PD’s Postulations – Thoughts on the New Mexico State Game

Now that was different, wasn’t it? Forget that the 61 points were the most in an opener for a new head coach in program history, as was the 48-point margin of victory. Forget how many dozens of players made big plays or impressive plays in the game. Forget that the opponent was one of the worst in the FBS. Forget it all: That was different and that was good. That was a football team playing with purpose, playing on the same page, playing nearly error-free.  Going into the game, one of the few requirements I had to mark this as a successful opener was lining up and executing properly without many major mental mistakes. How does ZERO offensive or defensive penalties in the game sound? The single flag thrown on special teams marks the first time since 1977 (that’s almost 40 years) that the Florida Gators have had only one penalty in a game. No opponent drives were extended by jumping off-sides. No bad sportsmanship by shouting at and berating opponents after every play – or ANY play. No special teams breakdowns. No egregiously blown assignments. In short, this team played with focus and precision that we have not seen since the 2009 season. The staff cannot just throw a switch and make the team into national title contenders in one spring and fall preseason, but in order to be contenders in the near future, one of the first big steps necessary was to get this team finally in line. And in the same line, playing together and under control.

Done and done.

Signal Callers Impress

Might as well get right to the biggest story line of the weekend: the quarterback competition. We all saw them play, we all loved the performances. We all have probably decided on an early favorite to win the job, though we may not all agree on who it is or how close to being resolved it is.

I liked what storyline did after his first series. It is hard to find much fault in a 14-of-19, two touchdown/no interception performance. But in the nuance you find where the separation was made between the quarterbacks. He missed finding a couple of wide open receivers early, opting to tuck and run, and though he connected all his passes in the first quarter, he was a tad late on most of the throws and lofted most of them. Ironically his first touchdown was probably the worst throw he made, as it was late, under thrown and lofted. But the biggest difference maker when comparing Treon to Will Grier may have been the throws he did not make. One was on the first possession. On the final play of the opening drive, a third-and-21 situation, Treon was flushed to his right where he had a clear lane to hit Jake McGee, who was wide open at the first down marker on the sideline and waving his arms like he was stranded on a deserted island trying to signal a rescue plane. Treon appeared to see him at the last minute but instead elected to tuck and run for a short, drive-ending gain. That hesitancy and reluctance to throw to an open receiver is something that plagued the previous entrenched starters in Gainesville, Jeff Driskel and John Brantley.

But if Treon were our only quarterback option, I would be very happy with him. Though I would be concerned about these issues against SEC speed defenses, if he can get the ball there on time, that is all that is needed (just ask Danny Wuerffel and Shane Matthews). Grier by comparison was very decisive about finding and hitting his first receiver if he was open, and he threw with more zip and a better, faster path to the receiver.

Treon showed more velocity in the second half, which I think was in response to the competition from Grier (which speaks so well about both young men), but he was still throwing a tick late, flirting with an interception at least twice. Even when there was no threat of interception, throwing late can kill plays and eventually kill drives. On the game’s first possession, Treon hit Antonio Callaway on a quick hitter underneath. The play was smothered because he did not hit it quickly enough. The play is designed to make the throw as Calloway makes his turn off the line, a step or two ahead of him, where Calloway will meet the ball at speed and instride. Instead, he had to wait a beat for the throw, stopping his momentum, allowing the defense to make recognition and collapse on him. This is a very slight and subtle thing on a play that takes barely more than two seconds from snap to catch, but it was the difference between a five-yard gain with the potential for more, and a one-yard loss.

However, more than the threat of interception or scuttled play, the risk of injury for holding the ball too long is a very real issue here. One needs to only think back to Driskel’s Gator career to know how those two elements can be so closely linked. At the 13:40 mark in the fourth quarter when Treon was hit hard from behind, he never should have been touched, because as soon as he made his drop, Valdez Showers was wide open cutting under C’yontai Lewis for the easy connection. It was Treon’s first read on the play and it was open while Treon had no pressure and had his eyes fixed on him. But he held it an extra second, which let the coverage close, then looked to Lewis who by that time was covered as well. By now, the defensive line had been able to get through the wall and lay a heavy lick on him from behind as he tried to float it to Lewis. Then again at the 12:50 mark, on third-and-four, Treon’s first read was a quick out at the first down distance to Lewis, he was wide open with another five yards of real estate behind him, but Treon pumped and didn’t make the throw. To his credit, he immediately went to his second read and hit CJ Worton a yard past the marker for the first down, but the first read and throw should have been made.

It is a common trait of a second year player with the very small number of attempts as he has had, and it is something that he will no doubt be coached up to overcome. But at least in Game 1, it appeared that Grier has already progressed beyond that point in his development. He always threw without hesitation to his first read/option when open.

