Post-Game Discussion: Florida at Utah

Margin if error is razor thin for this team. They need some turnover luck and to play without penalties. It seemed like every penalty came at the worst possible time, but some of that is really talented teams can overcome dumb penalties. This team can't win road games playing with the mistakes we saw last night. The double number mistake negated the first really good defensive series.

Wilson is a stud, but you just can't catch punts inside your own 10, and he did it twice, one leading to possibly the back breaking TD after the int. Which also came after a really good stand by the defense.

Missed FG inside the 15 yardline, after the penalty on 4th and inches. Before the 4th down call we were scrambling, big play, why not take a TO there. Get everyone on same page and reset.

The run game was not there, but it was also a 21 pt deficit most of the 2nd half. Which is plenty of time to still run the ball, but the Oline just never got a push. TE blocking is about as poor as I can remember. Odum is a half step slow against a quick DE, he was abused on multiple plays.

Talk about plays going one way or the other, if that devin Moore pass break up is an int, then the back punt return inside the 5 leading to their TD doesn't happen either. I liked seeing the young guys on defense, I thought they played hard and taking away that first play, they played much better than anything we saw last year.

 

Umm... was it meh?

 

Yes, this is a classic case of trying to find a scapegoat. Moten was supposed to be better equipped to big opposing environments. He brain farted on the play.

 

The delay of game is not on Mertz, that's on Billy. If you are going for it on 4th down, go FAST! Don't let the defense prepare. Same with the two illegal formation calls and the 2 3s.

 

I see the same however speaking as someone who has supported Napier all the way, we have not seen the ability to shore up many issues so far. The special teams were a wreck last year as well and yet...

The lack of urgency in the tempo of the play calling or ability to change things up as needed during game play.

The time out usage or lack thereof.

Some of the play designs that seem doomed from the start.

Making things easier for a defense like throwing short on 3rd and long every time.

It just seems like the game moves to fast and is too much for him as an OC. Utah might be one of the worst teams we end up playing this year if they don't get their pieces back. We need him to succeed and people will accept a not so great record but that showing yesterday didn't inspire patience because there was so little growth shown from tear to year. If you see my posting history I'm not a fan of the constant negativity by our fan base even if sometimes their complaints have some substance but there are concerns....

 

It is going to be hard to come from behind with the new clock rules. I am not a fan.

 

Sorry I did not read all the posts. I am sure there are plenty of good ones, if good is defined by sobering and disappointment rather than bile.

Too many points to make to get to the total assessment of what went wrong. I will only provide my Executive Summary:

First, history says that UF does not travel well away from Florida proper in first games, and especially past the Mississippi River. It appears like this year is no different...for whatever reason.

Second, the second year is supposed to be the "a ha" moment for the fans to see what is The System and the positive effects. What appears to me is that the cracks that affect success of the program - O-line play, silly penalties, defense just off enough/no turnovers - remain. One game does not make an entire season trend. But if these are still getting in the way of a win in the next couple of games, this is going to be a tough season for the fans and not a very ringing endorsement for Napier and his system at the major college level. But Norvell took a full three years to get something competent on the field.

Lastly, Mertz is an effective pocket passer. He isn't going to do much but to bitch because he isn't Tom Brady is missing the point: he can win games, just not sitting behind a less-than-good O-line on obvious passing situations. He didn't hold the ball too long, he just got "gotcha" moves from the rush. And why were they that effective? Because we ARE a run first team. No running, bad outcome. Plan B (besides trying Brown in a more dynamic role) has to be the defense and turnovers. It really is that simple.

 

My expert armchair takeaway is

running game is working …..let’s pass

passing game is working …. Let’s run

let’s grab a guy in the transfer portal from alabummer. Must be good he went to alabummer. …. 2 3rd and 1 penalties later……so that why Saban didn’t play him.
Gonna be a rough road this year.

 

So you want us to promote the special teams guy to a play caller?

 

Recruiting staff for starters.

 

Then Pearsall lets it hit at the 4 yard line and it stops.

 

I didn't know we had a special teams guy. If we do, does Napier know where he is?

 

Not really…this goes back to last year. You can apply most of the negative comments in this thread to last years team. All of this has been going on for longer than one game.

 

Yeah watching it back, that ball is picked most of the time. He just played it poorly.

 

Game changer….damn that was an accurate call by BN. Hopefully he is lining up jerseys 1 to 99 and eliminating duplicates before next week.

 

makes no sense. Every coach would have wanted to keep all 3 timeouts in the event we scored so you could stop the clock 3x and get the ball back. Needed all 3 timeouts for defense.

the clock already had stopped on the incomplete pass in the end zone so no coach is calling a timeout. Every coach in the world would call a timeout after the sack as too much time burns down getting reorganized post sack and now at that done and distance, need to talk it over.

Using any of your timeouts in that situation severely reduces your chances of having any time left if you score and kick off to Utah (can’t rely on onside kicks).

there is a long list to complain about this ain’t one.

 

Is there like a clinic where our coaches can learn how to effectively use timeouts? I'm not talking about the 2nd half.

Maybe we can stop being cute with the Game Changer coordinator stuff and hire a proper Special Teams coordinator.

Honestly, the most disappointing thing is how we still kill ourselves with penalties. A lot of turnover on the Oline in a hostile environment but it isn't going to get any easier. Hopefully our million man staff can work some magic...

 

Douglas stole the TD out of the defender's hands.

 

We really could have used a cupcake for week 1. Too much new for this team to come out hitting on all cylinders against a veteran ranked team on the road. I stand by my opinion that I don’t like big games in week 1.

I’m disappointed in the game but not surprised. So many first game mistakes by a Gator team full of rookies. I liked a lot of what I saw in our young team. Mertz basically did his job — no reason to blame this loss on him. I liked a lot of the play calling - some bad execution from inexperienced youngsters. Guys were trying till the end but just kept shooting themselves in the foot.

Our offensive line just sucked out loud. Pass blocking and run blocking was nonexistent. If you want to pick one unit to blame this loss on, hang this one on the offensive line.

We can beat Tennessee but not if the offensive line doesn’t improve. A lot

Go Gators.