I thought i understood that the motion was mostly to get the defense to give up their coverage. The biggest problem i see with it is we have been too slow at getting our plays in and playing within a desired tempo whether that be up or down. We end up looking at the clock and knowing we have to snap the ball soon. Even if playing within a slower trmpo, we shouls snap when we choose instead of hurriedly getting it together to beat the clock.
Perhaps with a quarterback that strikes fear into a defense, they may adjust a little bit more. It seems like they stay in run formation against us and do not fear our passing
The amount of QB’s who are capable of running a solid pass game are way larger than the number of QB’s who strike fear into people. You are almost there though they don’t fear our passing because A) the route concepts are simple and easy to recognize and B) we don’t put any kind of pressure on the safeties we don’t make them read anything. No rub routes, no option routes, no spacing. Mike Leach put secondaries in a blender with QB’s like Aiden Warner. Having to rely on an elite QB to make your passing game work in college is malpractice. College secondaries really aren’t that good.
Motion is cool, motion for motion’s sake on every snap is accomplishing the opposite of what you are trying to do. Every play motion is just giving the defense tells of where the ball is going. You can only disguise so much when you do it all the time.
Third down and redzone focus on how good your quarterback really is. It's not about throwing long passes and it's not about power running up the middle. Can your pick apart a defense as the field gets tighter.
I've been critical of his play calling, but he's had a some odd ball issues to deal with in the passing game. AR was a stud athlete, but he ranked 113th in completion percentage under 7 yards. Dude had the yips or something. He couldn't complete Bubble screens with any consistency, 100% the reason we lost to FSU that year. How can you play call efficiently with a QB who can't complete the easiest passes? Mertz, and I am very appreciative of Mertz, but he had big limitations in the opposite direction, as well as a terrible o-line in his first year, which resulted in an over emphasis of the bubble screens and quick routes. If it weren't for pretty Ricky, we probably would have never thrown down field. When Lag's stepped in, the play calling was so much different. How many bubble/wr screens were thrown with Lagway? I don't remember more than one or two a game. I do think he has a tendency to be a bit conservative, and seems to buck that in the worst times. But I'm eager to see what he does with a healthy Lagway (hopefully he's really healthy), the best o-line we've had in awhile, as well as a deep and dangerous group of skill position players.
Napier has proven to be a good recruiter. This is the year he has to prove he is a good in-game coach. There are no more excuses. It is the 4th year. His players, his staff, his system fully implemented. The minimum ask is a late December/New Year's day bowl, anything less would be a disappointment.
Michael Leach used quarterbacks who may not have had the arm talent to play in the NFL, but they damn sure had the CPU to spread the ball around underneath. It also didn't work so well when he played legit teams
we haven't had a quarterback under Napier that is capable. They've all had major flaws. Hopefully DJ is that guy
If you think Richardson wouldn’t have been capable under Mullen you are sniffing glue. Just the 75 snaps we saw of Anthony in Mullen’s offense were light years better than anything under Napier. You know it, I know it and everyone who is honest with themselves knows it. There is a reason we were screaming for him to start over Emory and were so excited to see him under Billy. You could go back and look at the lies after Utah if you would like. Napier’s system and his lack of adaptability didn’t fit Anthony just as much as Anthony didn’t fit Napier. That’s the truth.
AR was terrible on short passes and Mullen wouldnt have been able to hide it either. Emory diced up bama and saban game one but every dc in tge country knew how to stip him a few games in. AR is no different, he has a major flaw.
I think you’re blaming pretty much everything that didn’t happen with AR on Napier. We all saw what AR was capable of when he wanted to. Great guy, but once he rocked the world with that stellar performance against Utah, he seemed to have his draft status as #1 priority most of the rest of that season. And it worked for him — but look what he’s done (or not done) since
This Napier quote from the article in the "sky's the limit..." thread needs to be permanently posted at the top of Swamp Gas and every game thread.
Florida's offensive averages under Bill Napier: ======================================= 2024 (QB: Lagway/Mertz) 8-5 (4-4) Scoring: 28.3 ppg (SEC Rank: 11th) Passing TD: 18 (Lagway: 12 TD, 9 Int; Mertz: 6 TD, 2 Int) Rushing TD: 26 (J.Jackson: 7, J.Baugh: 7, M.Johnson: 6) ----------------------- ------------ 44 TD's ======================================= 2023 (QB: Mertz) 5-7 (3-5) Scoring: 28.4 ppg (SEC Rank: 9th; No Texas/OU in the SEC yet) Passing TD: 20 (G.Mertz 20 TD, 3 Int) Rushing TD: 21 (T.Etiene 8, M.Johnson 5, G.Mertz 4) ---------------------- ------------- 41 TD's ======================================== 2022 (QB: Lagway/Mertz) 6-7 (3-5) Scoring: 29. 5 ppg (SEC Rank: 9th) Passing TD: 18 (A.Richardson 17 TD, 9 Int) Rushing TD: 29 (M.Johnson 10, A.Richardson 9, T.Etiene 6) ------------------- ------------ 47 TD's ======================================== According to the stats above, Florida's offensive totals under Napier have been steady if not up and down. It's crazy how constant the passing TD's have been (18-20-19) while the rushing TD's have been up & down (29-21-26). Will better 'play calling' improve upon those numbers or will UF get the same results in the 2025 season? In the last three years under Napier, Graham Mertz had been the most efficient quarterback for Napier's Florida offense. Mertz threw very little interceptions while throwing for nearly 3000 yards, 20 TD & 3 Ints in 2023. He also rushed for 4 TD giving Mertz 24 TD total! Anthony Richardson had been the most productive & versatile in Napier's system. Richardson had 653 yards rushing and 9 rushing TDs while throwing for 2500+ yards, 17 TDs and 9 Ints. Those are decent numbers by a dual-threat quarterback - Florida should expect something similar from Lagway in the 2025 season. According to this data, Lagway has yet to have a rushing TD as a Florida Gator. Can DJ Lagway be efficient like Mertz while also being productive and versatile like Richardson in the dual-threat passing game? That will be the test for the 2025 season for Florida/Lagway. As for wins & losses, Richardson: 6 games won Mertz: 5 (in 2023) + 2 (W: Miss St, UCF): 7 games won Lagway: 6 wins (Samford, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, FSU & Tulane). ======================================== ======================================== The three SEC playoff teams' offensive averages in the 2024 season: Tenn (35.7, rank 2), Texas (33.0, rank 4th), Georgia (31.6, rank 5th) Ole Miss (38.6, rank 1), Alabama (33.8, rank 3), LSU (30.5 ppg, rank 7). Conclusion: In 2025 in order to reach the playoffs, Florida needs to average (at least) 31+ ppg ! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- How about defensively? SEC's top defenses: 1. Ole Miss (14.4 ppg) 2. Texas (15.3 ppg) 3. Tennessee (16.1 ppg) : 7. Georgia (20.1 ppg) <-- Bad by Georgia's recent standards. : 12. Florida (23.1 ppg) 14. LSU (24.3 ppg) In 2024, Florida knocked off the statistically best overall #1 SEC team in Ole Miss and another team, LSU, who is statistically similar to Florida. Both LSU & Florida have mediocre defenses while also being in the middle of the pack offensively. To reach the playoffs, Florida's defense needs to continue to make strides. The scoring defense needs to be 20 ppg or less.
Well said. Implementing the shotgun, which should have been years earlier, in the 1996 SECCG vs Alabama and subsequently vs FSU in NCG is what produced 52 to 20. FSU could not adjust, as they were totally looking for a repeat of what they did at Doak 5 weeks earlier.
