have maybe one a little tougher than another one, but leaders don’t have bad days. They step up every day and they bring it every day. For younger guys, that’s hard to understand. They’ve got to understand it’s an everyday process about being a good football player, about being a leader, about positively affecting everybody around them. You don’t have bad days. That doesn’t happen.”

» Brantley on everything coming full circle: “Me, Rainey and Deonte, it just seems like yesterday that we were sitting in the back row being freshmen. We’ve had a lot of great times and we’re just excited for our last game in The Swamp being against FSU.”

» Brantley on his health: “I’m feeling a lot better. I’m really close to 100 percent, just feeling better each week.”

» Rainey on his favorite player in the Florida-Florida State series growing up: “Emmit Smith. I got a chance to meet him. That’s all that matters to me.”

» Rainey on what was discussed in Monday’s meeting: “If you study on something on film and somebody comes out with a different formation, you just got to be alert to it, be focused all around. Give it all for the seniors and let them leave the right way.”

» Rainey on spending Thanksgiving with the Pouncey brothers: “They sure do eat a lot.”

» Redshirt senior quarterback John Brantley on his ankle injury: “It hasn’t gotten any worse whatsoever. It keeps getting better every day and each week.”

» Brantley on bowl practices benefiting the younger players: “That’s huge. To be able to have that for the young guys practicing into January, that’s huge for them. I was a Gator before I came here, and I’m going to be a Gator when I leave. I want to be able to see the program just keep getting better and watch these guys be successful here.”

» Brantley on redshirt freshman wide receiver Quinton Dunbar: “Once we went back and watched the film from Saturday, we thought Quinton played as hard as anybody else really. He didn’t have any stats or anything but to see him blocking down field on a lot of plays, finishing the plays, he did a great job this past Saturday even though it didn’t show with him on the stats.”

» Reed on transitioning to tight end: “Definitely I got more comfortable playing tight end. I’m more comfortable in my role. [...] Running after the catch is kind of hard and difficult. It’s different than QB, when you see everything in front of you. When you catch the ball receiving, you have your back to the defense. It’s harder that way to run.”

» Reed on freshman TE A.C. Leonard: “He’s doing good. He’s getting better every day. His role is going to increase for the offense.”

» Evans on losing freshman cornerback Marcus Roberson: “I’d say he was playing pretty well for a freshman. Not too many guys come in and do the things that he did. He was playing pretty good.”

Muschamp is not using 2011 as an evaluation season per se but while the team is struggling to get into the W column on a consistent basis, he is noticing some qualities about the players that give him a sense of promise for the future.

“I see a lot of improvement regardless of the results,” he said Saturday. “In the big picture of things, we’ve made tremendous improvements. We play blocks much better up front at times. We do a better job in the run game against a quality defensive football team. [...] We ran the ball in the second half. Is there improvement? Yes. Is it what we want? No. Is it where it needs to be? No. Are we going to get there? Yes, it’s going to get there. You play three quality teams that you feel like you had opportunities to win the games. Is it frustrating? Yeah. But it’s frustrating to lose one when you don’t play very well, too.”

He went into further detail on Monday, discussing specifically the improvements he is seeing game-in and game-out. “We all look at the result at the end of the game and feel like nothing good is happening. That’s not the case. We have a lot of positive things happening, just not enough to get us over the hump to win those games,” Muschamp said.

“The effort. Guys are playing hard with great effort. Individually guys that are doing nice things, as a team doing nice things. We’re just very inconsistent. You can attribute it to a lot of different things, but the bottom line is that it’s inconsistent. I see things that are very promising as far as where we are and what we’re trying to do. It’s not what we want right now, but we’ll certainly get there.

“We improved our tackling defensively. Both linebackers have played extremely well this season. We’re a little inconsistent in some situations Saturday, but we’ve played blocks better up front. We’ve improved in the secondary. Jordan Reed is playing really well. A.C. Leonard is coming along and playing really well. The running backs have played well all season. I think John [Brantley] continues to play well, and I think we’ve got a bright future with Jacoby [Brissett] and Jeff Driskel. Matt Patchan is playing his best football, and Jon Halapio is playing very well. We’re not consistent enough across the board, but there are some guys who are playing good football. Jon Bostic is having an outstanding season.

