Miller Report: “Wasn’t that fun”: Florida Gators football

Now, wasn’t that fun? After the hand wringing and clothes rending of the fainting goats last week, it was nice to watch the Florida Gators football team turn in a nearly flawless game against a conference opponent Saturday. I get that Kentucky is no UMass but it was still a pleasure to behold. It was brutally hot and humid in the stands even in the shade, so I can only imagine how hot it was on the field. In fact, it was so hot in the stands that it appeared to be nearly clothing optional for many of the coeds in the crowd which helped pass the time during the excessive stoppage of play during the games these days.

Offensively, this was what Gator fans were waiting to see. All of the offseason anticipation of a new and improved offense came to fruition Saturday afternoon against a Kentucky team which vowed to end the Gators’ 30 year domination of their program. Luke Del Rio completed passes to nine different receivers as he compiled 320 yards passing and four touchdowns. His one interception bounced off of a receiver’s hands but it was a poorly thrown pass, one of the few he threw all day. For the vast majority of the time, Del Rio looked to be in complete control of the game and the offense allowing the Gators to rack up 564 yards in the game.

This offensive eruption was brought to you in part by the much maligned Gator offensive line. This group did its job and did it well on Saturday. No, this was by no means one of the better defensive fronts that Florida will face this season but it has been a while since the Gator O-Line handled anyone. The line kept Del Rio relatively unscathed the entire game and allowed the running game to churn out a respectable 244 yards. This was a huge turnaround from the previous week. There is still a lot of improvement needed by this unit before the Gators take on Tennessee in Knoxville on the 24^th but if this unit continues to build its depth and cohesiveness, the sky is the limit for Florida this season. I truly believe that the O-Line is the one thing that can derail a Gator repeat as SEC East champions. Well, other than a rash of critical injuries but that is true for every team.

It has seemed as if head coach Jim McElwain has been waiting for someone, anyone to rise up and claim the title of feature back. That may have happened Saturday and to the surprise of most it was the true freshman, Lamical Perine. Perine ran with an aggressiveness and burst of speed that have been lacking for the most part in Gator backs for quite some time. Look for him to get a chance to show that he can do that week in and week out this Saturday against North Texas. It’s not as if the other backs were found lacking Saturday. Mark Thompson and Jordan Scarlett each had touchdowns, but Perine lined up when the Wildcats knew the Gators were going to run the ball and averaged over six yards a carry anyway. It was good to see the young man bounce back from a fumble on his first carry last week.

As I pointed out above, nine different Gators caught passes against Kentucky. Four different Gators caught touchdown passes. But, make no mistake, right now this receiving group is Antonio Callaway and everyone else. Brandon Powell and DeAndre Goolsby are both asserting themselves in the passing game as well but the air assault is founded on Callaway. It concerns me that Antonio is already battling a few injuries just two games into the season. Florida needs him to open up the field for the rest of the offense. Callaway has had too many drops but that may be at least slightly injury related as well. If he keeps getting dinged up someone else will need to step up to stretch the field. My guess is that will need to be either CJ Worton or Tyrie Cleveland. Look for Cleveland to get a chance to show what he can do this Saturday. Powell is certainly easing the pain of losing Dre Massey in the first game.

Last week we were ranting and raving about kicker Eddy Pineiro. Eddy did hit a 54 yard field goal and all six of his extra points but he also missed two field goals Saturday. Florida could afford those misses Saturday. They probably will not be able to afford them starting the 24^th. There is no doubt that the placekicking situation has improved greatly from last season but it is not where it needs to be just yet.

I saved the best for last. The Florida Gator defense was nothing short of dominant Saturday. Yes, Kentucky did manage 149 yards of total offense but a huge chunk of that yardage came on the Wildcats’ one scoring drive late in the fourth quarter against mostly backups on the Gator defense. In fact, going into that drive Kentucky had only amassed a measly ten yards passing in three and a half quarters. Let that sink in for a minute. TEN yards of passing by the Wildcats in the first three and a half quarters combined. This WAS NOT some triple option offense Kentucky was running, or well trying to run. I had heard all about how dangerous Kentucky quarterback Drew Barker was and how Florida better be prepared to face some real weapons in the passing game. What I saw before that late meaningless scoring drive was ten yards passing and four sacks. The Gators would end up with five sacks total. Kentucky’s offense was never a factor in this football game.

With Jalen Tabor back in the lineup, there was nowhere to throw the football. At least nowhere that didn’t have a Gator defender waiting. Kentucky completed the same number of passes to Gators as to Wildcats with three completed passes and three Gator interceptions. Marcus Maye, Tabor and Quincy Wilson each had a pick. It did not help Kentucky that the Gator defense spent most of the day in the Wildcat backfield. Alex Anzalone had another great game with six tackles including one and a half sacks. Jordan Sherit had two sacks and continues to look like he may become the next great Gator pass rusher. This was a complete game by the defense and a sign that this Florida team might actually be capable of special things in 2016.

So two games in, what do we know? The offense is indeed better than what Florida was putting on the field in the final three games of 2015. Luke Del Rio might be no Jacob Eason but he is quite capable of making the Gator offense work. As some of us suggested all summer long, this Gator defense might be even better than last year’s. These first two opponents are not anywhere near breaking into the top 25 so only so much can be discerned from these two games, but it hasn’t been bad so far. All Gator fans can really look for this Saturday is good intensity and focus and no major injuries. North Texas cannot beat the Florida Gators Saturday, but the Gators could certainly beat themselves. It is weeks like this one where McElwain must work the hardest. Then it is off to Knoxville to figure out which one of those two teams are the contender and which one is the pretender.