They all wear orange and blue now but Martez Ivey and Brett Heggie used to play high school ball at Apopka and Mount Dora respectively. Also on the line is former South Lake center TJ McCoy and Cocoa big man Jawaan Taylor.
All four are expected to be key contributors to the line come fall – if not four of the starting five. “They just want us to compete, that’s all,” said Ivey.
For the last few seasons, the O- line has been a talking point for the Gators, and not in a good way. In 2016 Florida ranked 113th in rushing offense, averaging just 128 yards a game. Meanwhile, they allowed 28 sacks total, ranking them at 68th. This year though, with only one starter gone and plenty of playing experience, the big men in the trenches are expecting much improvement. Just ask Ivey who’ll be playing his third season with the Gators come fall.
“Everybody we’ve got right now, besides Brett Heggie, we’ve all played. We all expect big things and we just want to go out there, we want to dominate, we want to be physical and we want to set a standard.”
Couple the strength of experience with a new O-line coach, and the confidence is there.
“We’ve got this new swagger to us that we are going to come out and we are going to dominate. That’s what they tell us we need to do, and that is what we are going to do,” said Ivey. “We want to change the way people think about us, we don’t want anyone to think we are holding Florida back at the O-line group.”
They still do have work to do, as the line was sluggish to start in the UF Spring game. But Coach Jim McElwain did appreciate the different he saw in the second half.
“We are better and we are continuing to get there,” said McElwain. “Here’s the good thing, we are back now to where we got the roster balance there. We are better up front, there is no doubt about it. And I am excited about our offensive line.”
We’ll see if the Central Florida flavored front line proves their worth come fall.