Bits & Pieces: Florida vs. Kentucky

[LongTooth]

This. It was a thing of beauty how he faked the hand off to Perine while he just gave it to Hammond. Timing was perfect. I had to look at it a few times.

And Krull and Pitts made their blocks!!

 

[Ancient Reptile]

This is just my impression and it may be wrong. I do know that I have seen this effect in organizations, though maybe not to this team. Some people just make an organization run better. When these people are in charge, things just hum along. Doesn't always show up on check lists or evaluations and it is sometimes attributed to luck. I don't doubt that the tesm wants Franks, but everything seemed to run smoother once Trask entered the game.

 

[gatormandan]

but everything seemed to run smoother once Trask entered the game.

It seemed like everything changed. Play calling, players doing their jobs etc...

 

[FireFoley]

Excellent read as always C2. Enjoy it and the first few pages of the thread as it is met with good observations beyond the result and the final score. There is not much to add but I will share, as I watch these games as a fan, but I no longer have emotions b/c of what I see and the quality of play.

Firstly, I am saddened by Franks injury. Whether I think he is good or not, I never want to see anyone get injured. I hope he has a full recovery and if he wants to try and play football again or try baseball I wish him nothing but the best. With that said it is no secret that I openly said on here numerous times last year that regardless of Franks improvement, that I thought it best if he left after the season. Not b/c I thought Trash or EJ was better, but that Franks' floor is below the basement and his ceiling is still under the basement. I feel good for Trash and he did an excellent job, but I don' think he is an every down starter in the SEC, but kudos to him for sticking around. Sure he could probably play a lot D-2 or D-3, but he chose to take advantage of the scholly, look at a lot of hot chicks and eat some pretty decent food for a few years. He is a good backup to have b/c I don;t get the feeling that he thinks he is a great player. Franks was a marginal QB who thought he was great. Sure Trash can't throw a ball 40 yards on a line like Franks, but he also is not dumb enough to throw the type of INT that Franks threw on the 1st drive. We all hoped Franks would improve dramatically but I learned long ago that hope is both a blessing and a curse. Making an aggressive throw and making a stupid throw are 2 different things.

With that said, it really won;t matter in the long run who the QB is b/c the O-line is awful, Slow, Dumb, Weak, etc. etc. Our left tackle is terrible and our Right Guard is weaker than the Right Guard I use each and every morning. So the people who raised the red flag last week b/c we could not rush effectively facing a 3 man front of Rhode Island School of Vacuum Repair were 100% correct. KY has a good front 4 but if you want to compete in the SEC the O-line has to be serviceable at worst. This O-line at present is not serviceable.

Injuries or not, our secondary is pathetic and the LB's in coverage are abysmal. Our pass coverage looks like a bunch of chickens running around with their heads cut off. Kudo's to Davis for "getting" 2 INT's, but please do not act like you made a play. You did not!. You caught 2 balls thrown directly to you. You have not made a single play in your entire career in pass coverage when playing a true safety role as a protector. Not one. Yet you have a ball thrown directly to you and then you celebrate like a total ASS CLOWN like you are the next Paul Krause. Be Happy? Yes. Celebrate with your teammates? Yes. Act the ASS CLOWN? NO. When you make a break on a pass to beak up a pass or make a break to INT a ball, then you can be an ASS CLOWN. I doubt we will ever see that.

I always am glad when we win, but the quality of play, some of the game management is to me me too eerily similar to the likes of the Zoooooookkkk's, Muscrat's and Butters. You may win some games by being fortunate, but over time the reversion to the mean takes over. I never wanted Cousin Eddie and I see many of the reasons I did not want him each and every week. And the verbiage of some of his answers seems to be all too familiar to recent past here.

Unfortunately, I think last nite's game is going to be how it is going to be on a weekly basis. Outside of Vandy, I don't see an SEC game remaining on the schedule that won;t be tightly contested all things being equal. And in that case, you need an edge on the sideline, which to me we clearly do not have.

 

[LongTooth]

FireFoley,

Davis is no world beater but you’re wrong about him never making a play in coverage.

He saved our asses in the Miami game with a brilliant pass break up against a much taller receiver. Go back and watch those highlights. It’s stellar and game changing.

He’s still no Reggie Nelson tho, despite the hair.

 

[Zambo]

Did you mean to refer to our quarterback as trash multiple times in your post? Was that just auto correct I hope.

