GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we recap the Florida Gators win over Colorado State on Saturday in the Swamp.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre break down how the offense looked on Saturday and what improved for them on that side of the ball.
Andrew and Nick also break down the special teams play and how that could end up being the X factor for the Gators this season.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew: What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, 48-10, the Gators pull out and beat Colorado State. Score’s a little deceiving of how close the game was for the most part. I say that, but Colorado State threatened at times, but never really threatened, I guess is the best way to say it. It’s kind of cliché to say they threatened but didn’t threaten. Had a good chunk of yards in the game, but never really put it all together for the most part in the game. Ended up with 310 total yards, Florida 341, which is a little deceiving as well, as Florida had three drives, well, two drives that ended up in special teams’ touchdown and one that started inside the 10, because of a special teams’ play for the Gators. Little deceiving, but overall 48-10, Gators do what they were supposed to do, get a win.
Nick: Yeah. You do what you’re supposed to do. Get back on track after the loss to Kentucky. We had mentioned don’t overlook a Colorado State team because you have Tennessee coming up, that’s how you trip up and lose a game. I don’t think, based on how it goes, obviously you loved the special teams, but I don’t think fans watching that game are waking up today and thinking, feels like we won by 38 points.
Andrew: I said this to you last night a little bit. I said, the way the game went it was a tough game. If you go back, and you look at that game, you just watch the game and you don’t know the final score, you’re thinking it’s a two or three score game. I guess, what separates this game was the special teams’ points. 17 special teams points created by the special teams.
I posted this in my thoughts on the game on Gator Country, but we talked about in the years past the defense being the X factor for this team. This year, it’s the special teams. The special teams are able to create points, or able to help create points, setting them up in good field position, because of that precision and because of that focus on special teams. Freddie Swain, punt returner for a touchdown. Amari Burney with a blocked punt that allowed Tyrie Cleveland to recover in the endzone. You had the fumbled snap that James Houston caused that was recovered and set them up for a field goal. You had several points in the game that were create by special teams.
Listen, for a team who struggles to put drives together, starting inside your 20 or inside your 30 gives a team chances to score points that are easy points. They’re given. It’s kind of like an error in post-season baseball, or in baseball in general. It gives you extra opportunities, and that’s what it is, an extra opportunity for this team. For a team who struggles to put drives together, it’s a welcomed position for the team.
Nick: It’s certainly welcome. It’s something that was missing so much for the past …
Andrew: Since Urban left.
Nick: Yeah, really since Urban left, since the last time Dan Mullen was here. Again, it’s those hidden yards that you talk about all the time. The kick returns, you had, I think, 157 yards, or no. I’m reading that wrong. Sorry. All-purpose yards. Freddie Swain had 125 yards, or 107 yards on punt returns. Amari Burney had 28. It’s those hidden yards there. Then, obviously, like you said, you get the blocked punts. The defense helped out too. The defense recovered three fumbles. A lot of short fields to work with.
It’s just the offense really didn’t seem to be clicking again. I think that’s probably what had me concerned during the game. I think the second quarter was really good, but other than that, I’m still not sold on the offense, and you got to understand that this was 123rd ranked defense coming into the game. They were giving up points and touchdowns and yards to everyone they played, really except for Florida.
Andrew: Before we move onto the offense, I wanted to hit back on that. You got to take it for what it is too, and that is Florida really missed three drives that could have allowed for more yards, could have allowed for more points on offense as well. We have to look at it as it is, and, Nick, I’m not saying you’re not, but special teams did what it had to do. Defense did what it was supposed to do, create turnovers in the game. You look at Tommy Townsend, very good job punting the ball. Evan McPherson continues to do a good job on field goals. 24-yard field goal and a 48-yard field goal there. Just overall really good there.
