Bits & Pieces: Florida vs. Ole Miss

cover2

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Fear the running game wont work without EJ and somehow the passing game falls apart?

by the way what do you think about our passing game playbook yesterday? there were a lot of things I've never seen before. am I hallucinating?
I think the running game prospects are better this year with the bit of improvement we saw with the OL and, maybe more importantly, how Trask, Pitts, et al can carve up a defense. 4 receivers of the caliber we can line up are gonna command 2 high pretty regular (considering down and distance and field position). We’ve got a chance to block their 5 this year where before we couldn’t with any consistency. EJ gave us an extra blocker or decoy (RB) last year which helped him be effective running. Plus he’s pretty fast and shifty. Good change of pace. Right now, I don’t know that we need that as much, but we could down the road. We’ll see.

As for the passing game you were watching yesterday...yes, you were hallucinating. Years of psychotropic drug abuse stays with you forever :).All kidding aside, my take is that we likely witnessed Mullen having reached a higher level of trust with his QB. I’d have to go back and count to be sure, but I believe we attacked vertically more than we have the past two seasons. Part of that imo is due to Trask’s willingness to ride the pocket as long as possible so that separation can occur and / or combo routes develop. Trusting your OL and overall pass pro is a requirement that was fulfilled. Maybe Brian Johnson had some influence :dunno:. Whatever the cause, me likee. It’s just one more way to attack and also unclog other areas of the offense.
 

gatormandan

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Fear the running game wont work without EJ and somehow the passing game falls apart?

by the way what do you think about our passing game playbook yesterday? there were a lot of things I've never seen before. am I hallucinating?

Yes I saw plenty of downfield passes. The seam route toss to Cope was a thing of beauty until the defender took it away.
 

B52G8rAC

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Have to share this memory (so few are left). I was stationed in Montgomery Al when Georgia was coming to Auburn and Herschel was the RB. The book "Real Men don't eat Quiche" was on the best sellers' list. The Montgomery paper had letters and articles saying Herschel eats quiche. On Saturday, he simply single handedly killed Auburn. Sunday morning the headline was, "Herschel Walker can eat anything he wants." Loved living in Alabama during football season.
 

NOLAGATOR

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It finally got here. Seems like we’ve all been waiting forever, sorta like when you’ve asked Santa for that really neat gift, the one you’ve wanted all your life and will die if the big guy doesn’t come through. But it arrived. As openers go, there were a lot of things to weigh about the upcoming experience, much of it tied to COVID-19. Would we see signs of protest? What would the crowd be like? How prepared or how rusty would the teams look? Thankfully, when all was said and done, the game was played, the Gators won an opener against a conference opponent, we did a lot of really good things (offense / special teams) and some not very good (defense). But for three and a half hours, we were close to normal once more. That was a good thing.

Any disparagement of Kyle Trask after today needs to be retired. 30 / 42 for 416 yards and 6 TDs is both a statement of what he is capable of as well as a continuation of the progress he has made. Though Pitts was his primary target (8 receptions for 170 yds and 4 TDs), he also connected with 10 other receivers. He was cool in the pocket, showing great awareness of pressure and rarely rushed his progressions. As much as we’ve lamented a sideways offense, he sure made a bunch of nice vertical throws. Bottom line, the kid can play the game and the position at a high level, regardless of whatever pedigree (or lack) that has been assigned.

On the other hand, the defense was bad. At times they looked confused and slow, the latter being a result quite often of the former. Tackling was awful for the greater part, though Ventrell Miller had a couple of old school stones. I know that the game now is more predicated on speed than strength and technique, but we sure play way too high, which allows way too many ball carriers and receivers to run through the grabbing that results. And our DBs...they stayed lost all afternoon. Grantham and co. have a lot to repair and not much time to do it. I don’t want us to have to rely on the offense to bail us out all the time.

Now, let’s look at a few specifics:

*McPherson just confirmed what most knew...he’s a heckuva kicker. No KO returns and 3 / 3 FGs with a long of 55. Mullen was quoted as saying he thought he was the best kicker in America. Hard to disagree. And the punter, though he only punted once, looked up to the task. Still seemed a little strange not seeing a Townsend back there. Having a reliable kicking game may not always have the chance to win for you, but they can usually help keep you from getting beat. Low return yards is a pretty big stat.

*Not calling the OL completely fixed, but they looked better than we’ve seen. Pass pro was pretty good, as the QBs had time to throw. We’ve still got work to do with the run game, but we rushed for a little less than 200 on 29 attempts. A couple of technical things I noticed were we looked clean and quick on the G schemes and we had guys getting to and staying with their blocks. It’s a better start than we’ve had lately.

*Third and Grantham was likely screamed a few times today. Part of me gets that we had some youngsters out there, but there were some vets in the secondary who looked clueless for much of the time. Of course, they’ve looked like that before. Where’s the improvement? I also think Dr. Pressure needs to live up to his nick. Specifically, allowing them to convert 3rd and 19 with a 4 rush when your secondary can’t cover a soul is simply asinine.

