In Thursday night’s loss against the Utes, the Gators’ offensive line caused several issues for the offense and its production overall. Utah stacked the box which didn’t help Florida’s run game at all, but the offensive line consistently struggled to run block and give the running backs a chance.
Graham Mertz was sacked five times and was heavily relied on due to a nonexistent running game for the Gators. This team wasn’t ready or prepared to play as most of the penalties called on Florida were procedural. The self-inflicted penalties have lingered since the 2022 football season and will be a priority for Billy Napier and this team to correct on Saturday.
“In my opinion, just not being totally locked in,” Austin Barber said on procedural issues. “I think those things like that are something we can learn from, not happen in the games coming up. A lot of those penalties were self-inflicting. Sometimes it’s just what we got to fix. I think we’re going to do a good job of fixing it.”
One loss isn’t going to break this team, not when they’ve made up so much ground from a cultural standpoint over the past two years. There’s a lot to clean up, but players are making it a priority to get better.
“The trip back was a lot of just thinking about the game, trying to figure out what went wrong in some aspects,” Barber said on not getting sidetracked. “I think a lot of people were trying to just soak in what happened, watch the film on the plane back. This whole experience is a big learning process for everybody on this team. I think that we’ll come back and learn from it, practice hard, do what we have to do to be prepared for the next game.”
The goal for this offensive line is to get back to the level they were at last season with former All-American O’Cyrus Torrence. It’s important for this group to view that as a top priority in 2023 to keep progressing as a unit.
“I think that’s where you want to be, you want to be one of the top offensive lines in the country. That’s how you succeed,” Barber said on last year’s group. “I think we’ll get back to that level. It’s the first game. There’re a few new faces on the offensive line. I’m confident in every single one of the people in that room. I’m not pointing any fingers. It’s all of us. I think we’re going to be back to that level.”
After a good August during fall camp, this team and staff didn’t expect the performance we all witnessed on Thursday. One game won’t define an entire season for the Gators. This staff just needs to identify why this team wasn’t prepared and build upon that in week two.
“It’s hard, you know what I mean? We’ve been putting the work in every single day through training camp, through the weeks of practice we had coming up to this game,” Barber said. “It’s not what we thought we were going to do. We just got to learn from it. I think one game can’t define the whole entire season, in my opinion. This team, especially the offensive line, will come back and work their tails off to be where we want to be.”
The Gators will play in the Swamp for the first time in 2023 this weekend when McNeese State comes to Gainesville. It’s important that the fans continue to show up and support this team as the season rolls on, especially with Tennessee traveling to Florida in a few weeks.
“I think it’s going to be great. Playing in the Swamp is always fun. You see all the fans. It’s home-field advantage for sure. It’s awesome. I love seeing all the fans out there supporting all of us,” Barber said on the home opener. “I think it’s going to be fun getting back each week in the Swamp. We have three games in the Swamp, especially this one coming up, an important game for us. I’m excited to be back in the Swamp.”
McNeese State is the perfect opportunity for this staff and their offensive line to correct the self-inflicted issues that were on display Thursday night.