GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gators coach Will Muschamp likes
his team’s offensive line heading into his third season, he just would like for
more of them to be healthy.
Muschamp announced Tuesday that due to a lack of healthy offensive
linemen, he is altering the format of Saturday’s Orange & Blue Debut spring
game. Instead of a full scrimmage, the game will be an open practice that will
include situational scrimmage snaps between individual and team position drills
the Gators perform regularly at practice.
"It will be normal football like you watch on Saturday
afternoon,'' Muschamp said. "It’s not fair to go in spring game
situation and ask those guys to go 60 snaps in a row."
In addition Muschamp announced Sunniland and the Florida Farm Bureau have
partnered with the University Athletic Association to make the event free for
the public (more details below).
Florida has 11 offensive linemen on scholarship this spring
and is adding five more over the summer from the 2013 recruiting class.
However, three regulars from last season – Chaz Green, Jon Halapio and Ian
Silberman – underwent offseason surgery for body maintenance and are limited in
full-contract drills this spring.
Trip Thurman suffered a shoulder injury this spring and
recently underwent surgery, and redshirt freshman Jessamen Dunker is suspended.
That leaves newcomers Tyler Moore and Max Garcia, and
returning linemen Jon Harrison, Kyle Koehne, D.J. Humphries and Quinteze
Williams as the only healthy players available for full-contact work Saturday.
While the Gators will run approximately 40 scrimmage snaps
Saturday, Muschamp said asking six offensive linemen to take more than 100
snaps in a full scrimmage is not an option.
By the time fall camp starts in August, signees Cameron
Dillard, Trevon Young, Octavius Jackson, Roderick Johnson and Trenton Brown
will join the mix to give the Gators an allotment of 16 offensive linemen,
which is the number of players Muschamp tries to maintain each season.
Format Altered for 2013 Orange and Blue Debut, Presented
By Sunniland
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Head coach Will Muschamp
announced Tuesday that the format for the 2013 Orange and Blue Debut, presented
by Sunniland, will be a unique open practice for fans instead of a game, due to
numerous injuries which has left the Gators with just six offensive linemen.
The format will be similar to the previous 14 practices the Gators have
conducted this spring, with some special additions to enhance the experience
for fans.
Before, during and after the practice, Coach Muschamp will
address the crowd to give them an inside look and an explanation of some of the
drills and scrimmage situations the team will be running. The team will still
have several 11-on-11 scrimmage periods, but there will also be periods of
special teams and individual work mixed in that will closely resemble a normal
Gator football practice.
With the altered format, Sunniland and the Florida Farm
Bureau have partnered with the University Athletic Association to make the
event free for the public. All pre-purchased tickets for the Orange and Blue
Debut will be refunded at full cost. Although the event will be free, fans with
tickets in luxury seating areas will still need a ticket for entry into the
luxury areas.
Even though admission is free Saturday, the normal game day
stadium policies and prohibited items will still be enforced for the safety of
all fans in attendance.
For fans that purchased tickets with a credit card, all
monies will be credited back to the card that was used. If a fan purchased with
cash or a check, a refund check will be mailed to the account holder’s
address. Please contact the Gator Ticket Office at (352) 375-4683, ext.
6800 for all inquiries.
Florida Farm Bureau customers who had received free
admission coupons for the Orange & Blue Debut may redeem each coupon for a 50
percent discount on a full-priced ticket – a $25 value -- for the Gators’
season-opener versus Toledo on Aug. 31, or for the game against Georgia
Southern on Nov. 23. The coupons may be redeemed beginning May 15
at the Gator Ticket Office at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium during regular business
hours, Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are subject to availability.
In addition to the Orange and Blue Debut, there are several
other events happening around Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and around campus
Saturday morning. The annual Gator Locker Room Yard Sale will begin outside
Gate 9 of the stadium at 9 a.m., and shortly after the Verizon Fan Fest will be
held in the North End Zone lawn at 10 a.m. Per tradition before Gator home
football games, the team will hold Gator Walk at 10:30 a.m. and enter the
stadium from University Avenue.
Fans can enter the stadium through Gates 1-4, 7, 12, 15 and
18 beginning at 11:30 a.m. and can sit in the West stands, East stands, Lower
South stands and Lower North stands. Luxury seating areas will be open only for
those with tickets for the luxury areas.
Prior to the start of the Orange and Blue Debut, the Florida
Players Network will hold its second annual Flag Football Game, featuring
former Gator football players from years past.
