The old cliché “Just win baby” is probably not more true than on a game like the Ole Miss game for the Florida Gators. The Gators made their first road trip of the season in a hostile environment. They sputtered at the start before seemingly catching fire. Then, all of a sudden it was batten down the hatches time, the game was close again and they had to fight to win the game. Florida head Coach Urban Meyer was just happy to leave Oxford, Mississippi with a win.
“I got a chance to watch some football when I got home, that one is in the rear view mirror,” Meyer said via teleconference Sunday. “They were a tough, physical team, and that was a landmark game for them to make a statement. We didn’t play very well on defense…that is a great one to use for the future, I don’t want to say we are relieved, but we are relieved.”
The Gators bullied their way to 507 yards of total offense, with a couple of pegs missing due to injuries. But it is the defense that gave up 390 yards and two late touchdowns that is concerning Meyer at the moment.
Caught up in the hype of last week’s big win over Tennessee, the defense played well. Was it a case of Tennessee not living up to its billing? That could very well have been the case according to Meyer.
“I just went down and talked to our defensive staff, and I do believe that,” Meyer said about maybe some false confidence from the outcome of the Tennessee game. “When we were at Notre Dame, Charlie Strong and I talked about the build up. Maybe we didn’t play as good (as it seemed) one week or the other team didn’t play as well. Regardless, everyone is a hero and we had all the answers. We did not play very well in all areas of this game. When you look at our history our first year we beat Tennessee and played great defense and get crushed by Alabama two weeks later, so I am very concerned about that because we are a young team.”
One particular concern up front is the pass rush the Gators are getting, especially from the interior of the defensive line. Senior Clint McMillan and junior Javier Estopinan played most of the game on Saturday and that may have to change according to Meyer.
“We are going to meet about that later on,” Meyer said. “We didn’t rotate guys this week, Javier (Estopinan) Jermaine (Cunningham), (Clint) McMillan, and Derrick Harvey basically played the whole game this week. We would like to get a rotation going but we did not for whatever reason. That is something we will continue to work because it is not acceptable where it is at.”
Meyer isn’t ready to blame all the passing game stats on the defensive line.
“I won’t say its all (on them), but they are tied together,” he said. “I think there is youth. That one guy ran right by us, you can’t blame that on the pass rush. That is a real fast guy, the quarterback made a great throw, and eighty yards later it’s a touchdown.”
One other area of concern was the free safety spot. Senior Kyle Jackson has the unenviable duty of replacing all-world free safety Reggie Nelson who is now playing on Sundays. Jackson has been the target of criticism from fans, media, and even the head coach in recent weeks. Saturday there were a couple of more very visible mistakes by Jackson, but when his replacement freshman major Wright entered the game, he also was not error free. Meyer said there will be competition this week for that particular job.
Meyer was asked if the criticism on Jackson was fair.
“That’s the quarterback (of the defense), regardless of it is fair or not,” Meyer said. “If you miss a tackle as a defensive end and someone helps you out, that is part of the position you are. If you miss a tackle on the back end that’s a home run. I am not aware of the criticism, but our free safety position is going to have to play much better right now.”
Meyer has always shied away from throwing young skill players to play too early and therefore maybe Jackson has been given more of the benefit of the doubt to protect the younger Wright or maybe even other prospects at the position.
“I made this comment, in skilled athletes, you play them when they are ready, not before they are ready,” Meyer said in his protective voice. “There are a lot of people that say just throw them out there and see how they do. We play young corners because when you check the roster, we have no choice. I would rather not play young corners like that; because once you lose your confidence as a skilled athlete it’s hard to get it back. We are four games into it; it will be week to week. We will name a starter later in the week and see how Kyle and Major play and compare the two.
The defense is not the only concern for Meyer. His quarterback was forced to carry the ball 27 times on Saturday. That is not a recipe for a healthy quarterback by the end of the season. Meyer thinks that will change as Tim Tebow matures into the position.
“I am far beyond a little concerned I am very concerned,” Meyer said about all the carries for his young gun. “That is no one’s responsibility other than mine. They were not all pre-designed quarterback runs, he did not have a particularly good game throwing the ball and sometimes they would drop eight or nine into coverage and he tucked it to get what he could get, so (running) is not a terrible thing to do. He had some runs that were designed and some that were the way they were defending us. I am very concerned. Object number one is to win the game but you have to take care of your players too. We just have to be very careful with that.”
One issue Tebow had Saturday was not getting the ball distributed properly to play makers. Once a team finds he is zeroing in, he becomes one dimensional and easier to defend. Sophomore wide receiver Percy Harvin is a huge weapon for Florida, but there are others that need to get looks.
“I would like to see it spread out, but we will always have to have a plan to get it to Harvin,” Meyer said. (Sophomore receiver) Jarred Fayson was wide open (a couple of times) and we didn’t get him the ball. (Junior tight end) Cornelius Ingram is very involved in our offense and we only got him a couple of touches. But, we are always going to get it to Percy, he is one of the most electrifying players in college football, but we have some other very good play makers.
Meyer talked a little bit about the different quarterback Tebow was on Saturday compared to the comfort zone he was in at the Swamp one week earlier.
“I don’t think Tim had that same stare that he has had, he kind of muscled the football a little bit for some reason…we need to find out why,” Meyer said. “We had to move the chains to keep our defense off the field so we played a little conservative. They played us in a defense that forced us to go conservative instead of going over the top.”
Meyer was questioned on muscling the ball and he talks about Tebow not following through with his mechanics.
“Like when he first got here, he over strides and tries to aim it,” Meyer said about a few throws on Saturday. “He unsettles his feet. There is something we call reset your feet when the first option isn’t there you reset and find your second option. That is something Dan Mullen is very good at teaching and at times Tim was really good at this year.”
Florida has been really effective on offense this season so far. The Gators are 24 of 26 in the red-zone so far scoring 21 touchdowns. Compared to last season, it was eight games into the season before the Gators even saw 24 chances in the red-zone. Meyer says the Gators are doing a great job close to the goal, because they simply practice it more often.
“We have a great plan down there and work it more than any other place I have been,” Meyer said. “That is because we have a strong belief (in it). I think our players believe in the plan and we spend a lot of time down there in the week of practice.”
The offense changes closer to the end-zone, for obvious reasons according to Meyer.
“Mostly the throw game changes completely, because there isn’t the vertical stretch you count on,” he said. “When you get inside the fifteen, we spend a lot of time…we research that and Billy Gonzales is kind of our red-zone guru. The run game, we are kind of going to go with what is working. I like our goal line package and it has been pretty good to date.”
The Gators found out this morning that the game against Auburn will be at 8 pm.this Saturday. With a big conference game at home and a ramped up crowd at night, the Gators will want to impress in front of a national ESPN televised audience and some big time recruits in attendance. They are also hoping to be close to full speed as far as some injured players go. According to Meyer, there were no injuries in the Ole Miss game that will keep anyone out for the Auburn game.
“(Junior running back Kestahn) Moore got a little dinged up but he will be okay for next week,” Meyer said. “(Sophomore receiver Riley) Cooper did not play and we are trying to get him back. (Senior receiver) Bubba Caldwell, (freshman safety) Bryan Thomas we are trying to get back, other than that (everyone is fine).”