“There’s a fine line in winning and losing. It’s a really fine line from being 5-5 and possibly 8-2. There’s really fine line, and it goes back to those 8-10-12 plays in a game – you got to make those plays. You got to put your guys in situations to be successful and that’s my job.”

BOWL ELIGIBILITY NOT A CARROT TO BE DANGLED

As a coach who expects much from his players, Muschamp said he has never considered and certainly is not now using bowl eligibility as any type of motivator for his team going into the Furman game.

“For me it’s about playing better. It’s about coaching better. If you do that, things will take care of themselves,” he said. “We’ve had our opportunities in the last four weeks to do that. We haven’t exactly closed it out. I don’t know that bowl eligibility should be a motivating factor for you as a competitor.

“When you step on the field, you compete. You can do it every day in practice, you can do it every day in meetings, and you do it every day during game day regardless of who is lined up on the other side. That’s the mental attitude you want to have as a competitor. It’s to go out and compete. You don’t need to be motivated by external factors, in my opinion.”

One positive result of becoming bowl eligible, something that the Gators will be on Saturday after their likely victory over the Paladins, is that Florida will get nearly three additional weeks of practice before playing in the game. Those can be used not only to prepare for the upcoming opponent but to set the tone for spring practice in 2012.

“They’re very important,” Muschamp said of the additional practices. “You got a great opportunity to scrimmage your young players. Our young players have been scrimmaging all year. It’s an opportunity to go out and rep, get better, familiarize with your scheme a little more, get guys turns and reps in what they’re doing. There’s no question – generally you try to get 4-5 fundamental practices and then 4-5 practices on your opponent. And then you break for Christmas, come back to the bowl site and get 4-5 more practices. It’s in essence another spring ball. There is no question it is very beneficial for your program.”

NOTES AND QUOTES

» On what adjustments he made at halftime: “Execute. Execute.”

» On playing a tough SEC slate of games: “We have two really good teams in our league in Alabama and LSU. The rest of us you could throw us in a sack and shake us up.”

» On his players fumbling the ball: “We just got to play different guys.”

» On deciding to kick the field goals and not go for touchdowns on fourth down: “The game is all about points. Neither offense was doing a whole lot. It was all about getting points early in the game to me. Get as many points as you can, don’t squelch opportunities in the red zone, which we did. You got to score touchdowns in there.”

» On Brantley’s mental makeup: “John’s a guy that, I’ll tell you, I’m very impressed with him as a person and what he’s all about. He’s all about the right things.”

» On the wide receivers not getting separation: “We got to play better. We got to coach better.”

» On the offensive and defensive lines: “Not very good. Real simple. We’re not deep enough. We don’t have enough numbers. It’s real simple. Just look at the roster. We’ve got good talent. We don’t have enough numbers.”

» On if it will take long to develop depth on the lines: “We’ll recruit well up front. I feel very excited about where we are from that standpoint. We’ll continue to improve and gain depth as far as the recruiting is concerned and do a better job coaching the guys here on campus.”

» On if the 5-5 season has affected recruiting: “None.”

» On why redshirt freshman wide receiver Quinton Dunbar has not done more this year: “Given his opportunities, he has played well. A little bit is Andre has made some big plays for us, especially in the middle of the season as we’ve moved forward. They play the same position in most situations, so Andre [Debose]’s made a little bit more vertical plays down the field. Very pleased with Quinton recognized this morning for his effort on the field, his blocking in the game. I look for him to continue getting some opportunities.”

» On if Florida is getting enough out of the freshman class: “I’d have to individually think through in my head. Both quarterbacks are going to be outstanding; I’m pleased with where both of them are. Offensively right now A.C. Leonard has really come on. It really put him behind when he had the knee injury there in camp he missed a lot of time. For a freshman that’s very difficult when you miss that many turns and that many reps. I’m very pleased with the secondary players that have played extremely well for us. Graham Stewart has done some nice things at linebacker. Chris Johnson on special teams has been outstanding, Louchiez Purifoy. For a freshman class, there are a bunch of them playing and probably only three guys who will be redshirted in the class.”

» On why penalty numbers being down overall: “We’ve emphasized it as much as we can go over it. We have crowd noise at every practice. We hard count on defense probably once every 2-3 snaps. In critical situations we talk about it. We text the players about it. We’re exhausting every measure we can of jumping offsides and having false starts offensively. We’re going to continue to do a better job because we’re not doing a good job obviously. We’ve been doing that all along. That’s something that we’ve practiced and we do. That’s just what we do. [...] We’ve talked about it. We text them. We had a t-shirt made [that reads] ‘hard count.’ We’ve done everything. We’re exhausting all measures.”

