Above all else, one thing stands out from last Saturday’s win against Florida Atlantic.
Not the 468 yards of total offense. Not Chris Rainey’s electric evening. Not the stifling defense which allowed a mere 137 yards. Not even Jelani Jenkins’ thunderous hit on FAU receiver Willie Floyd.
Turnovers.
John Brantley threw an interception in the first half, and later, a second on a poor throw into triple coverage in the end zone. Freshman backup Jeff Driskel tossed up another on his first pass attempt.
“When you have a minus-3 turnover ratio for the game, usually you’re going to lose,” offensive coordinator Charlie Weis said Tuesday. “That’s one of our points of emphasis, not just with John Brantley, but with the whole offense.”
Weis also pointed to three other near giveaways, including the snap from center Jonotthan Harrison that sailed over Brantley’s head and brought back painful memories from a season ago.
Coach Will Muschamp has repeatedly harped on the importance of turnover margin, and admitted that the Gators’ minus-3 mark simply will not get it done.
“We can talk about all the other stats you want to talk about, those are the two critical ones: big-play ratio and turnovers,” he said Monday. “It’s a huge concern of taking care of the ball offensively.”
Not only will the Gators need to better protect the rock against UAB on Saturday night at 7, they’ll also need to make some things happen on defense. The Blazers return a potent spread-offense attack that went for more than 500 yards in five different games a year ago.
UF’s defense limited Alfred Morris to 16 yards on 14 carries last week, but Florida couldn’t force a giveaway. Jenkins dropped an easy interception that likely would have resulted in a pick-six — the Gators’ best opportunity for a turnover.
“Even though we held them to limited rushing yards and limited passing yards, [turnovers are] one thing we stress every game,” Bostic said. “We need at least three turnovers a game. That’s our goal every game.”
UAB quarterback Bryan Ellis threw for nearly 3,000 yards with 25 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions last season — plenty of firepower to test an inexperienced UF secondary filled with underclassmen.
Florida will have to make UAB one-dimensional. Dynamic Blazers running back Pat Shed is questionable for Saturday’s game, meaning the Gators should stop the run without bringing added help from the secondary, which will allow the young guys at the back end to focus on coverage.
Creating a ball-hawking unit has been a heavy emphasis in practice, and because it didn’t manifest itself against FAU, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said it’s been a major sticking point again this week.
“We could’ve had more attempts on the ball, what we call rips and strips,” he said.
“In a good game, where you’re getting a lot of attempts at the ball, I would like to see that number drastically increase.”
In 2010, Florida held a plus-14 turnover margin in its eight wins. In five losses, the number was minus-12.
“It’s such a huge stat … and it’s something that Will and I strongly believe in,” Quinn said. “As a defense, we really want to see more of it.”
Contact Matt Watts at mwatts@alligator.org.
Florida linebacker Jelani Jenkins (3) dropped a near interception against FAU on Saturday, and the Gators posted a minus-3 turnover margin despite handily beating the Owls 41-3.