*First time I can remember that a team responded to a two play length of the field TD drive with a two play length of the field TD drive. Kudos to the Rebs! And as bad as I hate to say it, Corral wasn’t too bad (against us).

*Pitts. The guys on one scoreboard show called him the best TE in the country. He certainly made a case for that high praise today. Great routes, concentration, hands and speed. AA potential. Stay healthy, Trask knows how to get it to you.

*Pierce and Davis looked pretty fair running the ball. They combined for 103. Toney had 55 on 2 carries. Where he’s concerned, we’ve all wanted him to get more touches...and today he got them, adding 5 receptions for 59 yds and a score. Was it Brian Johnson or Mullen? Who cares. Keep feeding him.

We weren’t perfect today, especially defensively, and that can be worrisome, but we’ll have to rely on the adage that a team shows its greatest improvement between game one and game two. Lord, I hope so. A quick glance makes me believe we’ve got the makings of a championship caliber offense barring significant injuries. The defense has a lot of catching up to do in that regard. It might get a little nerve racking. But at least football’s back and we can cheer and gripe about something other than politics. Stay tuned. It’s just getting started and who knows what’s around the next corner! Go Gators!

Spot on summary...Thanks.
 

GatorTruth133

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My reason for wanting EJ to play more is the possibility of injury to Trask. I was annoyed that our defense wouldn't let EJ take the reins.

I mean if we are talking about garbage time play, yes. As far as throwing him in just to shoehorn him in, no. A package here or there, fine, but like Cover 2 said, let's not force it. We saw that some in Baton Rouge last year and it did throw off the offensive flow. EJ right now has more experience playing while the game is still in the balance than about any back up that didn't start games due to injury.
 

Ancient Reptile

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It is not a question of how much experience he has had; it is a question of how much more experience he needs.
 

GatorTruth133

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It is not a question of how much experience he has had; it is a question of how much more experience he needs.

I think the point being made is the where he gets that experience. I'll even go this far. At this point he has easily 2x the experience Trask had before taking over. Not saying he doesn't need more, but I don't think an offensive gameplan should even consider trying to get someone experience. A package to help win, yes. Putting someone in while the game is still in the balance for experience purposes? No.
 

GatorJB

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Use EJ like they did Tebow in 06. Situationally, mostly in short yardage. We didn't have much garbage time in 06 because the offense couldn't separate. It looks like we won't have much garbage time this year because the defense may keep too many teams in games. That, and we aren't playing fsu and the other cream puffs.
 

GatorTruth133

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Use EJ like they did Tebow in 06. Situationally, mostly in short yardage. We didn't have much garbage time in 06 because the offense couldn't separate. It looks like we won't have much garbage time this year because the defense may keep too many teams in games. That, and we aren't playing fsu and the other cream puffs.

I'm not convinced we won't see garbage time, even as soon as next Saturday. This Ole Miss offense is miles ahead of Carolina and the majority of offenses left on our schedule. Our defense wasn't good, but I don't think that enough credit is given to Kiffin and last year's #3 SEC offense. I've discussed this in more detail elsewhere.
 

GatorJB

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I'm not convinced we won't see garbage time, even as soon as next Saturday. This Ole Miss offense is miles ahead of Carolina and the majority of offenses left on our schedule. Our defense wasn't good, but I don't think that enough credit is given to Kiffin and last year's #3 SEC offense. I've discussed this in more detail elsewhere.

I agree that Ole Miss has one of, if not, the best offense on our schedule. It's just when you only play SEC games and no more lower tier FBS or FCS teams, then that automatically reduces your normal amount of garbage time. We have Arkansas and Vandy on our schedule, so that helps. It's been a long time since we've blown out South Carolina, but we should win comfortably. If not, then we're not as good as we think we are.
 

Ancient Reptile

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I think the point being made is the where he gets that experience. I'll even go this far. At this point he has easily 2x the experience Trask had before taking over. Not saying he doesn't need more, but I don't think an offensive gameplan should even consider trying to get someone experience. A package to help win, yes. Putting someone in while the game is still in the balance for experience purposes? No.
Who has suggested playing EJ with the game on the line? I want EJ to play with the first team with us holding a comfortable lead. Actually, I want AR to develop fast. I just don't have confidence in EJ. Think Franks. I am glad that he is an admirable fellow and a Gator.
 

G8trwood

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I'm not convinced we won't see garbage time, even as soon as next Saturday. This Ole Miss offense is miles ahead of Carolina and the majority of offenses left on our schedule. Our defense wasn't good, but I don't think that enough credit is given to Kiffin and last year's #3 SEC offense. I've discussed this in more detail elsewhere.
I’ll disagree here because of the Jinx factor!

