Post-Game Discussion: Florida at Utah

This is a great question!!! And the answer is the center is the one who recognizes what the defense is doing and coordinates blocking assignments for the entire line. (See this: https://footballadvantage.com/footb...nsive linemen whose,over to the opposing team.) The center wasn't just the problem, though; it was the entire OL. False starts are usually about a lack of mental focus. The Achilles heel of the OL was numerous false starts. The OL has not worked very long together and it was evident. I'm not naming names, but the OL was what cost us the game. I don't fault the head coach. If your team cannot execute plays, it's not the playcalling. However, I will say, as others have said, there was no sense of urgency--no hurry-up offense--when we needed it. Most are deflecting blame on the coach, when there was no pass-protection or running game. Mertz impressed the heck out of me! His ability in not being able to do much was all because of poor OL execution!

 

The fact that the point was reached where a player HAD to change his jersey on a specific situation is unacceptable in my opinion.

A good coach/CEO identifies that situation as a potential problem and eliminates it before it happens.

Like I said before, you have two options:

1. One of those guys does not play on ST.

2. If any coach decides they both play on ST, then one must change numbers permanently, not in the middle of the game.


I am at a complete loss for words that we are somehow trying to justify the above things not happening.

Again, the fact Napier is aware “we have two number 3s on ST” and we proceed in any way other than the two points I made above is just completely unacceptable.

Football 101 people. How do we keep justifying the basic fundamentals not being in place? HOW?!?!?!?!

 

I'm ok with that, though. 90% of the time it goes into the end zone. That just happened to be the one that didn't.

 

...

 

If only they'd had a pair of deuces...

 

Frustrating loss by all accounts, but maybe......just maybe....it could be a blessing.

Last year we won this game...barely...at home with the opponent having no real game film of AR. We moved from unranked to #12 in polls and thought we were going to steamroll everyone. Then the season played out as it did.

Now we have the opposite. Can be a rallying cry for the team if they really want to.

Nearly every other power five school has their opening home game 'scrimmage' to make first game mistakes, jitters; etc. Some teams to get two scrimmages (UGA??). We played #13 on the road (albeit w/o QB and TE) with some freshman, and got beat.....on national TV for everyone to see.

Now we have 9 days until our 'scrimmage' at home. Extra couple days to study some film, get some humility, and iron out the stupid mistakes. Maybe one full road game experience after 8 months of talk just slapped these guys in the face a bit hard. And if they truly feel they beat themselves, it should add fuel to the fire.

I do feel now that regardless of how rest of season plays out, Billy should get ST and OC coach. Too much responsibility to do himself.

 

We have to win our next 2 games.

 

I agree. One or both of the guys should immediately volunteer to give up their number permanently and pick another. If they don't or the coaches don't make them, it's beyond embarrassing. I do that with kids in little league all the time - they may roll their eyes for a second at worst, but they get over it.

Wondering which is now the bigger blunder- two #3s or the thrown shoe.

Jeez.

 

This will sound crazy, but honestly just play ncaa/ madden video game. At 12, I had better clock management than some coaches have these days.

This is a bill Simmons take, that I can't agree with more. I know coaches can be caught in the moment, and I think you get better with experience, but some of the stuff we have seen the last 2 seasons is elementary.

We call a timeout before half to force the punt. So if we break it down, in my mind the only scenario it's a good idea to do that is: 1) Brandon James is your return man 2) they are backed up inside their own 20 yardline and you hope to put pressure force a bad kick, maybe block it, or maybe get a FG to end half after good field position. We chose to do that with Pearsall backed up on his own 10. We don't go after the kick and so best case scenario is a fair catch and you got into halftime.

Now on the Utah side, why on earth did they attempt a 56 yard FG? The points are irrelevant UF has to score twice either way. Punt it, and pin UF deep let your D smother them. If we had a hurry up, or if the Pearsall overthrow connects its a one score game with 2 mins to play, all because of the field position given. So for all the Whittingham love, and I get it he's a good coach, but doing stuff like that is what separates good from great coaches.

 

You’re weak

 

The shoe toss has led to a string of blunders never before seen in Gainesville.

 

I don't understand why you would even introduce that level of complexity to a fluid situation? How could a coaching staff not anticipate that having to shuffle jerseys might cause problems when time to react is limited?

 

Posting this without reading any threads since before the game yesterday. I wanted to post last night, but was drunk and angry for obvious reasons... Want to get my opinions in before I start reading everyone else's. Where to start???