And I want to reiterate that Treon did an outstanding job in the game. He was particularly good when flushed from the pocket. His scramble and dart to Josh Grady was a very impressive play, especially when you consider that he and the recent transfer Grady have not had much time to work together, and that play required exemplary read and anticipation of when and how the wide receiver would break his pattern.  Grady showed impressive separation speed and instinct in finding the very narrow open window to slip into for the reception.

The ball just really gets out of Will Grier’s hand in a hurry. And in good shape. I think the most impressive pass he threw all night was the 12-yard touchdown to C’yontai Lewis with 11:04 left in the second quarter. As an aside, I loved that we were first down on the twelve and threw the ball into the end zone instead of the text book draw play or the uber-safe sideways pass, either of which would have been called every time the last four years. But I digress. Grier did many things right on this play. First, he noted the MIKE linebacker standing at the six yard line inside the hash mark, with the weak side ‘backer at the six yard line just outside the hash. After the snap, he eyeballed Antonio Calloway who was running a three-yard in-pattern from the slot, cutting under Lewis’s route.  This drew the MIKE out to the nine yard line to cover Calloway, and froze the WILL at the six, which opened just enough of a window to zip the touchdown pass on the hash to Lewis, who was running a go route from the tight end position. And all of this happened in under three seconds. The linebackers were both reading Grier’s eyes and if he had stared down Lewis, one or both would have dropped to cover him. But they both keyed on Calloway, forcing the weak side safety to race over from the outside late to cover Lewis. Excellent passing concept, but it has to be executed by the quarterback on the front and back end, and Grier did it flawlessly and without a hint of hesitation. That lack of hesitation is primarily what separated the two quarterbacks Saturday from my perspective.

Another thing that may be separating them at this point by the slimmest of margins is Will’s slightly more natural feel for the position. On his first completion of the game (and of his Florida career), the deep sideline pattern to DeAndre Goolsby, after executing a very good play action fake, he stared down the hash where Ahmad Fullwood was running a post pattern, pulling the safety to the middle of the field, then at the last instance, shifted focus to Goolsby who was abusing a linebacker with no deep safety help thanks to Will looking him off. Grier just knows how to play quarterback. The little things as well as the big things. Treon does the little things as well as the big things also, but at this point it appears to me that he does them with just slightly less proficiency than does Will.

The most promising thing about both quarterbacks was what they had in common (besides their nearly perfect stat lines). And that was command of the offense. Both players were deliberate and confident in all their calls, directing personnel around, commanding the huddle, and getting players around them to respond to their leadership. And although this was a product of not just quarterback competence, but also competence across the entire offense, I was absolutely ecstatic that there were zero incidents of confusion where they were rushed to get the snap off  before the play clock expired, and there were no timeouts forced by confusion over personnel or play call. The offense finally ran like a well-oiled machine again. Not to belabor a common theme this week, but that is something we have not seen since 2009.

As for whether or not either quarterback distanced himself in the game in the eyes of the head coach, McElwain has certainly made it clear that he will not make it clear. It’s my best instinct that he had a good idea of who would be the starter before the game began, and that position was further solidified Saturday. But he is a wise team manager and a fair one, so he is letting the competition continue without a decision being made. And it may very well be that he will ultimately plan to use two quarterbacks in some manner or another, even if both remain healthy all year.

 Getting Offensive

And boy, were the Gators offensive Saturday. Not in the manner of the Kansas State band’s halftime show, but in the manner that we have seldom seen in orange and blue since Tim Tebow’s final Sugar Bowl. The most yards, points and margin of victory in the history of the program for a first time coach in his opener. Ten players rushing the ball, with nine of them having at least one run of eight yards or more. Three quarterbacks combining for nearly 400 yards passing, each completing over 70% of their passes. Fourteen different Gators catching passes, twelve of them with at least one catch of over nine yards, and seven of them with catches of over 20 yards. Only one punt, and that was the result of a wild snap. All with some of the nation’s greatest high school offensive skill players on hand to watch. That is the way to start a new era of Florida football.

With one exception, I was very happy with the effort and athleticism of all the wide receivers. It would be difficult to find a receiver with a catch Saturday who didn’t do something head-turning either making a catch or after the catch. I am beside myself in wonder that we have this many talented and athletic player at this position.

The offensive line unfortunately showed exactly why the Gator Country staff and some other observers have been only cautiously optimistic about the offense this year: the line is suspect and very thin. The running backs were not given much room to run all night, and the backfield had a lot of Aggies roaming around on passing downs. I saw every lineman make some good plays and absolutely whiff on other plays. Against SEC defenses, those whiffs are going to get quarterbacks and running backs slammed.

Still they performed much better on the whole in pass protection than in run plowing. And unlike the previous staff, which stubbornly stuck to the same game plans throughout, the new regime seems much more in tune to the weaknesses of the offensive line and have put in a plan to scheme plays to best utilize their strengths and marginalize their weaknesses. Getting Martez Ivey back will be a big boost.

