- Sep 8, 2014
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This is a little sunshine pumping, but very possible...
Why Florida is a dark horse candidate to lead the SEC in rushing in 2018
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/florida-football/florida-one-best-rushing-attack-sec-2018/
Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi State.
If you picked one of those backfields to lead the SEC in rushing in 2018, you probably wouldn’t get much blowback.
Between Damien Harris, D’Andre Swift and Nick Fitzgerald, any of the three could win the individual rushing title. Between Najee Harris, Zamir White and Aeris Williams, all are more than capable secondary options who would probably scoff at the idea of being labeled a “secondary option.” And between Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and Joe Moorhead, all are coaches who support a run-heavy system.
Florida hasn't averaged 200 yards per game rushing since 2009. Other SEC teams have combined to do it 33 times since then.
I get all of that. Just don’t sleep on Florida to outproduce all of them.
Wait … what?
How is the team who finished 10th in the SEC in rushing suddenly going to rise to the top? How is any element of Florida’s offense going to be the best at anything? Any person suggesting such a possibility is obviously just drunk on the Dan Mullen Kool-Aid.
I promise I’m not drunk. I don’t even think I’m buzzed, to be honest. I just think that Mullen is capable of making some tweaks that should maximize the already talented backfield that returns to Gainesville in 2018.
Let’s start there because for all the things that were wrong with the Florida offense last year, I actually didn’t think the backfield was one of them. Lamical Perine and Malik Davis were by no means a bad 1-2 punch. Combine their numbers and they had 215 carries for 1,088 yards and 10 touchdowns. That’s 5 yards per carry and nearly a touchdown per game. All things considered, that’s not too shabby.
As we know, though, it’s hard to have a steady backfield when you can’t pass and everyone knows you can’t pass. The 4-win Gators trailed a whole lot in 2017. While I don’t think they’ll compete for a division title in 2018, I also don’t think they’ll face nearly as many deficits as they did last year.
That’s a good thing because Perine and Davis back. Well, Davis is working his way back. The true freshman is still working his way back from the season-ending knee injury that he suffered against Georgia. That was after 5 straight games of 90-plus yards, too. He was developing into a true workhorse back.
The blessing of Davis’ absence was that it allowed classmate Adarius Lemons to get some snaps. His 7.2 yards per carry might’ve come in a small sample size (19 attempts in 4 games), but he’s going to be a fixture in the backfield rotation. The dude can flat out jet.
Adarius Lemons hit 21.92 MPH on this run based on a 5-yard sample. Over a 15-yard sample he hit 21.53 MPH. Legit speed here. pic.twitter.com/qBeTJP2kkD
— Fusue Vue (@lifesyourcup) November 20, 2017
Speaking of that backfield rotation, I’m not done yet. It’s at least 4-deep.
Jordan Scarlett’s return will only add to what’s already an explosive backfield. After being suspended for the entire season because of his role in the credit card fraud scandal, the guy who many expected to be one of the SEC’s top backs in 2017 has every reason to be hungrier than ever.
Now Scarlett’s biggest issue might just be finding carries. Besides those three aforementioned tailbacks, there’s also 4-star early enrollees Dameon Pierce and Iverson Clement.
Needless to say, Mullen never had a backfield quite like this in Starkville. Obviously the big difference is the quarterback position. Mullen pupil Nick Fitzgerald is in line to rush for more yards than any SEC quarterback ever. Really.
Feleipe Franks and Emory Jones aren’t anywhere near Fitzgerald’s level yet. But let’s not forget that Mullen still led the nation’s No. 11 rushing attack last year (better than Alabama) despite the fact that Fitzgerald completed 55.6 percent of his passes for 6.2 yards per attempt. MSU actually had a worse passing game (No. 112 in FBS) than Florida last year (No. 101). In other words, don’t tell yourself that Florida needs a major lift in the passing game to have a productive ground attack.
That stat shows perhaps the biggest difference in Mullen vs. Jim McElwain. It pays to have a creative offensive mind. With all of the Gators’ backfield options, Mullen can get creative.
And just in case that wasn’t enough to sell you on Florida’s inevitable running game improvement, the Gators return their entire starting offensive line from 2017. That includes 3-year starter Martez Ivey, who turned down the NFL to try and finally maximize his 5-star potential.
Mullen is where he is because of his ability to maximize potential. There’s no shortage of that in Gainesville.
We don’t know what the running back depth chart will look like or if Florida’s starting quarterback can turn into half the rusher that Fitzgerald was.
But we do know that Mullen has a lot more to work with than what Florida’s 2017 win total would suggest. I can’t help but think that the Gators will run wild against plenty of non-UAB defenses with Mullen running the show. Will they run away with the SEC rushing title for the first time since the Tim Tebow era?
