First impressions can go a long way, and Florida’s offense had a memorable introduction Saturday.
The Gators offense, redesigned by new offensive coordinator Kurt Roper was as advertised against Eastern Michigan, playing faster and attacking the defense through the air, passing for 396 yards. Florida only had over 300 yards of passing one time last season, a week 9 loss to Vanderbilt. Saturday the Gators offense also ran 86 plays than last year’s average, 20 more than last year’s average.
Tuesday, Roper met with the media for his weekly press conference to discuss the progression of the offense and what the team looks to accomplish going forward.
Demarcus Robinson
While the Gator receivers had a big day as unit, Demarcus Robinson’s numbers were a prime showcase of his ability. The sophomore had a big day last week with six catches for 123 yards and one touchdown. Roper said Robinson is a gifted and fast athlete.
“He’s got the ability to extend high, low, wide or whatever to make plays,” he said. “He’s a guy that can truly make plays with his hands. He doesn’t need his body to make plays, so we always every throw we’re trying to make we really try to put it right in his receivers throat as much as we possibly can but that’s not always going to happen and he’s got the ability to go get it when it’s not.”
Clay Burton
Another player that made an impact receiving the ball was Clay Burton. The senior receiver moved the chains on third down, with seven receptions for 42 yards. While the opening game raised some eyebrows, the team was not surprised by Burton’s play given the work he has put in during the offseason. With Jake McGee out for the season, Burton will be expected to contribute.
“The philosophy is not really going to change.” Roper said. “He’s going to be the starting tight end and we’re going to obviously play him a lot, but Tevin’s [Westbrook] got to be ready to go quite a bit now. And we’ll see how DeAndre comes along in practice and all those things. But Clay is the guy that is going to start the thing and going to have a lot of opportunities.”
Staying on track
Coming off last season’s disappointing year, the coaching staff wanted to get early success going offensively, which continued throughout the game. Florida would blow out the Eagles 65-0, the most points scored in the Will Muschamp era. With the city of Gainesville in good spirits after a long period of losses, distractions can emerge. Roper talked about the importance of keeping focus while growing as a team and making plays.
“You truly just want to go compete each day to get better,” he said. “And if you look at it that way, if you just take it one day at a time, and yes in a lot of ways that is coach speak but the reason we hammer that in is if we can get those guys to buy into it and believe in it, then there is no roller coaster ride.”
Fixing errors
For Roper, part of the team’s growth will be to fix mistakes that could lead to problems in the future, such as ball security. The team wants to work on making sure the players keep the ball tight to their body, and not hold it with one hand, like Robinson did on one play. Speeding the game up is also a point of emphasis; the Gators average snap with time on the play clock was 14 seconds, something Roper said can be fixed by giving the ball back to the officials instead of leaving it on the ground.
“You know again my ideal is to you know, no-huddle we’re quick tempo, we’re at the ball we can play fast whenever we need to play but you know I’ve never been one to really harp on tempo,” he said. “It’s all about execution, staying on the field and those things.”