Thirteen Gopher football players are about to have a bit of a homecoming for the Citrus Bowl. These 13, among them key players Ryan Santoso, Damarius Travis, Donnell Kirkwood, Thieran Cockran, Derrick Wells, and De’Vondre Campbell, all call the state of Florida home.
These 13, especially junior defensive end Cockran, are thrilled to be back in their home state for a January 1 game. “It feels good to finally be back in Florida, because you know, playing here in the Midwest you don’t get too many opportunities to go back there at home,” said Cockran.
Redshirt freshman Eric Carter grew up closest to Orlando, living in Lakeland Florida, which is less than an hour’s drive away from the site of the Citrus Bowl. Most of the other Floridian Gophers live two and a half or more hours away from Orlando, and have not yet played there.
While most of these players are coming back to campus readying for spring semester after the bowl is finished, redshirt senior Kirkwood is actually staying in Florida after the game is over, since he has already graduated. Thus, it will be his last experience with most of these teammates. “Kind of a bittersweet moment.” Kirkwood said. “I get to play there for my last game, but it’s my last game with some of these guys. I’ve been trying to just savor the moment with my brothers.”
Barring injury, it’ll likely be another game with few carries for Kirkwood, who’s had extremely limited use since the emergence of David Cobb. Kirkwood’s carries have gone from 218 in a strong 2012 season, to 52 last year and just 29 this season. But Coach Jerry Kill states that Kirkwood has had no complaints about his new role. “With Donnell, it’s been a great story, because he’s been a starter, played well. David emerged, and he could be a kid that’s unhappy and not be good for the culture and all that stuff. But that kid’s been terrific.”
It’s been well documented that the Gophers have not won a bowl game since 2004, and that Coach Jerry Kill is 0-3 in Bowl games as a Gopher coach. As the Gophers are currently five point underdogs against a team with one of the best defensive lines in the country, it certainly won’t be an easy task. Since four Floridians are either starters or key pieces to the defense, they will have to play a key role in stopping Mizzou quarterback Maty Mauk and the strong Tiger running game. They may just be able to give Kirkwood and the rest of the seniors one last great locker room experience in what has already been the most memorable Gopher season in years.
”Coming up, coaches always talk about ‘You’re never going to remember the scoreboard, you’re never going to remember you’re stats,’” said Kirkwood. “That’s the truth. I can’t tell you what happened two years ago, but I can tell you how many memories I’ve had in the locker room.”