Like you said, the defense went out and created some turnovers. Did its job there. Still had some missed tackles and all that good stuff we’ll talk about. But, like you said, the offense struggled. I will say this, and this is the first time I’ve seen it all year, at points in the game the offensive line created some gaps for the running backs to run through. That was a key for you and I. Listen, this is a Colorado State defensive line that’s not very good. You should be able to create some running gaps, and it did, 222 yards rushing. A little bit of that is misleading as well, 98 of those game on two runs, one from Damien Pierce and one from Jordan Scarlett, but overall, the offensive line did get a little bit better of a job pushing up front.
I think that’s a key going forward, Nick. Feleipe started out 0-6 passing. After that, he was 8 of 9 passing. When the offensive line is able to get the running game going, it allows Feleipe to settle down a little bit. We said this last week, and that is you can’t put the shoulder of the game on Feleipe. It just isn’t going to work. Good things aren’t coming from making Feleipe be the sole reason for a win or loss.
Nick: I think the running game really got going in that second quarter. I think that’s probably the best I’ve seen the offensive line run block this season. Then you can see what happens off of that. We said it. Run to open the pass. Don’t try the other way around. When you look at the scoring drives, Florida had the 30-yard rush from Scarlett in the second quarter. Then an 18-yard pass to Swain, and then they had the blocked punt. Three touchdowns, two of them on offense, and it really started with Jordan Scarlett scoring early.
Then you’re able to run the ball effectively in that second quarter. You’re able to run the ball better in the second quarter than any other quarter. In the second quarter, Florida had 109 total yards, seven rushing attempts for 57 yards. That’s 8.1 per carry. In the first quarter, it was seven carries for 27 yards, 3.9. That opens up the passing game, and that softens defenses. When Florida can’t run, we’ll just keep six guys in the box and drop five and make Feleipe Franks figure it out.
Andrew: That’s not going to happen. I mean, it is what it is. There are some quarterbacks that can, but a lot of quarterbacks around the country need to get the run set up for the pass. Something that I’m a little tack aback with with the way Mullen’s doing things, because we’ve all known Mullen as a guy who likes to run the ball. You would think he would come out of the gate doing that. He hasn’t, which is a little, like I said, confusing, a little concerning as well. If they’re going to have a good game against Tennessee, that’s going to be a case where they’re going to have to come out and run the ball, in my opinion.
That kind of brings me to my point, Nick. Listen, Jordan Scarlett, six carries for 56 yards. You take away the 30-yard rush, and he’s got five carries for 26 yards. Not looking very good there. Is it time for a change at the starter at running back?
Nick: I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know if the starter necessarily matters. The way it’s gone each game, all three games, Jordan Scarlett’s gotten the first series. Lamical Perine’s gotten the second series. Then Malik Davis has gotten the third. We don’t Malik Davis’ health status. We’re doing this on Sunday. We won’t know until Monday, if Dan Mullen decides to give us an update there. You and I will do our best to figure it out. He had x-rays after the game, or during the game, and those were negative, so nothing is broken in that foot. He walked off the field in a walking boot. It’s a foot. At least it’s not the knee.
To me, does the starter matter? You look at the way that things are split out again. I’ll take Damien Pierce out of the equation, because he didn’t carry the ball until the fourth quarter. He had five carries for 87. Jordan Scarlett had six. Davis had three before he got hurt, and Perine had seven. The way it’s broken down all year, it’s like it doesn’t matter who gets that first carry or that first series. It’s not like the starting running back is getting 25 carries, and the next guy is getting seven. Do you need to just stop spreading the ball out to six different rushers?
Feleipe Franks, again, had seven. All seven of those were not designed runs, but I think there’s still too many designed runs for Feleipe Franks early. Even if you watch when Urban Meyer is calling a game, I think when things are close, Florida’s first drive down the red zone, when they settled for a field goal, you saw two or three designed quarterback runs, and I think it’s when the field gets small or when the game is close, Mullen and Urban, they come kind of from that same tree, get a little antsy, almost get nervous and just go to quarterback draws and quarterback runs.
