Jackson back in action

Pipp, of course, is the New York Yankee who pulled himself from the starting lineup one day and was replaced by Lou Gehrig, never to return.

Jackson has played the potential Pipp role not once, but twice, at Florida.

Two years ago, almost to the day, Jackson surrendered the free safety position to Reggie Nelson, who went on to become an All-America and first-round NFL draft pick.

Jackson reappeared briefly this season, but then missed a key tackle in the Tennessee game and was replaced by true freshman Major Wright, whom many are predicting will be the Gators' next great safety.

This most recent disappearance seemed permanent.

"I got pulled and didn't see the playing field again," Jackson, a senior, said. "I thought that might be it. It kind of put me down."

Thanks to fate, though, Jackson did not pull another Pipp. In this case, the fickle finger of fate actually turned out to be a broken thumb, one suffered by Wright in last Saturday's win at Kentucky.

Suddenly, Jackson is back in the lineup with one last chance to end his career on the field instead of the bench.

"I've been here four years and I know anything can happen," Jackson said. "You never know. In any situation, you always have to be ready. You always have to keep yourself on your toes. You never know. Football is a tough sport.

"I'm just trying to go out there with the same mentality I always have, go out there and work hard and give it all I've got. Major went down and I've got to go. We call it competitive excellence. When one guy goes down, you've got to step in and be just as good. That's all I'm doing. I'm going to be fine. I've got the experience."

Jackson started five games as a true freshman in 2004 and was the No. 1 safety in 2005 before losing his job to Nelson the week of the Georgia game. Jackson's sophomore season began to unravel with a poor tackling performance in a loss at Alabama.

He was Nelson's backup last season and regained the starting position this past spring, but lost the job to Wright in the third game of the season because of another poor tackling effort against Tennessee.

Safeties coach Doc Holliday said the coaches have confidence in Jackson.

"He'll be ready on Saturday," Holliday said. "Kyle is a good football player. The problems he's gotten into are he ran into Reggie Nelson and he's run into Major Wright.

"Kyle is an excellent football player. He's going to have a great game on Saturday. We've won a lot of football games around here with Kyle Jackson. The same thing happened in (the Outback Bowl two years ago). Reggie got hurt and Kyle went in and had an excellent game. We expect the same thing Saturday."

Jackson said even though he was down after being benched in the Tennessee game, he's continued to practice hard and prepare himself to play in case he's needed.

Now, he's needed.

"It's been an up-and-down career for him," UF coach Urban Meyer said. "Reggie showed up, then Major. (Jackson) is a high quality guy who has gone through some adversity.

"He's a high quality guy and he's very close to his family and well-grounded. That's how you survive a demotion. He's one of those guys who prepares very well. His biggest issue is tackling. If he makes that tackle, he'll do great."

Saturday's game is homecoming for Jackson. He's back at home in the starting lineup and he's back playing in his hometown of Jacksonville.

"I've had the experience of playing in this game," he said. "I will be even more comfortable because I'll have a lot of family and friends there pulling for me.

"I'm fine. I've had plenty of practices (since getting benched). I'm ready to play and excited to play."

Robbie Andreu can be reached at 352-374-5022 or andreur@gvillesun.com.