Has someone sprinkled kryptonite sugar onto Tim Tebow’s Wheaties? Has Urban Meyer’s Spread offense, which has performed like butter during most of his four years in Gainesville, really been margarine?
This can’t be the offense of the Florida Gators after three games? An average of 331.3 yards a game? Just 167.7 yards through the air and 163.7 yards on the ground?
Is it time to sound the alarm?
“We’re a better football team,” Florida head coach Urban Meyer said after his fourth-ranked Gators were in control from the start in earning a 30-6 victory at Tennessee last Saturday.
“I don’t manage the game with any particular statistics or the Heisman Trophy in mind,” Meyer continued. “At the end of the day, it matters only if you win.”
Saturday night, the Gators flew home to Gainesville with their third victory in three games under their belts and in first place in the East Division (1-0) of the Southeastern Conference.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Meyer added. “Our overall focus is to improve this week as we prepare for Ole Miss.”
The Rebels fell to 2-2 under new head coach Houston Nutt, the former Arkansas head coach, and 0-1 in the SEC West following their 23-17 loss to visiting Vanderbilt last Saturday. Mississippi has victories over Memphis and Samford sandwiched around a 30-28 loss at Wake Forest. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium this Saturday with the game being distributed via the Raycom network.
The reason Meyer is not concerned is he sees the team managing the football, making statements defensively and dominating with special-teams play as his young squad continues to mature.
“We scored on five possessions (two Tebow TD passes and three Jonathan Phillips field goals) on our first six possessions,” Meyer noted, throwing in that Chas Henry punted the Gators out of trouble on the sixth one.
Florida’s last possession, with Tebow at the controls, came as the Gators were trying to keep the football and eat clock. It mattered little that the Volunteers had a slight advantage in total offensive yards (258-243). The Gators dominated in every phase of the game, especially on special teams with a 52-yard kickoff return by Brandon James to open the game and his 78-yard punt return for a touchdown to finish off a 17-0 first quarter.
The scoreboard told the story – another W – for Meyer, who could care less that Tebow, who totaled 32 touchdown passes and 23 rushing touchdowns last season in winning the Heisman, has just five TD passes and zero TD on the ground in the first three games, victories over Hawaii, Miami and now Tennessee.
“Statistically, we’re not where we want to be, but we’re getting our running backs more involved,” said Meyer, who likes the balance between running and passing yardage though he knows Gator Nation would probably be happier if the averages were more.
“I learned a long time ago, especially down here with all the Florida nonsense from the media and the fans, that if you think you’re good, you’re not very good at all,” Meyer continued.
The team’s added maturity, Meyer believes, allows it a chance to continue improving, especially with the physical practices he has planned. “That’s the mindset of a mature team,” he said.
The Florida coach revealed that backup quarterback Cam Newton is working through an ankle injury, which is why Tebow was in at the end of the game and Johnny Brantley wasn’t taking any snaps.
“We wanted to get out of there with a win, but I can see that (the possibility of being open to criticism),” Meyer said.
Meyer revealed that linebacker Ryan Stamper, who has two fumble recoveries despite playing with a broken thumb, played with a mild ankle sprain Saturday and that third-team weakside linebacker John Jones took a kick to his throat but should be fine.
The Florida coach also sent along congratulations to his favorite manager and team – Joe Maddon and the Tampa Bay Rays, who clinched a playoff spot for the first time in their 11-year history on Saturday shortly after the Gators’ victory in Knoxville.
“I saw that this morning and called Steve (McClain, the team’s sports information director) about it,” Meyer said. “Rest assured, there will be a box being sent to my favorite manager and my favorite organization. They treat us great every time we go down there.”
The Rays and the Gators don’t care how they get it done.