Andrew: Nick, let me hit on running back first, before I hit on Feleipe. At running back, I know what you’re saying. Here’s the thing. I’m going to make the case, Nick, and I haven’t made this case yet. I’m at the point where I’m almost ready to see what Damien Pierce does against the big boys. Listen, I get it. Second-string, whatever it is. Colorado State didn’t bring in a lot of second-string guys, but the game was out of hand, whatever it may be. At some point or another, I’m ready to see what he can do against the big boys. He continues to show that when he gets in the game he makes things happen. I’m ready to see that. I think you need to continue to run Scarlett and Perine, that kind of thing. You did kind of see that he ran the hot hand a little bit with Perine when he got going on that one drive.
For me, I think the biggest key, Nick, is Scarlett can play on 3rd downs when you’re going to pass the ball. That’s no knock on Jordan Scarlett. Jordan Scarlett just is what he is. He doesn’t catch the ball very well. In that situation, it needs to be either Perine or Davis catching the ball out of the backfield on 3rd down. I mean, it wasn’t a great pass on the one Scarlett missed, but it was a pass that Scarlett should have gotten. He should have been in better position to catch. For me, that’s the one thing that needs to change. 3rd down it needs to be Perine or Davis, depending on Davis’ health, out there in 3rd down, just to catch the ball.
To go to the running game, if you’re going to run a quarterback designed run, why is Emory Jones not in there? Why is Kadarius Toney not taking those snaps? For me, having Feleipe taking those snaps and having quarterback run isn’t productive.
Nick: I mean, Emory Jones hasn’t played since that first game. I’m starting to think that maybe they are going to redshirt him, and it doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s not what I was told before the year were the plans, but you look at it, and obviously, he can play in three more games before he would be not able to redshirt. To me, it’s kind of like if you’re going to do that, and you want the quarterback run to be such a big part of your game plan, do it with the guy that can run.
Andrew: Yeah. Or do it with Kadarius Toney. Kadarius is a guy who’s done that. I’m going to hit on that in a second, because I’m lost with some things. Do it with him. Do it with someone who can make something happen there. Feleipe is not outrunning very many people. Is he a good runner for a quarterback? Sure. But he’s not a great runner in general. He’s not quick. He’s a big guy, and that hurts him a little bit as well. He’s also your quarterback. One shot and Kyle Trask is your guy. Right now, it doesn’t look like he has much faith in Kyle Trask, so keep him healthy a little bit. That’s my knock on that.
Got to get the running game going in general, but only 119 yards passing, Nick, and that’s worrisome as well, because you would have thought this would have been a game Feleipe could have put up some numbers. Nick, is it time to scrap whatever the script is? Van Jefferson not getting many catches until the second half. This is the second week in a row Trevon Grimes hasn’t gotten a catch until the second half. Toney, his play design is he comes out, he gets a stand pass, he comes immediately to wildcat quarterback, runs the ball, and then he’s gone for the game.
Nick: It’s two plays. He didn’t leave, I even tweeted it, but he stayed on the field. They put him on the low of side of your tv, put him on Florida’s sideline out wide, and the play went to the right, immediately to the right. He might as well have went off.
Andrew: That’s what I’m saying. It’s a situation where he has two plays that are designed for him, and then after that it’s kind of you’re not involved in the play no more. I’m not getting that. Another thing I’m just not getting, Trevon Grimes. You’re not targeting him until the second half. That kind of thing is just worrisome to me, because, I mean, listen, Trevon Grimes is a hell of an athlete, and probably your second-best receiver after Van Jefferson. He showed what he could do on the crossing route, one catch, 17 yards in the game, but he was only targeted once. That’s worrisome to me.
Nick: Yeah. Really, he wasn’t even on the field until the second half. Late in the second quarter got on, but not being targeted. Then doesn’t get a target until the second half, and only one target in the game. To me, that doesn’t make sense. What is he doing during the week that is not getting him reps or getting him chances?
Andrew: Exactly. That’s the key for me. What’s going on? What is the hold back from that? I mean, is it resistance from Trevon to practice like he does? If that’s the case, I mean, Trevon didn’t practice under Mac, so it’s not a Mac fault. That’s a Trevon thing. But Van Jefferson is the same way, Nick, and that is not targeted very much.