Muschamp first provided his general thoughts about Saturday’s victory.

“You go back and look at the game and we were balanced on offense. Being able to run the ball helped us with our play actions down the field. It slows the defensive linemen down a good bit up front. We converted on third down about 50 percent and had some big plays. We were able to get some chuck plays. Defensively we really needed to stop the run game and for the most part we did a decent job of that. We have to finish the game better and cover better – on the back end especially. We had some breakdowns [in the secondary] and obviously had some pass rush issues with Rodgers being able to scramble, create and extend plays. Those are the things we’ve really talked to the kids about.”

He also spoke about Florida’s next opponent on Nov. 12, South Carolina.

“They’re very balanced on offense – 188 yards rushing per game, 180 passing. Offensively Alshon Jeffrey is an outstanding wide receiver. A guy that is 6’4″ or 6’5″ with great ball skills down the field. He’s a tremendous match-up issue in all situations. [...] Defensively Ellis Johnson does a great job. [The unit has] 27 turnovers this year and is led by Melvin Ingram, a guy from a fake punt against Georgia to sacking the quarterback to playing the runs well inside is a really good athlete, a big guy that plays hard with a great motor. I’m really impressed watching him on film. Defense and special teams for them have scored seven touchdowns, so that’s impressive.”

Muschamp also commented on USC head coach Steve Spurrier:

I got great respect for Coach Spurrier, first of all as a player winning the Heisman Trophy here in 1966 and then the job he did as a head coach here for 12 years was outstanding. You look at the championship run and establishing the tradition of what Florida football is as far as winning championships. [...] I think he changed the SEC as far as the passing game is concerned. When he took over in 1990, the SEC was a running league. It was a ground-and-pound league. He came to Florida and did a great job in the throwing game, changing the perception of the SEC to an offensive league but still remained balanced in everything he did.”

PISTOL SET GIVES GATORS A RUN GAME

Between Brantley’s ankle injury and the numerous other problems the Gators have had running the ball, employing the pistol set on Saturday helped get the run game going again and keep the Commodores’ defense honest. In fact, Florida ran at a near two-to-one clip, though UF was also successful through the air.

Muschamp said Monday that employing the pistol helped in protection and opening up throwing seams down the field while also allowing the Gators to call play actions and run the ball inside. He said Florida plans to keep using the set because it assists in keeping defenses off balance.

Brantley is expected to be back under center at South Carolina but calling some runs from the pistol could still be smart in order to keep the turns he has to make on his ankle to a minimum. Muschamp also explained that UF’s pistol set is not the same as the pistol offense first run at Nevada and now UCLA.

“We were running from a set to be able to get to a downhill running game. What they run is a misdirection running game. It’s a different theory. What they run is a package; what we run is a set to be able to get to some downhill run game. What they do is a total package – they run a total offense that is called the pistol offense. We ran a set to get to our downhill running game. We ran it from a different set to enable John to run our downhill running game. We didn’t change what we were doing.”

NOTES AND QUOTES

» Muschamp on how the secondary needs to improve: “As far as playing the ball, we’re in situations and we’re in position. You got to play the football. When you’re in position to cover the receiver, you got to play the ball. We just need to finish some plays. [...] Those things are all correctable. Those are all things that we can work on. We’re going to spend a lot time today working on perimeter drill where we work on our eye control, covering and leveraging formations. They just need to improve, and I need to do a better job coaching from my spot.”

» Muschamp on how long he plans on coaching: “I love what I do. I’m very passionate about it. I enjoy coming to work every day regardless of the situation. I can’t picture myself not coaching.”

» Muschamp on if Spurrier called him when he took the Florida job: “I called him to tell him that our doors were always open unless we’re playing South Carolina.”

» Muschamp on redshirt junior DE Earl Okine: “He’s done a nice job. He’s done a better job preparing himself throughout the week as far as practice is concerned and that gives him other opportunities to play.”

» Muschamp on if he is seeing he team mature: “From a competitive standpoint and how we’re practicing, how we’re approaching things, as far as the team is concerned, I do think we’ve made some positive strides.”

» Muschamp on not walking on with the Gators: “Not that Florida missed anything [with me] as a player. I can tell you that.”

