Just like that, in the blink of an eye, training camp is almost over. The Gators will check out of their team hotel later this week and go into game week mode for the season opener against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 4.
As I did last week and will continue to do every week of the season, here are my five biggest thoughts on the previous week in Gators football. This article was mostly written before information on Sunday’s second scrimmage became available, so if something you read here seems to contradict what you’ve read about the scrimmage, that’s why.
1. No, it’s not time to push the panic button on the offense.
When reports surfaced that the defense dominated the first scrimmage of the fall last weekend, there were overreactions galore on Twitter and message boards.
Obviously, it’s not good when your offensive line struggles in both run-blocking and pass-protection and your quarterbacks turn the ball over multiple times. However, these early fall scrimmages are pretty much set up for the defense to win.
First, as Dan Mullen pointed out last week, they were still in the process of installing plays at the time of the scrimmage. Somedays, the group of plays that the offense is installing matches up well with what the defense is installing, and other times it doesn’t. Mullen didn’t gameplan for Todd Grantham’s defense the way he would if it was a regular season game.
Then there’s the fact that designed quarterback runs and scrambles weren’t much of an option with the quarterbacks in non-contact jerseys. That figures to be one of the offense’s biggest strengths this season, and it should lead to larger passing windows and running lanes than they had in the scrimmage.
There are also more kinks that have to be worked out on offense than defense early in camp. The timing between the quarterbacks and receivers has to be near flawless. The offensive line has to be able to know what the person next to them is going to do before they even do it. That kind of cohesion only comes with experience. The running backs have to know how their linemen are going to block certain plays and where their cutback lanes are going to be.
Defense, meanwhile, relies more on reaction, instincts and athleticism, which don’t take as long to develop. It would’ve been more concerning if the defense hadn’t won this scrimmage when you consider all of that.
You can spend your nights freaking out about the offense all you want, but I’ve always believed that you should remain optimistic until you have a good reason not to be. The defense would’ve struggled against an FCS offense last year, so I’m going to look at this as an encouraging sign of improvement.
2. I’m tapping the brakes on the “Malik Davis is back” hype for now.
Don’t get me wrong: I think Davis is an exceptionally gifted player who can help the Gators this season. He was the best athlete on the Gators’ offense as a freshman in 2017. He has elite quickness and change-of-direction skills that can make even the best defenders look silly. He’s also a major threat in the passing game, which means Mullen can move him around to create mismatches.
However, he just hasn’t been the same since his second major injury in 2018. He’s lacked his usual explosiveness, and he’s tended to fumble at the worst times possible, which has relegated him to a minor supporting role.
For the second year in a row, his teammates and coaches are raving about how he finally looks like the old version of himself again, and Davis spoke about how much more confident he feels now.
Maybe all of that is true, and maybe they’re just trying to speak it into existence. We’ll find that out soon enough.
But even if he is back to his former self, he’s still going to have to compete with Dameon Pierce, Nay’Quan Wright, Demarkcus Bowman and Lorenzo Lingard for playing time.
So, he could be a vastly improved player this season, and the stats might not reflect that. For that reason and the fact that this feels eerily similar to last preseason, I’m going to hold off on making any bold proclamations about Davis for now.
3. Sticking with the running backs, Bowman and Lingard need to be incorporated into the offensive game plans, at least to start the year.
Lingard has been mentioned as one of the standout performers in every scrimmage in the spring and fall, and Bowman has enjoyed a productive fall after missing most of the spring with an injury.
Bowman squeezed through some tiny creases and turned on the jets for a 40+-yard touchdown in the second scrimmage. That’s a play that only someone with elite talent can make.
Demarckus Bowman has to have a role in the Gators offense this season. This is him in tonight’s scrimmage @Bowman_22 @GatorsFB pic.twitter.com/WiDtxDzmVP
— PolkWay (@polk_way) August 23, 2021
The offensive line has continued to struggle, especially up the middle. Now, that could very well just be a product of the defensive tackles being one of the best groups in the country, and game-planning could obviously alleviate some of the issues.
But, for the purposes of this discussion, let’s assume that the interior offensive line still can’t generate any kind of consistent push this season. Lingard and Bowman both have the ability to overcome poor blocking with their elite speed and quickness. They can turn a busted play into a long touchdown by bouncing to the outside. They also are threats in the passing game.
The top-2 backs from last year’s team, Pierce and Wright, are power runners. They require solid blocking to break off big runs.
Since methodically picking up four or five yards per carry looks like it will be a challenge again this season, why not go for as many explosive runs as possible?
Lingard and Bowman have primarily worked with the third-string offense or below this offseason. That needs to change. The Gators should make them part of the regular rotation for the first two games and then reevaluate their roles heading into the Alabama game.
4. I don’t know if I’ve ever been this uncertain about a team two weeks before the season opener as I am with this bunch.
Usually, I have a pretty good feel for what the Gators are going to look like stylistically by late August. I obviously don’t know what that will translate into record-wise, but I usually have a decent idea of what the team’s strengths and weaknesses are and how they’re going to try to win games.
I have no idea what to expect on Sept. 4. We’ve talked all offseason about how the offense is going to look vastly different with Emory Jones at quarterback. We expect this to be a run-oriented, ball-control type of offense that’s more efficient than it is explosive.
However, those expectations are based almost entirely on Mullen’s history. For all I know, they could come out and chuck the ball around the Swamp 40 times against Florida Atlantic.
Defensively, everyone expects them to be vastly improved. Once again, that’s purely speculation based off of adding two graduate transfer defensive tackles, replacing the secondary coaches and the fact that you’d be hard-pressed to field a defense that awful two years in a row with the type of athletes UF recruits. Until they actually show me something in a game, though, I’m going to remain skeptical.
I can see this team going anywhere from 7-5 to 11-1 and SEC East champions. That’s a ginormous range.
Being kept at a distance with Zoom press conferences and Instagram Live streams of practice has ramped up the anticipation for this season to me.
5. The return teams could be dynamic.
While the Gators have mostly excelled at kicking, punting and covering under Mullen, the return units have lacked pizzaz.
Freddie Swain served as the primary punt returner in 2018 and 2019. The Gators put him back there because they could depend on him to consistently catch the ball and make smart decisions on when to let the ball bounce into the end zone. He was the safe pick, but he wasn’t a game-changer.
Kadarius Toney returned a punt for a touchdown last year, but it took a weird fake-out by Xzavier Henderson on the other side of the field to make it happen.
Meanwhile, UF hasn’t returned a kickoff for a touchdown since 2016, and that one came on an onside kick attempt. Their last conventional kickoff return for a touchdown was in 2013.
That’s all got a chance to change this season. They’ve got some exciting choices to pick from at both spots.
Defensive back Fenley Graham was recruited largely because of his return skills. He averaged 40 yards per kickoff return and 19.2 yards per punt return over his three varsity seasons at Lakeland High School, with five touchdowns. He’s practicing at both spots this fall and is the favorite to return punts.
Mullen also mentioned Henderson and Kaiir Elam as punt-returning options, while former five-star recruit Bowman and Ja’Markis Weston are working at kickoff returns.
Whoever win those jobs will be clear upgrades over what the Gators have put out there previously under Mullen from a speed perspective.
This could be a special year on special teams.