- Oct 5, 2017
- 2,328
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Good Evening Everyone!
Yesterday's game wasn't the best or worst thing in the world. The Gators beat the Tigers 24-17 in a noon kickoff game that has been a spot of poor performances for the Gators for years.
Before the season, I said 4-2 would be the worst case scenario and through 6, that prediction for the first half turned out to be true. Granted, we should not have lost that Kentucky game, but it took the worst offensive performance of the season and a few gifts for that to happen.
Let's start on offense where there seems to be some ire, some justified and some not. Of the 8 Gator drives that were not end of half drives, 62.5% of them should have ended in points. By should've, two of them had missed FG's. The other three drives had a mixture of issues. Some self-inflicted and some just unlucky.
The first drive ended in a punt. After a 20 yard strike to Shorter on a deep hitch, Florida ran 3 more plays. A run for 1 yard, another deep in breaking route with a terrific diving break up, and a checkdown that went for 7. Late in the first half Richardson threw a deep ball to Pearsall, with arguable PI (but as I say a lot, you need to fight to the ball to get the call), Johnson ran for 5 yards and then AR fumbled while trying to make a pass with a guy on him. Something we've seen him due multiple times and when he makes a play or gets a throwaway rather than a sack, its praised. It's part of the razor's edge of AR trying to be a hero. He does it, he's great, he doesn't, he's a bum. It is what it is. The last drive we weren't in a scoring position ended with an INT. There can be a question of whether we should have called a pass play as opposed to run it. Either way, the ball was thrown and Pearsall got both hands on it. But for a good play by the safety and a diving catch it is an incompletion. Getting both hands on the ball and highpointing the ball can be a tough catch, but if you are considered the best receiver by many on an SEC team, I do expect some tough catches. Again, outside of those 3 drives, UF should have got points.
There are some questions as to playcalling for the game and I believe there are some fair questions. In the first half, the running backs averaged around 2-3 yards per carry. In a run first offense, that hurts everything. We were running right at the strength of the Mizzou defense. We also in the first half went to screen passes, which are not AR's strong point. I don't know why they aren't, but they aren't. Also, with how we have not had much luck with those, not sure why we were trying to do them. When we got Henderson's big punt return, most teams are taking a shot at the endzone. We did not try a play beyond the line of scrimmage. We ran in between the tackles for 1, ran a jet sweep for 3, and then tried for a screen pass. I'm not sure what I feel about that particular one as the throw was more on a rope, but we had room and the pall went a little vertical while Hendo was committed to horizontal. Usually, you want it a little vertical when there is momentum like that to get the receiver going north and south. Hendo looked like he thought he should've had it, but again, the ball was thrown without a little touch that would've helped. Either way that leads to my last playcalling point.
AR is good with a lot in the middle of the field such as the pass to Shorter on the first play of the game. He was 4/8 in the first half. Only 1 of the 4 incompletions were in the middle of the field. 2 of them were misfires on screens and one was arguably PI on an under thrown ball (ironically with some touch) on a corner route. My point is that we weren't calling plays that our QB is most comfortable with like we did in Knoxville. In the 2nd half AR was 4/6 and the two incompletions could be considered drops as he hit Shorter on the corner route, who did not complete the catch and the INT on the throw to Pearsall, that could've been lower, that was described above. He did hit a swing to Johnson, but again it was not the best throw. We did get an amazing throw in a tight window on a rollout for a TD.
The running backs were not good in the first half. Again, all were around 2-3 ypc in the first half. But in the second half, all three RB's had a double digit yard run. ETN and Johnson with several each to finish 8.3 and 10.8 ypc respectively. ETN continues to impress and grow. Johnson also has been impressive. Wright continues to fall behind. He isn't completely ineffective, however.
Hard to get a reading on the WR's in this game with only 14 attempts. I would like to see Shorter and Pearsall make those second half grabs, but sometimes things happen and defenders make plays. It was good to see Burke and Fraziars (who had a nice ball thrown his way where a lay out would've been a TD on a play that wouldn't have counted). Same with the Zip and Zanders at TE. Both caught what they were given, made good blocks and missed some and continue to grow.