Nick: That wasn’t the case the first two weeks.
Andrew: Correct. It wasn’t. Tyrie Cleveland is the same way. Didn’t get targeted until late in the game. That’s that. I will say that for some of the plays in the game, some of the drives during the game, the receivers were getting no separation, and that, to me, is a little worrisome, because, again, Colorado State’s secondary is not that good.
Nick: Yeah. I’m getting the numbers right now. Colorado State came into the game just giving up receiving numbers to everybody. Hawaii threw for 418. Colorado threw for 338. Only 138 for Arkansas, but Arkansas, I think, ran for 300.
Andrew: Yeah. It was a lot. It was a lot of rushing yards.
Nick: Arkansas ran for 299 yards. Really, you take Damien Pierce’s big run out, and Florida doesn’t run for 200 yards, and they don’t even come close to throwing. They didn’t throw for 100 yards until Van Jefferson’s 38-yard touchdown. I get you can have games that are going to be different, because you’re getting short fields and stuff like that, but it just didn’t look good again. That’s kind of what I’m stuck on. Now you’ve got the portion of your schedule, if you’re Florida, where it’s not easy anymore. You’ve got Tennessee, Mississippi State, LSU, Vanderbilt, who looks completely different this year. Vanderbilt went up to South Bend and gave Notre Dame …
Andrew: Should have won the game. They left so many points on the field.
Nick: So, Tennessee, Mississippi State, LSU, a Vanderbilt team that looks legit, and Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina. That’s your next two months, and that’s not easy.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Certainly, harder than Charleston Southern and Colorado State. I’m worried about where Florida is right now on offense, and the guys they have coming in.
Andrew: Right. Our analyst guy, David Wunderlich, he had a good point. He said, is it time for Mullen to simplify who he’s throwing to? Instead of trying to spread the ball out to so many people, narrow it down some. I’m starting to wonder myself if that’s not the case, where it needs to go back a little bit. More crossing routes, more slant routes, more short passes to get the ball out of Feleipe’s hands. The one thing that you can do to offset a bad offensive line is get the ball out of your hands real quick, and if you can’t run the ball a little bit, then run the ball with short passes.
Some will say, that doesn’t make sense. Well, stand passes, swing passes, quick slants. The short passing game is a play off of a running game. That’s something they can do to help this. Listen, Kemore Gamble and the receivers are very good blockers, so get the ball out there and let them go a little bit. There’s some things that need to be done. Again, the offensive line in the middle of Tyler Jordan, Nick Buchanan, and Fred Johnson, were horrendous again. Brett Heggie played one series.
Nick: Brett Heggie comes in …
Andrew: We’re all thinking, okay, this is good.
Nick: Heggie comes in, and they run Damien Pierce right behind him, and what happens? See you.
Andrew: Yeah. I mean, he comes in on one series. They didn’t score. Tyler Jordan was out for that series, but then he comes right back in. Again, it’s a question mark for me. Nick, I’m almost looking at this and thinking I’d like to see Tyler Jordan maybe at center and Brett Heggie at left guard. I think I’ve seen enough of the Buchanan experience up the middle to know that it’s not working very well at center.
Nick: How much confirmation do we need of that?
Andrew: Right. Exactly. Someone said, and I don’t believe this. I’m not in this believe, but someone said, is Mullen being bullish on himself and being a little cocky and saying, I’m going to play my guys that are out there and not make no changes? I don’t believe that. I think Mullen is going to play the guys that give him the best chance to win, but at the same time, you start to wonder what’s going on. Why is Brett Heggie not playing more? Why is Trevon Grimes and Toney not playing more? What is the cause here for that? Because something is going on during the week that we’re not seeing, we’re not hearing about, that the staff doesn’t like, because it’s clear those guys are better than guys playing before them.
Nick: Right. There’s just a lot of guys. We talked about it. I brought it up. You need to trim that number of guys that are getting the ball.
