Bits & Pieces: Florida vs. Utah

[FireFoley]

I just finished watching the game. And a game like this is why I prefer having to play decent opponents instead of Cupcake U, regardless of result, C2, "covered" it all, as usual. Utah is a good team, but not Bama or UGA. We still have a lot of problems that were there from past regime. We are still out of position a lot on D, but no longer WAY WAY out of position. Yes the pass rush was weak, but mainly b/c Utah has a good OLine. but I will say that not having 8+ guys on the LOS when UTAH had 6 or 7 Olinemen was puzzling. We needed to see if they could throw the ball outside the hashes,

But the quick recap is we have incredible lack of talent compared to the big boys. The cupboard was left beyond bare. Outside of AR, our 3 best players on O are two transfers from a small school and a white boy transfer at WR. Kudos to Burney who actually made a play in the passing game and not having it thrown right to him. Tried to remember when we had a LB actually make a play in the pass game and went back to Spikes, but surely there has been one since?

 

[Detroitgator]

Where can you do this? Did you set it to record, or is it scheduled to come on?

DVR

 

[FireFoley]

I'll rewatch the game when I get home, but can someone tell me why the refs added all that time to the clock after the long QB run?

The run netted a first down which temporarily stops the clock until they can almost get the chains set, but the clock never stopped. The officials were correct, but I don;t know if the amount of time was correct. Either way I worry more about letting a guy run that far when it matters.

 

[G8trwood]

Brother just forwarded me a link to a post on that site that will remain nameless. Really Good comments from a UTEs board. Key takeaways, it was freakin loud, AR is a freakin beast, Diabate is freakin lost

 

[FireFoley]

Brother just forwarded me a link to a post on that site that will remain nameless. Really Good comments from a UTEs board. Key takeaways, it was freakin loud, AR is a freakin beast, Diabate is freakin lost

3 minutes with Joe Lee Dunn Jr. will cause that. 3 years, well.

 

[gatormandan]

Brother just forwarded me a link to a post on that site that will remain nameless. Really Good comments from a UTEs board. Key takeaways, it was freakin loud, AR is a freakin beast, Diabate is freakin lost

Just went over to read some of their posts. A few of them are crying about the fans being dicks and I saw a post about the "online fans" that were bad winners. Saw a post from our visitor claiming he didnt think it was very loud. Others said it was the loudest they have ever experienced. One said he was stuck in hogtown for today and hated the place and couldnt wait to get out of here. Hahaha...

 

[jdh5484]

The television cameras showed a sign somewhere around the stadium that read simply “In Napier We Trust.” You had to expect that after the string of “would-be’s“ that just weren’t the guy. 29-26 win that was in doubt up until Amari Burney smothered a pass in the end zone, hanging on for the interception that snuffed out Utah’s bid for a win. Finding a way to win is a good quality. It tested that trust, but it was fulfilled and Napier begins his tenure in grand fashion by upsetting the #7 Utes and keeping alive the streak of home opener wins at 33. Hell yeah!

If there was any doubt about the QB position, and I can’t imagine there being much, it should be erased. All the guy did in his debut as the undisputed starter was run for 103 yds on 11 carries with 3 TDs and was 17/24 for 169 yds passing. No turnovers, cool but elusive when he had to be in the pocket, and ran the offense with confidence. His runs were effective, exciting, but without reckless abandon. It gave a feel that he’s matured under the new coaching without sacrificing his unique capabilities.

As for Napier, the game looked and felt like we were better-prepared and that we had a plan, didn’t panic, and stuck to it. That didn’t mean that some of us weren’t on the very edge late in the game as the D was bending. Make no mistake, we are not a world class defense, missing some tackles, losing contain on the edge, and not getting a consistent rush, but we were better coached in terms of keeping the ball in front of us and making them keep snapping it. And our guys never lost faith. Even when Utah was driving late for the winning or tying score. We haven’t had that in a bit.


It’s going to take a couple of recruiting cycles and transfers to get us where we need to be, so the coaching will have to be spot on....

* The secondary were not reminiscent of the Keystone Cops of the last few seasons and at least kept the ball in front of them. The front was not really consistent, allowing 229 rushing yds (90 by their QB). I know the depth isn’t there right now and likely won’t be this year...

