Feleipe Franks stared down Brandon Powell for two seconds and then three. By the time the redshirt freshman decided to throw two LSU linebackers had converged on the route and batted down the fourth down pass effectively ending any chance the Florida Gators had at pulling another rabbit out of their hat.
You can point to the last play as an issue, but the fact that Florida got the ball with 4:01 left on the clock with 96 yards to go and needed six plays and 2:22 of the clock to get 21 yards. The Tennessee and Kentucky miracles weren’t happening Saturday night.
“We just got to know we got to go, you know,” McElwain answered or, more accurately didn’t answer.
Lamical Perine answered more eloquently and honestly than his coach did.
“I just feel like we didn’t get out and get the play call real fast,” he said “We couldn’t get the plays in so once we got the play in we had to hurry up and rush cause the clock was going down. We just gotta get better going forward with that.
The process of getting the plays in is tedious. Doug Nussmeier was moved to the box before the Gators game against Tennessee. As the play caller, he has to sent down the play call to someone on the sideline wearing a headset. That play then signaled down to Franks and the rest of the offense. There’s no denying the fact that Florida is one of the slowest moving offenses in the SEC, they have been every year under Jim McElwain and Doug Nussmeier with this year being.
It wasn’t just the last play or the last drive. Florida managed just 135 yards in the first half against LSU. It wasn’t until the third quarter when the Gators turned the ball over to their running game that they found success. In the third quarter alone Florida gained130 yards, including 112 on the ground, even without starting Left guard Brett Heggie, who left the game with a concussion.
As an offensive line, once we get going, we get going. We don’t turn back,” UF junior offensive lineman Martez Ivy said. “As an offensive unit, everyone was feeding of it. The defense was feeding of it. The crowd was into it.”
At the end of the day it showed not only is Florida’s identity running the ball but it showed the last of faith and trust the coaching staff has in Feleipe Franks. Throughout the game Franks was locking on to receivers and missing open receivers because of it. Players still report that he’s doing better with his cadence ta the line of scrimmage. Those are problems for a true freshman, not a redshirt freshman with two years in the same playbook.
Florida is still 3-1 in SEC play and they can still get to Atlanta if they beat Georgia and Texas A&M and Missouri and South Carolina.
They’re also two covered receivers and a dropped 63-yard pass away from potentially being 1-3 in the SEC and fighting off Missouri and Vanderbilt for worst in the conference.
Tough analysis. I agree with you.
But where does that leave the Gators? Maybe it just clicks for Franks suddenly and he has an epiphany. I’ve seen stranger things happen. If you couldn’t tell, I’m not expecting it.
Well hopefully when we get to the off season we can deal with Nuss and Nord. I believe in Mac but he needs to recognize the weak links. The coaching changes he made last year were very positive. Now it is up to him to finish the job.
The answer benheb is we are not good enough to overcome suspensions, injuries, and weak assistant coaching, but don’t sweat it no one is that good.
I bleed orange and blue. Go Gators