Andrew: Right. Again, I don’t know. I mean, you’re right. Then Freddie Swain goes out, and he does his part. He has a good game, has a touchdown and makes plays on special teams and all that. So, he earned his snaps as well. I mean, there is. When we talk about that, there’s a lot of guys to get the ball, you would think the offense is doing good, but they’re not. That’s a situation where now you’ve got to figure out. Guys like Toney, guys like Trevon Grimes, they can make things happen on short passes that I think you’re going to need.
I say this, and I might be completely wrong, and I may have to take all this back after the Tennessee game, but I have a feeling, and I say I have a feeling, because I’m hoping, not because I know anything, but that some things are being held back and there is a game plan that’s different for the Tennessee game. I could be wrong. I just don’t think Dan Mullen is as bad of a play caller, and I shouldn’t say as bad, because it hasn’t been bad. I think the plays have been there, they’ve just not been executed. I think he has a way of simplifying things even more for Franks in this Tennessee game that maybe we haven’t seen.
Nick: I just don’t know what it would be.
Andrew: I don’t know. We’ll see. I think there’s a package or something he’s not throwing out there, or something or another. We’ll see.
Let’s go to defense real quick, Nick. Defense comes out, and gave up 310 yards, 240 in the secondary. The secondary looked awful on the back end. Safety play, Nick, has just go to get better. I thought Trey Dean showed at times what he can do, and he’s a very physical player. Had two penalties. Made a couple mistakes, but, again, that’s normal for a freshman. The secondary, once again, Nick, linebackers in coverage was bad. That’s something that’s been a normal thing, a normal comment to say after games for most of the last two years. You’ve got to figure out some way.
I wasn’t at the game on Saturday, so I was watching the game on TV, and they had a comment from Grantham, who said he can’t put his full defense in, because he doesn’t trust the guys enough to blitz. To me, Nick, I’m saying Grantham has to blitz to help this secondary. This secondary is not holding up that long if they’re not blitzing.
Nick: I think there needs to be more blitzing. We saw a little bit of it the first week, but I think there needs to be more. Maybe it’s just now that you’re so thin in the secondary it’s trying to protect them. You might need to protect them by going out there and we’re going help you by trying so you don’t have to cover as long. I see what Grantham might be skittish to do that, because of not having a ton of guys back there. Then, Trey Dean, for as great as we talked about him, he struggled with Preston Williams last night.
Andrew: Again, I think he showed flashes, and then he showed some freshman moments as well. Listen, Preston Williams is going to play on Sundays.
Nick: I mean, here you go. You’re probably singing a different tune if Carter Samuels wasn’t overthrown three times. I mean, that could be 21 points.
Andrew: I’m with you. I’m with you, Nick. I’m telling you he had a bad game, I mean he had some bad plays, but he also showed flashes of being what we thought he would be. Again, that’s Preston Williams, and I would argue to say that Tennessee doesn’t have a Preston Williams on their team, even though they kicked him off. Mississippi State don’t have a Preston Williams on their team. Preston Williams is one of the best receivers in the SEC if he’s still playing in the SEC. Again, Trey played bad at times and played good at times as well, but the safety play, Nick, no help whatsoever.
Nick: Yeah. That continues to be …
Andrew: How quick can you get Shawn Davis back?
Nick: I don’t think quick at all.
Andrew: I mean, I don’t think so either, if he continues to be out, not even questionable, the high ankle.
Nick: No. Shawn Davis is knee injury.
Andrew: Sorry, the knee injury. After the high ankle last year, sorry. I don’t know why I was thinking high ankle this year. The knee. You continue to think how quickly he will come back, if he does get to come back any time soon. How much can help? How in shape is he? Because right now Stiner and Brad Stewart aren’t playing well.
Nick: No. Neither of them are playing well. Jeawon Taylor hasn’t been playing well, and that was someone that we’ve been high on. I don’t know.
Andrew: He didn’t play much.
Nick: I don’t know a safety that really is playing well. Man, there were so many years with Elam and Neal and Major Wright and Ahmad Black that it just wasn’t even a question at Florida.
