- Oct 5, 2017
- 2,315
- 6,297
Hail to the Victors Valiant!
Hail to the Conquering Heroes!
Hail, Hail To Florida
The Gators Are The Best!
That was an amazing game and hopefully, a good indicator of things to come. As I said in my preview, I do think there was some lack of motivation, but not enough that leads to a 26 point blowout. I saw excellent coaching that I will definitely get into. Made a long day (flew round trip to ATL for the day and flight home was delayed) worth it.
The turning point of the game, honestly, was the review on Michigan's first drive calling back the touchdown. That early? Yes. If Michigan marches for a TD that quickly, it sets a tone for the game that isn't good for us. Instead Michigan (and their fans), get a deflating overturn that gives them third and 1. We stop them. Fourth and 1, we stop them again. Now the Gators and their fans are alive. Add in that Michigan was trying to utilize a power game and you have the confidence that we can be physical with a Michigan team that pushed us around last year. Great job by Vosean on the play. Chase Winovich doing the chomp incorrectly is a close second.
Offense
This offense was overall great. Outside of the first drive, the only thing stopping the offense all day was self-inflicted wounds like penalties. I was surprised with how little we saw of Emory, but that's the good thing. On his first carry, he could have run at any angle and possibly broke it for a TD. Still a good four yard run though. Emory will continue to improve and see the field. I was surprised we took him out when we did as well. Enough about Jones, but I wanted to be sure I mentioned it.
Perine I think is the most underrated player on this offense. He is phenomenal. I know most Chatter readers know this, but this guy has made plays all year in the passing and running game. Taking a "give up" play, the typical third and long draw 53-yards to the house was amazing. It was also the point where I texted GAME SET MATCH to people. Scarlett also had plenty of the good runs as well. Heck, his big broken tackle type run in the third quarter would have been a TD if Van Jefferson goes back to play rather than trying to lead the way.
Florida ran a formation that I did not see a lot of this season quite a bit. It was quads to one side and a single receiver to the other side. Every time we lined up in this formation, there were two options, screen or QB draw. If Michigan went wide, then Franks would draw. He did this for a decent game before the second FG. Then the second time was the first TD. The screen got us a first down (#5 below) and a TD to Perine (#17 below). Great recognition by Franks on which he was doing.
The creativity and play calling was also there. Not just what was mentioned above. The 4th and 1 hand off to Toney for a big gain and Scarlett's TD were both well done and called at the right time. The called back crossing route on the first possession of the third quarter was creative, just a small mistake by Grimes. Back to Toney, what a leap, though it didn't count, he left the ground at the five, got the ball stretched inside the pylon and landed well past the endline. The trick play didn't work, but the timing was thrown off by poor blocking on the initial throw.
Franks. Franks overall had a great game. In my opinion, Franks had the best rushing game he's had as far as efficiency. Several good scrambles and a number of good designed runs. Franks even had a great recognition early on a third down. The defensive tackles lined up wide of the center and I believe he saw it and audibled into a sneak, which he got.
Franks:
Defense
This defense allowed two scoring drives, one in the first and one in the fourth. I don't count the FG from the blocked punt where they got a 3 and out. Cece Jefferson and Chauncey balled out in their last games as Gators. I accidentally ran into Jefferson as he got back to the team hotel as I was walking by to get to the MARTA station. I made sure to thank him for coming to Florida. Jefferson getting a sack on the last important drive, well, last drive that we didn't play for the Hail Mary, of his Gators career was great. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson has 4 INT's, 171 return yards, and 2 TD's in his two bowl games. Imagine where he'd be if he wasn't as safety last year. Also, amazing how much better his tackling got this year. Great play by Hendo to knock the ball loose on that 3rd down throw early in the 4th quarter. The official had a terrible angle so I don't blame the TD call, but great job by the replay booth in fixing it.
We saw some perfectly timed DB blitzes that got Hendo and Burney sacks. Last year, it was Michigan that killed our offensive when it went lateral. This year, it was our defense doing that. I cannot wait to see this defense next year after another year of Savage's program. That's a discussion for another time.
Special Teams
McPherson continues to march towards what I am hoping is the new all-time scoring leader at UF. Adding 11 points to his total.