 Getting Defensive

It is easy to understand why a lot of Gators got uneasy when New Mexico State shot through the defense for two easy scores at the end of the first half. But hopefully those fears were allayed in the second half. The defense came out on the first drive of the third stanza and put a hurt on the Aggies and was clearly not only operating with a new level of energy, but they corrected the mistakes the backup safeties were making in the passing game. And they amazingly held New Mexico State to negative-10 yards for the entire second half. And at the end of the day, the Aggies had two touchdowns: one that was a gift from an offensive turnover inside the red zone, and the second should that have been called back for holding and a personal foul for hands to the face (or just a plain old facemask penalty). So while they gave up two scores, it was a “virtual shutout,” if you will.

And while I did note some serious holding penalties that were ignored, watching the replay I saw so many more. Caleb Brantley was being nearly tackled on every play, and even after he asked the refs to watch for it, they ignored it all day.

Of the many defenders who impressed on Saturday, Alex Anzalone was perhaps the most impressive player not wearing a #1 on his jersey. Or at least he was the most pleasant surprise. He was making calls and directing personnel like a true leader on defense, and he was making plays sideline to sideline. He showed great speed to the ball and did not let the linemen engage him on running plays – he slid off of them like he was covered in butter. Another player that raised my eyebrows throughout the game was CeCe Jefferson. Having missed his senior season with an injury, I was interested to see how much rust he had and how far off he was from his trademark speed. I was very happy to see that neither rust nor quicks were an issue, as the true freshman played fast and with the impact of an upper class man, blowing up a number of plays.

Another thing I wanted to touch on with the defensive performance: Discipline. The Aggies attempted three fourth-down conversions and one third-and-short and the Gators did not commit an off-sides infraction. Jumping over the line on short yardage plays to extend opponents’ drives was a hallmark of the Gator defense the last four years. As was running out of position, but Saturday there was Jalen Tabor and Quincy Wilson staying home and playing their assignment in order to stuff the Aggies’ hidden ball trick play for a loss. In recent years that would have resulted in a huge gain and probably a touchdown. There is a new word on the Gator defense with this coaching staff, and that word is “discipline.”

Random Stats

*Florida now owns the nation’s longest win streak in season openers, with 26. This is because of BYU’s scintillating Hail Mary touchdown pass from the Cougar’s backup quarterback on that game’s final play. If you didn’t catch it in the highlight shows, look it up on the web. It is a fun and funny radio call to hear.

*Fans were looking for big signs of the dawning of a new day in Gainesville. How does seven catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns from the tight end position grab you? How about five different Gators scoring their first ever college touchdown? There are a lot of new sheriffs in town.

*Four different Gators scored rushing touchdowns. Despite the exclusive focus on the running game by the previous regime, this was the first time since the Urban Meyer era in 2010 that this has happened.

*We have all heard or read by now of the great job Jeff Driskel did for Louisiana Tech in his first start for them Saturday. But I thought it would be interesting to combine the stats for all of the Gator quarterbacks Saturday – both current and former. Here is the line:

42-of-52 (81% completion), 656 yards, 16 yards per completion, 8 TDs passing, 2 TDs rushing, 0 interceptions

That’s an entire season under the previous Florida staff. Except the interception total…that would have been just one series.

 Interesting Scores from Saturday

Shockingly close:

#2 TCU 23, Minnesota 17

#22 Arizona 42, Texas San Antonio 32

#5 Michigan State 37, Western Michigan 24

#25 Tennessee 59, Bowling Green 30 (was 21-20 with 1:53 left in the first half)

#10 FSU 59, Texas State 16 (was 14-10 with 5:45 left in the first half)

Kentucky 40, Louisiana Lafayette 33

Mississippi State 34 Southern Miss 16 (was 14-10 with 12:16 left in the third quarter)

Eye-Opening Upsets:

Northwestern 16, #21 Stanford 6

Texas A&M 38, #15 Arizona State 17

Ouch, Baby; Very Ouch:

Notre Dame 38, Texas 3

Temple 27, Penn State 10 (PSU scored as many points as sacks given up)

Portland State 24, Washington State 17

Western Kentucky 14, Vanderbilt 12

 Closing Argument

If there is one reason I want the Gators to make a championship run of some kind this year – other than the obvious reason that I am a rabid Gator fan – it is Vernon Hargreaves III. He is not just one of the two or three best football players in the country, but he is one of the very best players to ever don the orange and blue, any position, any era. And what a shame it is that he had to, for lack of a better term, “waste” his three years at Florida during the Muschamp debacle and the post-debacle transition year to the new McElwain era. Perhaps the Gators can find a little magic this year to give Vernon that championship game experience just once before he takes his talents to the NFL via a top-5 pick.

I certainly hope so.