Florida safety Rashad Torrence out against Florida State
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Gators will be without starting safety Rashad Torrence when they take on Florida State.
Torrence leads Florida with 76 tackles. The sophomore left the Gators’ loss to Vanderbilt last week in the first half and did not return to the game. Despite that injury, Torrence was not on the injury report that Florida released Wednesday.
Without Torrence, the Gators will be without their two leading tacklers in the first half. Senior middle linebacker Ventrell Miller was ejected for targeting in the second half against Vanderbilt, meaning he cannot play until the second half of the FSU game. Florida will be missing 149 tackles between the two starters.
Freshman Kamari Wilson will start in Torrence’s place. Wilson has played in every game this season. Friday would be his second career start. Derek Wingo will be making his first career start in place of Miller. Wingo has appeared in ten games this season primarily on special teams. He replaced Miller and recorded a career-high six tackles against Vanderbilt.
“Some of the players that will probably play more of a role in the game, obviously, Wingo and Shemar,” Billy Napier said on Wednesday night. “Those two guys will probably play more snaps in the first half than they have been playing, to go along with Burney, and obviously Scooby’s a young player that’s got that skillset, as well. Those guys play in every game. They’re just gonna have an opportunity to play a little bit more in this one.”
Torrence is among a handful of injured Gators
Torrence is the latest on a long list of injured Gators. Florida will play FSU without:
WR Justin Shorter (hamstring)
WR Xzavier Henderson (ankle)
DB Devin Moore (shoulder)
WR Ja’Quavion Fraziars (shoulder)
WR Marcus Burke (upper body)
LS Marco Ortiz (shoulder)
WR Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman (upper body)