We allowed two blocked punts. Some people blame Townsend, we will say Edgar Thompson, don't be Edgar Thompson. Is Townsend slower on his punts? Yes. It is designed. Re-watch the first punt, he's doing it consistently. Why? Tommy Townsend regularly boots the ball 50+ yards in the air when the ball is at the Gators 40 or further back. If you think back to the first part of the season, Townsend was outkicking the coverage and teams were getting decent to good to great punt return yardage. The delay of an extra second is about 9 more yards a gunner can get before the returner gets the ball. (At 40 yards in 4 seconds, its 10 yards a second, so making some small adjustment approximate. Yay, algebra.) With that said, Townsend needs to recognize a block team is coming, but the blockers need to do better. I'll give the first one a pass. After that one though, We need to go into punt max protection. This was also great recognition by the Michigan staff to send block teams.
Quick Hits
Hail to the Conquering Heroes!
Hail, Hail To Florida
The Gators Are The Best!
That was an amazing game and hopefully, a good indicator of things to come. As I said in my preview, I do think there was some lack of motivation, but not enough that leads to a 26 point blowout. I saw excellent coaching that I will definitely get into. Made a long day (flew round trip to ATL for the day and flight home was delayed) worth it.
The turning point of the game, honestly, was the review on Michigan's first drive calling back the touchdown. That early? Yes. If Michigan marches for a TD that quickly, it sets a tone for the game that isn't good for us. Instead Michigan (and their fans), get a deflating overturn that gives them third and 1. We stop them. Fourth and 1, we stop them again. Now the Gators and their fans are alive. Add in that Michigan was trying to utilize a power game and you have the confidence that we can be physical with a Michigan team that pushed us around last year. Great job by Vosean on the play. Chase Winovich doing the chomp incorrectly is a close second.
Offense
This offense was overall great. Outside of the first drive, the only thing stopping the offense all day was self-inflicted wounds like penalties. I was surprised with how little we saw of Emory, but that's the good thing. On his first carry, he could have run at any angle and possibly broke it for a TD. Still a good four yard run though. Emory will continue to improve and see the field. I was surprised we took him out when we did as well. Enough about Jones, but I wanted to be sure I mentioned it.
Perine I think is the most underrated player on this offense. He is phenomenal. I know most Chatter readers know this, but this guy has made plays all year in the passing and running game. Taking a "give up" play, the typical third and long draw 53-yards to the house was amazing. It was also the point where I texted GAME SET MATCH to people. Scarlett also had plenty of the good runs as well. Heck, his big broken tackle type run in the third quarter would have been a TD if Van Jefferson goes back to play rather than trying to lead the way.
Florida ran a formation that I did not see a lot of this season quite a bit. It was quads to one side and a single receiver to the other side. Every time we lined up in this formation, there were two options, screen or QB draw. If Michigan went wide, then Franks would draw. He did this for a decent game before the second FG. Then the second time was the first TD. The screen got us a first down (#5 below) and a TD to Perine (#17 below). Great recognition by Franks on which he was doing.
The creativity and play calling was also there. Not just what was mentioned above. The 4th and 1 hand off to Toney for a big gain and Scarlett's TD were both well done and called at the right time. The called back crossing route on the first possession of the third quarter was creative, just a small mistake by Grimes. Back to Toney, what a leap, though it didn't count, he left the ground at the five, got the ball stretched inside the pylon and landed well past the endline. The trick play didn't work, but the timing was thrown off by poor blocking on the initial throw.
Franks. Franks overall had a great game. In my opinion, Franks had the best rushing game he's had as far as efficiency. Several good scrambles and a number of good designed runs. Franks even had a great recognition early on a third down. The defensive tackles lined up wide of the center and I believe he saw it and audibled into a sneak, which he got.
Franks:
- Throwing the ball away on the first play from scrimmage under immense pressure. Great throwaway.
- Franks recognizes the blitz is coming from his left, then rolls left. I don't care if designed or not, this is stupid. If it is designed, audible, if it is not, you've seen where it's coming, don't go that way. At least he threw the ball away instead of being sacked.
- Slant complete to Jefferson for 9 yards. Good throw, good route.
- Swing to Perine for 5 yards.
- Screen to Perine out of quads for a first down. (We did this again later for a TD).
- Excellent seam route throw to Jefferson for massive gain.
