- Oct 5, 2017
- 2,328
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Hello Everybody! I thought I had posted a Georgia review, but then a few days later realized I hadn’t and by then it was too late. I’ve also not been as active as usual during the season and you guys deserve better. Late today with travel from College Station to Houston to Orlando to the grocery store to home to re-watch (double checking stuff I had written at the airport) to posting.
A&M was one of the better trips I’ve had to see the Gators play. A&M might be cult-like, but it is impressive in that and filled with traditions that are what college football is about. From the core of cadets (most not affiliated with a military branch) to the pettiest fight song where one of the strongest images of A&M, their fans swaying together, has the lyrics “saw Varsity’s horns off” and “Varsity’s horns are sawed off”. Of course, Varsity is a reference to Bevo of the University of Texas and the whole fight song is just a song trashing Texas.
The offense was a mixed bag, but when they put up 41 points it is hard to say the end result was not good. However, at times QB play, OL, receivers, and yes, play calling could be a problem.
AR threw for 60.7% on the day which was pretty good. A few throwaways and a few great efforts by defensive play lowered the percentage. He also missed on a few throws and late in the first half stayed on a first read too long and decided to throw the ball away. However, if he would’ve glanced to his check down he could have hit it for a few yards. I will defend him not hitting check downs if he throws to an earlier progression he sees as open. However, when you go through your progressions and skip the check down, that’s an issue. An average of almost 12 yards per completion is good.
AR also ran for 78 yards on 7 carries and 2 TD’s. The 60 yard run was spectacular and shows once again he can run against the SEC if we can get him room. AR averaged 3 ypc outside the 60 yard run, but some of that is hampered by sacks and by a shorter TD run.
For the running backs, it is awesome we ran for 292 yards on 49 carries (removing the kneel down) and getting 5.959 yards per carry. Johnson was 22 for 100 and Etienne averaged 4.25 ypc after subtracting his long run of 12, but finished with 80 yards on 17 carries total. He has consistently been the best of Florida’s backs and showed it yesterday when he took a poor play call and overall bad blocking on a key 3rd down and made a few great jukes to single handedly get the first down. There are still too many plays going for a loss or no gain, but hoping that is improved going forward.
For the receivers, overall they did well. Fraziars with a great grab for a TD. On the flip side Pearsall did not secure a pressured catch after AR fit the ball into a tight window and dropped a ball before contact when the targeting call bailed us out. He did have some good catch and runs though. He also contributed on the ground game. His shortest run was not on him. Had we blocked a little better to get him outside he had room to run. Unfortunately, that play put us behind for the drive. It was good to see Douglas get more involved. Burke also got some time and I am quite certain after re-watching the game that the pass to him in the endzone beat the defender and hit him. The defender swiping definitely threw him off, but gotta catch balls when we beat the defender in a small window, though that ball should've been thrown a bit better.
As spoken about about, there are times our YPC gets limited and I do think many times it is due to the OL and not the back. Our guys did solid at times and other times limited the offense. On our last real drive of the first half, after AR missed the check down on the first play as described above, a bad run play on 2nd down and then the OL failed to get us time on 3rd down. These guys can be strength at times, but they can be pretty inconsistent at others.
Of course, some of our offensive inconsistency can be put on play calling. For example, it has become a wildly predictable pattern that if we have an incompletion we are probably running up the middle on second down. When you’re predictable it allows for opposing defenses to worry less about what you’re going to do and have an advantage against you on those downs. Another is that we rarely have quick routes on plays. The rare exception is when we run slants on obvious passing downs where it is a big 3rd and 4th down. Almost always this season we have had issues and I don’t believe we have completed a single slant when we’ve tried it in this situation. Missed a TD on it on Saturday. If we run more, quick routes, I think AR can grow into throwing them better.
Why does that matter? No quick game means you are not punishing teams for blitzing. So when they blitz, such as the aforementioned 3rd down on the last real drive of the first half, defenses do it knowing that they will have time to get home as we run longer developing routes and do not have many plays in our system to throw where the pressure came from to capitalize on our part.
