The 2 things we need most are confidence and experience. Treat vols like mcneese and take a giant step.
Ignore McNeese. They are beyond awful and may be the worst team UF has played in 20 years. Didn’t we go like 1 for 20 on third downs vs Utah? Clearly he isn’t throwing for a first down often I said the OFFENSE was better in 2022 than 2023. Mertz has thrown the ball better but that is just part of it. We’ve had zero running game via RBs and QBs. A slightly better passing game juiced up on low leverage blowout yards + zero running game does not equal a better offense. Advanced stats didn’t rate our passing game that highly vs Utah. It was low leverage yards. To be clear a slightly better pass game with a significantly worse run game = worse offense We put up 600 yards vs Tennessee last year in a close game. 450 passing and 150 rushing. Safe to take the under on all 3 this year. Would be thrilled to be wrong
I know you live in eternal sunshine but what exactly did I post that was false? Our offense was well below average vs Utah. It’s literally a fact. Our offense was above average last year, again a fact. EPA on O vs Utah 2023 = -.15 EPA on O 2022 = .11 Ball don’t lie my friend. I think you want to make it into a Mertz vs AR thing. I don’t care about petty player comps. I care about total production, period. How we get to that total production (downfield passing, short passing, RB runs, QB runs, etc) is not even remotely important compared to total productivity.
And we still lost, in fact AR only through for more than 200 yards twice all last year (Vandy being the second one) and we lost both games. I'll take the under as long as we win.
And we still lost, in fact AR only through for more than 200 yards twice all last year (Vandy being the second one) and we lost both games. I'll take the under as long as we win.[/QUOTE] Our defense is infinitely better in 2023 than 2022. So far our offense is a fair amount worse in 2023. The D improvement is bigger than the O decline which should lead to more overall wins. If we had 2023 defense with 2022 offense that is a top 10 team. You definitely shouldn’t prefer a worse offense than a better one solely because one team had a significantly better defense FYI offense is more than passing yards, especially garbage time passing yards. Rushing yards matter too
I agree with much of your take I just don't get behind some of the hyperbole. AR has always been inconsistent so those numbers don't speak to the details. He was awful against Kentucky. He was pretty bad against vanderbilt late in the year. He was hot and cold against fsu. We will see what the run game sans AR does the rest of the year. It was awful against Utah and while I agree a running qb affects a run game, our Oline suffered many hits in the off-season and was a mix match put together line following Kingsleys injury, Goodwins hardship and the defections prior. With this year's defense we win many more games last year but AR was responsible for Kentucky alone. Let's see a few more games with Mertz before drawing any conclusions either way.
AR obviously wasn’t elite in 2022. We had an above average offense with all the warts of one We have one game of Mertz (plus his mediocre Wisconsin career). All I’m saying is the offensive performance was a fair amount worse in 2023 Utah vs 2022. That’s just a fact. Maybe we make a huge turnaround and become a better offense in 2023. Im obviously rooting for it. It shouldn’t be taboo to say the offense performed pretty weak in our one real game this year.
It was one game, if you want to pick out a single game how was our offensive performance vs UK. Was that above avg? Not to mention the one game you picked out was not lost bc of the QB as he was pretty damn good in that game. That loss comes more on the Oline and the RB's. Plus lastnyearvwebwere garbage on the road and decent at home. Guess where the game vs. UTAH was played? Or do you just want to omit that fact? It not exactly comparing apples to apples. AR had a top OT protecting him last years game and still couldn't toss a TD. Mertz was getting blown up behind the line and still completed at a much higher percentage then AR found the end zone. Hopefully getting guys back cleared (Kingsley) and getting them healthier(as mezzcuah was injured most of camp, and Lyndell hudson was out and should help too). Why don't you try watching a few games to actually see how it works how before declaring this offense worse then last year because we seen how last year ended up. AR = 17 TDs 8 Ints 53 % completions. And a losing record at seasons end. Let's watch how this year plays out before making such rash declarations because as you can see AR didnt do shit the USF game or the UK game if you want to go on single games alone.
I take nothing from mcneese and have my skepticism about the offense as well. I don't think Utah will end up much better than an above average team this year but time will tell. I think the biggest problem This year is the line and the tight ends. If AR made the throws Mertz makes, even the short ones, then he would have crushed it last year. My biggest gripe is the lack of adaptation until Napier gets all of his pieces in place. People forget meyer "wasted" 2005 forcing a square peg in a round hole for the greater long gain but at least he showed some adaptation halfway in and putting a fullback in to beat Georgia. We shall see what happens this year going forward.
Nice try Matt, but the only person still pushing the “AR thing” a season after he moved on is you. Mertz is our guy now. None of the numbers you’ve posted above are relevant. Let it go and get behind our guy now. Go Gators
I just don't get trying to compare last year's offense to this year's. Not a single starter on last year's offensive line started the first two games this year. Different QBs with different skill sets: AR more athletic and Mertz more consistent, at least to this point. Apples to Oranges. Nothing to be gained by comparing the two. Mertz has been better than expected, the offensive line needs to gel, RBs and WRs looks to be upgraded. TEs seem to be the weak link. Defense looks to be improved across the board, New DC, new faces throughout, new attitude and scheme. Saturday will be the test but I am very optimistic!
I also don’t think it is fair to cherry pick our offense the first game, on the road, against the PAC-12 champions, returning many of their starters. Most likely a well-above-2022-average opponent defense situation.
Dude, pump the brakes. Yes the D appears better, but I think we might should wait on a few more observations first before we jump in head first. The pass D has barely been tested.
