I've always wondered what would happen if a far superior football team took the field against a random, far inferior football team without any preparation. Would the strategies and cohesiveness of the inferior team be able to overcome the superior skill level of the other team? Well, my question was answered in the first quarter of Florida's 54-32 win against FCS Furman.
Furman came out running the option with 2 receivers in the slot, which according to Coach Muschamp, they hadn't run a single play of the entire season. So there were the mighty Gators running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I would figure that in an auction game that they've never seen before, plenty of assignments on the outside would be missed but I wouldn't expect to see the middle of the defensive line look like Swiss cheese. The Paladins confounded the Gators and jumped out to a 15-0 lead. For the record, 2 of those points came on a bad snap for safety. Then after Florida seemed to settle in offensively to cut the lead to 15-7, Furman answered with their longest drive yet, 5 plays for 72 yards and a touchdown to regain a 15 point lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second-quarter looked a lot more like people were expecting. Of the 4 Furman drives in the quarter, 3 of them were 3-and-outs. The three Gators touchdown drives: 7 plays, 65 yards; 1 play, 80 yards; and 2 plays, 34 yards. Mix in a missed field goal attempt and a failed 2 point conversion and the gators led 27-22 at the half.
Third-quarter was a 10-10 stalemate. Both teams started out with field goal drives and then traded 3 punts. Then on a drive's first play, Brantley hit Andre Debose for a 64 yard touchdown. It was Brantley and Debose who had hooked up on the 80 yarder earlier. Not to be outdone, on Furman's first play on the next drive, a 77 yard run right through the defensive line. It was disappointing to see no defender be able to catch the Furman running back in time. It was also disappointing that the Gators were unable to pull away from this feisty team. End of the third, 37-32.
In the fourth quarter, the defense finally flexed some muscle. After an early field goal, the Gators scored on 2 "pick sixes." Although the second didn't come until only a few minutes were left, it came during a drive in which the lead could have been cut to one score.
Overall I give A LOT of credit to Furman. Having said that, it did seem as though Florida came out with little energy, perhaps looking forward to this week's showdown with FSU. In the first and third quarters it seemed as though the Gators were really trying to establish a running game. The offensive line was dominated in the run game as Florida managed just 124 yards the entire game. Take out Chris Rainey's 37 yard scamper and you're looking at under 90 yards! Take out the two interceptions for touchdowns and you're looking at a much closer game. Take out the explosive and somewhat flukish 80 yard and 64 yard touchdown passes and who knows what kind of game you have. (I consider those plays flukish because even though Florida has hit a few of them this year, you cannot count on making those plays every game.)
So a disappointing win if there is such a thing. They'll clearly have to play MUCH better to have any shot against FSU in the Swamp. If the Gators can get decent field position I would expect to see a vast array of trick plays as Charlie Weis empties out the playbook. 7-5 would look a heck of a lot better than 6-6. Go Gators!
Just Joe
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