The OL was decent against Mizzou. After a rough first half, things picked up in the 2nd half. Can't wait for Tarquin to get back though Barber has been solid. White had a bad false start late in the game, but is what it is at this point. He's solid overall so it's just lucky it didn't cost us more.
The defense in this game is worth some praise. Though I don't think 370 yards is a good amount to give up there were encouraging things. Those are what I will focus on.
Big Dez and Chris McClellan continue to improve and cause problems for opposing offenses. Jalen Lee even got into the party with .5 TFL from the DT position. Princely had perhaps his best game of the year. Starting on the first defensive drive playing great assignment football for a tackle for loss, but also gave up the edge a lot less than in previous weeks. He ended up with 3 TFL and a sack. Dexter and Sapp did well in their own right Dexter with 3 solo tackles and a sack. The buck/olb position with Cox did well. He also finished with 3 TFL and 1 sack.
The linebackers probably had their best game of the season. Again, still not where we want to be, but better. After averaging 14.8 ypc against UGA, Mizzou's running back Schrader only got 2.1 ypc against us. However, their other running back, Peat, had 5.9 ypc. I've beat up on Burney, but I don't really remember any play at the game or on my re-watch where I felt he blew an assignment. He did some good things finishing with 8 tackles, .5 for loss. It should be noted that UF's top 2 tacklers were LB's, something that wasn't as common earlier in the season. Miller continues to get healthier and as he does, his play is more impressive. Not only did he lead in tackles with 11, 10 solo and 2 TFL, but he also was instrumental on both INT plays. On the first INT, he physically diverts the receiver's route just enough for Hill to jump it and gain momentum going the other way leading to the pick 6. On the second, he destroys the other receiver on that side of the play forcing Cook to throw the ball where he did (or risk the sack).
On the back end, another guy I've beaten up on is Johnson. Johnson, outside of a few plays played well. The example I have been giving is the final play of the game. On a similar route he blew a big play against USF. I have to give some credit when it is due. We did give up some big plays in soft zone. When playing tight on receivers whether man or zone, we did well. When bailing or playing drop 8, we gave up quite a bit. We also gave up that 3rd and 22. Perkins did mess up on that play (though hardly the only missed tackle on the play), but again when I comment on that missed play, he has been the most consistent of the nickel position. Even the safety play seemed to be somewhat better. Not where it needs to be, but still somewhat better. Mizzou's longest pass plays were catch and runs.
We finally saw a good punt return, but as discussed we squandered it by going ultra conservative. We also missed two FG's. Special teams was a mixed bag.
Next week we try to end a 3 game losing streak to LSU. Realistically, could be a 4 game streak, but TG gonna TG. Yes, we had the lead in the 3rd quarter in 2019 and then decided we had to play the back up QB for whatever reason and couldn't bring the momentum back. Last two were abominations. Tennessee has given us a blueprint for how to beat LSU. Perhaps we won't be afraid to try and modify that blueprint to our personnel. It will be a big night as the staff has made this THE recruiting game of the year. It will be a rocking night game. As someone said on Twitter and I don't fully disagree, there is probably a part of Billy who takes this game personal. I sure hope so.
The season could be better in regards to how things look, but record wise, it is about where we can be expected halfway through. All games in the back half are winnable, even UGA has some flaws. Are they equally winnable? Of course not. If the offense that showed up against UT with the aggression, with the playing all out, the tailoring to our player's strengths shows up in our remaining games, we could be hard to stop. The question is how much will this defense continue to improve with players like Watson, McClellan, James, Williams, Mitchell, Wilson, Kimber, Hill and Moore all getting their feet under them. Other players like Burney, Cox, and Princely limiting the number of the usual mistakes. IF we can get that valued win against LSU, that buy week might be a big one for us.
