HBGator: How many Florida guys on Vanderbilt that may impact the game?
The Vanderbilt roster includes nine players (three starters) from Florida. The Florida natives that will start are offensive tackle Will Holden (Clay High School), punter/ placekicker Tommy Openshaw (Creekside High school) and running back Ralph Webb (Gainesville High School).
Offensive tackle Blake Fromang (Lake Highland Prep), also could be in the starting lineup. Other players from Florida are quarterback Wade Freebeck (St. Thomas Aquinas), linebacker Jordan Griffin (Armwood), offensive lineman Kevin McCoy (Armwood), linebacker Landon Stokes (Lake Highland Prep) and linebacker Ja’karri Thomas (Godby). Stokes also earned his first career start last week at Houston.
Gatorsteeler: Since he showed up at practice without a boot. Does Mac sit Sharpe or let him play.
I think the plan this week is to sit Sharpe and let him rest his ankle. If this were Florida State week or the SEC Championship game I think Sharpe would tough it out.
GatorStuckey: I keep hearing that Vandy has a good defense. How do we measure up against it? How is their offense?
Vanderbilt does have a very good defense. The Commodores are sixth in the SEC in total defense (323.4 yards per game), fifth in scoring defense (18.5 points per game) and sixth in the SEC in passing defense (208.5 yards per game).
Where the Dores really excel is stopping the run. Vanderbilt is right behind Florida in the SEC rankings at fourth overall (114.88 yards per game).
This is where I think Vanderbilt could slow Florida down. The Gators are coming off of their best rushing performance (statistically speaking). It’s taken some time to find the right starting five and for those guys to gel and now, after a good game, you’re having to shift the line around again. I think Florida will need Treon Harris to have a big game with both his arm and his legs here. I’m thinking this will be a low-scoring affair.
Vanderbilt’s offense is tragic. They are ahead of only Missouri (who went 33 days without scoring a touchdown before scoring one against Mississippi State on Thursday night) in scoring (15.8 points per game) and total offense (360.4 yards per game).
Vanderbilt has the tenth best rushing attack in the SEC — and they’re actually rushing for more yards per game than Florida is — with an average of 156.13 yards per game but the Gators defense surrenders just 110.63 yards on the ground per game. Florida’s front of Joey Ivie, Jon Bullard, Caleb Brantley and linebackers Jarrad Davis and Antonio Morrison should be able to keep the Dores’ rushing attack in check.
Quarterback Johnny McCrary is completing just 56.6% of his pass attempts and has 12 interceptions to just six touchdowns. Last season against Florida McCrary was just 14-of-35 for 160 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions against the Gators in a 34-10-blowout loss.
I honestly have no idea how Vanderbilt will be able to move the ball, let alone get into the painted area against Florida’s defense.
OaktownGator: What is the projected OL and how do you think they’ll match up with Vandy’s front seven?
I think the starting offensive line will be (L-R): Mason Halter, Martez Ivey, Cam Dillard, Trip Thurman, Fred Johnson. It will be interesting to see how Johnson handles the start. He’s played a lot this season but always in a backup role. At times he looks the part of a future All-SEC offensive lineman and at other times he looks every bit of the freshman that he is. Additionally, Halter at left tackle could be concerning.
OaktownGator: What approach do you expect to see to get Treon settled in quicker… or was the UGA game just a one time deal where maybe he was too amped up?
I think it was just a bad game for Treon but, in my opinion, Treon is what he’s shown so far. The anticipation issues that he has aren’t going away this season. He doesn’t anticipate his receivers getting open, throw the ball before they cut and hit them in stride. Rather, he waits until they are open before releasing the ball. He’s not going to improve on that aspect of his game much when every minute during the week is spent game planning for an opponent. He could improve on that in the offseason but, for now, what you have seen from him this season and last season is what you should expect. He just needs to take care of the football and keep teams on their toes by continuing to pick up yards with his feet and connecting on those deep passes when they’re called.
GatorDon: Do you expect Treon to have a more efficient passing game? Have you heard of any emphasis the coaches have worked on with Treon this week?
As I wrote before, I think Treon is what we have seen. I think the Georgia game was just a bad game for him and I would expect him to play better that he showed in that game moving forward.
GatorDon: Will Scarlett have more touches this week to lighten the load on Taylor?
Yes. Scarlett will continue to get more carries after having a sit-down with the coaching staff where he was shown what it takes, from an effort standpoint in practice, to get on the field.
Taylor will continue to eat up the bulk of the carries but Scarlett will get more carries moving forward.
GatorDon: Now that Cyontai Lewis is back will he see increased playing time?
He’s healthy and a full go.
GatorDon: Will we see the dental student get a chance to kick this week?
Florida Gators football coach Jim McElwain named Neil MacInnes the starting kicker this week. Austin Hardin will handle kickoffs but the dental student will kick field goals.
JaxGator68: With Anzalone being in the good news category as a duct tape injury instead of something worse, is he expected to be back at anytime this year and if he is going to miss the season wouldn’t surgery be better to fix it right?
I would be surprised, honestly, to see him come back this season. If he were to come back it would be maybe (huge maybe) by Florida State at the very earliest.
G8rbyte: Did the Coaches look at implementing anything Houston did so successfully on offense?
I’m sure they will. Football coaches watch countless hours of film and, once you put something on film, other coaches will try to exploit that.
MrGator: I believe Grier has a higher ceiling than Harris but Harris is also only a true sophomore and is getting a lot of experience. Is Harris keeping the seat warm for Grier’s eventual return or do you think Harris can improve enough to overtake him in fall camp?
This is a tough question.
The thing with Grier is that I felt like he was progressing each week and the abrupt way his season ended leaves you wondering what could have been.
Despite never really, truly naming a starting quarterback it became very apparent that this was Grier’s team.
Harris, in my mind, is the backup. McElwain will make Grier earn his starting spot back but he should be able to do that. Harris is a gamer. He’s a tough kid with no quit in him, so he’s not going to go down without a fight.