Florida has an abundance of riches on offense this football season, so many that head coach Urban Meyer and offensive coordinator Dan Mullen have to make sure the football gets spread around much like the carved turkey goes around the table at Thanksgiving.
If a player is not ready when his number is called, it’s like the turkey skipping over someone who decided he wanted a few more sweet potatoes.
The meat tray may not make a return visit, and pumpkin pie won’t fill the void.
Florida junior wide receiver Carl Moore knows the recipe to success, the Plan to Win, requires execution.
“Whenever your number is called, you have to be ready to play,” said the 6-3, 220-pound former junior college All-American at Sierra Community College (Calif.).
Moore, who can run the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds, got his chance last Saturday in the fourth quarter against Mississippi. With the game tied at 24-24, Florida faced a second-and-18 at the Ole Miss 45 Tebow took the snap and waited until Moore got open on a short crossing pattern.
Tebow threw the ball to the open Moore – and he dropped it.
Ole Miss went ahead for good on its next series when quarterback Jevan Snead connected on an 86-yard touchdown pass-run play with Shay Hodge, and while Florida came back to score, the Rebels blocked the PAT and the Gators fell from the unbeaten ranks in a 31-30 loss.
Head coach Urban Meyer did a lot of soul-searching for his team and determined that he still had faith in Moore, who caught 73 passes for 1,068 yards and 16 touchdowns in his sophomore season at Sierra.
“We’ve got to get Carl Moore the football,” Meyer said Monday.
That was just what Moore wanted to hear.
“I definitely think they trust us,” Meyer said. “They show us in practice every day they trust us. We usually come up and make the plays they want us to make.”
Moore started the season opener against Hawaii and caught one pass for 13 yards in Florida’s 56-10 victory. But it was his 28-yard acrobatic reception late in the third quarter that led to Florida’s touchdown early in the fourth quarter for a 16-3 lead on its way to a 26-3 triumph over Miami. The play was originally was ruled incomplete but changed to a completion after the replay showed that Moore got an elbow down before going out of bounds at the Miami 5.
Moore suffered a hip-pointer on the play but is now full strength.
“I definitely want to play,” Moore said. “My time will come. I understand. I’ve got to do whatever they want me to do.”
Patience and execution will fill Carl Moore’s plate.