Go Gators!
Yesterday's game wasn't the best or worst thing in the world. The Gators beat the Tigers 24-17 in a noon kickoff game that has been a spot of poor performances for the Gators for years.
Before the season, I said 4-2 would be the worst case scenario and through 6, that prediction for the first half turned out to be true. Granted, we should not have lost that Kentucky game, but it took the worst offensive performance of the season and a few gifts for that to happen.
Let's start on offense where there seems to be some ire, some justified and some not. Of the 8 Gator drives that were not end of half drives, 62.5% of them should have ended in points. By should've, two of them had missed FG's. The other three drives had a mixture of issues. Some self-inflicted and some just unlucky.
The first drive ended in a punt. After a 20 yard strike to Shorter on a deep hitch, Florida ran 3 more plays. A run for 1 yard, another deep in breaking route with a terrific diving break up, and a checkdown that went for 7. Late in the first half Richardson threw a deep ball to Pearsall, with arguable PI (but as I say a lot, you need to fight to the ball to get the call), Johnson ran for 5 yards and then AR fumbled while trying to make a pass with a guy on him. Something we've seen him due multiple times and when he makes a play or gets a throwaway rather than a sack, its praised. It's part of the razor's edge of AR trying to be a hero. He does it, he's great, he doesn't, he's a bum. It is what it is. The last drive we weren't in a scoring position ended with an INT. There can be a question of whether we should have called a pass play as opposed to run it. Either way, the ball was thrown and Pearsall got both hands on it. But for a good play by the safety and a diving catch it is an incompletion. Getting both hands on the ball and highpointing the ball can be a tough catch, but if you are considered the best receiver by many on an SEC team, I do expect some tough catches. Again, outside of those 3 drives, UF should have got points.
There are some questions as to playcalling for the game and I believe there are some fair questions. In the first half, the running backs averaged around 2-3 yards per carry. In a run first offense, that hurts everything. We were running right at the strength of the Mizzou defense. We also in the first half went to screen passes, which are not AR's strong point. I don't know why they aren't, but they aren't. Also, with how we have not had much luck with those, not sure why we were trying to do them. When we got Henderson's big punt return, most teams are taking a shot at the endzone. We did not try a play beyond the line of scrimmage. We ran in between the tackles for 1, ran a jet sweep for 3, and then tried for a screen pass. I'm not sure what I feel about that particular one as the throw was more on a rope, but we had room and the pall went a little vertical while Hendo was committed to horizontal. Usually, you want it a little vertical when there is momentum like that to get the receiver going north and south. Hendo looked like he thought he should've had it, but again, the ball was thrown without a little touch that would've helped. Either way that leads to my last playcalling point.
AR is good with a lot in the middle of the field such as the pass to Shorter on the first play of the game. He was 4/8 in the first half. Only 1 of the 4 incompletions were in the middle of the field. 2 of them were misfires on screens and one was arguably PI on an under thrown ball (ironically with some touch) on a corner route. My point is that we weren't calling plays that our QB is most comfortable with like we did in Knoxville. In the 2nd half AR was 4/6 and the two incompletions could be considered drops as he hit Shorter on the corner route, who did not complete the catch and the INT on the throw to Pearsall, that could've been lower, that was described above. He did hit a swing to Johnson, but again it was not the best throw. We did get an amazing throw in a tight window on a rollout for a TD.
The running backs were not good in the first half. Again, all were around 2-3 ypc in the first half. But in the second half, all three RB's had a double digit yard run. ETN and Johnson with several each to finish 8.3 and 10.8 ypc respectively. ETN continues to impress and grow. Johnson also has been impressive. Wright continues to fall behind. He isn't completely ineffective, however.
Hard to get a reading on the WR's in this game with only 14 attempts. I would like to see Shorter and Pearsall make those second half grabs, but sometimes things happen and defenders make plays. It was good to see Burke and Fraziars (who had a nice ball thrown his way where a lay out would've been a TD on a play that wouldn't have counted). Same with the Zip and Zanders at TE. Both caught what they were given, made good blocks and missed some and continue to grow.
