Passing Game

[int1974]

So is it the WR's, or the routes we run. I did see WR's open and the ball not thrown, but most times they were covered.
Did we run a slant all year? Crossing routes, do we use them at all?

Not down on the team, just wondering why the cards have WR's open almost every snap, and we can't get open but once a blue moon.

If it is the QB does he have the ability to ever be the man, or is this the best he has to offer?

[kellgator]

I'm no expert, but it looks to me like it's a little bit of everything. Our receivers aren't elite so there isn't a lot of separation. JD doesn't anticipate where the WR's will come open and consequently holds onto the ball too long waiting until he actually sees the WR open, but by then it's often times too late. Also, JD does a poor job with his eye discipline by staring down his intended target thus leading the defense directly to where the ball is going. This tells me JD doesn't trust his receivers. It looks to me as if he is predetermining where he is going to throw the ball prior to the snap rather than reading the defense and throwing to the favorable match up based on what the defense is doing after the snap. The solution to all this will come with more experience in the offense for JD and better talent at WR that JD trusts to get open and be in the right spot at the right time so he doesn't have to watch his WR's, but rather can watch the defense, move the defense with his eyes, and then know for certain if he throws to a certain spot his receiver will be there and make a play.

[gatorich]

I'm really excited about having Joker as our full-time WR coach. Not sure how much this position had to do with our passing woes but I think it helps. Jeff did exactly what the coaches wanted him to do, make high percentage throws and control the offense. That's why you kept seeing guys open deep and we threw underneath. He is not real good at going through his progressions and finding the open man or miss-match on defense. Hopefully with another year under his belt and working with Pease, that will get better.

[mikehev]

My assessment:

-Wide Receivers are not elite and do not get separation consistently.

-LT does not block well

-QB does not have great pocket presence

-O-line does not pick up blitzes in pass protection

-QB was not given the ability to check down, so there is no chess mach when it comes to defenses blitzing (some people note the corner blitz that Jeff should have checked down on. I see that play differently, he threw the pass to his short option immediately, and did not get the ball off on time. This tells me that he recognized the blitz, but was not able to audible to a hot route for the receiver whose corner was blitzing.)

-We have no deep threat that stretches the field each play, which means defenses only have to play 2/3 of the field

So, what ends up happening is that unless the QBs first option is open (usually a 5-12 yard route, 20 tops), pass protection collapses on a QB that does not have great pocket presence at this point in his career, who could not check down to a hot route if he recognized a blitz, and all receivers are covered, resulting in a sack, a scramble, or an incomplete pass.

This is not ALL ON the quarterback like some would have us believe. Can he and should he improve? Yes. However, it is simplistic to assume that he is the exclusive, or even primary reason for our ineptness in the passing game. It is a complex issue that requires improvement on many levels.


In Christ forever,
Mike
John 3:16

[dawny]

Louiville had no #5 stars all american recievers and Olinemen, but were coached by a throwaway past Coach, who taught his players to play with heart and pride, we lost those things this game,dont know the answer on the recievers, but watching us all year we very rarely are open like opposing team,talent is not the problem.

[bullish]

When the passing game is not a priority, it is hard to get better. The Sugar Bowl probably had more passes from the Gators then all year. Our first practice on really trying to move the ball from the air. Little wonder the results were mixed and shoddy. Driskel threw so many hard bullets, nobody could catch them, elite or not. There is a thing called touch. But throwing to the side all the time, Pease only knows to throw it to the sidelines, mostly behind the line of scrimmage, or less than 5 yds downfield. When we do throw long it is to the outside. I wouldn't leave out the reverse or wildcat. Defenses know this tendency, Charley was ready and made us look Stupid. I think the jury is out on Pease, I was hoping for more. Another year for Pease, a better OL, new receivers, better RB's, what does it take to get a passing game going, maybe someone who can read defenses, get rid of the ball quick with good decisions and has a little touch on the ball. If Driskel does not improve next year, again just pounding the line against 8 man fronts without mixing up the playcalling, there will be few passes thrown, then our coaches will have to come up with we are building a program phase again, this won't get it next year because after 3 years, the writing will be on the wall.

Like Tom O'Brien at NC State, he could never get over the hump, I hope both Boom and the wagon he brought in Pease with can flourish. The jury is out after the National prime time beat down.

[bigharold58]

Originally Posted by mikehev

My assessment:

-Wide Receivers are not elite and do not get separation consistently.

-LT does not block well

-QB does not have great pocket presence

-O-line does not pick up blitzes in pass protection

-QB was not given the ability to check down, so there is no chess mach when it comes to defenses blitzing (some people note the corner blitz that Jeff should have checked down on. I see that play differently, he threw the pass to his short option immediately, and did not get the ball off on time. This tells me that he recognized the blitz, but was not able to audible to a hot route for the receiver whose corner was blitzing.)

-We have no deep threat that stretches the field each play, which means defenses only have to play 2/3 of the field

So, what ends up happening is that unless the QBs first option is open (usually a 5-12 yard route, 20 tops), pass protection collapses on a QB that does not have great pocket presence at this point in his career, who could not check down to a hot route if he recognized a blitz, and all receivers are covered, resulting in a sack, a scramble, or an incomplete pass.

This is not ALL ON the quarterback like some would have us believe. Can he and should he improve? Yes. However, it is simplistic to assume that he is the exclusive, or even primary reason for our ineptness in the passing game. It is a complex issue that requires improvement on many levels.


In Christ forever,
Mike
John 3:16

Mike, in the height of all of our frustration(s), I must say that this is a great observation and an excellent written post. I can tell that you are a student of the game.

[int1974]

Good Job Mike.

