The real Matt Jones is on his way.
He has not felt this good in months, especially not during a weeklong stay in the hospital in July due to a viral infection, and he believes he finally is ready to run at full capacity.
“I definitely have big expectations,” said Jones, a sophomore who is in his first season as the Gators’ starting running back. “I want to take the team on my back now that I’m back.”
Florida needs him. Jones struggled in his season debut at Miami, but No. 19 UF expects a much stronger performance from him when it hosts Tennessee on Saturday. The illness cost him all of training camp and the opening game against Toledo, and even though he played against the Hurricanes, he wasn’t himself.
He ran 18 times for 47 yards, with seven rushes going for 2 yards or fewer, and was unprepared for the vicious contact that typically occurs at his position. Miami’s Denzel Perryman popped him hard on his third carry of the game, jarring the ball loose for a turnover.
It was a deflating moment for Jones, who already was unsure of himself heading into the game.
“I was taking it bad,” he said. “I was thinking I wasn’t ready to come back. I was thinking I wasn’t going to be back.
“My coaches just told me to calm down and trust yourself. Through the third or fourth quarter, I started feeling comfortable. I started feeling my cuts. So it went all right.”
The Gators (1-1) hope his progress accelerates as they open SEC play. With a game plan that relies on the run, they are counting on Jones to shoulder a heavy load.
Last season, Mike Gillislee ran 244 times for 1,152 yards, which accounted for 26.5 percent of Florida’s offensive yardage. Among running backs, he had 65 percent of the carries.
Gillislee was the first UF player to rush for 1,000 yards in eight years, signaling a clear shift in the program’s offensive philosophy, and Jones looked like the right man to follow him.
As a true freshman, he quickly established himself as the best option behind Gillislee and averaged 5.3 yards per carry. He rushed for 273 yards on 52 attempts and scored three TDs. In the regular-season finale against Florida State, he gained 81 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
In the ensuing spring, he fought off highly touted freshman Kelvin Taylor, from Glades Day School, to secure the starting job. He lost a lot of that momentum, though, when he got sick in July.
“It was a big setback, knowing I put all that work in and I can’t go on the field and can’t do the things I used to do,” he said this week in his first public comments since the illness. “It definitely hurt a little bit.
“That’s the thing with football: Sometimes you can have a downfall. You don’t know when you can get hurt. It’s how you overcome it and how you come back.”
Jones experienced extreme stomach pain and headaches during his hospitalization. There were days when he couldn’t eat, and ultimately he lost 10-12 pounds. At 6-feet-2, 224 pounds now, he still is 2 pounds short of his listed weight.
This seems like an ideal game to kick start his season. Tennessee (2-1) is eighth in the SEC in run defense, allowing 155.3 yards per game, and gave up a staggering 336 rushing yards to the Gators when the teams met at Neyland Stadium last season.
Last week, when Florida had a bye, Monday was the first time Jones made it through a complete practice. Coaches and teammates were encouraged by how he looked from that point forward.
“I think he had a really good off-week,” coach Will Muschamp said. “He worked extremely hard. I feel good about where he is right now. He’ll play well. He’ll be fine.”
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