Andrew: Marcus Maye, Keanu Neal.
Nick: Yeah. There was for a while it was just don’t worry about safety.
Andrew: Is it time to move Chauncey Gardner back?
Nick: No. No. People aren’t remembering. That’s no. Chauncey’s found a home. Maybe move Trey Dean back there. The kid’s physical.
Andrew: I don’t think Chauncey Gardner gives you much help back there either, so I don’t think you put him back there. Maybe you move Trey Dean back there. Maybe you try Brian Edwards back there. One of those guys.
Nick: Anyone that is saying, because I saw it on Twitter yesterday and a little bit on the message board as well, anyone that is saying Chauncey Gardner should be moved back there is not remembering last year.
Andrew: Turn last year’s film on.
Nick: Yeah. He should not be playing safety. He’s a corner. He’s a nickel. He’s not a safety.
Andrew: Right. Exactly. You got to figure that out. Like I said, Nick, you got to figure out a way to get a pass rush. At times, Jabari, Jachai, Cece, Moon made plays, but up the middle, Nick, and this is a position that you and I talked about and Mullen talked about and Grantham’s talked about, Sunseri’s talked about, being a deep position at that defensive tackle position, but they’re getting zero push.
Nick: I’m just so … Yeah. What do you think that is?
Andrew: I think it’s a little bit of a couple of things actually. I think it’s a little bit of hesitation, after seeing Terry Wilson run and run and run and run, of playing slower and thinking more, which never is good in pass rushing. That’s why we always talk about freshmen can play on pass rush, because it’s simply go get the quarterback, don’t go past him. Keep contain. I think it’s a little bit of that, and then at some point or another I want to say that they’re just not as good as we all expected them to be. That’s tough to say, because I think we’ve all seen flashes of what those guys can be, even last year.
I think a lot of it is just thinking too much, playing slow, and that’s just not getting it. Especially at that defensive end position, I think at times they play conservative a little bit. When you see them blitz, that’s when they’re getting pressure. CJ Henderson coming off the edge. The first play of the year on defense, Chauncey Gardner coming off the edge. I think you need to see more of that, of some blitzes and mixing it up a little bit, because, again, I don’t know if the secondary, well it’s not that I don’t know, I know the secondary can’t hold up that long. You’re going to have to get pressure.
Nick: I thought the defensive line was a little bit better with Cece. I think he kind of fortified things for them. I thought Kyrie Campbell had a really good game. I was like, why is Kyrie Campbell starting, where’s Elijah Conliffe? But I think Kyrie played really well. I think, as a whole, you’re right. A lot of people were asking questions. Where are all these exotic blitzes that, not just media talked about, but that we’ve seen throughout Todd Grantham’s career? If you’re not getting pressure before, I’m with you. Start dialing them up.
Andrew: Exactly.
Nick: I see exactly what you’re saying about maybe there’s some tentativeness because of what happened last week.
Andrew: Yeah. That’s got to get better. Let’s move on a little bit, Nick. Talk about the special teams. Big play after big play after big play. Finally, Freddie Swain gets one to open up. The last two weeks there’s been a little bit of a hole, and then it closed really quick. Freddie Swain has gotten his criticism from social media and that kind of stuff about being punt return, because he’s not the fastest, or this, that, or the other, but I think it showed on Saturday why he’s the guy who’s back there. At the punt return position, you got to have a couple things. You got to be quick. You got to be athletic, but you got to also have vision. You got to be a running back back there and see where the hole is going to be, see the cuts, that kind of thing. You see all that on that punt return in that game for Freddie Swain. It turned out to be a really good return. It was blocked really well, for the most part. It was just a good return that finally came to life, after something they’ve practiced all off season.
