Florida Gators Football: Seeking An Aerial Emergence

The Florida Gators seemed to have found the remedy for their offensive woes behind the running game of Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor. Last Saturday, the ground game was responsible for nearly 94% of the offense, and helped take the air out of a Georgia team looking to be the ones with the strong rushing attack.

However, as great as the offensive productivity was, it’s unlikely the Gators can continue to have a successful offense where they amass less than 30 passing yards.

Or can they?

As Florida prepares for Vanderbilt this Saturday night, the team understands the questions of offensive sustainability under last week’s model. Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper said while there were plans in place to pass the ball more than six times, the success of the running game, led to them staying with a rushing attack.

“But I still think, obviously, we’ve got some work to do in the passing game and we’ve got to grow and, obviously, it’s got to be a dimension we have in our offense to be able to stay successful and make plays and those type things,” Roper said.

Vanderbilt presents opportunities for passing the ball. The Commodores are 11th in the SEC in total defense, allowing 403.6 yards per game. The passing defense has 232.7 yards per game and 15 touchdowns this season. Through nine games, six teams have thrown for at least 200 yards, with one 300-yard game by Ole Miss. This weekend’s game could be an opportunity to jumpstart a passing offense that is 13th in the SEC, averaging 174 yards a game.

Though the team will look to improve upon their aerial attack, there may be a change on how opposing defenses plan against Florida’s offense. During the Georgia game, quarterback Treon Harris was flushed out of the pocket on multiple plays, contained by the defensive ends. With physical defensive linemen that know how to remove blockers under head coach Derek Mason, Vanderbilt front four will challenge the Gators’ passing game.

“They do a good job with their pressures. They play a lot of people. It’s been interesting going through their games, they have a lot of people that they play on the defensive side of the ball. You know you just see them playing a mix of youth and some experience,” Roper said.

Florida’s offensive linemen know the passing game is something the team will have to work on. Chaz Green said the ability to throw will be key in games down the road, and is something the team is working on. Though the team is working on adding an additional wrinkle to the offense, Max Garcia believes the ground game is still the foundation.

“I think teams will definitely game plan you know more heavily focused on the run,” Garcia said. “So it’s going to be hard to have that expectation to that extent, but it is going to be our emphasis is going to be what our strategy is going into a game, we’re not going to go into a game saying we’re going to air the ball out 45 times.”