We made a lot of QB look all world in recent years. Enough is enough.

Go Gators
 

Swamp Donkey

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We made a lot of QB look all world in recent years
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honestly maybe it's a good thing for Mullinz to feel like he has to score a lot of points, so he will play last tight on offense.

2007 was probably my favorite year of his playcalling.
 
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Bernardo de la Paz

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7 touches for Toney was nice to see (2 runs, 5 rec)
Even nicer was the fact that some of those receptions were beyond the line of scrimmage. Looks like he might be able to run routes well enough to get more PT this year.
 

Sec14Gator

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I think the point being made is the where he gets that experience. I'll even go this far. At this point he has easily 2x the experience Trask had before taking over. Not saying he doesn't need more, but I don't think an offensive gameplan should even consider trying to get someone experience. A package to help win, yes. Putting someone in while the game is still in the balance for experience purposes? No.

I'd compare it to HS or younger pitching. If the batter simply can't catch up to the fastball, don't bother letting them off the hook with a changeup. If EJ helps because the offense is stagnating and we need a change of pace, go for it. If not, don't.

I just rewatched the lines and linebackers on each teams' first few drives and here are some observations from that early period. Heggie looked great. Gouraige looked to be our second best lineman. Resse and Delance struggled in both run and pass blocking on several plays. At this point, the left side of our offense could be a strength and Ethan White's return could also be very helpful. Reese only looked good on one run blocking play - the Trask QB power on 2nd and goal from about the 5.

On defense, Dexter is already getting more push than any other d-lineman, though I'm not sure Slaton was on the field for many first drive plays (he and Carter are on at DT to start the second drive). Burney simply looks lost even trying to get off blocks. If he doesn't run around the blocker and avoid contact altogether, he cannot disengage. Dunlap was getting pushed a few yards back on almost all of his plays. Carter seems lost at DT, where he could be such a strength if given an edge to leverage. Cox is playing the Polite role of being very wide and just rushing. He was more active than I recalled though, having multiple tackles, including a sack that the announcers gave to ZC.

On the second drive, the 3rd and 19, Dean made a big play on second (he was in because Torrence's helmet came off), only to be pulled, while Stiner is seen look on at the next two deep passes for the first and then the TD. Elam gave up the TD in clear man coverage (he slipped on a double move), but it also looked as though Stiner definitely had deep middle help for Elam and was out of position by a solid 8-10 yards.

And Corral is ensuring he is never mistaken for an SEC QB, by posing as a meth head.

EJ in at only the second drive of the game is pretty inexplicable after how good we looked on the first drive.
 

Swamp Donkey

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I notice Dunlap playing poorly too. He played well as a true freshman. Im not sure what this says about our player development on the DL. How much is lack of coaching vs scheme? Hard to say.

A wide 9 rushbacker leaves a big lift for the other three? But allegedly they are one gapping regardless.

This scheme is just horrid for run defense. It is hard to imagine one worse.
 

Homer J

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Use EJ like they did Tebow in 06. Situationally, mostly in short yardage. We didn't have much garbage time in 06 because the offense couldn't separate. It looks like we won't have much garbage time this year because the defense may keep too many teams in games. That, and we aren't playing fsu and the other cream puffs.
I was hoping to see Richardson on a short yardage run, last Sat.
 

Gator By Marriage

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1) Pierce got a shout from the announcers on one pass pro. Not sure if it is the one you referenced, but given the overall protection yesterday, I think it’s safe to say the backs are doing their job in compliment with the OL in this small sample.
2) Getting stronger along with refining the throwing motion can increase the power behind the throw and it appeared that Trask had a little more zip on several of his throws. More importantly, his touch and timing was better than ever.
3) Dexter got some snaps and made some plays. His INT off of the Brenton Cox deflection was a great play in his first college game. High hopes where he’s concerned; still young though. Not sure about others.
4) Mentioned in the OP that we attacked vertically more than we have previously and it wasn’t certain whether it was because of Johnson or Mullen. Makes me think that there is some change in the attack philosophy. Regardless of the inspiration, it has to be signed off by the HC. I’ll add that I think understanding more fully what Trask can do with great receivers and better OL play allows you to be more vertically aggressive. Who knows that we may even start seeing some verticals with Toney running the under? Wouldn’t that be a novel approach?!
@Ancient Reptile I went and looked it up, it was Pierce who pancaked the blitzer on the long pass to Pitts. It's a good thing that that play resulted in a TD because Grimes was wide open and would have scored as well had Trask thrown it to him instead.
In watching the highlights I was struck by how confident Trask was in making his throws. The TD to Grimes was particularly impressive as the DB had pretty good coverage and he put the ball in the perfect spot. This was also true on the last TDs of the two halves to Pitts. One was put where only Pitts could get it and the other took advantage of Pitts' athleticism. If this is what Trask is capable of week in and week out, this could be a really special offense this season.
 

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