After beating FAU 41-3 I've seen a good bit of optimism floating around the Gator Nation. I wouldn't say I'm here to throw cold water on anyone's celebrations but I do think that those celebrations should be tempered.
I think the Gators looked as good as anyone could hope for after all the changes from last year. My grades would probably be Bs for the offense and defense with a special teams A bringing the overall grade to a B+.
John Brantley showed quite an arm on several early throws; a very nice combination of velocity and touch that seemed to elude him last year. The problem was his bad throws were VERY bad! One interception was not his fault (I blame the linemen who whiffed on his cut block) but the other was in the end zone into triple coverage. Eesh! And he had two other throws in the first half that should've been picked off and would've been picked off against a better team!
It was nice to see the Gators come out running the ball though. They weren't between the tackles very often but the offensive line did about as good a job as you would hope for against an overmatched FAU team. They didn't blow anyone off the ball but they opened enough holes to let the speedy running backs get through. (By the way, if those announcers called Jeffrey Demps "the fastest player in college football" one more time I might have had to punch something... even if it IS true.) The receivers looked outstanding. Even Deonte Thompson was holding onto footballs!
The defense looked outstanding in the first half. The defensive line in particular shutdown the run and probably had more quarterback pressures than all of last year. And they did it without blitzing! Coming out for the second half however, the Gators seemed to be trying out some blitz packages. The odd bit to me was that the defensive line seemed to get more pressure rushing 4 guys than when they would blitz. Good news for the standard pass rush, bad news for the blitz. The defense was also helped out by several dropped passes and errant throws by the Owls' offense. A big-time team would have burned them a few times.
What I was most excited about was the special teams play! That was one of my biggest concerns. Urban Meyer certainly stressed the importance of special teams and had plenty of blocked kicks to prove it. But in the first game to return a blocked punt for a touchdown, very nice! On top of that a 50 yard field goal from Caleb Sturgis who has always had the leg strength but not the accuracy.
There is definitely work that needs to be done by the time SEC play rolls around in two weeks, but for a first showing, it definitely appears they are on the right track.
Just Joe
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Hey, Matthew. For some reason I'm not being able to leave comment responses so:
I agree with you. Auburn was the other game I considered for a possible win. But it is the third game of that West trilogy and it is on the road. We'll have to come out of those first two games healthy to have a chance. Of course, given the way Auburn played Saturday, I like our chances a lot more. Georgia too, for that matter.
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