The Gators were blown out by No. 1 Georgia in Jacksonville on Saturday, 34-7. Here are my thoughts on the week that was.
1. The Gators lack elite speed at receiver.
OK, so this wasn’t a new revelation that we learned in the Georgia game, but it was definitely a huge factor in the outcome.
Florida’s receivers just couldn’t get open except for on screen passes and short hitch routes. Other than Jacob Copeland, they don’t have somebody that can take the top off of defenses or turn a short throw into a big gain, especially against UGA’s collection of five-star defensive backs.
That made them have to put together 10+-play drives in order to score. Because of some key penalties by the offensive line and turnovers by Anthony Richardson, they weren’t able to score early, which led to things getting away from them quickly in the final two minutes of the first half.
It’s good to have those bigger-bodied receivers that can box people out and catch the ball like Justin Shorter and Xzavier Henderson. But against a defense like Georgia’s, you’ve got to have some explosiveness in your receiving corps. The Gators didn’t, and that was one of the biggest differences in the game.
2. The Gators played better than I thought they would in the trenches.
Coming into this game, I fully expected Georgia to just shove them all around the field. After all, the Bulldogs have a powerful running game and an insane stockpile of former top recruits and future millionaires along the defensive front. UF’s offensive line had struggled over its past three games, and the defense gave up more than 300 rushing yards to LSU in its last time out.
Georgia won the trenches, but they weren’t as dominant as I expected. Florida’s offensive line was able to open up some holes even without starting left guard Ethan White. Dameon Pierce took advantage of their work by rushing for 69 yards on nine carries (7.7 yards per carry). As a team, they ran for the most yards against Georgia (161) since Texas in the 2019 Sugar Bowl.
On the other side, they kept Zamir White relatively in check until he broke free for a 42-yard touchdown in garbage time.
If you would’ve told me prior to the game that Georgia would only outrush the Gators by about 30 yards, I would’ve thought that the Gators had a good chance to win. Unfortunately, three costly turnovers kept them from being competitive.
3. I didn’t like the play-calling for Anthony Richardson.
This doesn’t excuse the lack of ball security on his fumble or his poor decision-making on his interceptions, but I think Dan Mullen could’ve done a better job of easing Richardson into his first start.
Where were the one-read, rocker step deep balls that he threw against South Florida and LSU with tremendous success? Heck, where were the deep balls of any kind?
It didn’t feel like they ran as many speed option plays as they have in other games.
It was basically like Mullen said, “All right, Anthony, you’re the starter now. Go out there and operate our full offense just like Emory does.”
Obviously, Richardson is going to have to learn how to run the entire offense and operate a progression-based passing game at some point, but I just don’t think a game against one of the best defenses in recent history was the right time to do it.
Mullen made the correct decision by starting Richardson, but he should’ve done more to help him out in his game plan.
4. Rashad Torrence had a great game.
He won’t get the recognition that he deserves because of the final score, but he was phenomenal on Saturday. He intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble that Jeremiah Moon forced. Torrence also tied Trey Dean for the team lead with eight tackles.
Yes, those two interceptions were horribly thrown balls with no receivers in the vicinity, but Torrence still had to be in the right place at the right time. And how many times have we seen that not happen over the last couple of years?
The Gators entered the day with just six takeaways in seven games this season. Torrence increased that total by 50 percent.
Those interceptions were the first two of his career, and they made him the first Gator to intercept multiple passes in a game since Donovan Stiner did so against Vanderbilt in 2019. The fumble recovery was also the first one of his career.
Torrence has played very well over the last few games and is setting himself up to potentially be a breakout star next year.
5. My stance on Mullen remains the same.
I said after the LSU loss that Mullen should be given at least one more season, provided that he is willing to make some changes. I still believe that; I was already considering the possibility of a blowout loss to Georgia when I made my original statement.
I believe that coaches should be allowed to have one bad season, especially if it’s a year after losing a ton of offensive firepower to the NFL.
I understand that Mullen has had four years to recruit and build up the depth the way he wants it, but I still view this as his mulligan year.
There are multiple aspects of this program that need to improve, and Mullen knows that. He gets until November 2022 to make those improvements, at least in my book.
Now, if the Gators lose another regular season game, then my opinion might change. At that point, the noise will really crank up, and the last thing you want to do is enter a season with a dead man walking as your head coach the way that USC did this year.
Losing another game could turn this from merely a bad season to a disastrous one with potential long-term ramifications unless a change is made.
As long as they win their final four regular season games against overmatched opponents, Mullen will survive, albeit not comfortably.