Sports: Little focus on Indians, more on mistakes

Little focus on Indians, more on mistakes

By ANTONYA ENGLISH

GAINESVILLE -- Practices this week won't be spent on preparing for the next opponent.

Instead, coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday the Gators will concentrate on eliminating mistakes rather than specifically preparing for Louisiana-Monroe.

Yes, that Louisiana-Monroe. The one that lost 70-3 to Tennessee last season.

"This is one that we'll be huge favorites, and we're not going to so much worry about our opponent this week as we're going to worry about trying to correct mistakes, playing smart and doing what we're supposed to do, get in a habit of carrying out our responsibilities," Spurrier said. "So we'll worry about ourselves. We had a lot of careless errors last night that hopefully we can correct."

Spurrier said after reviewing tapes of Saturday's 49-14 win over Marshall, he stands by his postgame statement that UF's performance was average.

"It was a pretty good performance," he said. "It wasn't anything great though. They (Marshall) dropped a few passes, and we blew some coverages. We weren't near as good as we hope we can be. In a close game against a really good team our mistakes could have cost us the game so hopefully we realize that and play a little sharper this week."

GROSSMAN VALIDATED: Quarterback Rex Grossman helped solidify his starting position with his record-setting 375 yards against Marshall. Spurrier said Grossman wasn't perfect, but played well.

"Rex threw some beautiful passes, he really did," Spurrier said "He's our quarterback unless he goes bad or gets hurt. And I don't think he's going to go bad. I think he's a lot smarter than he's been in years past. He can really throw the ball. Every pass wasn't perfect and the interception, maybe Jabar (Gaffney) could have come back and fought for it better and knocked it down. ... He had a wonderful game, no question about it. He had some mistakes in there that we'll try to improve upon."

Grossman said he thought he played well, but acknowledged he can improve.

"There were some things that I probably should have done differently," he said.

ODDS AND ENDS: Spurrier said he was satisfied with the kicking game and will consider using Matt Piotrowicz instead of Jeff Chandler on kickoffs, particularly when a high, long kick is necessary. ... Spurrier was displeased with the team's pass protection and run blocking. ... Centers David Jorgensen and Zac Zedalis will be graded by offensive line coach Jimmy Ray Stephens to determine who will start this week.

INJURY REPORT: Corner Bennie Alexander sprained his toe, but is expected to play this weekend against the Indians.