Florida Gators fan mail: Kentucky Wildcats edition

Swampthing00: How much will the Gators miss Anzalone? Will playing dime lessen the “blow”?

Florida Gators are going to miss Alex Anzalone in a big way. Antonio Morrison is a very good leader and linebacker against the run but he has never been and isn’t good in coverage. Jarrad Davis is slightly better in coverage, as is Daniel McMillian, but you don’t like either covering tight ends in man.

Luckily, Florida has a ton of talented defensive backs, including several guys (Brian Poole, Marcus Maye, Duke Dawson and Marcell Harris) who can come down and play in the box. Playing more dime coverage (six defensive backs on the field) could be the answer, we’ll find out this week, but that doesn’t mean the Gators won’t miss Anzalone in the middle.

Gator_nica: UK seems to be a very good first half team, and then a weak second half team. Does Mac exploit this scenario with game planning, or are we going full throttle from the opening snap?

It’s SEC ball, baby. There’s no time to gameplan and think, “well, if we just keep it close in the first half we expect Kentucky to fall apart after halftime.” Full throttle from the time you step on the plane at Gainesville Regional Airport until the final whistle.

MrGator: Is this game evenly matched in your mind or is this a game the Gators should win unless they shoot themselves in the foot? In the same vein of thought: how do we match up with them on both sides of the ball?

To me, Kentucky has much more talent in previous years. I do not prescribe to the thought process that Kentucky fans have in saying that they match up evenly. That line of thinking is quickly shot down when you ask them, “Who covers Demarcus Robinson?” (Robinson had 15 catches for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns against Kentucky a year ago).

UFSECKINGS: Roughly, How many carries do you see our running backs getting this week, and the distribution between the three?

Kentucky has struggled stopping the run thus far in 2015. I think Florida really relies on the running attack in Lexington with Jordan Cronkrite drawing his first start. Kelvin Taylor and Jordan Scarlett will also play a ton and the distribution of carries will depend on who has he hot hand. Scarlett saw his carries drop last week after a fumble but that isn’t being held against him this week.

Gator Don Rapid Fire:

Will a starting QB finally emerge from this game?

The coaching staff is waiting for a guy to take the job. Both players have had their opportunities but neither has been able to capitalize.

How well will this team handle their first road game?

There are a lot of young guys, freshmen and redshirt freshmen that will be playing in their first road game. Commonwealth Stadium recently received renovations to increase the seating capacity and the Wildcat fans sold out this game on Monday. There’s a lot of excitement and the crowd will be hostile.

Will Ivey play much this week or just be a backup?

If he is healthy, which he has been this entire week of practice, he will play in the regular rotation. That’s one thing we’re learning about this staff. If guys are healthy they’re full go.

What concerns do the coaches have about Kentucky?

It starts with Patrick Towles. He’s a big guy (6-5, 250) who has a cannon arm and can run when asked to. Also, Stanley “Boom” Johnson and Jojo Kemps have been running the ball really well this season. Williams is averaging more than 10 yards per carry and Kemp isn’t far behind with a seven yard per carry average.

Also Kentucky has a decent defensive line. Matt Elam gets a lot of the publicity but Melvin Lewis, Denzil Ware and Jabari Johnson really lead the charge for the Wildcats.

Has there been any tougher week of practice after the ECU game?

Not really. The team really responded well to McElwain’s message after the game and they were ready to go. Tuesday started a little slow, you could hear Antonio Morrison cussing out players during the opening portion of practice to get them to bring their intensity level up, but the staff has been pleased with the effort the team had brought to the practice fields.

OaktownGator: What’s our plan to replace Anzalone with someone who can cover and tackle in space in the middle of the field?

The plan is to use Florida’s strength as an advantage. That means playing more nickel and dime defensive schemes.

Marcus Maye, Gator Country has been told, will be getting the bulk of the reps there as he’s a guy this coaching staff views as a player who can be physical enough to play in the box but also athletic enough to run with receivers, tight ends and running backs in coverage.

Leaping Lizard: Will Ashley Judd be in attendance? Will VHIII be used strictly in his DB position to limit contact as much as possible, or will he still be back on punts ?

I don’t know if she’s a big Kentucky football fan, maybe I’ll see her walking around Rupp Arena this weekend though.

As I said above, if a player is healthy to play in the game they’re going full go. The coaching staff wants to make special teams a weapon and they view Vernon Hargreaves as the best weapon they have on punt returns. If Vernon is healthy (he is) expect him to play and to return punts.

2xGator: Over/under 2.5; the number of bourbons you will consume after Florida castrates the ‘Cats Saturday night?

Over. Responsibly, of course.

PcolaGator: does the UK OL have the mettle to stifle our pass rush? More blitzing, perhaps?

I’ve been very underwhelmed with Geoff Collins on game day this season. I’m waiting for the Florida defense to show more exotic blitz packages and schemes because I’ve yet to see anything yet.

GrayG8rSteveo: They call the crude procedure of driving your car over a storm drain in the parking lot, removing your oil filter and allowing the dirty oil to drain directly into it..a KENTUCKY OIL CHANGE. Did they invent it or just perfect it?

Can the answer be both invented it and perfected it?