» Muschamp on the strides redshirt senior DT Jaye Howard has made: “I think Jaye has played really well. I thought he played well Saturday. He’s a guy that we really challenged him as far as playing hard every snap, giving great effort all the time. Jaye is very talented. He’s strong. He’s a very good athlete. He can bend his lower body, play blocks. A lot of Jaye needs to play hard all the time and do it all the time and be a guy that really shines. I’ve been really proud of his performance and how he’s played this year. I think he’s been very consistent this year.”

» Muschamp on how sophomore safety Matt Elam has stepped up: “He is communicating very well. He was not a very vocal player when I came in here from a standpoint of communicating. He was more worried about getting himself lined up and with what he was doing. He’s got a better understanding of what we’re doing schematically to understand what the other safety needs to do, what the nickel needs to do. He’s got very good playmaking skills and ability. He’s got natural instincts as a football player. He sees the play before it happens a lot. He anticipates the route breaking off. He anticipates where the runner is going to break. He anticipates where the ball is going.”

» Muschamp on freshman fullback Hunter Joyer: “Wow. He’s had an outstanding year. He’s going to be a heck of a football player for us. He’s smart, understands football. He gets it. It’s important to him. He’s very intelligent and tough. He’s a guy who we like giving the ball too as he gets a lot of positive yards after contact. He’s a really good blocker and picks up the game very well. I think he’s had an outstanding freshman season. He’s basically been the starter for us all year.”

» Muschamp on if he watched Alabama-LSU: “I got through about halftime and then fell asleep [out of exhaustion].”

“You have a hard time winning against good football teams in this league when you don’t capitalize on your opportunities and you give them more opportunities in the game. That was very disappointing. Offensively we moved the ball well in the first half, but our inability to run the football became a one-dimensional game. They have some decent pass rushers on the edge and they were able to affect the quarterback in the game and really disrupt some things we were trying to do in the throwing game. We’ve got to find ways to run the football. We’re continuing to look at that. Some things we had planned in the game, we didn’t do. The first two series of the second half we were backed up coming off of our goal line there. We had some success in the first half. We have to go back and look at the things we did well; we have to identify those and move forward.

Defensively I thought we played solid. We had some opportunities to make some stops there at the end and didn’t get it done. The two fourth-down passes, we were in position to make the plays and Georgia won because they made those plays and we didn’t. We’ve got to finish those plays and those things. As a staff, we’ll continue to work and put those kids in those situations in practice and continue to improve. That falls on my shoulders. Special teams, I was very proud of Brad Philips and the job he did stepping in for Caleb. Brad is a guy that has worked extremely hard and certainly taken advantage of his opportunities. I’m very proud of the job he did in the game. [...] Our kickoff coverage and our kickoff return units were outstanding. D.J. Durkin continues to do a nice job with our special teams.”

He also spoke about Florida’s next opponent on Nov. 5, Vanderbilt.

“James Franklin is doing an outstanding job with his football team. You watch these guys on tape and they play hard. They’re very well coached. They’re multiple offensively in what they do; they give you a lot of different looks. They have gone with Jordan Rodgers, as a quarterback is a guy who runs extremely well, is a good athlete and throws the ball well. [...] Defensively they’re leading or second in the SEC in interceptions with 15. They’re a pressure outfit. They come after you a pretty good bit. They do a nice job of mixing things up as far as the different ways they try and pressure you. And they attack you in special teams.”

ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS

Why is the team reluctant to run between the tackles?
“We did a little bit but we weren’t very effective. When we ran more lateral run game, we weren’t very effective. We got a lot of vertical penetration inside. Some things we went into the game and felt good about they did a nice job of taking away. When we ran it inside, we weren’t very productive with it. That’s what led us to throwing the ball a good bit.” Muschamp added that without Brantley for a few games, Florida could not stretch the field vertically. The Gators have also played much better defense recently and, on Saturday, Brantley not playing from under center also inhibited their ability to run.

Are you concerned about the play of junior tackle Xavier Nixon:
“Xavier has played well for us; he played well for us before we got here. You look at the positives. He’s done some positive things, too. We all want to focus on everything that’s negative. You look at the positive things and build off those and you try to be technical in your corrections. Is it a technique issue? Is it a set issue? Is it an alignment issue? Did the quarterback hold the ball too long? Not everything is on the offensive line. Anytime a sack happens, everybody wants to point the finger at the offensive line and that wasn’t the case Saturday” Muschamp said a number of other things happen in the game – a running back could miss a chip block, wrong formations and sets can be chosen, etc.