The defense is obviously a tale of two halves. There has been much speculation that this defense would be great but for talent alone. That talent, not play calling or some coaching, is mostly and/or totally to blame for our defensive woes. This game showed why that line of thinking is the type of absolution we saw for the offense from 2010-2017 at best and the defense of Mullen last October and November at worst.
You don’t have a half where you give up 24 points, a ton of yards to an A&M offense missing stheir starting QB (I haven’t forgotten why) that has been pedestrian at best throughout the season and was shut down by App State and then shut that same offense out in the second half without looking at coaching. Yes, the coaching made great adjustments, mostly playing closer to the LOS with the DB’s and blitzing. However, the ridiculous difference between Stetson Bennett’s performance against us in zone vs. man should’ve been an indicator of how this defense can be most successful. This staff who talks a big game of analytics continues to ignore the fact that sitting in zone gets us shredded each game, allows a ton of points and still doesn’t see an analytical difference. That is maddening. Especially, when it seems to be the same adjustments week after week. Almost worth asking why not just start with that as your gameplan and adjust from there.
For the DL/OLB, outside of a rough start I thought they were fine and got better as the day went on. Part of that is the symbiotic relationship I have talked about between DL and DB. If DB’s are 10 yards off the ball and in a easily beatable zone, put Warren Sapp, LT, Suh, and Reggie White and it won’t matter because they will not have time to get a pass rush. That doesn’t mean we haven’t been lacking, but we also having been helping. Conversely, if we aren’t getting a pass rush, it hurts DB’s because it allows more time for the receivers to get open. But, when we play tight man and/or press, a QB can’t throw as quickly and usually has a tighter window making them think twice. This gives a little bit more time for the DL/OLB/Blitzer to get home. Sometimes the offense does make a play. Sometimes we get strip sacks like we have throughout the season. No guarantee it will always work, but we’ve seen enough that this D just sitting back in zone ever does. Second half the DL/OLB set the edge and came up with some big plays and caused multiple turnovers. Both of the turnovers came off of the blitz.
The LB’s had a rough go of it to start the game. However, in the 2nd half especially they came alive. Multiple times Miller made plays covering the RB’s coming out of the back field on lateral routes while others were being slow on them in the first half. One safety not named Trey Dean, watched the guy going wide and didn’t react until he was thrown the pass. Other teams know this na I truly believe the RB was not a check down on these plays, but a look deep to look off the person assigned to that zone/player and then throw wide because we have had problems with it. With that said, Miller shut it down in the 2nd half and deserves praise for it. Burney also deserves praise for an amazing diving grab that saved debated on whether the turnover he got would’ve been a fumble or incompletion. He isn’t perfect, but has been steadily improving throughout the season.
I get really frustrated with our DB’s at times and other times I think they do well. I think Marshall is much better in man than zone, but did get beat on a nice route by Evan Stewart yesterday for a big gain. He also was tight on his man many times in the second half causing incompletions. One play in the stands someone complained about because he was near and they felt he allowed the catch. If we are in zone, which we were, if your CB is responsible for the middle 1/3 of the field, I’m not sure what we are doing. Dean had his mistakes, but overall was more consistent than he was for the first part of the year. Johnson continues to be the guy other teams target. Perkins is still great in coverage overall though his tackling can leave things to be desired, but that can be said for all our DB’s. In my opinion, he should be starting at the Star. Torrence had a rough first half, but with the second half changes, really stepped it up.
It is amazing though the night and day difference between the first and second half and that is why it is so frustrating. The players look different with these adjustments. As one donkey said to me, the second half shows that the first half was full of ill-prepared players and scheme. For a staff that said after LSU that they owe it to the seniors to try to win, they are failing by not allowing the defense to play like they did for the 2nd half all of the time. If they do, we can finish 8-4. If they don’t, yes, I could see 5-7 as Vandy’s offense continues to grow and had some highlights yesterday. The time to adjust was weeks ago, but now the data becomes clearer and clearer. What better time than the present?
Indeed we are on that rollercoaster I said we were on after Utah. Hopefully, we are heading back up. A so-so Carolina team that still has to play us and UT and could finish on a 3 game losing streak with Clemson as their last game comes to town next. Rattler is wildly inconsistent when not given time and having to throw tight windows. It is a winnable game. Here’s to hoping we don’t need to dig a hole to figure out our adjustments in the Swamp.