 

[gatormandan]

Did you mean to refer to our quarterback as trash multiple times in your post? Was that just auto correct I hope.

Trying to impress the donk?

 

[MJMGator]

Our WRs are absolute beasts!

 

[FireFoley]

FireFoley,

Davis is no world beater but you’re wrong about him never making a play in coverage.

He saved our asses in the Miami game with a brilliant pass break up against a much taller receiver. Go back and watch those highlights. It’s stellar and game changing.

He’s still no Reggie Nelson tho, despite the hair.

I stand corrected then, so thank you.

 

[Frozen Gator]

My favorite Sunday morning read and always on the money! No game is safe now and Saturday would be a season maker for you know who. I thought Wilson's coverage was OK but he was manhandled by their receivers and not just the TD.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

It seemed like everything changed. Play calling, players doing their jobs etc...

Let's hope Trask is a gamer. Some guys just have it when the lights are on. Spurrier was a big believer in gamers. Put them out there and see how they do. Maybe because he played the position at a high level but every other coach will only play practice warriors.

 

[SGG]

Funny thing.....a buddy of mine was texting me and before the ball was snapped I told him “This one here is going to Pitts”, with the thought being that we would throw a quick hitter to him in the flat for the first down.

Sure as hell, though, we handed it to Hammond and went right at Pitts with it.

 

[Okeechobee Joe]

This is just my impression and it may be wrong. I do know that I have seen this effect in organizations, though maybe not to this team. Some people just make an organization run better. When these people are in charge, things just hum along. Doesn't always show up on check lists or evaluations and it is sometimes attributed to luck. I don't doubt that the tesm wants Franks, but everything seemed to run smoother once Trask entered the game.

Also sometimes people respond when their backs are against the wall.

 

[GatormanTX]

And Krull and Pitts made their blocks!!

Trask does the best fake handoffs I have seen in a long while.

 

[Bushmaster]

Many of our plays call for our guys, mostly leftover Butters guys who aren't the most athletically gifted, to make big pulls or reaches. Some of these are big lifts, requiring guys to move at full sprints and angle perfectly to get a smaller lighter play who is also moving laterally no doubt at full speed. At some point dont you think we should go to some more simple straight ahead type blocking? We have some simple power stuff in the playbook. I've seen it at times. This simply isn't the 07 08 type OL with lightweight OL who can do some of those things.

For that matter, when all your real talent is at WR and your OL does at least a decent job in pass blocking, how have we not adapted to more of a pass to set up the run mentality. Is this only clear to me?

It should be clear. I have been preaching this for a while. My HS team has the same issue. Predictive running plays and formations and a defense playing cover 0 makes running a difficult task. 5 can't block 7.

 

[Okeechobee Joe]

It all comes down to Dan Mullen.

 

[T REX]

Holy cow! Can you believe it?! This was certainly one for the books and seemed to have a little bit of everything. More twists and turns and rises and falls than the Pacific Coast Highway. I can't remember alternately cursing and thanking the good Lord as much as I did tonight. I must admit to having a few cold ones at the Mexican joint with my wife and daughter prior to the game, anticipating the need for what I knew would be a tough one in Lexington. Little did I know that tequila would have been a better choice.

There was a point that a second consecutive loss to the Cats looked almost inevitable. We were getting our sh!t pushed in on both lines of scrimmage, we weren't tackling well, the secondary couldn't cover a (prostitute) with a bedsheet, etc. Then Frank's went down on a failed 4th down play and Trask trotted out with the 'ones' on the next series (somewhere, maybe in a cheap motel in Tiajuana, Law was breaking the seal on a jug of the best local hootch; a gallon of Zima would not even start to take the edge off of what he was feeling). In the back of my mind, I could hear Bill Murray saying something about a "Cinderella Story." Could it be? Nah...well, maybe, but...and then I'll be damned if it wasn't!

