GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida coach Jim McElwain didn't really want to look back.
Not to that point in time. Not to that situation. Not to that "dark place."
He went there anyway this week, recalling how he felt last spring when the 11th-ranked Gators were so short-handed along the offensive line that walk-ons were working as starters and freshmen not even on campus yet were penciled in as backups.
"You really want to make me miserable?" McElwain said. "I know this: That dark place you were talking about, it was really dark."
Seven months later, Florida's offensive line is the brightest spot for the Southeastern Conference's most surprising team.