Nick: I was down on it. I didn’t understand it. I won’t say I thought he shouldn’t be there, but I thought I don’t get it, because he’s not fast. I thought he was the safe option, you know, like when they used Vernon Hargreaves a couple years back. I don’t think Vernon ever returned one. He was just there because they trusted him to make the right call when it came to fair catch or let it bounce or something like that. I thought that’s what Freddie is. They just trust his hands and decision making.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: I think it’s more than that. I think there’s a lot of times that Florida would get even worse yardage and get in worse spots, because people didn’t understand, the guys that were returning didn’t understand when to let it bounce, when to take it, and there was a lot of hidden lost yardage there. I think Freddie Swain has been everything that Florida needs back there. I’m not saying he’s going to be the next Brandon James or Jaquez or Ike and have four or five returned for a touchdown, but he’s doing the little things back there as well that are helping the team that you don’t see a ton of in box scores.
Andrew: Right. Here’s a thing too that a lot of people don’t think about, and that is a punt returner can cause penalties on his own. Them making a cut, them running not where it’s designed to as far as the hole goes, as far as the protection goes, can cause a guy to be blocking in the back. Not because they blocked in the back on purpose, simply because the punt returner ran the wrong way or like that. Again, it’s a lot that goes into it.
Once again, Nick, showed pressure on punt. Caused the fumbled snap that James Houston caused. That was big. Then caused the blocked punt by Amari Burney that Tyrie Cleveland recovered in the end zone. Again, two good jobs of getting pressure and causing a turnover on punt.
Nick: Right. What about kick return?
Andrew: Not seeing a lot there.
Nick: Yeah. I’m fine with Kadarius being the guy, and then Freddie is the up guy, but not getting a ton of yardage, of blocking, I guess. You’ve got good guys on that team. I’m looking up conferences right now, Southeastern Conference, to see where Florida ranks. 13th right now, only averaging 15 yards per kick return. To me, it’s just I think you got to get more on that. That’s probably the one area of special teams that lacking right now.
I think Tommy Townsend needs to pick it up as well. That first punt, the first time he came out to punt, or maybe the second time, it looked like the way that they lined up and Nick Villano, who’s one of the shields, the right shield there on punt, was kind of counting to see where Colorado State was lining up and how they were reacting to Florida moving. I thought maybe they had a fake dialed up. One of those things where we have a fake dialed up, you guys are only running it if the numbers are right, and if the numbers aren’t right, we’re going to take a delay of game, because we’re sitting at mid-field anyway, and it will give Tommy more room to punt. Then his punt goes to like the 30-yard line. Had a ton of hang time, but it didn’t go anywhere. I think Mullen even called it out, they need to get more pop from Townsend on punts.
I think right now really the only area that’s really lacking is that kick return on special teams. Everything else is kind of lights out right now on special teams.
Andrew: I was going to say. Another one that I think we have to look at is kickoff. A couple times now there have been long returns against Florida, and that’s something that I think you’re going to have to start looking at a little bit more. What is causing that? Is that poor tackling, that kind of stuff? Once again, Damien Pierce with a big, big tackle on special teams.
Nick: That’s another thing. We’ve heard it, and we saw it in the first game, specials teams, they say that will get you more playing time. Make a play on special teams and get more playing time on offense or defense, wherever you’re playing. Maybe it’s time to get old 29, now 27, more playing time based on that.
Andrew: Exactly. Nick, kind of all I have on the game. You got anything else you want to add before we move on a little bit?
Nick: No. I’m ready to go. We got a big week.
Andrew: Tennessee week coming to town, and it’s hate week. First test under Mullen on the road. That’s always a key. They have to get adjusted to that and see kind of what Mullen likes on that sort of thing, going on the road. That’s going to be big. It’s a focus week. As bad as Tennessee has looked, didn’t do well, I think it was 24-0 over UTEP. That’s not what you’re looking for there. So, their offense is a little questionable as well, but you’ve got to put together a good week of practice, and you’ve got to go into that game hitting your stride and not making turnovers. You just can’t. You can’t make turnovers in this game, or it will cost you.