This is one of those once a generation type games. The Danny to Doering game against these same Kentucky Wildcats comes to mind. Now the question becomes can we use this as a catalyst to shore up our deficiencies, mature and get better faster, and actually be a factor in the top of the conference question? The emotion of the moment answer would be a resounding "hell yeah," but the sober and analytical answer would be to pump the breaks and realize that until our many problems are corrected, we'll have a very difficult time against the better teams and little to no chance against the best. Sorry if it seems like I can't enjoy a win. I'm really happy, ecstatic really, that we pulled it out and one thing we have shown, a "never say die" spirit (which is extremely valuable), emerged. But looking at it from a coaching point of view, we have deficiencies that will eventually get us if we can't grow out of or correct them. The OL problem is most prominent. So let's look at some particulars (and I'm surely going to talk about the good as well):

*It was tough to see Franks go down with the dislocated ankle that has ended his season. As critical as I've been, I have been impressed by the difference in his attitude last game and in this one that was on display. Lots of energy, but under control. He was resembling a leader. Even more impressive is the loyalty his teammates have for him. I think he's always had the "it" that a coach wants from his QB, but just didn't quite know how to use it and I think it affected him physically as well as mentally, the two being tied together. Wishing him a speedy and complete recovery.

*Trask. What a feel good story. Kid showed a lot of moxie that most thought there was no way he had it. Still, there were some that seemed to know he did. Before we get too carried away, it just one game. But he has now taken that step and taken it successfully. Now he's just got to grow with the role from week to week. Proud for him and proud for the Gators. I'm a fan.

*The OL. We could do a whole article on them alone, but I'll restrict it to some things I watched for. The broken record is that we once again couldn't get a push. With only a few late exceptions, the ground game was a failure. We got overpowered, couldn't maintain our assignments, and were slow to the point of attack too often. To the latter point, our RG was a step slow on a G block and log of the play side LB and instead wound up shoving the backer into our back for an easy stop. On another, our LT never got within three yards of the DB on a lateral block for a sweep. Two things keep these assignments from being carried out: being too slow or not putting forth the necessary effort. I think consistency in the latter might be an issue along with an overall lack of strength among the personnel. If lack of quality depth is also a factor, the corrections can fall somewhere between harder than hell and impossible. We've got some pretty stout D fronts still in front of us. We should be seeing some improvement by now, but there's not nearly enough thus far. And by the way, it isn't just a TE problem.

*David Reese had a helluva game. He played with a lot of passion and a lot of grit. I think I heard he was upward of 15 stops. Only problem is that there isn't but one of him. Hope he stays healthy. He's the king bolt.

*The secondary was poor overall, not tackling very well nor covering consistently. Marco Wilson got toasted tonight, but there were others who didn't shine either. The fact that we are small doesn't help against the longer, bigger receivers. The interceptions were good and the last one critical, but this bunch has got to get better and more consistent quickly. When we get neutralized up front, lack of experience and skill gets easily exposed. I think Elam is off to a good start, however. I'm sure there's more, but it's hard to see on a night like tonight when a second string guy lights you up a bit.

*Our receivers are pretty damn good. And there's a bunch of them. Freddy Swain made some great catches to go along with Jefferson, Grimes, Hammond, and others. And how about Pitts? Now if he can just block a little.

*I'd still like to see Perine run behind his pads a little more. He's going to have to until something changes with the OL.

*I thought us failing on the 4th down play (and losing Franks) might have been the game's biggest play, but it turns out that Stoops' decision to try the same took that honor. His D had been killing us, why risk giving us some juice (and throwing their's away)?

*McPherson had a rare miss, but thankfully we were able to overcome it. Not sure if the Kentucky kicker will be able to easily get over his push. One of the game's vagaries.

We were very fortunate tonight and as mentioned before, it ought to give us some fire, especially as we come back home for a date with the Vols. It should also serve as yet another reminder that we are not a whole team, far from it in fact. The "never say die" spirit might win us a couple more down the way, but by itself, LSU, UGA, and AU will beat us. Maybe even UT and Mizzou. We have simply got to have more consistent play top to bottom and find a way to be stronger on the line of scrimmage (we were different on the DL without Zuniga). There's no choice. Mullen's got to find a way.

Go Gators!

I thought Kentucky outplayed us. We probably did not deserve to win. We needed a freshman kicker to choke on a chip shot. I'll take the win....always. Kentucky was playing so far off our WRs that I wasn't surprised Trask did well. The defense didn't stop them when the game was on the line. Kentucky also dominated the line of scrimmage. This is one of those games where you go...we won but looking ahead we have to play a lot better to beat UGA, LSU and Auburn.

 

[PaulDrake]

So, the Gators have won seven consecutive games, their longest streak since 2015. Also, it’s the longest active win streak in the SEC.