Was there a consideration not to go with Brantley on Saturday?
“We discussed it but we felt like John gives us the best opportunity to win the football game. We talked to John every series about his ankle, where he was with it and how he felt as far as his mobility was concerned, different things we could try in the run game, different things we could try formation wise to help us out as far as giving us a different look. As we continued to push through the game, we felt like John gave us the best opportunity. There is no question in my mind about that.”

Why was Florida unable to get off the field on fourth down?
“You create some situations in practice – jump ball situations – and you try to get the ball off the guy. You work a little more red zone cover routes. Again, as a coach, there’s a lot of different things you can approach as far as working at it. When you get that opportunity again – when you’re sitting out there in front of 90,000 people – you make the play. I have confidence in both players that they will make the play.”

Does the impatience of Gators fans bother you?
“Not at all. Not at all. No. Not at all.”

Will offensive coordinator Charlie Weis remain in the booth?
“We had some procedural issues obviously as far as communication was concerned. That’s something we’re working through right now to see if we benefit by still doing that. We’re in discussions about that right now.”

How do you punish players for committing penalties?
“We have different forms of punishment. A lot of situations we take the guy off the field. Some situations in our football team right now we’re a little bit thin, quite frankly. So we’re doing the best we can do.” Muschamp is insinuating that normally a player who commits a penalty would be pulled from the game for at least a few plays, but their lack of depth roster-wise inhibits that type of punishment.

NOTES AND QUOTES

» Muschamp on the mood of the team: “We had a good meeting this morning. I told them we’re going to saddle up and continue to work and continue to press forward and be technical in our approach about the things we did well, the things we didn’t do well, and understand and learn from the film and continue to move forward. We’ve got an experience staff. We’ve got a staff that has been through tough times before and understands that part of it. It’s our job to bring a young team through this and that’s what we’re doing right now. We’ll stay upbeat and be technical about the situation – what you’re doing well and what you’re not doing well.”

» Muschamp on if freshman Jacoby Brissett remains the backup quarterback: “Right now Jacoby would be the No. 2 quarterback. We’ll continue to move forward with that. We create situations within practice where they all are getting reps. We’ll continue to evaluate that. It’s no different than any other position. The guy that plays the best and performs the best in practice deserves the chance to play, and Jeff’s a part of that.”

» Muschamp on why he cannot run the ball like he wants to: “It’s not about what you want to do. It’s about what you can do. We got to do a better job figuring out what we can do. We haven’t done a very good job of that the last couple of weeks.”

» Muschamp on freshman tight end A.C. Leonard being absent on Saturday: “He had a personal issue to handle. He’s fine. He was here this morning and we’re good to go.”

» Muschamp on if he takes losing hard: “There’s nothing good about it. There’s no moral victories. There’s nothing. You deal with it. You watch the film, you’re technical in your approach, you don’t get emotional with the players with it. You show what you did well, what you didn’t do well, what you got to do to improve yourself as a player, as a coach and a football team. The first person you look at is yourself. Too many people in our society want to point a finger at somebody else or blame somebody else for why something happened. I tell the players, ‘When we play well, it’s because you guys did a good job preparing yourself. When you didn’t, it’s my fault.’ That’s the way we do things around here. I don’t ever get over a loss. You live with them for a long time. I learned in this league you better move to the next week. We have another quality opponent on the horizon. You move on with it. When the season is over with it, you sit down, but you don’t ever get over a loss. I don’t.”

Piggybacking on comments he made last week about working for Florida, Weis discussed on Tuesday how nice it is to work with his son every day. “I get a few fist bumps a day,” Weis said of interactions with his son. “He doesn’t want to give me the time of day. It’s like that commercial they say, ‘Priceless,’ it’s kind of been that way. Think about it, how many dads get to walk into work every day and share an office with your kid? It doesn’t get any better than that. Really, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

He also talked about being able to come home at night and spend time with his wife and daughter, even if only for a few minutes. “Football season is always tough because when I’m here…Nora [his wife] is probably buying something right now. I’ll see it on the credit card here in about 30 days,” Weis joked. “You still don’t give your family the fair amount of time, but that’s just the nature of the beast. But it is nice being able to go home and give my daughter a kiss goodnight, talk to my wife for a few minutes before we go to bed. It’s been fun. As I said before, Nora – besides her love for people with special needs – she’s a horse person. Living in the area where we’re living, I think she feels like she’s died and gone to heaven.”

