Florida’s offense did not put a ton of points on the board against Mississippi State, but it did show some improvement nonetheless. The Bulldogs have a talented and highly experienced defense, so fireworks were never in the cards for the Gators. Even so, Dan Mullen found ways to use his players to the best of their abilities to get enough done to win.
Here is what I found in a close rewatch of the game.
Personnel groupings
Like last week, the two-back sets did not make an appearance. Florida used more Wildcat than it has in the past to spice things up on the ground, but the two-running back plays seemed to have disappeared as Malik Davis did with his injured foot.
So, most of the game came from the base 11 personnel (one back, one tight end). There were a few plays from 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends) plus a Wildcat play on 4th & 1 late with three tight ends, but it was almost entirely from 11.
This corresponds with most of Mullen’s years at Mississippi State prior to 2017. Last year he had four good tight ends in his rotation, so he went with a lot more 12 personnel than before. He adapts to his players in that way. Maybe we’ll see more 12 this year as Kemore Gamble, Lucas Krull, and Kyle Pitts come along. For now, it’s almost all 11 personnel.
The run game
It may have felt like Florida passed a lot more than it ran, but the Gators actually had 33 rushes and 33 passes (counting the one sack as a pass). Feleipe Franks had a few scrambles so there were more called passes than runs, but it wasn’t terribly unbalanced.
When Florida did run well, it was often when it did something to address Jeffery Simmons. I highlighted him in my preview piece, and he did make his presence known at times.
This is why Florida so often double-teamed Jeffery Simmons (94) or did quick passes. pic.twitter.com/MGkB7FVlDm
— David Wunderlich (@Year2) October 1, 2018
Florida didn’t shy away from running at Simmons. When it did, though, it often double-teamed him. He’s simply good enough that Florida’s linemen were at a disadvantage one-on-one with him.
In general, though, Mullen was good at getting the alignments he wanted to spring some runs for Lamical Perine and Kadarius Toney. Jordan Scarlett didn’t have his best game as he made a couple of bad decisions about when and where to cut, but he also had a lot of carries on obvious running downs where MSU’s linemen went all-out on run defense. Perine did as well, but he was more decisive and his choices to cut upfield with authority were rewarded.
Of course, the Gators used quick passes at or behind the line of scrimmage to supplement the rushing attack. Whenever Florida did one of those “extended run” pass plays, it always came with play action. On many runs, there was also bubble screen action on the outside. Were they run-pass options, or were they plays with deception?
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