Afternoon showers Friday did not stop head coach Urban Meyer from putting the Florida football team through the second of its 15 spring practices, but it did send fans scurrying for cover. Practice was moved up one hour due to worsening weather throughout the area, but the Gators put together another brisk and impressive practice.
One interesting development at practice was the experimentation with the quick-tempo offense, similar to the one that Oklahoma used last season in wearing out and running over opponents on its way to the BCS National Championship Game against Florida, which won 24-14.
The Gators went through some offensive work against a scout team defense, and while there were a few times when things had to slow down due to unfamiliarity with the new attack, it seemed obvious that the Florida coaching staff is serious about implementing this form of the hurry-up attack. Head coach Urban Meyer and offensive coordinator Steve Addazio watched what was going on very intently.
While the offense didn’t run any plays that stretched the field, it did spend time working on options, quick slants and screens. It’s obvious this is a work in progress, but this is something to watch on a daily basis.
TEAM UNITY: Regardless of how early in the spring it is, you can see how close the team still is as a unit. The defense worked on drills against a scout offense, and middle linebacker Brandon Spikes was constantly having fun with some of the walk-ons playing receiver. They would run patterns across the field, and Spikes would pretend to lay them out on the throw, only to end up having them in a bear hug and patting them on the helmet.
Then Ryan Stamper blitzed in against the scout team and pretended to lay a big hit on walk-on quarterback Andrew Blaylock, but the two ended up laughing it off after the play. You can sense that the unity on this team is as good, if not better than it was at this time last season.
But Spikes is staying focused this spring, too. He actually gave quarterback Tim Tebow a nice little shot around the shoulder pads today when Tebow was forced to run on a play during 7-on-7 drills. Everyone knows that the two players are close off the field, but they had a little staredown after that happened.
A LITTLE OFF: Tebow was a little bit off but not much Friday. It’s always difficult to throw a wet football in windy conditions. Tebow’s underneath routes weren’t completed at a high percentage and his deep routes weren’t either, but some passes were dropped by his receivers.
Tebow did try to bring his new coach, Scot Loeffler, up to speed on an old tradition the quarterbacks had with Dan Mullen, last season’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach who is now the head coach at Mississippi State. When Meyer started to scream that the third-down practice was about to begin, the offense came onto the field. Tebow tried to get Loeffler’s attention to do the shoulder bump that the quarterback and Mullen used to do before every game. Loeffler barely got off the ground, but he didn’t seem ready for it. Player and coach shared a pretty good laugh afterward, and Loeffler will have plenty of time to get the shoulder bump down pat before the Orange and Blue Spring Game on April 18.
COLD HANDS: The receiving corps struggled during the rainy workout, and some of them struggled in 1-on-1 drills to even get off the line against Florida’s all-star secondary.
Senior wide receiver Carl Moore made a few nice catches on the day. Cornerback Wondy Pierre-Louis tried to bump him at the line, but Moore got around him and was wide open down the left side of the field where Tebow hit him in stride.
Deonte Thompson and T.J. Lawrence each dropped more than one pass. Thompson’s drops came on underneath routes, and he made up for them by catching a crossing pattern about 20 yards downfield. Lawrence’s two drops came on fly routes, and one of them occurred when no one was within five yards of him. He did turn his focus up a little bit and have a better second half of practice.
Frankie Hammond had his second solid day in a row. He looks good after the catch, but we’ll get to see how real that is Saturday during a scrimmage with the pads on.
Wide receiver Andre Debose, the top signee among the Class of 2009 from Class 6A state champion Seminole High School, was in attendance at practice, watching intently as the receivers ran drills and routes. After practice, Debose spent time with all of the Florida coaches. Meyer said at his National Signing Day press conference that he wanted to get Debose to Gainesville a few times during spring practice so he could acclimate himself to the program, making things easier for him during the summer. It took only two practice sessions to get Debose on campus.
GETTING KICKS: Practice ended when sophomore Caleb Sturgis pounded a 50-yard field goal through the uprights with a couple yards to spare, not to mention some incredible hang time. Hopefully this is a sign that his accuracy is coming around. Senior Jonathan Phillips also had a solid day kicking the ball, including nailing a 50-yarder of his own even if it didn’t have the hang time of Sturgis’ boot.
Punter Chas Henry hit some balls with his normal hang time. It’s probably the fact that no one has seen him punt the ball since early January, but it never ceases to amaze how the ball sounds and looks coming off his right foot.
Henry also took some reps as the holder for Phillips and Sturgis when they were kicking their field goals. He looked fairly comfortable, but most of the snaps from John Fairbanks and Mike Williamson were right on the money. Putting Henry at holder also allows the possibility for a fake kick as he was a quarterback in high school and Florida’s emergency No. 3 quarterback last season.
SECONDARY LOOK: Not only did the defensive backs have a successful day jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage, but the secondary also played tremendous in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. They truly look like a swarming unit after two days of practice. The safety rotation didn’t have any surprises. Ahmad Black and Major Wright are the first-team safeties, while Will Hill and Dorian Munroe were on the second team with Dee Finley switching in for Munroe on some plays.
Munroe should have had an interception on a play where he jumped a slant from Tebow to Cade Holliday, but it slipped through his hands. Hill almost had a pick of his own, but tipped the ball into the air where walk-on Reginald Hopkins made the interception.
The cornerbacks were good, particularly Joe Haden and Janoris Jenkins. Redshirt freshman Adrian Bushell made an interception. Carl Moore tried too many moves on one play, and Bushell locked him up and then jumped the route for the interception. He’s been a pleasant surprise this spring.
IN THE TRENCHES: Offensive lineman Mike Pouncey was in shorts today and didn’t practice, but the offensive line still has plenty of size. Carl Johnson was at left tackle with Marcus Gilbert on the other side at right tackle. James Wilson played at left guard and Maurice Hurt was at right guard. Maurkice Pouncey and Sam Robey both got snaps as the first-team center.
The second-team offensive line consisted of left tackle Jonotthan Harrison, left guard David Young, center Corey Hobbs, right guard Byran Jones and right tackle Nick Alajajian. There’s a lot of youth in that unit—Harrison and Alajajian are freshmen who enrolled in January—but plenty of talent for the future.
Fleming Island High School offensive lineman Ian Silberman, who has given Florida a verbal commitment for the Class of 2010, was in attendance, wearing an Orlando Magic Dwight Howard jersey.
COACHES INTENT: Another good thing to see is the level of coaching going on. The coaches all said before the spring that they weren’t going to drop the intensity at all, and they are living up to that promise. Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong blasted some of his players during 11-on-11 drills for not intercepting passes. They all made great plays to even deflect them, but Strong wanted more.
Running backs coach Kevin Carter also got into Chris Rainey’s face for dropping a swing pass that would have resulted in no gain because of two defenders waiting for him.
No doubt the Florida coaches are demanding a high level of focus.