The OL was decent against Mizzou. After a rough first half, things picked up in the 2nd half. Can't wait for Tarquin to get back though Barber has been solid. White had a bad false start late in the game, but is what it is at this point. He's solid overall so it's just lucky it didn't cost us more.
The defense in this game is worth some praise. Though I don't think 370 yards is a good amount to give up there were encouraging things. Those are what I will focus on.
Big Dez and Chris McClellan continue to improve and cause problems for opposing offenses. Jalen Lee even got into the party with .5 TFL from the DT position. Princely had perhaps his best game of the year. Starting on the first defensive drive playing great assignment football for a tackle for loss, but also gave up the edge a lot less than in previous weeks. He ended up with 3 TFL and a sack. Dexter and Sapp did well in their own right Dexter with 3 solo tackles and a sack. The buck/olb position with Cox did well. He also finished with 3 TFL and 1 sack.
The linebackers probably had their best game of the season. Again, still not where we want to be, but better. After averaging 14.8 ypc against UGA, Mizzou's running back Schrader only got 2.1 ypc against us. However, their other running back, Peat, had 5.9 ypc. I've beat up on Burney, but I don't really remember any play at the game or on my re-watch where I felt he blew an assignment. He did some good things finishing with 8 tackles, .5 for loss. It should be noted that UF's top 2 tacklers were LB's, something that wasn't as common earlier in the season. Miller continues to get healthier and as he does, his play is more impressive. Not only did he lead in tackles with 11, 10 solo and 2 TFL, but he also was instrumental on both INT plays. On the first INT, he physically diverts the receiver's route just enough for Hill to jump it and gain momentum going the other way leading to the pick 6. On the second, he destroys the other receiver on that side of the play forcing Cook to throw the ball where he did (or risk the sack).
On the back end, another guy I've beaten up on is Johnson. Johnson, outside of a few plays played well. The example I have been giving is the final play of the game. On a similar route he blew a big play against USF. I have to give some credit when it is due. We did give up some big plays in soft zone. When playing tight on receivers whether man or zone, we did well. When bailing or playing drop 8, we gave up quite a bit. We also gave up that 3rd and 22. Perkins did mess up on that play (though hardly the only missed tackle on the play), but again when I comment on that missed play, he has been the most consistent of the nickel position. Even the safety play seemed to be somewhat better. Not where it needs to be, but still somewhat better. Mizzou's longest pass plays were catch and runs.
We finally saw a good punt return, but as discussed we squandered it by going ultra conservative. We also missed two FG's. Special teams was a mixed bag.
Next week we try to end a 3 game losing streak to LSU. Realistically, could be a 4 game streak, but TG gonna TG. Yes, we had the lead in the 3rd quarter in 2019 and then decided we had to play the back up QB for whatever reason and couldn't bring the momentum back. Last two were abominations. Tennessee has given us a blueprint for how to beat LSU. Perhaps we won't be afraid to try and modify that blueprint to our personnel. It will be a big night as the staff has made this THE recruiting game of the year. It will be a rocking night game. As someone said on Twitter and I don't fully disagree, there is probably a part of Billy who takes this game personal. I sure hope so.
The season could be better in regards to how things look, but record wise, it is about where we can be expected halfway through. All games in the back half are winnable, even UGA has some flaws. Are they equally winnable? Of course not. If the offense that showed up against UT with the aggression, with the playing all out, the tailoring to our player's strengths shows up in our remaining games, we could be hard to stop. The question is how much will this defense continue to improve with players like Watson, McClellan, James, Williams, Mitchell, Wilson, Kimber, Hill and Moore all getting their feet under them. Other players like Burney, Cox, and Princely limiting the number of the usual mistakes. IF we can get that valued win against LSU, that buy week might be a big one for us.
Go Gators!
