Miller report: Opportunity knocks for the Florida Gators

That was an important game Saturday. Losing to South Carolina, and more importantly to Will Muschamp, would have been disastrous. I was confident that the Gators had the better team even with all of the injuries but that doesn’t guarantee a win. The Gator defense was once again dominant and the offense was much more effective than fans had come to expect. But alas, it was against South Carolina. To say that the level of competition goes up this week would be an enormous understatement.

The Gator offense produced almost 400 yards and sustained drives often enough to keep the defense rested and dominant even with the current injury status. Quarterback Austin Appleby turned in an impressive performance and ended the game with a 94.4 QBR. He completed 17 of 21 passes and that’s pretty good no matter who you are playing. The running game returned producing 4.6 yards per carry after less than two yards a carry against Arkansas. While nobody is claiming that this was the Oklahoma offense or anything it was certainly refreshing from a Gator fan perspective.

Defensively the Gators were once again dominant. While the Gator Nation has come to expect that kind of performance from the Florida defense, it is amazing considering the amount of injury attrition on that side of the ball. Geoff Collins and the backups on defense need to be commended on what they accomplished. Gamecock quarterback Jake Bentley was held to just 18 of 33 passing and their running game produced measly 1.4 yards a carry. Most importantly South Carolina could only manage to score seven points in the entire game. It’s hard to lose giving up seven points or less.

This was a huge game for the Gators if for no other reason than no head coach wants to have the guy they fired before hiring you to come into your house and defeat you in front of the home crowd. No matter how much anyone tries to claim that every game is important and the fact that this one kept the hopes of winning the SEC East alive was the most critical aspect this particular game nobody wanted to deal with the aftermath of losing to Will Muschamp in the Swamp.

But that is behind us now. It was a solid win in a must-win game but it is time to look forward. Things get much tougher Saturday. Remember all of those Gator fans who grinned saying that at least the postponement of the LSU game would let Luke Del Rio and a few other heal? Be careful what you wish for because that seldom works out the way you have it pictured in your mind. Now it is late November. The SEC East title is on the line. And the Gators must limp into Baton Rouge with a defense and offensive line that is decimated by injury. To make matters worse, the Tigers are playing their best football of the season right now.

If the defense was at full strength I would feel extremely good about the Gators chances in this game even with the offensive concerns. With Jarrad Davis, Marcus Maye and Alex Anzalone all out for this game, stopping Leonard Fournette will be difficult at best. And the injury list is much more extensive than just those key players. The secondary should be able to perform at a high level still but the run defense is almost certain to take a hit with all of these injuries and this is not the team you want to be facing with a weakened run defense.

The offense looked better Saturday but the game itself took a toll on the offensive line. Losing starting center Cam Dillard was a blow but then losing his backup hurt even more. Florida will go up against LSU with a shuffled offensive line and thin on reserves. Make no mistake, LSU has much more talent on defense than South Carolina. This simple truth is that this game could get ugly.

While I would not call a Gator win in Baton Rouge impossible, I have nowhere near the optimism I had about this game a few weeks ago. This is a battered Florida team that limps into Louisiana this weekend. I get the whole “man down, man up” concept but sometimes the simple fact is that the “man up” isn’t nearly as experienced or in some cases as talented as the “man down”. If the Gators somehow find a way to win this ball game and clinch the SEC East title for the second straight season, the few bizarre fans that have been highly critical of coach McElwain and his staff need to get behind them. A win here would validate this coaching staff as far as I am concerned.

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.