At the very least, you’re not drunk for thinking that it can happen.
Why Florida is a dark horse candidate to lead the SEC in rushing in 2018
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/florida-football/florida-one-best-rushing-attack-sec-2018/
Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi State.
If you picked one of those backfields to lead the SEC in rushing in 2018, you probably wouldn’t get much blowback.
Between Damien Harris, D’Andre Swift and Nick Fitzgerald, any of the three could win the individual rushing title. Between Najee Harris, Zamir White and Aeris Williams, all are more than capable secondary options who would probably scoff at the idea of being labeled a “secondary option.” And between Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and Joe Moorhead, all are coaches who support a run-heavy system.
Florida hasn't averaged 200 yards per game rushing since 2009. Other SEC teams have combined to do it 33 times since then.
I get all of that. Just don’t sleep on Florida to outproduce all of them.
Wait … what?
How is the team who finished 10th in the SEC in rushing suddenly going to rise to the top? How is any element of Florida’s offense going to be the best at anything? Any person suggesting such a possibility is obviously just drunk on the Dan Mullen Kool-Aid.
I promise I’m not drunk. I don’t even think I’m buzzed, to be honest. I just think that Mullen is capable of making some tweaks that should maximize the already talented backfield that returns to Gainesville in 2018.
Let’s start there because for all the things that were wrong with the Florida offense last year, I actually didn’t think the backfield was one of them. Lamical Perine and Malik Davis were by no means a bad 1-2 punch. Combine their numbers and they had 215 carries for 1,088 yards and 10 touchdowns. That’s 5 yards per carry and nearly a touchdown per game. All things considered, that’s not too shabby.
As we know, though, it’s hard to have a steady backfield when you can’t pass and everyone knows you can’t pass. The 4-win Gators trailed a whole lot in 2017. While I don’t think they’ll compete for a division title in 2018, I also don’t think they’ll face nearly as many deficits as they did last year.
That’s a good thing because Perine and Davis back. Well, Davis is working his way back. The true freshman is still working his way back from the season-ending knee injury that he suffered against Georgia. That was after 5 straight games of 90-plus yards, too. He was developing into a true workhorse back.
The blessing of Davis’ absence was that it allowed classmate Adarius Lemons to get some snaps. His 7.2 yards per carry might’ve come in a small sample size (19 attempts in 4 games), but he’s going to be a fixture in the backfield rotation. The dude can flat out jet.
Adarius Lemons hit 21.92 MPH on this run based on a 5-yard sample. Over a 15-yard sample he hit 21.53 MPH. Legit speed here. pic.twitter.com/qBeTJP2kkD
— Fusue Vue (@lifesyourcup) November 20, 2017
Speaking of that backfield rotation, I’m not done yet. It’s at least 4-deep.
Jordan Scarlett’s return will only add to what’s already an explosive backfield. After being suspended for the entire season because of his role in the credit card fraud scandal, the guy who many expected to be one of the SEC’s top backs in 2017 has every reason to be hungrier than ever.
Now Scarlett’s biggest issue might just be finding carries. Besides those three aforementioned tailbacks, there’s also 4-star early enrollees Dameon Pierce and Iverson Clement.
Needless to say, Mullen never had a backfield quite like this in Starkville. Obviously the big difference is the quarterback position. Mullen pupil Nick Fitzgerald is in line to rush for more yards than any SEC quarterback ever. Really.
Feleipe Franks and Emory Jones aren’t anywhere near Fitzgerald’s level yet. But let’s not forget that Mullen still led the nation’s No. 11 rushing attack last year (better than Alabama) despite the fact that Fitzgerald completed 55.6 percent of his passes for 6.2 yards per attempt. MSU actually had a worse passing game (No. 112 in FBS) than Florida last year (No. 101). In other words, don’t tell yourself that Florida needs a major lift in the passing game to have a productive ground attack.
That stat shows perhaps the biggest difference in Mullen vs. Jim McElwain. It pays to have a creative offensive mind. With all of the Gators’ backfield options, Mullen can get creative.
And just in case that wasn’t enough to sell you on Florida’s inevitable running game improvement, the Gators return their entire starting offensive line from 2017. That includes 3-year starter Martez Ivey, who turned down the NFL to try and finally maximize his 5-star potential.
Mullen is where he is because of his ability to maximize potential. There’s no shortage of that in Gainesville.
We don’t know what the running back depth chart will look like or if Florida’s starting quarterback can turn into half the rusher that Fitzgerald was.
But we do know that Mullen has a lot more to work with than what Florida’s 2017 win total would suggest. I can’t help but think that the Gators will run wild against plenty of non-UAB defenses with Mullen running the show. Will they run away with the SEC rushing title for the first time since the Tim Tebow era?
At the very least, you’re not drunk for thinking that it can happen.
