Luke Del Rio Returning to a Familiar Setting

For Luke Del Rio, there were certainly some perks to being the son of an NFL head coach. Ahead of his biggest start to date as the Gator quarterback however, who knew that getting tea for the Jaguar players as a youngster would make the now-Everbank Field a familiar place.

Fixable Offense

When the Florida Gators take on the Georgia Bulldogs this Saturday, plenty of eyes will be on the man under center for the Gator offense. In his first start returning from a knee injury, Del Rio struggled in the win against Missouri. Three interceptions and a 47.4% completion percentage were uncharacteristic for the usually reliable sophomore. Del Rio was adamant with the fact his subpar performance is now merely something to learn from.

Luke Del Rio is dangerously close to being benched. You can't have your quarterback forcing this many throws.

— Zach Abolverdi (@ZachAbolverdi) October 15, 2016

There is little doubt that the strength of this Gator team lies on the defensive side of the ball. But as past years have shown, the offense will have to hold up their end of the bargain if the team hopes to make it back to Atlanta. Although the Gators currently rank 12th in total offense in the SEC, Del Rio is a believer that the offense is fixable.

To help Del Rio, the receivers must also take a step forward. Freshman wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland showed some of his potential last game, catching three passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Powell, Antonio Callaway, and tight end DeAndre Goolsby are among the usual suspects whom Del Rio will also be looking for against the Georgia secondary.

Bye Week Benefits

While there’s never a “perfect” time to face a tough opponent like Georgia, the bye week did allow the Gators to rest up a bit. Del Rio mentioned that having time away from the field allows both the mind and the body to heal.

It is worth mentioning that while Georgia is also coming off a bye week, the Gators have only played one game the last three weeks due to the LSU rescheduling. There will still be plenty of injuries on both sides, but the healthy Gators should come into the matchup well-rested.

#Gators S Marcus Maye said injured LB Jarrad Davis is doing everything he can to come back, in training room 24/7.

— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) October 24, 2016

While a rivalry matchup against Georgia will not be quite as easy as getting tea for his dad’s players, Del Rio will only benefit from going in with the mindset that it’s simply another day at the stadium he spent time at as a kid.