Demps, Rainey Impressing Meyer

There's no time to rest for the Florida Gators with No. 3 ranked LSU coming to Gainesville next Saturday. But earlier today, Urban Meyer discussed the running back situation and the play of the defense during his Sunday teleconference.

On running back situation for next week…
“I think Kestahn will play, and I think Emmanuel Moody is questionable.”

On the play of Torrey Davis…
“I think he played 10 snaps. I have not met with our defensive staff yet, but it was good to see him out there. I think he could become a presence on the defensive line.”

On the play of Joe Haden…
“He’s played fairly consistent all year, and had a good day tacking yesterday against a good back who I think is one of the better backs in our conference. Joe Haden’s approach to the game is significantly different than it was two years ago, which is what you expect out of a two-year starter.”

On the offensive inconsistency…
“Every game presents a different set of challenges. Last week it was the ball on the ground and this week it was the penalties. Take the ball from the one-yard line and then drive it all the way down the field and then have three penalties right in a row there’s no question that it deflates the offense. The offensive line is trying hard. Guys are doing good taking care of the ball and execution has been decent, but it’s not always going to be. I think there are a lot of expectations on offense because of the personnel. One thing you have on offense is competitive people that want the ball, and if you don’t score every time they feel like the weight of the world is on their shoulders. I can see that and the result is more penalties.”

On stopping LSU’s Charles Scott…
“When you look at the history of this series, if you stop the run and play excellent defense, the win two years ago was a perfect example. You also have to have good special teams, it’s nothing new. We’re going to get four guys back. We’ve been down 10 starters in the last few weeks and we’ll get four of them back. Stamper is one of them who will help out. Doe will not be back until after the bye week, but I think having Stamper back will help out a lot.”

On getting Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps into open space…
“We run a little sweep series with Rainey to help him get outside. Demps we like to run inside. He’s not very big but he’s a good inside runner. He’s had several big runs this year and he’s such a good track guy. He’s pretty powerful for a little guy. I don’t know how much we’re going to change, but we’re going to keep using them because they are talented guys.”

On Rainey and Demps earning more touches…
“I think so. It’ll depend on the flow of the game. I thought Brandon James played tremendous. I think Percy played well and those two little guys did well and they have the homerun threat. We have to get them to the second level. The second level of the defense is where big things happen. I thought our offensive line played well. If you take away the penalties I thought they played their best game. They were very physical they came running off the ball and those runs were a result of that.”