* Special Teams were a little low ....

* And speaking of extra men, was it just me or were those far west officials pretty crappy? ...
Go Gators!

Our defense is probably going to be tough to watch with problems from the past, some have been mentioned:

1. Depth
2. Tackling beyond LOS
3. God bless his effort, but Cox over pursuing/not holding his edge.
4. Not getting lined up quickly/looking to sideline. There was a stretch where Utah was going hurry up that really scared me. We ended up holding at the goal line in the north end with that drive, but I feel like they coulda "hurry up'd" to two more scores.

Florida @ Tennessee is scary.

 

[tharber]

BN did a great job and at least from this old ball player, seems to have revived everyone's attention. Our kids played as well as could have been expected. Utah is a good team, they came in with a chip on their shoulder and we were anything but experienced from players to coaches for that situation. This win will go a long way with players and as importantly, recruits. We need to stretch the field and then let our backs pound it more, which will come. 1st game jitters are hard to explain but now AR knows BN trusts him and the team has his back so watch him explode from here on out. We will make the corrections and look different against Kentucky.

 

[Double Gator Dad]

I saw Cox miss containment badly on one play where Rising went for like 20+ yards. He was out of control on that play, biting hard to the RB. Not sure if it was a one-off relapse or he is still having issues like last season.

Agreed. I saw very little improvement from him last night. He still seems to take plays off and he continues to rely on one pass rush move over and over again.

 

[GatorJ]

As the Adrenalin we all felt at the end subsided, the thought might have crossed some minds that we might have been kinda vanilla tonight on both sides of the ball. Take away AR and a couple of the backs and our offense was a little middling.

AR talked about this last night’s presser. He said he had a lot of mental errors. He got confused on some of the motion in the formations and didn’t do the right plays. Being his first start at home, against a ranked team, and at night, it was a bit overwhelming. As he gains more experience I think this kid is going to be competing for a Heisman this year and the offense is going to be sick.

The announcers were saying how complicated the office was. And they were impressed that it was this complicated this early in Napier’s tenure. They weee impressed in Richardson’s ability to absorb it in such a short time. They said all the motions were at an NFL level.

 

[GatorJ]

* I don’t have the defensive stats to look at, but Ventrell Miller looked pretty solid.

He and Antwan Powell were great. I didn’t think Princely and Gervon played particularly well. Desmond Watson played A LOT in the 2nd half. If the Gervon Dexter and the DEs would have kept containment I think this could have been a blow out. I assume that is something they really focus on over the next week.

Watson putting that type of time in and doing it at an elite level is a great sign.

 

[GatorJ]

It was pretty fitting that Burney made the game-saving pick of the ball that was intended for Kuithe, who had 9 receptions for 105 yds and a TD, mostly at Burney’s expense. I can’t say that he was out of position, maybe outclassed by a pretty good TE. The fact that we didn’t really have consistent pressure on their QB only made Burney’s job tougher.

I was really frustrated because that TE was murdering him. But in his defense, we know that he is not super athletic. He is a super senior. I believe a six year senior. The future is right behind him (who I think got the start) in Shemar James.

 

[GatorJ]

The OL was pleasingly consistent. They paved the way for 282 rushing yds and gave AR time in the pocket. Our backs were very effective with Etienne and Johnson having strong efforts and likely positioning themselves as the top two with Wright a ways back.

I was blown away by Etienne. The kid is going to be a superstar. And as good as Nay’Quan right was. He’s not as good as the two of them. No wonder Lingard can’t see the field

 

[GatorJ]

As for Napier, the game looked and felt like we were better-prepared and that we had a plan, didn’t panic, and stuck to it.

To really illustrate how smart and good of a coach he is, there are two things that he did that I think really stood out.

1. End of the first half – just running the ball and letting the clock run out. He knew this was Richardsons first start. He did not want to put him in a position to make a mistake that could cost the team. We were leading already. And the receivers are not world beaters. He did not have that receiver who’s going to stretch the defense that he could try to do a quick strike down the field with.

It was the right call.

