Behind the Numbers: Florida Gators vs. Texas AM Aggies

Dan Mullen calls a play against A&M-1105x800
Dan Mullen calls a play against Texas A&M- photo courtesy of the University of Florida

I, for one, did not think that the Florida Gators would lose a boat race this season.

I figured, based on what we have seen this season before Texas A&M, that the Gators would be in a few boat races – but I did not think that they would lose.

But what is the saying? If you play with fire, you get burned?

Florida’s offense, again, looked nearly perfect – save a bad throw into triple coverage and a very ill-timed fumble by Malik Davis. The Gators averaged 7.18 yards per play and racked up 402 total yards with 38 points – numbers that should be win 99 out of 100 football games.

However, this is different. The defense that Florida has been putting on the field this season now changes the 99 out of 100 to closer to 60 out 100, and Florida got beat the way they want to beat teams: big plays and converting when you need to.

The enigma of the Florida Gators defense is that it does not make sense to be this bad. Saturday was amongst the worst I’ve defensive performances that I have ever seen. They looked soft, they could not tackle, took terrible angles, seemed afraid to wrap up, could not get pressure – but more importantly, they looked confused.

While UF replaced several starters, they replaced many of them with folks that have been in the system and have learned under Todd Grantham, for now, their third year. There seems to be a struggle on assignments and with that leaves a ton of open space in the run and pass game.

For having players like Zachary Carter and Brenton Cox, they should not have this much trouble getting to the quarterback. I saw a lot of players struggling to break their block and when they did, they often over pursued. They only seem to bull rush, which I find strange, too.

Florida is missing a lot of athleticism (that they have recruited albeit young) that the linebacker position – and the safeties…man, besides Shawn Davis, there is a massive deficiency – and it is not raw talent. These guys were recruited by every program in the country.

Florida seems off – everywhere – on defense. And I know they have talented and gifted coaches at each position.

Grantham’s defense thrives when there is pressure on the quarterback – but they cannot get that, for whatever reason, this season. But they are trying and when they try, they are leaving big gaps in the field because linebackers and safeties cannot seem to cover the space they need.

All in all, it seems to be schematic – and that is baffling. Because they were able to watch the film, break down assignments, study the playbook during the offseason. But more importantly, Florida has almost no brand-new players to its defense that are playing snaps, save Gervon Dexter, Tre’Vez Johnson, and Rashard Torrence.

Here is to hoping that next week is better!

Let us look at some of the numbers that defined the Florida Gators game against Texas A&M.

  • This is the first time in 103 years that the Gators allowed opponents to score 100 points over a three-game span.
  • Dan Mullen is now 19-1 as head coach of the Gators when they were tied or leading through the first three-quarters of the game.
  • Florida for the third game in the row did not substitute an offensive lineman all game. Jean Delance allowed six pressures, three hurries, and three quarterback hits. The rest of the lineman allowed for a total of four pressures, one hurry, and one hit.
  • Kyle Trask was 20-of-21 in passes that traveled less than 10 yards in the air for 243 yards and was just 3-of-9 on passes greater than 10 yards.
  • Of the Gators 312-yards passing, 158 went to receivers with running backs grabbing 100 yards.
  • The Gators averaged more than seven yards a play for the third time in the last four games.
  • Texas A&M was 19 of 22 passing in between the numbers for 274 yards and three touchdowns.
  • Marco Wilson allowed 7-for-7 passing against him for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
  • All Gators defenders except Kaiir Elam allowed at least a 50% passing accuracy against them with Marco Wilson, Tre’Vez Johnson, Jaydon Hill, James Houston, Shawn Davis, and Amari Burney all allowed every attempt at them to be completed. Texas A&M was 16-for-16 for 224 yards in those instances.
  • The Gators defense ended with zero sacks, just seven hurries, and only three quarterback hits.
  • For the third time this season, the Gators allowed Texas A&M to have more than 70 plays on offense. It only happened twice last season and four times the season before.
  • The Gators had at least 18 missed tackles – although I reckon it is much more.
Daniel Thompson
Dan Thompson is a 2010 graduate of the University Florida, graduating with a degree in Economics and a degree in Political Science. During this time at UF, Dan worked three years for the Florida Gator Football team as a recruiting ambassador. Dan dealt daily with prospects, NCAA guidelines, and coaching staff. Dan was also involved in Florida Blue Key, Student Government and Greek Life. Currently, Dan oversees the IT consulting practice of a Tampa-based company. Dan enjoys golfing, country music, bourbon, travel, oysters, and a medium-rare steak. Dan can be found on Twitter at @DK_Thompson.

1 COMMENT

  1. We allowed over 100 points in a three game span to Georgia, Mizzou, and Carolina in 2017. Technically, we did it twice because if you do the A&M, UGA, Mizzou three games it also goes over 100. Is it 2120 already?

    We stole Stiner from Houston, he plays the most snaps at safety besides Davis. Why did he choose Houston over Bama, Clemson, and Ohio State (tells me about his intelligence) at first? Everyone was recruiting him. Trey Dean has looked pretty decent at safety in the limited snaps he gets (9 I think is the number against A&M), but we have to shoehorn in Stiner.

    Just a few non-rhetorical questions I have.