Quarterback Doug Johnson’s bruised left shin wasn’t too bad, coach Steve Spurrier said, but the Gators could be without a pair of offensive linemen when they travel to LSU next weekend.
Florida lost left tackle Zach Piller (sprained left knee) on its first offensive series, then reserve center Corey Yarbrough (severe left ankle sprain) in the fourth period.
Piller will have an MRI today to determine the severity of the damage. Yarbrough is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Also, running back Eugene McCaslin (sprained left knee) will undergo an MRI today.
Weary ties interception record
Senior cornerback Fred Weary stepped in front of Clint Stoerner’s first pass of the second half and grabbed his school record-tying 14th career interception.
It was Weary’s fifth interception of the season, including one in every game except the Central Michigan blowout, and pulled him even with Will White (1989-92) on the Gators’ all-time list.
Taylor surpasses 100 again
Senior tailback Fred Taylor rushed for 103 yards against the Razorbacks, giving him a fifth consecutive 100-yard ground game.
Taylor joined Emmitt Smith as the only backs in UF history to rush for at least 100 years in the first five games of a season.
Also, junior wideout Jacquez Green, with two touchdown receptions, has 22 for his career, tying Wes Chandler (1974-77) for the fifth-best total in school history and sixth-best in the SEC record books.
Happy return for UF’s Carroll
UF freshman Bo Carroll’s 94-yard runback of the opening kickoff was the Gators’ first kickoff return for a touchdown since Reidel Anthony’s 90-yarder at Auburn in 1995.
Anthony also had a 93-yard return against Nebraska in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, but postseason feats don’t count toward team records.
It also marked the first kickoff return for a score against Arkansas since Southern Methodist’s Arthur Whittingham took one back against the Razorbacks in 1976, which was Frank Broyles’ last season as head coach.
Story ejected, won’t play at LSU
Florida reserve offensive lineman Deac Story, a junior, was ejected with 13:43 remaining after exchanging punches with Arkansas linebacker Melvin Bradley, who was also thrown out.
Because the ejections were for fighting in the second half, both players must sit out their respective next games. Story will won’t play at LSU, while Bradley will watch the Razorbacks’ Oct. 18 game against South Carolina.
No Razorbacks until 2003 season
As UF’s rotating SEC West opponent the last two seasons, Arkansas will not appear on the Gators’ schedule again until the 2003 season.
Replacing the Razorbacks in 1998-99 will be Alabama, meaning Florida’s ’98 schedule includes road games at Tennessee, Alabama and Florida State.
An inauspicious beginning
The trip to Gainesville didn’t start particularly well for the Razorbacks. Their chartered jet Friday out of Drake Field in Fayetteville did not come equipped with a built-in boarding staircase _ and the airport didn’t have one, either.
The Arkansas traveling party _ after a university official signed an insurance waiver _ climbed aboard using a stepladder.
Etc.
Former UF All-America defensive end Kevin Carter watched the game from the sideline. Carter, a No. 1 draft choice of the St. Louis Rams in 1995, was enjoying an open date this week. . . . UF officials expect the Nov. 8 homecoming game against Vanderbilt and the Nov. 15 date at South Carolina to be picked by Jefferson-Pilot as the SEC Game of the Week. The kickoffs will be switched to 12:30 p.m. . . . Two weeks ago, UF men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan used the Tennessee game as a major recruiting weekend. Women’s coach Carol Ross did the same Saturday, welcoming Pensacola High’s Michelle Snow, a 6-foot-4 center considered the top prospect in the country, along with All-America candidates Brandi McCain of Silsbee, Ga., and Angela Sutton of Cleveland, Tenn. . . . The Gators have won 10 straight against SEC Western
