11/17: Straight from the Gators’ mouths…II

Junior safety Will Hill, freshman defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd and senior linebacker Lorenzo Edwards answered questions for the media on Wednesday about a variety of topics concerning themselves and the Florida Gators. OGGOA has compiled some of the most important notes and quotes from the event this week.

HILL THINKING ABOUT FLORIDA FOOTBALL

Before the season, Hill was tabbed by a number of NFL Draft analysts as one of the top safeties who would likely be available at next year’s event. However, according to the player, his focus is on the Gators and the NFL will be a dream he reaches for after his senior year. “Right now? Yes. Yes. I plan on being back next year,” Hill said Wednesday. “I haven’t been thinking about it. All I’ve been thinking about is just the season.”

One of the reasons Hill will likely stick around is the fact that he did not perform at the level many expected for most of the season. Asked to evaluate his year, he said he believes, “It’s just a decent season. Everybody will love to have a lot of stats and everything like that. I’m alright with it. I just think about getting better.”

ROCKY RELATIONSHIPS; THOUGHTS ABOUT LEAVING

Floyd was candid and honest when questioned Wednesday about the relationship between the freshman and the team’s veterans, pointing out that things were rough between the two groups for a large portion of the season. “It started off a little shaky then we started bringing them together and started being a team instead of segregated,” he said. “Coming in you got to gain their trust. They’ve been giving up a lot for the program. I think we did that throughout the season. We started to come together before the Georgia game, but it started to show towards the end of the Georgia game. We were just running around, cheering each other on. It was like a family type thing.”

Part of it was realizing that, now in college, the young players who were new to the team would not be treated the same way they were last year. “Everybody was the man in they school – in high school,” he said. “They come into a program [like Florida] where you really got to work and you really got to earn what you want. It’s probably hard but mostly they just had to do what they had to do.”

In fact, things were so trying for him that he thought maybe he had made a mistake. “I love it here,” Floyd said. “I hit a wall a couple times, but that’s a given. Everybody going to hit a wall. This is my school. I love it. […] Just problems. Not really wanting to be here. That’s what freshmen do. At the end of the day, I know where I belong.”

WINNING TWO FOR THE SENIORS

Echoing a sentiment shared by head coach Urban Meyer and a number of players on Monday, Hill and Floyd both said they were motivated to win the last two regular season games for the senior class. “[We are] just really trying to get this thing to send the seniors off right. It’s their last game in The Swamp. Last two games around here. We got to send them off the right way,” Hill said. “It’s important to send them off on a good note,” Floyd added. “We haven’t had great success the last games at home, so we got to send them off with a bang this week.”

QUOTES (After the break…)

Edwards on possibly starting Saturday: “I’m not sure yet. I’ve been in the rotation with the ones. Hopefully I do get to start – that would be a privilege, especially for Senior Day.”

Edwards on winning Saturday: “It would mean a lot. Especially me being a senior. I think some people undervalue the seniors and what it means to be a senior. And just a win against any team on Senior Day would be marvelous.”

Hill on Appalachian State having beat Michigan: “We’re all aware of it. We were talking about it as a defense yesterday. Don’t come out and underestimate this team.”

Hill on if Appalachian State has speed: “The SEC has a lot of speed, but they do have some athletes with speed – like their quarterback and their receiver – that could present a challenge. Not as a whole team.”

Hill on the opponent’s quarterback: “We faced a lot of mobile quarterbacks this year. He’s vaster than most of the ones we’ve played this year. It’s a lot of pursuit drills and a lot of different things getting ready for this quarterback.”