2. Our final drive in the second half – The idiot announcers we’re blasting Napier for this one. And that was how he was milking as much time off the clock as he could going down the field. Particularly when he let the clock go all the way down to one second on fourth down. It was brilliant. Our office was really sharp and very rarely was not picking up positive yards. He really believed in his scheme & in AR. He knew that AR was going to pick up that first down.

What he did not know was if his defense would be able to stop Utah. (We all knew we were not going to be able to stop them). So he wanted to run as much time off the clock as possible. If Utah had not made those incredible plays to knock our guys out of bounds they would’ve never even had enough time to march down the field.

It was incredible time management and decision-making by him. We haven’t seen that since Meyer.

 

[itsgr82bag8r]

I'll rewatch the game when I get home, but can someone tell me why the refs added all that time to the clock after the long QB run?

I believe the clock never stopped for the first down & kept running.

 

[Lake Gator]

Cox is who he is at this point. He’s a pass rush specialist and they stonewalled him all night when it came to getting his hands on Rising. I know everyone complains about the tackling, and rightfully so, but it’s very hard to erase years of bad habits in one offseason. Toney and Co have their work cut out for them in that regard.

Also, I have to mention Trey Dean. Him running down Rising on that long run and making that tackle out of bounds wouldn’t have happened in years past.

Dean's effort was noteworthy. I also enjoyed AR's effort running down the Utah defender during the fumble return. Even though Utes eventually scored, AR pushed Ute out at 25 yard line giving UF defense a stop opportunity instead of a scoop-and-score.

 

[oxrageous]

Our final drive in the second half – The idiot announcers we’re blasting Napier for this one. And that was how he was milking as much time off the clock as he could going down the field. Particularly when he let the clock go all the way down to one second on fourth down. It was brilliant. Our office was really sharp and very rarely was not picking up positive yards. He really believed in his scheme & in AR. He knew that AR was going to pick up that first down.

What he did not know was if his defense would be able to stop Utah. (We all knew we were not going to be able to stop them). So he wanted to run as much time off the clock as possible. If Utah had not made those incredible plays to knock our guys out of bounds they would’ve never even had enough time to march down the field.

He was counting on us picking up that 4th and 2. If we don't, it gives us less time to come back. It was a gamble.

 

[itsgr82bag8r]

Florida @ Tennessee is scary.

One game at a time.

 

[NavetG8r]

Well, now that I've finally had a sip of coffee it's time to have my say. Which is not much more than that was a heck of a football game last night. Two good teams and both very determined to win. I love watching games like that even if they do tend to make my heart beat a bit harder and faster than what might be healthy at my age. I felt my heart pounding in the 4th quarter so hard I actually took notice. It's not often a game has me that wound up. Last year's Bama game did it too. Maybe it's those big time home games in the swamp?

I still can't believe that idiot Ute fan came here after the game and tried to say it wasn't that loud. Are you kidding me? There's no place like the Swamp! Last night only Gators got out alive and that's how it should be. How many of you caught AR after his last TD run saying "This is our house!". I noticed it and boy did it make this Gainesville native proud because he's one too. I feel like the team showed all I was hoping to see.

The discipline was definitely better. Fewer penalties, and fewer mental break-downs. The Oline did a pretty good job paving the way for darn near 300 yards on the ground, thanks to AR's 100+ yard evening and the 3 RBs all contributed well. Wright had by far the lowest ypp average among the 3. The young transfer from UL, Johnson had a good game even though he didn't protect the ball in a pile early in the game and cost us, but it was his first game in a Gator uniform and his first game in front of such a crowd. I'll give him a pass so long as it doesn't continue. Then the Freshman Etienne showed us what a great future we have in front of us with him. He also coughed up the ball on a nice run, but managed to recover it himself so no harm no foul. I'm sure he'll be coached up about that.

I know I always wake up on Sunday mornings with my Gator orange and blue glasses on after a win, but I feel like things are headed in the right direction and coach BN is making strides to fix the culture issues. Go watch the film boys and fix a few things before UK comes into town next Saturday. We owe them some paybacks!

Go Gators!

 

[backstop13]

He was counting on us picking up that 4th and 2. If we don't, it gives us less time to come back. It was a gamble.

Scared money don’t make money.