Gators CB Hargreaves ready to face Rebels' Treadwell
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Vernon Hargreaves III said at the Southeastern Conference football media days that he couldn’t wait to line up against Ole Miss wide receiver Laquon Treadwell again.
The Florida cornerback will finally receive his next opportunity to do so when the No. 3 Rebels travel to the No. 25 Gators at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.
Hargreaves and Treadwell played against each other in the Under Armour All-America game in 2013 but haven’t done so since that contest. Treadwell caught six passes for 46 yards while Hargreaves had an interception and broke up a pass intended for Treadwell in the end zone.
“He has great footwork,” Treadwell said. “He knows what he wants to do. He’s got an edge to him. He plays with a swag. That’s what most DBs should play with to be good.”
Both Hargreaves and Treadwell were highly touted recruits in the 2013 class — Hargreaves was the No. 1 corner and Treadwell the No. 1 receiver, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rating — and Hargreaves tried to recruit Treadwell to join him at Florida before he signed with Ole Miss.
The two juniors are among the top players potentially available in next year’s NFL Draft, should they decide to leave early. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. listed Hargreaves No. 8 and Treadwell No. 20 in his most recent rankings for the 2016 draft.
Hargreaves vs. Treadwell II will be the most high-profile man-to-man matchup the SEC could offer over the remainder of its regular-season conference schedule.
The last time Hargreaves took part in a matchup this hyped, last season against Alabama’s Amari Cooper, it ended poorly for him. Cooper, a first-round draft pick earlier this year, caught 10 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns in the Crimson Tide’s 42-21 win.
Hargreaves and Treadwell are only two players from each team’s strength. The Gators feature the best secondary the Rebels have seen this season, while the Rebels’ wide receivers are the best group the Gators have played this year.
“Our secondary, I think this will be a great challenge for them,” Gators head coach Jim McElwain said at his weekly press conference. “They’re going against these big, fast wide receivers. We’ll see how they handle that. That should be a fun matchup in this game.”
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Treadwell leads the Rebels’ wide receivers in receptions (22) and receiving yards (332), but the 6-3, 205-pound Cody Core has 14 catches for 320 yards. Damore’ea Stringfellow (6-2, 220) and Quincy Adeboyejo (6-3, 195) are also options.
They tower over Florida’s defensive backs, which include Hargreaves (5-11, 199), Brian Poole (5-10, 211) and Jalen Tabor (6-0, 191). However, Poole and Tabor have averaged 1.7 and 1.5 passes defended per game, which rank first and third, respectively, in the SEC.
The Gators’ secondary returned a lot from last season, when it held opponents to 125 passing yards or fewer five times and 64 or fewer three times. San Jose State was the lone other FBS program to accomplish the latter feat.
The group has been helped by Florida’s pass defense, which has been able to place pressure on quarterbacks. It has accrued 14 sacks, which rank sixth nationally, for a loss of 108 yards, which are second. The Gators have nine sacks in their past two games.
“Everyone knows about their back end,” Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze said. “They have tremendous get-off on the defensive line. I think playing in front of their crowd, on their field, when you have to communicate there, it is very advantageous for their defensive line. Their linebackers are extremely athletic.
“They are definitely one of the best defenses in the country, and they are going to test us.”
NOTE: The Associated Press reported late Friday from an anonymous source that Florida quarterback Will Grier is ill and might not start Saturday. Florida had about a dozen players miss practice this week because of a virus, but McElwain said this week that he thought the bug had ran its course. If Grier doesn’t start, sophomore Treon Harris would make his second start of the season.
Contact Daniel Paulling at dpaulling@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @DanielPaulling on Twitter.