- Penalties. Holy crap! I haven't seen anything like that since Vanderbilt. Lots of penalties, lots of bad timing. I wrote off the Vandy game as a fluke, but this is twice now in 14 games for Billy N. If something like this happens again, I might start to think it's a trend.
- Serious Question: What's worse... Throwing a shoe 20 yards, or getting called for two people wearing number 3? This question might deserve a poll-thread.
- Replay Review - How is it that when we have a close play call on offense we never get the play off, but it seems that whenever the other team does the same, they get the play off. Is this just me? At least the play stood last night, so it ended up OK. I was screaming at the TV prior though....
- 2-point conversion - Why? Didn't make any sense. When Utah missed their last FG attempt, it kind of made sense in that if they would have made it, we would still be down only 2 scores. But still, what is are the chances of us making three 2-point conversions the way we were playing in the Red Zone. It was a long shot either way, but still that leads me to my next topic.
- Billy N's play calling - Still not impressed. Still not sure what to think. He's a smart guy, so what's going on here. Does he realize that something needs to change with this? He saw it with defense last year, and made the change. Does he see it with the offense like we all do? You could totally blame it on personnel last season, but not near as much this season. For me, it was a minor issue last season, but it's becoming a bigger one for me now... We'll see... Something tells me that this might be the only thing that Billy N. is stubborn about, and it might be his downfall.
- Special teams - Started off with a couple great punt coverage plays. I was cautiously optimistic. Then we reverted to mediocre special teams. Fielding the punt at our own 3? C'mon!!! We can't do that! SMH...
- Defense - One of the few "positives" (relatively speaking) IMO. I think we played overall better defense, and improved somewhat. Not a lot of missed tackles, and didn't seem to be out of position at the start of every play. I'm curios to read what everyone else thinks about our D.
Offense - Ugh... Not sure where to begin, so I won't...
Mertz - No impressed. He made a few decent throws, but he didn't look like he's the answer. Looked almost as bad as AR on his short passes to backs, not to mention the one to Pearsal that got picked. The long throw to Pearsal was an easy TD. I think he made decent decisions when throwing, but not impressed with his accuracy, despite the statistics.
Pearsal (WR's) - Pearsal is the only beacon of light from last night. He is who we thought he was. One WR can't lead this team though. Young WR's played pretty well, given the situation, IMO.
RB's - Where were they? No impact last night, but that was really due to circumstance. We'll see...
OL - Not good. Hopefully that will be one of the toughest front 4 they will face all season. If not, we might be in for a loooooong season...

Overall - Meh. Not impressed. Was hoping for more. Didn't see any urgency or grit from anyone other than Pearsal last night, which worries me. It seems that CBN likes to play some sort of "calm" football. Not a lot of emotion. I'm not sure I like it.

I'm anxious to start reading threads to see what everyone else saw last night. I'm sure I missed a lot of things that other picked up on.

 

Special Teams is what wins and loses games especially when you're not more talented or experienced than your opponent at most positions. Those Meyer teams blocked kicks left and right and recovered more muffed kicks than had themselves. He also put extreme importance on that part of the game, which is why they were so dominant.

 

Product on field hard too watch

 

I really don’t know why people thought the D played well. Forget the stats. Did you watch the game? First half Utah had guys widddddeeee open. Like no one within 10 yards of them. They didn’t connect on easy Tds, dropped easy wide open passes. There was little to no pressure on the qb. Couldn’t stop the obvious qb runs. Missed tackles. The second half Utah looked like they had the game in total control and went super conservative likely because they had a 2nd and 3rd string qb in and a lead they thought they wouldn’t relinquish. Couldn’t imagine if we played a legit offense with nfl type WRs and/or qb and didn’t put the brakes on in the second half. I was not impressed with the D or really any part of the team or coaching last night. They look totally unprepared, lethargic and uninspired.

 

My 5 takeaways from the game:

1. Not
2. Ready
3. For
4. Prime
5. Time

 

I think the WR are a bright spot. Wilson needs more touches, I know he brain fsrted the punt, but he has the IT factor. Some guys you can see it as a freshman.

Douglas made a great catch on the jump ball. If he has that in the bag, why isn't that a play on first down inside the 10? He absolutely went up and got that ball, against a DB that's SEC caliber.

I love seeing legacy gators, but Jackson may just need to sit in place of Wilson. When Pearsall, Wilson and Douglas are on the field, teams will have to respect the pass. Hopefully?

 

Totally agree. What I watched last night was nothing like Swamp Kings.