NEWS
DEPTH CHART NOTES
COACH DEREK MASON
PLAYERS: RB DARRIUS SIMS, WR KRIS KENTERA, S ANDREW WILLIAMSON
- Kickoff for Florida is 11 a.m. Central for Saturday.
- Kickoff for the Kentucky game
- VU will announce its Hall of Fame class at 1 Central next Tuesday.
DEPTH CHART NOTES
- ILB Nigel Bowden (concussion) is done for the year.
- RT Justin Skule (leg injury) is done for the year.
- Bailey Granier is the starter at RT, with Blake Fromang backing him up.
- QB starter listed as Johnny McCrary OR Kyle Shurmur, in that order. Shurmur is going through concussion protocol and they hope to have him available.
- DE Adam Butler is listed as a starter in an OR situation with Torey Agee after leaving Saturday's game with a leg injury.
- DE Caleb Azubike is listed second as a co-starter with Jonathan Wynn and according to Mason, "will play." Azubike has missed several weeks with a jaw injury; they think he'll be back this week, but he's also been on past depth charts. Last week, Azubike was listed first in the "OR" situation.
- OLB Nehemiah Mitchell has started seven of the team's eight games. However, the one game he didn't start was the Houston game. This week, he's listed as a co-starter with Landon Stokes, with Stokes listed first.
- OG Delondo Crooks, who's been hurt much of the year, was not listed on last week's depth chart. This week, he's listed as a second-teamer behind Barrett Gouger.
- Bruno Reagan had been the backup at both guard spots; with Crooks being there, now he's backing up only Jake Bernstein's spot.
- WR Chandler Dorrell, listed as a third-team WR last week, has fallen off the depth chart. VU listed seven WR's last week and now lists just six.
COACH DEREK MASON
- Florida week. It’s a new month. Time for VU to ratchet up its effort in what it needs to do.
- Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer is retiring. “He’s a man of integrity, a fantastic coach.” He looks up to him. “The game will miss him.”
- Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt is a great man, a friend, a good coach. Wishes him the best. This is a tough business.
- Nigel Bowden out of the rest of the year, will have him back next year.
- They look to put Houston behind them. “We took one on the chin. … I woke up Sunday morning, the sun was shining, we have to get back to work. … There’s a lot to learn in a tough loss.” It’s turnovers and miscues and they know it.
- Florida: McElwain has done a terrific job getting his program headed in right direction. UF has dealt with QB issues and injuries. Team is gaining confidence as the season progresses.
- Their challenge this week is to eliminate mistakes.
- They’ll miss Nigel and his leadership. They don’t know if he can get a redshirt. They’re not sure if it’s a given that he plays next year. There’s just a lot of unknown right now and he’s focused on Florida as well as Nigel’s well-being.
- They’ll monitor Adam Butler but he seems to be okay. Had no comment on whether the hit that sidelined him was dirty or not.
- Not one for excuses but they’ve had lots of injuries. They’ve got four games to play. They’ll have young guys ready to play.
- On QBs: They’ve got to put the best guy on the field. Turnovers have been huge. If they take care of the football, they’ve in position to be in games. He’s talked with them this week. When he has a conversation with his players, he makes an honest assessment but also encourages as to the possible outcomes going forward.
- Shurmur is going through concussion protocol and is day to day.
- Is wildcat an option? It’s always an option. “We haven’t been able to get to the good stuff because we’re working behind the chains and can’t stay on the field.” They can’t seem to get to the second or third series.
- They’re not out of the hunt for anything… that’s only in other people’s minds.
- OC Andy Ludwig seems more comfortable on the field than in the box.
- On Zach Cunningham: He processes info fast. He’s great sideline to sideline and he’s active. He’s an every-down player.
- He thought their defense struggled in sudden-change situations. They hadn’t done that all year. Twice they had 12 men on the field. Houston didn’t do much in the red zone other than their penalties leading to TDs. They did some good things on third down. “We left some things out there. … We gave away a couple of downs.”
- Caleb Azubike will play this week. He’s been cleared and is ready to go.
- On putting in new offensive packages: It all comes back to getting best players on the field and getting them involved.
- On getting playmakers the ball more: it’s about QBs going where the reads tell them to go. With Johnny, they struggled to do that.
PLAYERS: RB DARRIUS SIMS, WR KRIS KENTERA, S ANDREW WILLIAMSON
- Every opportunity, he tries to make the best of. That’s his focus. - Sims
- They haven’t put up points. That’s a big deal for them. They’re set up this week with a good game play to do that, it’s just red zone execution and turnovers. - Kentera
- There’s a lot of the offense we haven’t seen. It’s not their job to speculate on what they should do. It’s their job to make plays. - Kentera
- He’s never run wildcat in college. - Sims
- On Zach Cunningham’s improvement: you watch him play, he’s fast and he’s physical. - Williamson
- They’ve been good in the red zone but didn’t get it done. They’ll get their focus back and be better next week. - Williamson
- They don’t worry about injuries. It’s next guy up. - Kentera
- “Our training staff here is awesome,” as far as concussion protocol. He's on the other end of it. Setbacks are frustrating but he hasn’t had any. “Mom was worried but she’s always worried.” - Kentera
- They’ve got to go out an execute their game plan and match opponents’ intensity. - Williamson
- On Webb going to his hometown: Ralph’s always loved playing in front of his family. He’s pretty sure he’s stoked to go back. Florida was one of his dream schools. - Sims
- On McCrary vs. Shurmur style-wise: They both have strong arms, speaking as a former QB. They're great athletes. Can make any play on the field. They’re similar in stature and size.
- Being in one position helps calm things down for him. He likes RB. However, coaches would not have put him all over the place if they didn't know he could handle it. - Sims
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