PLAYER EVALUATIONS

Redshirt senior quarterback John Brantley: “John’s done a nice job. He deserves a lot of credit for going from where he was at the end of the year to where he is now. You know how it goes: Any time a season doesn’t go as planned, there’s certain guys – whether they be coaches or players – that are pegged as sacrificial lambs. He was one of them. Everything’s the quarterback’s fault. Certainly the quarterback will always get too much blame and too much credit; it’s the nature of the position. He’s clearly the leader of the offense. You don’t have to worry about who the players are turning to; everyone turns to him. That’s half the battle. When the players look in your eyes and say, “OK, talk to me,” I think that’s a very good thing.”

Redshirt senior running back Chris Rainey: “I’ve been telling every pro scout that’s been coming in since the spring time the same thing. I said, ‘If [Jeff] Demps is better than him, you better draft him really high.’ From watching in the spring, this is how the kid was the entire spring. Having the fact that Jeff’s here too, having that combination of that type of athleticism at that position – kids that can play and like to play the game and know how to play the game – they’ve been fun to be around. [Pro scouts didn’t] know too much about [Rainey] but they know about him now. It’s tough not to know about him. You can make a highlight film from his first three games. We’ll worry about that in January. Chris is fun to be around.”

Redshirt sophomore center Jonotthan Harrison: “He easily played the best game he’s played for us since he’s been here. He was very, very good. There was maybe one time where he got knocked back, and I think he got surprised a little bit on the play. If he can play with that physicality that he played in that game against a good team, if he can play with that type of physicality, that bodes well for our strength up the middle.”

Freshman tight end A.C. Leonard: “He was very disappointed that he had got banged up because he was definitely high in the mix to get out there and be playing a whole bunch. Once things calmed down and he got settled, he’s got tons of talent. [...] He has a very high ceiling. Last week I think first game out there, he got in there about 15-20 plays. I think it was a good start for him.”

NOTES AND QUOTES

» On his confidence level in throwing the ball downfield: “I think that wouldn’t be a problem. Years ago I learned from [Bill] Parcells, ‘You are who you are.’ Everyone wants you to do something that is not within the personality of your team. We’ve established the personality of our team. [...] There will be games that come up that way, but for now you just take it one game at a time. We’re just trying to worry about how to attack Kentucky?”

» On the importance of going through reads and checking down: “When I was a relatively young coach, I had this quarterback with the Giants who used to wear No. 11 [Phil Simms]. He told me the difference between throwing for 3,000 yards in the NFL and throwing for 4,000 yards was check down and flare control. And that always stuck with me. Everywhere I’ve always gone, I always try to get these quarterback to have a clock in their head. Read it downfield, but when that clock ticks, dump the ball off. There’s a lot of times a receiver will come open just after he dumped the ball off and everyone will say, ‘I was wide open.’ That’s OK with me because [you] have that clock in your head. ‘Boom – boom – boom – gone.’ That’s one of the ways you avoid having a whole bunch of sacks.”

» On working off of a script to start the game:“I do think when players get into the game and know what you’re going to call, it’s easier when they first walk out there. When I tell them what’s coming, that’s what’s coming. I don’t say it’s coming and then all of a sudden it’s not. Unless a situation comes up like a third-and-one comes up where you didn’t script the third play might not be a third-and-one on your script, but now it’s third-and-one so you also go to, ‘The first call on third-and-one is going to be this.’ At least early in the game, the players already have a good idea for what you’re going to call. To be honest with you, I try to do it as best I can to start the second half, too. There’s a big difference between a college halftime and a pro halftime. There’s a lot of time. It gives you time to not only to talk to the players but to collect your thoughts and give you a pretty good idea how you’re going to start both halves. Starting both halves are critical, not just starting the first one.”

» On Kentucky’s defense: “They’re giving up 13 points for a reason. I think they have a pretty good idea of what they want to do on defense.”

» On lessening tackling for Rainey and Demps in practice: “We try to keep those guys from getting hit too much as best we can. That doesn’t mean they don’t get hit, but you can’t be stupid. You want them fresh on Saturdays. You always have to get enough contact to have you ready to go.”