By: Gentry Hawk -- September 17, 2023 There were plenty of concerns surrounding the production of the offensive line and their ability to handle Tennessee’s front four leading up to Saturday. After giving up multiple sacks in week one and leaving the Gators’ running back duo stranded in the backfield, run blocking took a major step forward on Saturday. Running back Trevor Etienne finished the night with a career-high 172 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown. The sophomore had a combined total of 18 carries for 109 yards leading up to week three. Etienne details career game vs. Tennessee | GatorCountry.com
That kid's on fuego! wonder if he can get 1000 yards? If not, whatever he does get will surely be exciting. Go Gators.
I guess this is the best place for this Etienne highlight video. For your enjoyment. I have to say the he does remind me a bit of Emmitt Smith in some of those runs.
Those highlights are sick. My knees and shoulders hurt watching him get tackled. Thanks, Gatorrick. I'm already proactively missing him, but he has another year, right? The kid is another 'once in a lifetime' RB. Go Gators.
He looks a little like Emmit, as a lot of people have said. His speed is better on the field. 5’9” but built like a little Sherman tank. One of the top RB’s in the nation. Keep building that OL and a great TE with size, speed, great hands, and a couple more receivers with the same. We have shown now, if we focus, we can play with anybody. Billy mixed it up aggressively in the first half and by the end of the first half it looked like a route was on. What opened the holes was this mixing it up. Our line with Kingsley were focused and everyone on the offense did their job. Don’t forget the other little speedster who was in the game int the first half, Eugene Wilson, another star in the makings! Another shout out to a stud receiver Ricky Pearsall, who has shown what quickness, sure hands and great route running does for a receiver. Go Gators! Unleash this offense for sixty minutes! LOL
I'll tell ya, Mertz has impressed. Way more mobile than I had thought, not in a take off and run sense, but his ability to scramble to get the ball out. Another thing that has impressed me was the play-calling. Not sure if Napier was holding back 'till he got his guys, didn't feel he could pull it off or what, but heck, some of those plays were great. Good blocking too. The Tenn game makes me feel we're turning the corner. But the team will need to be able to execute with the same energy away from the Swamp. We can beat Kentucky, but they'll need to dig deep on their own. Not to get ahead of myself, but I will. (Butterflies, rainbows and delusional optimism) If things continue to develop, man, that Fl State game will be the game of the century. Tenn game was the fourth largest viewing audience since 2019. All Blue, Won't back down, victory. Man... Oh yeah. Beat Charlotte. Go Gators.
LOVE ETN but.......frustrating to see play calling with 3 of his runs in a row....gets good yardage on the first run and gets stuffed the next two runs. This happened 3-4 times last Saturday. I'd have to go back to the play-by-play to be more specific but anyone who watched the game no doubt knows what I mean. We did the same thing last year. If I was an opposing defensive coordinator I'd use this against us. I actually think that's why he gets stuffed on those 2nd and 3rd runs. Hopefully with the extensive roster of ANALYSTS on Coach Napier's staff - someone else will notice this and we'll make a change.
True, and if we are comparing the performance with Utah's front, is the TN defensive line much worse than Utah's. I don't think so, so the logical assumption is that the Oline is getting better at the blocking schemes. If they continue to improve on the road against tucky and S car, then we could be looking at a very good season (compared to recent past).
