Sophomore Sharrif Floyd was one of the top defensive tackles in the class of 2010 but didn't record a sack at Florida until Monday's Gator Bowl. (Photo by Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel)
JACKSONVILLE – Sharrif Floyd had wanted to play defensive tackle this season and he will next year. In the Gator Bowl win over Ohio State on Monday, the Florida sophomore showed how he could be effective at the position.
Floyd got his first career sacks on back-to-back plays in the first quarter, getting help from senior DT Jaye Howard on the second one. He finished with two tackles in his first meaningful minutes at tackle this season.
“Yeah, I was excited about that, too,” Floyd said. “So I mean it’s just, everything is clicking right now, nothing can go wrong.”
The top-rated DT in the country coming out of high school, Floyd moved to defensive end this season to help with some depth issues there. While he said he’s more comfortable at tackle, he’s willing to play end to help next season.
He might need to, although coach Will Muschamp wouldn’t say for sure either way. Florida won’t have a clearer picture of its personnel for next season until after National Signing Day. It has already signed JuCo DT Damien Jacobs, and it has verbal commitments from four others in the class.
“Really, in our league, and you play against a team like Ohio State, when they want to run the two-back runs, you gotta have somebody setting the edge at the end,” Muschamp said. “So he’ll continue to play both, and we’ll continue to find the best combination of guys. This year, the best combination was him at end. I can’t answer that for next year yet.”
Chris Rainey expects record to be broken
There was some debate in the press box initially about who exactly had blocked an Ohio State punt in the third quarter. Sophomore Solomon Patton was originally credited with the block, Florida’s sixth of the season. Televised replays seemed to show that senior Chris Rainey might have gotten to the ball first, and there was applause when the senior was credited with the block later in the game.
That gave Rainey a Florida and SEC record with six career blocked kicks. But he doesn’t see himself holding onto it for long. Patton has three in his career.
“I think somebody gonna go beat it,” said Rainey. “Solomon Patton, he’s still got two more years and it might be up for grabs.”
LB Jon Bostic finishes strong season
Muschamp has continually praised linebacker Jon Bostic this season. In the final game of the year, the junior had another standout performance. He led UF with eight tackles, including four for a loss. It was the seventh time this season he led the Gators in tackles.
He finished the year with a team-best 94 tackles.
“He’s been very consistent,” said Muschamp. “We put an awful lot on the Mike linebacker as far as making calls and getting us in and out of calls. They did a nice job of shifting in the game. They were transferring the tight end, and change of formation. They did a really nice job of that, and I thought Jon had a great command of what we were trying to do. But that wadn’t just today. He’s done it all year. He’s been very consistent all year. He and Jelani (Jenkins) both.”
