- Jun 12, 2014
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In the midst of Florida’s 63-35 dismantling of Arkansas, Redshirt QB Kyle Trask had himself quite an evening as he went 23/29 passing for 356 yards and six TD tosses. According to the announcers, he had now put himself into the discussion for the Heisman! You mean that he wasn’t in that discussion already? Could’ve fooled me. 28 TD passes in six games should have garnered plenty of attention. If you asked backup QB Anthony Richardson, he’d probably tweet something like “Give Kyle the Heisman Trophy already!”;)
But that’s kind of how it is for our Gators who seem to always be nobody’s media darlings. I can only harken back to the old ball coach who enjoyed the almost villainous status that was bestowed on him and the program and remains to this day. Truthfully, we’ve had that notoriety for quite a bit longer, but I’m good with it. I’d much rather be Doc Holiday than Wyatt Earp. Doc had a helluva lot more fun!
Where Trask is concerned, I hope we are all appreciative of what he’s doing this season. His accuracy and knowing when to drill it and when to throw it with touch are quite amazing. I think the fact that we are as inconsistent defensively...alright, we stink it up quite a bit on that side of the ball...probably takes some of the shine off of Kyle’s accomplishments. And it really shouldn’t. The story of how he got to this point is quite amazing, but what he’s doing with his opportunity exceeds that.
*Saturday’s game could have been billed as a battle of the Gators’ former and current quarterbacks, with Feleipe Franks making somewhat of an inglorious return to the Swamp. For a few plays, most notably two nicely thrown deep balls for TDs, it looked as if Franks would indeed make a statement. But the day belonged to his predecessor and Feleipe was simply visiting in the stadium that was his home no more.
*Being kind, our defense continues to be inconsistent. Being brutally honest, we stink in the secondary and at LB. At one one point, I could have sworn we suited up about four “Rudy’s” in the secondary, only the real Rudy looked more talented. If you aren’t blessed with a lot of talent, you have to make up for it with an understanding and knowledge of what your opponents do offensively along with communication and a lot of toughness. We don’t seem to have a lot of any of these, at least not consistently.
*Mullen’s response to our defensive woes might have been to emphasize controlling the clock with our running game. We rushed for over 200 yards on 45 carries. The result was keeping the Hog’s O off the field and not giving them the chance to develop any lasting momentum. For the game, we had the ball for 18 more minutes than them. Ordinarily, I would tell you that this stat isn’t as important as it once was, but I think it played a part in our success today. Don’t underestimate Dan’s strategic acumen. Or give his OC some credit. The run today and the wheels last week were good touches that helped make the games winnable.
*It’s no secret that our LB play has been erratic at best. Without Houston and Moon yesterday, we played some sets with no ILBs (mostly passing situations) or played Diabate in the middle. #11 made a couple of plays on the perimeter, but he was no factor on runs between the tackles. He’s simply too light to take on an OL and looked more ballerina than football player on more than one occasion. But obviously he’s all we had (what’s happened to the kid from St. Thomas Aquinas?). This position is beyond priority where recruiting is concerned.
*The DL is a bright spot as they are beginning to get pressure on the QBs (4 sacks last night I believe) and are improving against the run, though we surrendered a couple of long ones. Carter’s scoop and score was a highlight and we played a lot of bodies, though I don’t recall much from Slaton and he didn’t show up in the stat line. Arkansas was only 3/9 on third downs. We’ll have to take our gains where we can get them I suppose.
*Next to Trask, the receivers were the story offensively. For one evening at least, we didn’t seem to miss Pitts. Grimes (2), Zipperer (2), Copeland, Shorter, and Henderson had TD receptions. Sounds like Pitts will miss one more game, but it’s good to know that this group is coming into its own. Grimes probably had his best night as a Gator. Toney didn’t score, but still had 7 receptions. Quietly, or behind Pitts at least, they have become a deep and dangerous group.
*We rushed for 208 yards. Pierce, Wright, and Davis had good nights and the OL was efficient. Our OGs looked good on the G Schemes and overall this group, while not mistaken for the “Great Wall,” is appreciably better than the last several seasons. If they will continue to get just a little better each game, we will have a chance to make the SECCG. Pretty remarkable.
*Not football, but I’ve got to share some softball news. Tim Walton signed Bainbridge Bearcat pitcher Lexie Delbrey this week. Lexie was the #7 player nationally and one of the best high school pitchers I’ve seen in a while. I think she’s got a chance to be a good one and I can’t help but be very proud of her!
I’ve had these strange thoughts that this team is looking eerily similar to some of Spurrier’s teams with the offensive numbers we’re putting up. Trask could easily pass for one of SOS’s QBs with the way he’s carving up the opposing defenses. I’ll take that even though I really want us to be better defensively and I must admit to having a feeling in the back of my mind that a really good team will give us trouble despite how good our O is clicking. A&M has given us a foreshadowing. But football is best watched as it’s played...one game at a time. And for now, Vandy is looming. Not the most anticipated matchup, simply the next one. Go Gators!
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