Florida football: This is the season La’Mical Perine stands apart

He was oh so close last season. Florida running back La’Mical Perine was four yards short of picking up 1,000 rushing and receiving yards combined. However, this season, it is going to happen.

Even with only one start last season, Perine was so close to that 1,000-yard mark.

Perine had 826 yards on 134 carries, upping his average yardage per carry from 4.6 yards in 2017 to 6.2 yards per carry in 2018.

He also raised his yardage per game average to 63.5 yards from 32.4 yards.

So long as the improvement continues, Perine could be on track to average 8.4 yards per carry (doing some quick and likely inaccurate math in my head).

If he ups his per carry yardage average, he would end the season with 1,125 yards on the ground — assuming he carries the ball 134 times, like last season.

But, assuming he carries the ball 134 times, like last season, Perine needs only to average 7.46 yards per carry to hit 1,000 yards rushing.

The biggest thing Perine needs is consistency carrying the football.

Last season, he only averaged double-digit carries for seven games and only one of those was more than 20 carries. Now that he will be out of the shadow of Jordan Scarlett, getting those carries should be a little easier now.

Another component of Perine’s success this season will be the continued development of the Gators’ offensive line.

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The Gators will have just two seniors on the line in right guard Noah Banks and Nick Buchanan. On the left side, Florida will have juniors Stone Forsythe and Brett Heggie as redshirt freshman Richard Gouraige could earn starting time at right tackle.

"“I feel like honestly, those guys knew that they were going to have to come in and work very hard and things like that because there were a lot of key guys on that offensive line that went to the NFL,” Perine said, during the SEC Media Days this week in Hoover, Alabama. “They have been coming out and playing great, getting chemistry together on our off times, and I feel like that will help them out throughout the season.”"

Just looking at highlights from last year, Perine has a penchant for finding gaps, which the O-line definitely helps with. However, he is also adept at exploiting poor tackling and turning in the jets in the open field.

Here, take a look:

Did you see that last touchdown against Michigan? It is those types of runs that will elevate Perine into that 1,000-yard club.

And, even though he is likely to feature more this season for the Gators, Perine is already understanding of what it takes to deal with the crowds in the Southeastern Conference, especially on the road.

"“Just don’t lose composure. A lot of guys see 100,000 people, and you just get nervous and start shaking and things like that,” Perine said. “If you can keep your composure, then you’ll be pretty good.”"

Because the Gators have multiple threats on offense, Perine won’t always be the go-to, but rest assured, he’s going to get those yards and join that elite club of 1,000-yard rushers for the Gators.