Breathe in, breathe out: Florida Gators

Breathe in, breathe out. There is a Jimmy Buffett song about New Orleans and hurricane Katrina where the main line of the song is breathe in, breathe out, move on. I would advise Gator fans to heed that advice. Was it a pretty game? Nope. Did the Gators dominate a lowly UMass team that had only won eight games over the previous four seasons? Nope. But at least the offense took advantage of that overmatched Minuteman defense to wipe clean the putrid stench of the Florida Gators season ending offensive woe, right? Nope. Sorry, a Gator Nation that had enjoyed two days of laughing at Tennessee’s struggles with Appalachian State was left with a sick feeling in its collective gut as the time ticked away to end the Florida season opener. Six months of hope and anticipation was dramatically dampened by a lackluster performance by their beloved team. Is it possible that all of that optimism was ill-founded? Not so quick my friends.

No, this was not the offensive explosion fans expected, but it was not exactly ineptitude either. First, it is worth mentioning that the game began amid a torrential downpour which is not really conducive to wide open offense. Quarterback Luke Del Rio really did not play that badly. His uninspiring QB rating of 56.5 is not what you would like against what should have been a much lesser opponent. However, Del Rio did not turn the ball over or make any glaring mistakes. The two areas of concern with his performance are the low YPC and the completion percentage. I remember at least five drops two of which were by the running back that we heard all offseason was going to be a receiving threat out of the backfield. It did not help that star receiver Antonio Callaway had a little case of the dropsies as well. Make those catches and not only would Luke’s percentage look better but a couple of drives would have been extended as well. In reality, 256 yards passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions is a decent day. Those same states against a Tennessee or LSU would be considered great. My one big issue with Luke Del Rio on Saturday was his inaccuracy on the few long balls he cut loose. He will have to do better than that for this season to meet expectations.

It did not help that Florida was already missing three receivers and a tight end to suspension and then lost expected playmaker Dre Massey for the season on the opening kickoff. The Gators will have to find at least two contributors out of the incoming freshmen receivers. The tight ends will also have to play a big role in the passing game. The bottom line here is that unless some semblance of a vertical passing game develops it will be hard to get the running game going. Defenses will just stack to box to stop the run like they did down the stretch last season.

As for the above mentioned running game, I still do not see a Gator running back that imposes his will on the other team. Jordan Scarlett showed signs of tough hardnosed running but 70 yards on 13 carries against UMass just isn’t going to cut it. Mark Thompson must catch those passes coming out of the backfield. Overall, the production from the running backs must improve significantly if Florida has any dreams of repeating as SEC East champions. Against a team like UMass, 97 rushing yards by the backs is borderline pathetic. Of course some of that falls on the offensive line.

There was talk and hope that there might finally be depth and talent along the offensive line. If so, the Gators hid it well against UMass Saturday. There were precious few holes for the backs to run through and the numbers reflect such. This is a game where Florida should have been able to dominate a smaller defensive line and rack up some big time rushing numbers in the second half but the Gator line got almost no push against the Minutemen. Nearly every defensive line the Gators will face the rest of the way will be more talented, bigger and stronger than the one that gave them such fits Saturday. UMass only managed one sack but that had more to do with Del Rio getting the ball out quickly than stellar pass protection. I am not ready to write of the Gator O-line just yet, but they must perform much better than what I saw Saturday or SEC defenses will eat them alive.

Defensively, the Gators played pretty well but far too many ill-timed penalties aided in the Minutemen’s only scoring drive and prevented the Florida defense from getting off of the field at times. Florida held UMass to only 187 total yards of offense, only 12 first downs and 1-11 on third downs. The defense held UMass to a mere 46 yards rushing. Jalen Tabor’s absence was felt and his return to the secondary this week will be greatly welcomed.

I have not yet watched the game again but a couple of defensive players stood out to me watching Saturday. Alex Anzalone and Jabari Zuniga seemed to have really good games. The usual suspects of Marcus Maye, Jarrad Davis, Caleb Brantley and Bryan Cox JR were as expected. I would like to have seen a little more intensity at times from the defense and a little more restraint at other times, but I did not come away from that game concerned about the Gator defense. Clean up the penalties and get Tabor back out there and the defense should be one of the best in the country.

Now, I left the best for last. Everyone is aware of how horrible the kicking game was last season. It wasn’t just bad. It would have had to improve dramatically to get to bad. Enter Eddie Pineiro. All of the off-season news was good but Eddie still entered the game having NEVER kicked a field goal in the game at either to college or high school level. Every Gator fan held their breath for his first attempt. They exhaled when it went right down the center. Unfortunately there was a penalty against UMass and that field goal was taken off of the board as Florida went for it and failed on fourth down. It didn’t matter. Eddie got three more chances and delivered on all three. All indications are that the Gators place kicking struggles are behind them for now.

The first game of the season is in the rear view mirror now. Fans expected something much better than a 24-7 victory. But, I would like to point out that a lot of teams actually lost their game against lesser opponents in week one and one notable rival needed overtime to get out with a win. I am fine with some first game struggles yet winning by 17 points. The loss of Dre Massey for the season is much more concerning than any shortcomings I might have seen on the field Saturday. We all would have liked to see a sixty point blowout and third string guys playing the fourth quarter but it didn’t happen. There is nothing to be gained by stressing over it now. Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

Mark Miller
Mark Miller's bravery knows no limits. He's a Gator living deep in the heart of Georgia. Mark's weekly columns appear in the Coosa Valley News in Rome, Georgia, where Gators are few and Bulldogs are many. His updates about football and life among the heathens will appear in Gator Country on a weekly basis.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Well said Mark! Thanks for being a level-headed Gator fan. I bleed orange and blue as much as anybody else here on GC, but there are a lot reasons for the lackluster performance on Saturday. We had three questions marks going into the season and two of those have been answered (QB and kicker). Now, hopefully the OL can play smash mouth football on Saturday and give the Gator Nation some hope for the rest of the season.

  2. I think Alot of people are underestimating how good UMass’ defense is this year. I live in MA and the talk all year has been about how good their D, especially the front seven are going to be. Nobody up here cares about BC, it’s all about UMass. They are gonna surprise Alot of people.