Florida Gators Football: Kurt Roper Notebook

Florida Gators offensive coordinator Kurt Roper met with the media Tuesday for his weekly press conference. The team is in the second day of game week preparation for Saturday’s noon contest against South Carolina. Florida’s offense had a strong showing against Vanderbilt and will look to continue their success against the Gamecocks, who have lost two consecutive games and are 2-5 in the SEC.

Here is some of what Roper had to say:

What he sees from South Carolina’s defense:

“You know, it’s interesting, you see… you see a team that… that was much more multiple from the Auburn game to the Tennessee game, much more… giving you more problems and front recognition and those type of things, you see an aggressive secondary, you know, you see a team that’s not afraid to press you, I think they’re nickel is a heck of a player, you know a fast twitch guy that, you know, does a lot of really good things in the run game, so, you know, you see a defense that has had a tough couple of weeks, but you see a defense that causes you some challenges.”

Watching Quinton Dunbar bounce back from having a drop against Vanderbilt:

“Yeah, that’s the way it’s gotta be, you know, our whole… our whole mentality, what we try to teach them on the practice field is next play, you know, and that’s much easier said than done, because we as coaches, you know, we say, ‘Hey you gotta let it go, next play,’ while we’re… while we’re yelling at them all the way back to the line of scrimmage, you know what I mean, ‘Hey you’ve gotta let it go, you can’t…’ you know, and so at the same time you’re sitting there telling him he’s gotta let it go and you’re not letting it go as a coach, and all those things, so our mentality is next play, you’re out there, we’re going to count on your to make plays, the defense is going to dictate where the ball goes, and it came right back to him and he made it, made a play, but we all have to buy into the next play mentality or we won’t be able to get over things like that.”

Going with Mack Brown over Hunter Joyer:

“Felt like that was a good role for Mack. Really understood it. It does give you an opportunity to run the football still in that situation with all the exchanges that Hunter doesn’t really work with us in that essence anymore. There’s obviously a threat. We do have more off of that than just Jeff launching over the top. But it’s really trying to build the package that we had with Brandon Connette over a four-year span, where really in three years and a couple of games, Brandon Connette had 30 touchdown runs as a quarterback and broke the Duke rushing record. That’s the package we’re trying to build as we grow. It just takes a little time. Mack fits, it’s a good role for him to understand and go through.”

The team’s offensive tempo:

“I think we’re pretty good. Again, our biggest thing, if we can score over 30 points and take care of the football, we’re in pretty good shape. The Georgia game we had really good tempo, we were having really good first down production in the run game. Last game it wasn’t as easy, it was hard to run the football against what Vanderbilt was doing. We ended up in more second-and-long, so that was making me have to think before I just threw a play out there. If you watch, we like to hit a lot of tempo after explosive plays. That’s not secret. We threw that one to Ahmad [Fulwood] down the sideline and the first thing that hit me was we need to go fast because they might review this. Then I said, ‘I saw that he, he caught the football. Let me think a little bit here.’ You really want to think about what you’re doing and those type things. If we have good first down production then we play a little bit faster.”

Whether it’s helpful putting passes on tape:

“It’s very helpful, obviously. Against not a very easy coverage to complete against. It was pretty high corners, staying on top; our guys did a great job of running by them and getting on top and making plays. You gotta be able to mix that up. You gotta be able to do it and really for a young guy it’s some of the safer throws because, you know, it’s a pretty good pre-snap decision. Which way is the safety leaning? Tightest corner? What’s the matchup we’re looking for? It’s easier to be decisive on those type throws.”

Call for Jeff Driskel to go over the top on the goal-line touchdown:

“Second time we talked about it. That was one of the things that happened, so you obviously love getting the football on the 9-yard line after a turnover. But it happened so fast we didn’t have a chance to say, ‘Ok. What are our answers the next time out there. It was off the field right back on the field, and we’re trying to work through adjustments. Jeff was on the sideline, so I said, ‘Hey. Tell him he’s got to launch to get in this time.’ He ran out there and told Mack Brown, and Mack Brown did a great job as you saw the Mike backer launching over the top. Mack Brown did a great job getting a piece of him because they were belly down and how you play goal line. Good defenses play goal line really well, but Jeff did a good job.”

Ryan Randall
From Melbourne, Florida, Ryan has lived in Florida since he was three, becoming a sports fan around that age. His passion for journalism rivals his love of sports. Shortly out of high school he covered prep and community sports for his hometown paper in Brevard Country, before moving to Gainesville, where he covered the Gators in the pros as well as prep sports for a few publications. A Telecommunications major at UF, Ryan now interns at Gator Country and ecstatic to showcase his talents for the publication. When not working on stories, Ryan enjoys playing basketball, music, as well as art. Follow Ryan at @_RyanRandall_