Nick: On the road. I think Tennessee had like 80,000 people there last week, but it’s going to be packed. There’s going to be 101,000 people there. It’s going to be hostile. I mean, it’s not a super young team, but it’s your first road game, and that’s the most hostile environment. Excuse me, I think Mississippi State might burn the stadium down with both teams in it, the way the people in Starkville, Mississippi State fans, how angry they are at Dan Mullen and Scott Strickland. It’ll be one of the two most hostile environments you play in all year.
Andrew: You have to go into this game, and you have to be ready to go. You’re going to expect some adversity. It’s a night game at Tennessee, and it’s going to be loud. For an offensive line that’s struggled, better be prepared. This is going to be a game that will kind of turn the tables for one team, like you talked about. What will the outcome of the season be for whichever team loses this game? Lot of question marks. Tennessee has a tough, tough stretch. Florida has a tough stretch. One of the teams, whoever loses, may not make a bowl game.
Nick: I can see it. I can see it spiraling out of control.
Andrew: Yeah. Anyway, we’ll have our good friend, Trey Wallace, from up in Knoxville, Fox Sports Knoxville, on to talk Tennessee on Wednesday. Nick, never fear, it’s Tennessee week, and your boy has got some things up his sleeves.
Nick: You’re going to bring the heat?
Andrew: 100% I’m bringing the heat. Tennessee is trash. Butch Jones, Jeremy Pruitt, whoever wins that gaudy orange, they’re always trash. Listen, Nick, here’s the thing. Phil Fulmer is still up there. Phil Fulmer don’t beat the Gators.
Nick: Yeah.
Andrew: Fat Phil.
Nick: I’ve called you out about potential sneaky Vol fandom.
Andrew: You never will. Only thing I will say is this, Nick, and that was I did like something I saw from Jeremy Pruitt on Saturday. Him just chewing ass for a guy loafing on the field. For me, I like that. I do. I like that. Nick, I think you would agree with me that you start slacking on the field, you come to the sideline, you deserve a good chewing.
Nick: Yeah.
Andrew: That’s the only thing. No. Never. Will say this. I will go ahead and let you know my pick will not be the gaudy orange on Friday.
Nick: Are you sure?
Andrew: I’m 170,000% sure that I will not be picking the gaudy orange on Saturday. Dan, if you’re listening to this Mullen, don’t let your boy down. I don’t like having to hear from Tennessee fans.
Nick: Okay.
Andrew: Last thing, Nick. How much of a disaster is that school out west?
Nick: Oh my God, FSU, they’re miserable.
Andrew: Willie T has eight Go Fund Me accounts trying to get him out of town.
Nick: I think that’s stupid, but they are an unmitigated disaster.
Andrew: Dead last in scoring offense. They’re averaging 5 points a game.
Nick: The Skylar Morningweg offense with Florida averaged more against FPS opponents.
Andrew: Syracuse, Nick. Syracuse just looked like they were playing, I don’t even know, Stetson, who don’t even have a football team, on Saturday. It was bad.
Nick: Yeah. It’s fun to watch.
Andrew: Deondre Francois, that poor kid is having to sleep in an ice bath.
Nick: I’m having a good time watching him.
Andrew: Me too.
Nick: I’m having a pretty good time watching Florida State.
Andrew: 100%. Me too. I think you and I were both on the train of Willie Taggert is not a big-time football coach, and he’s showing it. Congratulations. Have fun with that. Nick, tell everybody where they can find us. We’ll get out. We’ll see everyone on Wednesday with our good buddy, Trey Wallace.
Nick: www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gator news. The podcast is there in audio and transcript form. Podcast is also on iTunes, on Google Play, on Stitcher, on anywhere you can think of or anywhere that you use, any site that you use for your podcast listening. We’re on there now. Enjoy it. Subscribe. Never miss an episode. Social media, @GatorCountry on Facebook and Twitter. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. I’m @NickdelaTorreGC. He’s @AndrewSpiveyGC.
Andrew: There you go. Guys, we really appreciate it. We’ll see everyone on Wednesday. As always, go Braves and chomp, chomp.
Nick: You stay classy, Gator Country.