[Bushmaster]

Not sure it is the receivers, but rather the routes they run. If you have speed demons, which we do, why are we running 5-10 yard outs and curls. I can guard that.

We have a dominating run game which is going to require the defense to crowd the LOS with 8 players. Running quick routes does not take advantage of our speed. Flys, posts, and flag routes with players DOWN the field will take advantage of that speed. As a volunteer coach at the HS level, I will say coaches know their team better than fans so there is something preventing us from throwing down the field and I don't think it is the receivers.

1. The line has to be able to block that long. I have seen little evidence they can do this.

2. QB has to be able to hit the open receiver in stride down the field. I have seen little evidence of this (see #1).

3. Our receivers can catch, they can run fast.

4. Jeff throws a fastball when an offspeed pitch would suffice. No need to throw that hard for every throw.

5. Jeff is deadly when he can roll out of the pocket, just like another UF QB I remember!!

6. With the emphasis on ball control and no turnovers, Jeff seems extra cautious with the ball because he doesn't have a down to waste. Oregon doesn't play this way. Defenses are overly concerned when Oregon's offense gets on the field and they look not to give up the big play. See last night. KSU was trembling at the end of the 1st half and Oregon gets down the field quicker than a hot chainsaw thru a bucket of grease. Spurrier's teams had the same effect on defenses.

[Swampmaster]

except for 1 or 2 games (e.g., Tennessee), the UF passing / protection game in 2012 was a total disaster. Mediocre Oline and wide receivers, QB who hasn't learned to make reads = problems with the passing game.

[themistocles]

Passing Game?????

What's that, anyway?

This is an in-your-face defensive team. They ain't gonna score enough points that the Gators even need to bother with a passing game.

This basically appears to approximate the underlying coaching philosophy.

[mac4lyfe]

My take is that it is ALL on the QB in the system you run. Brantley was not made for the spread and Driskel is not made for the pro set. We have been trying to force a round peg into a square hole and it doesn't work. I look at Driskel and he has zero pocket presence/awareness. None, zilch, nada. So why is he dropping back in the pocket to pass the ball? I also don't think he has a high football IQ. He doesn't seem aware of his surroundings and what's going on in the game. Teams know they can stack the box and force him to make throws and he can't do it. The only way he can beat you is with his legs.

If Driskel is our guy (I don't think his IQ will get better), we need to go to a spread attack. He needs to not have to think and just react in order to make plays. He should not have to go through progressions. He can't handle it. Make one read then run. That's his best chance for success.

[ajjaxgator]

^^^^^^^^
From what I've seen, this is distressingly close to the truth.
JD needs to make a large leap this off-season to become a poised pocket passer (which correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that JB 's strength?).

[Nubla]

It's that dagum dive play that the Daz is calling from the sidelines. He ought to be up in the booth!

[GatorLaw]

We've been over and over and over this. And I think most people correctly believe our passing problems aren't caused by any one thing,that they're caused by a combination of things including an inexperienced QB, a lack of excellent WRs, and poor blocking/blitz pick-ups by the OL and sometimes by a back in the backfield.

I'm not even close to writing Jeff off as our starting QB. But I do wonder a little why he doesn't seem to have improved in some areas (e.g. locking in on receivers and throwing accuracy) now that he's played 12 games. I'm hopeful it's because of the other two problems and not that he's reached his peak.

[malscott]

Sometimes I feel it's like sand lot ball. "hey, Dunbar, it's comin' to you. Get open." He doesn't get open, Driskel locks on him, three other guys are running around waving their arms. Or not...

[Cash_Gator]

Is our passing game outstanding no? but is it better than people are giving it credit for us. Now we are not out there throwing the ball all over the field on teams but we have to keep in mind who we are playing against as well. I understand our passing game is 118 in the country which looks terrible but look deeper and you may see things differently. Would our passing game be ranked better if we would have thrown the ball more? yes. Did we have too in most games? no. Already we are behind because we didn't always need to throw the ball to be successful. I loved watching us run 25 straight times vs. LSU to break their hearts. Why throw the ball when you do not need to? Did we need to in our two loses? yes. So we agree their needs to be improvement from our passing? Absolutely. To say though it is one of the worst in college football is a wrong in my opinion. Stat wise sure, but as we saw in our game vs. Louisville having the #1 ranked pass defense meant little in that game. I thought Jeff played a great game vs Tenn. back in September if you look at his stats in that game he want for 219, 2tds, 0ints. Yet, statistically we are number 118 in the country "technically". The very next week MIGHTY Akron went into Tenn. and their QB went for 229, 0td, 3ints. Interestingly enough you will notice that Akron is ranked as the #16 passing team in the country. The passing game needs to improve and I feel that better play from the Oline will make a big difference but I think we need to keep in mind that stats are not everything.

[int1974]

I don't understand us going to the wildcat with burton when Jeff seems to be the better runner and might even throw it, so why do we make that switch just to have Burton run??

Also as an OC i would run 6-8 screens every game, to at least let them worry about blitzing us every down.The few we ran did well most of the time.

[gator07]

We're now going on year FIVE of not having a fluid/aggressive/dynamic/dangerous/potent passing attack. Pretty depressing. There are kindergartners that have never seen Florida throw the ball effectively.

[Tolbert1906]

first pass of the game should have been a 1st down completion to debose. driskel was off target on that play and we know how that turned out. that was the first of many poorly-thrown balls from driskel. teddy bridgewater was under more duress and somehow made plays.

louisville's wr core is not as good as florida's. wr coaching could have something to do with it.

the florida o-line performed well-enough to win the game. but there were some gaffes as well, including two false start penalties on a potential td drive.