Go Gators!
A&M was one of the better trips I’ve had to see the Gators play. A&M might be cult-like, but it is impressive in that and filled with traditions that are what college football is about. From the core of cadets (most not affiliated with a military branch) to the pettiest fight song where one of the strongest images of A&M, their fans swaying together, has the lyrics “saw Varsity’s horns off” and “Varsity’s horns are sawed off”. Of course, Varsity is a reference to Bevo of the University of Texas and the whole fight song is just a song trashing Texas.
The offense was a mixed bag, but when they put up 41 points it is hard to say the end result was not good. However, at times QB play, OL, receivers, and yes, play calling could be a problem.
AR threw for 60.7% on the day which was pretty good. A few throwaways and a few great efforts by defensive play lowered the percentage. He also missed on a few throws and late in the first half stayed on a first read too long and decided to throw the ball away. However, if he would’ve glanced to his check down he could have hit it for a few yards. I will defend him not hitting check downs if he throws to an earlier progression he sees as open. However, when you go through your progressions and skip the check down, that’s an issue. An average of almost 12 yards per completion is good.
AR also ran for 78 yards on 7 carries and 2 TD’s. The 60 yard run was spectacular and shows once again he can run against the SEC if we can get him room. AR averaged 3 ypc outside the 60 yard run, but some of that is hampered by sacks and by a shorter TD run.
For the running backs, it is awesome we ran for 292 yards on 49 carries (removing the kneel down) and getting 5.959 yards per carry. Johnson was 22 for 100 and Etienne averaged 4.25 ypc after subtracting his long run of 12, but finished with 80 yards on 17 carries total. He has consistently been the best of Florida’s backs and showed it yesterday when he took a poor play call and overall bad blocking on a key 3rd down and made a few great jukes to single handedly get the first down. There are still too many plays going for a loss or no gain, but hoping that is improved going forward.
For the receivers, overall they did well. Fraziars with a great grab for a TD. On the flip side Pearsall did not secure a pressured catch after AR fit the ball into a tight window and dropped a ball before contact when the targeting call bailed us out. He did have some good catch and runs though. He also contributed on the ground game. His shortest run was not on him. Had we blocked a little better to get him outside he had room to run. Unfortunately, that play put us behind for the drive. It was good to see Douglas get more involved. Burke also got some time and I am quite certain after re-watching the game that the pass to him in the endzone beat the defender and hit him. The defender swiping definitely threw him off, but gotta catch balls when we beat the defender in a small window, though that ball should've been thrown a bit better.
As spoken about about, there are times our YPC gets limited and I do think many times it is due to the OL and not the back. Our guys did solid at times and other times limited the offense. On our last real drive of the first half, after AR missed the check down on the first play as described above, a bad run play on 2nd down and then the OL failed to get us time on 3rd down. These guys can be strength at times, but they can be pretty inconsistent at others.
Of course, some of our offensive inconsistency can be put on play calling. For example, it has become a wildly predictable pattern that if we have an incompletion we are probably running up the middle on second down. When you’re predictable it allows for opposing defenses to worry less about what you’re going to do and have an advantage against you on those downs. Another is that we rarely have quick routes on plays. The rare exception is when we run slants on obvious passing downs where it is a big 3rd and 4th down. Almost always this season we have had issues and I don’t believe we have completed a single slant when we’ve tried it in this situation. Missed a TD on it on Saturday. If we run more, quick routes, I think AR can grow into throwing them better.
Why does that matter? No quick game means you are not punishing teams for blitzing. So when they blitz, such as the aforementioned 3rd down on the last real drive of the first half, defenses do it knowing that they will have time to get home as we run longer developing routes and do not have many plays in our system to throw where the pressure came from to capitalize on our part.
The defense is obviously a tale of two halves. There has been much speculation that this defense would be great but for talent alone. That talent, not play calling or some coaching, is mostly and/or totally to blame for our defensive woes. This game showed why that line of thinking is the type of absolution we saw for the offense from 2010-2017 at best and the defense of Mullen last October and November at worst.
