Florida’s offense, once again, was appalling on Saturday night.
Call it like it is, there’s no way around it. Florida, for the 11th time in the Jim McElwain era the Gators failed to score 20 points. On Saturday they didn’t even have an offensive touchdown.
The offseason was spent talking about the “Florida speed” that the Gators were getting back to.
Where was it on Saturday?
Receivers Dre Massey and Kadarius Toney have been touted as electric. Toney didn’t touch a football on offense until well into the fourth quarter, finishing with two catches for 27 yards. Massey was targeted once, a screen that gained two. Freshman running back Malik Davis, who was supposed to be pressed into a bigger role with Jordan Scarlett missing the game due to suspension, carried the ball once.
That’s four touches from three guys on the supposed “get it to list.”
“They were a big part (of the gameplan),” said McElwain. “There was some stuff we didn’t get to.”
McElwain says the Gators have a “get it to list.” Those are the X-factors, the freaky athletes, the guys that are electric, home run hitters. Tyrie Cleveland is on that list and Florida did a good job of getting him he ball. Cleveland showed his vert twice, going up and winning 50-50 balls. Zaire and Franks forced passes to him, and that’s fine. He’s talented. Force a ball to him and let him go up and compete.
Where is the creativity to get the other guys involved?
It’s the creative piece,” said McElwain. “I thought we had a good plan, obviously. And then as it turned out, the plan was pretty well foiled by getting physically whooped by big, strong guys. That was disappointing.”
Florida’s offense as frustrating for many to watch but they really weren’t on the field long enough, didn’t sustain drives long enough to gain momentum or get in a rhythm. The play calling will be questioned. Quite frankly, after yet another abysmal offensive performance it may be time to switch up the play calling duties.
Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier calls plays, he has all three years he’s been in Gainesville, but McElwain has plenty of experience doing just that on game day. The head coach was frustrated that the ball wasn’t getting into the hands of his best playmakers. It’s a consistent problem, so do something about it. Take it into your own hands.
“You know what, we got to look at a lot of things,” McElwain responded to being directly asked about the play calling. “And yet it’s not time to hit the panic button. We’ve got a good football team. We’ll come back and do the right thing and be OK.”