- A one on one fade to Grimes, incomplete. Grimes needs to fight a little more, but Franks needs to make the 50-50 ball higher for the 6-3 Grimes.
- Play action jump ball to Hammond for a big gain. Franks threw it off his back foot under pressure. Good play.
- Incompletion in the flat to Franks. Tossed it a little high, but Scarlett also tried to stop and one hand it. If he continues to run, it should be caught. Franks could not have thrown it much lower as a defender was between him and Scarlett as he released it.
- Bad read to throw to the sideline by Franks deep. Had an open guy on the seam. Incomplete.
- Slant to Jefferson for 7.
- Back shoulder throw to Jefferson that had lots of hand fighting between Jefferson and the defender, incomplete.
- Overthrew Jefferson who was behind the defense (how many times have we typed that this year).
- Slant for 7 yards on second down to set up third and 5.
- Pass to Perine to set up 4th and 1.
- Good throwaway, all the routes in the endzone were covered. Last year, Franks would force it and it would be a pick.
- Perine screen for a TD.
- Screen to Grimes for a loss of 2.
- Underthrew Van Jefferson on the sideline. He had time, not sure how he underthrew that bad.
- A dart to Josh Hammond for a 30 yard game on 3rd and 12.
- No one open, throwaway under pressure. Live (and stadium replay), but not on camera, you could see what Franks is yelling about after the play. A receiver took his route too deep and into coverage. He would have been thrown to if he ran it shorter.
- THE kiss of death. C'yontai Lewis catches a ball for a big gain on 3 & 6. Great throw. If slightly better, it's a longer gain, but I'm not about to whine about a 20+ yard gain on 3rd down.
Defense
This defense allowed two scoring drives, one in the first and one in the fourth. I don't count the FG from the blocked punt where they got a 3 and out. Cece Jefferson and Chauncey balled out in their last games as Gators. I accidentally ran into Jefferson as he got back to the team hotel as I was walking by to get to the MARTA station. I made sure to thank him for coming to Florida. Jefferson getting a sack on the last important drive, well, last drive that we didn't play for the Hail Mary, of his Gators career was great. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson has 4 INT's, 171 return yards, and 2 TD's in his two bowl games. Imagine where he'd be if he wasn't as safety last year. Also, amazing how much better his tackling got this year. Great play by Hendo to knock the ball loose on that 3rd down throw early in the 4th quarter. The official had a terrible angle so I don't blame the TD call, but great job by the replay booth in fixing it.
We saw some perfectly timed DB blitzes that got Hendo and Burney sacks. Last year, it was Michigan that killed our offensive when it went lateral. This year, it was our defense doing that. I cannot wait to see this defense next year after another year of Savage's program. That's a discussion for another time.
Special Teams
McPherson continues to march towards what I am hoping is the new all-time scoring leader at UF. Adding 11 points to his total.
We allowed two blocked punts. Some people blame Townsend, we will say Edgar Thompson, don't be Edgar Thompson. Is Townsend slower on his punts? Yes. It is designed. Re-watch the first punt, he's doing it consistently. Why? Tommy Townsend regularly boots the ball 50+ yards in the air when the ball is at the Gators 40 or further back. If you think back to the first part of the season, Townsend was outkicking the coverage and teams were getting decent to good to great punt return yardage. The delay of an extra second is about 9 more yards a gunner can get before the returner gets the ball. (At 40 yards in 4 seconds, its 10 yards a second, so making some small adjustment approximate. Yay, algebra.) With that said, Townsend needs to recognize a block team is coming, but the blockers need to do better. I'll give the first one a pass. After that one though, We need to go into punt max protection. This was also great recognition by the Michigan staff to send block teams.
Quick Hits
- Loved the two different occasions that they played "I Won't Back Down" in Atlanta, the crowd was just as electric there as in the Swamp.
- Harbaugh is a child.
- There's something special about players crying for joy after the game. I'm glad they had something that means so much to them.
- What you didn't see after the 4th down run by Jones to give Michigan a few more snaps...Shawn Davis did a back handspring in full gear, helmet and all. That is some impressive athleticism.
- If you also flew round trip on Spirit yesterday, good to meet you.
- And of course, Great to see BNA again and meeting everyone else. It was a good, but sadly short, meet up.
