GAINESVILLE — Florida’s struggling defense will be without leading tackler Shemar James for the rest of the season after season-ending knee surgery.
Speaking Wednesday as UF (5-3, 3-2 SEC) prepares for Saturday’s visit from Arkansas (2-6, 0-5), coach Billy Napier said James needed to address an issue involving his left knee dating to high school and injured during last weekend’s loss to Georgia.
The 6-foot-1, 230-pound sophomore aggravated his knee during pregame warmups on a freshly sodded field at Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium. James applied a brace, tested his knee and ultimately played before leaving the game for good during the fourth quarter after recording five tackles. He ends 2023 with 55 stops — 15 more than the next Florida player, freshman safety Jordan Castell of Orlando.
“He’s done,” Napier said. “It’s much like a shoulder dislocation. It’s a kneecap dislocation. Happened to him in high school. Much like a shoulder comes out, if it comes out again you’ve got to get it fixed.
“Everything went well with the surgery. It won’t be a major factor long-term for him.”
Short term, the Gators will miss James during a grueling November stretch.
“His practice habits, his character, he’s developed a voice,” Napier said. “He really was getting comfortable from a leadership standpoint. That’s the unfortunate part.”
Arkansas, a 6.5-point underdog, is the last relative breather on the schedule. The Razorbacks’ attack ranks last in the 14-team SEC in yards (295.4 per game) and are tied for 12th in average points (22.3).
The Gators, though, have struggled in recent weeks, allowing 468 yards to Georgia, 494 in a 41-39 win at South Carolina and even 276 passing yards to Vanderbilt. UF ranks 11th in the league in yards allowed per play (5.97).
Besides James, Florida could be without starting defensive linemen Cam Jackson and Tyreak Sapp, each listed as questionable with upper body injuries.
Back in black
Napier wants to offer a salute, not make a fashion statement, with the Gators’ all-black attire during the “Saluting Those Who Serve” game against Arkansas.
The 44-year-old coach wants the uniform to recognize military members and first responders. Each player’s nameplate will display one of of five core values those groups aim to exhibit — Honor, Courage, Commitment, Excellence and Integrity. The team also will carry the prisoner of war, missing in action flag out of the stadium tunnel.
Napier’s Louisiana teams wore black uniforms once a season.
“It’s been beneficial for the kids,” Napier said. “Ultimately there’s an awareness. We have a game that has a platform. We can do some good. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Florida’s players are eager to showcase their new threads, a new look for the Gators after nearly 120 years of football.
“It’s a really nice look,” veteran edge rusher Princely Umanmielen said. “Just looks really cool. I wish it was a night game.”
The Gators also are aware a deeper meaning is attached. In some cases, it is personal.
Redshirt freshman tight end Hayden Hansen’s great-great grandfather Arthur C. Hansen received a purple heart for his service in World War II. He also served in Vietman as did Hansen’s grandfather Steve Galich, a helicopter door gunner.
“It’s very important to know why we’re wearing it,” he said. “We take a lot of stuff for granted. People put their lives on the line. People choose a career path.
“We respect it a lot.”
Napier said 9/11 impacted his perspective on those who serve.
“I was a college student,” he said. “There’s a generation of people that were affected from 9/11 to some degree. You look at the recruitment of all branches of our military, the increase in membership that they saw.
“You get into becoming a head coach. Being around your platform, there are things you get a chance to emphasize with your players.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
