Could Cam Ward turn out to be a flash in the pan?

But Mertz also didn’t throw too far down field very often (or at least that’s how I recall it). So how much of his numbers are inflated with higher percentage throws?

 

Miami plays a 2 game schedule, FSU and us. The ACC is entirely watered down with the inexplicable additions of Stanford,Cal and SMU. Miami doesn’t play Clemson. That’s why they are so highly touted this year.

 

Honestly, we keep talking and Mertz vs Ward, but the real question is whether our defense is now a good SEC defense, or a bottom-tiered sieve.

 

Yes, the pass completion percentage is inflated, but nearly 3,000 yards is still 3,000 yards.

Having said that, I agree that he needs to toss the long ball far more than he did last year. I never got used to the short out passes that seemed to be no better than the short runs up the middle in yardage gained. Sometimes we got decent yards, but I'd rather we toss the short slant pass play.

We Gators that have been here since SOS (or longer) are used to the long ball, and that really is the signature play that tells the college football world that the Gators are back...

Yes, bring back the short slant pattern to the offense while we're at it.

 

Flash in the pan? The dude is a Conn Smythe winner. He was inducted into the Canes’ Hall of Fame last year. Definitely not a flash in the pan

 

I just hope he's a sack magnet...

 

I like our chances of chasing him down wearing all that goalie gear and trying to play on ice skates. Got to think that'll limit his mobility.

 

Cam Ward is in for a rude awakening.

 

The things that are 100% going to happen is that this game is going to be very nasty and physical and our guys are going to be playing with there hair on fire all game long (lots of depth), so Mr. Ward better have his chin strap on real tight and bring his lunch and some ice, because he is going to need it.

 

True but throwing downfield for incompletions or interceptions doesn’t help. It’s still better to dump it off if the play isn’t there or the blocking isn’t there. Hopefully we get better blocking and the opportunity to go deep is there more often.

 

Have you seen Ward's yards per attempt? You can't look at his and Mertz and single out Mertz as throwing short passes to get a higher percentage than Ward. Throwing short passes is mostly what Ward did in his career so far.

 

This and that, including "low lights" can be shown on many a player, but here are some real stats from 2023, on the road:

at UCLA 19 of 39 for 197 yd, 1 TD, 2 int. Ran 7 for -12 yd

at Org 34 of 48 for 438 yd, 1 TD, 0 int. Ran 11 for 30 yd

at Az St 35 of 50 for 315 yd, 1 TD 0 int. Ran 12 for 35 yd and 2 TD

at Cal 34 of 59 for 354 yd, 3 TD , 1 int. Ran 14 for 48 yd and 1 TD

at Wash 32 of 48 for 317 yd, 3 TD, 2 int. Ran 11 for -19 yd.

Overall, for those 5 road games, not including walk overs like Col St, 154 of 244, 63%, for 1621 yd some 6.64 per attempt and 10.53 per completion, 9 TDs and 5 picks.

I'll take his game vs UCLA or Washington vs UF any day.

 

Devils advocate and because I have too much time on my hands I did a quick look..

Team total defense
ASU #89
WSU #78
Cal #102
USC#116

Oregon and UCLA had top 20 defenses.

This was just one metric. Also, add in new team and tougher road environment and I'm not saying he won't be good, I'm just saying prove it.

 

His team must have been all pass and not much run with those totals in passing yards. So he accounted for 11 TDs... with 5 picks? That's not great... but he did get some yardage passing. We'll have to make sure to prevent that long ball... make them earn every yard they get.

 

They also play Louisville and Virginia Tech, both of whom are at least as good as we are, but yes, they don't have our schedule.

Neither does anyone else. But we won't know how tough our schedule will be until the end of the season. I'm pretty sure several of our opponents are a lot weaker than the preseason polls predict.

 

What I found interesting was sometimes Wash St in 2023 did not score a lot of points against decent or not great teams. Arizona-6. Stanford-7. Washington-21. Ucla- 17. Oregon-24. But then they put up 31 on Wisconsin and 38 on Org State.

I dont buy into the issue of "new team". Mertz did ok with new team, as did Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels.

The stadium environment could be the most important factor in this one game. The sound at UCLA or Southern Cal or Cal or Stanford is not the same. I dont know about Oregon or Washington. Thus, my hope is that it disrupts their OL and the defensive play calls.

 

I trust Mertz and he has a lot of weapons. I'd feel better if Johnson is back 100% but probably not likely so others will have to step up.

The defense should be ready to, and capable of, ripping off some heads, fueled by an insane asylum Swamp.