Florida's players and coaches attended a private memorial service Monday night to remember the life of walk-on Michael Guilford, who died Friday morning in a motorcycle accident.
The service capped four days of grief since the news reached the players Friday morning. Coaches and players spent the weekend comforting one another. Monday morning, the team heard from former NFL star Cris Carter, who lost teammates Jerome Brown and Korey Stringer while in the pros.
"It gave us an opportunity to see or give us ideas of ways that we can handle the situation," LB Dustin Doe said. "It helped us a lot."
Guilford and Ashley Sloni na, a fellow UF student, were killed instantly when a motorcycle driven by Guilford hit an island in the middle of a road. Several players took the tragedy especially hard -- QB Tim Tebow called Guilford a good friend, and CB Joe Haden was close with Slonina.
"They kind of had to drag him out of his house," WR Percy Harvin said of Haden. "He was pretty beat up."
Guilford's funeral is scheduled for this morning near his hometown of Quincy.
Inviting short passes
Florida's defense has allowed opponents to complete better than 59 percent of their passes this year. But don't expect the Gators to change their young cornerbacks' coverage instructions to prevent that rate from staying high.
"It is 'Live to see another day' right now with our young corners," Meyer said. "They just need to keep the ball in front of you, just keep tackling and keep playing."
UF has given receivers extra room since the Mississippi game when the Rebels connected on a 77-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter. The philosophy has prevented similar big plays but allowed for short passes, Kentucky's strength.