You don’t have a half where you give up 24 points, a ton of yards to an A&M offense missing stheir starting QB (I haven’t forgotten why) that has been pedestrian at best throughout the season and was shut down by App State and then shut that same offense out in the second half without looking at coaching. Yes, the coaching made great adjustments, mostly playing closer to the LOS with the DB’s and blitzing. However, the ridiculous difference between Stetson Bennett’s performance against us in zone vs. man should’ve been an indicator of how this defense can be most successful. This staff who talks a big game of analytics continues to ignore the fact that sitting in zone gets us shredded each game, allows a ton of points and still doesn’t see an analytical difference. That is maddening. Especially, when it seems to be the same adjustments week after week. Almost worth asking why not just start with that as your gameplan and adjust from there.
For the DL/OLB, outside of a rough start I thought they were fine and got better as the day went on. Part of that is the symbiotic relationship I have talked about between DL and DB. If DB’s are 10 yards off the ball and in a easily beatable zone, put Warren Sapp, LT, Suh, and Reggie White and it won’t matter because they will not have time to get a pass rush. That doesn’t mean we haven’t been lacking, but we also having been helping. Conversely, if we aren’t getting a pass rush, it hurts DB’s because it allows more time for the receivers to get open. But, when we play tight man and/or press, a QB can’t throw as quickly and usually has a tighter window making them think twice. This gives a little bit more time for the DL/OLB/Blitzer to get home. Sometimes the offense does make a play. Sometimes we get strip sacks like we have throughout the season. No guarantee it will always work, but we’ve seen enough that this D just sitting back in zone ever does. Second half the DL/OLB set the edge and came up with some big plays and caused multiple turnovers. Both of the turnovers came off of the blitz.
The LB’s had a rough go of it to start the game. However, in the 2nd half especially they came alive. Multiple times Miller made plays covering the RB’s coming out of the back field on lateral routes while others were being slow on them in the first half. One safety not named Trey Dean, watched the guy going wide and didn’t react until he was thrown the pass. Other teams know this na I truly believe the RB was not a check down on these plays, but a look deep to look off the person assigned to that zone/player and then throw wide because we have had problems with it. With that said, Miller shut it down in the 2nd half and deserves praise for it. Burney also deserves praise for an amazing diving grab that saved debated on whether the turnover he got would’ve been a fumble or incompletion. He isn’t perfect, but has been steadily improving throughout the season.
I get really frustrated with our DB’s at times and other times I think they do well. I think Marshall is much better in man than zone, but did get beat on a nice route by Evan Stewart yesterday for a big gain. He also was tight on his man many times in the second half causing incompletions. One play in the stands someone complained about because he was near and they felt he allowed the catch. If we are in zone, which we were, if your CB is responsible for the middle 1/3 of the field, I’m not sure what we are doing. Dean had his mistakes, but overall was more consistent than he was for the first part of the year. Johnson continues to be the guy other teams target. Perkins is still great in coverage overall though his tackling can leave things to be desired, but that can be said for all our DB’s. In my opinion, he should be starting at the Star. Torrence had a rough first half, but with the second half changes, really stepped it up.
It is amazing though the night and day difference between the first and second half and that is why it is so frustrating. The players look different with these adjustments. As one donkey said to me, the second half shows that the first half was full of ill-prepared players and scheme. For a staff that said after LSU that they owe it to the seniors to try to win, they are failing by not allowing the defense to play like they did for the 2nd half all of the time. If they do, we can finish 8-4. If they don’t, yes, I could see 5-7 as Vandy’s offense continues to grow and had some highlights yesterday. The time to adjust was weeks ago, but now the data becomes clearer and clearer. What better time than the present?
Indeed we are on that rollercoaster I said we were on after Utah. Hopefully, we are heading back up. A so-so Carolina team that still has to play us and UT and could finish on a 3 game losing streak with Clemson as their last game comes to town next. Rattler is wildly inconsistent when not given time and having to throw tight windows. It is a winnable game. Here’s to hoping we don’t need to dig a hole to figure out our adjustments in the Swamp.
Go Gators!
