Matt: The day we’ve all been waiting for came and went Saturday, and for a lot of you it was a joyous occasion.
You thought Florida’s walloping of FAU at a filled-to-slightly-less-than-capacity Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was convincing. Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps flying up and down the sidelines made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And Dominique Easley’s dance moves had you gyrating and smiling in the student section with your friends (and, maybe, family members at the discounted rate of $50).
But hold on a minute, OK? Let’s not crown these Gators just yet. As good as things looked on Saturday, there’s still plenty yet to be tested — for example, the secondary.
Florida played a Florida Atlantic team that’s quarterback entered the game with as many interceptions (1) as completions. The Owls also started a freshman and sophomore at receiver with a total of 12 receptions to their names. Plus, the dominant performance from the defensive line prevented unproven underclassmen from being tested at the back end of the Gators’ new defense.
Graham Wilbert looked woefully inept for much of the game Saturday night, but he still managed to complete a 28-yard pass down the seam to tight end Nexon Dorvilus.
What’s going to happen when UF plays a real opponent? That should be the concern, not the Gators’ No. 18 ranking in the new AP Top 25.
Tyler: You can’t use one play as evidence against the secondary as a whole. Yeah, FAU managed to complete one 28-yard pass on one third-and-long. Who cares? The score was 24-0; the game was over.
And why are you insulting people for getting excited about Saturday’s game? It wasn’t a great opponent and probably didn’t tell us anything. But how do you want fans to react? You want them to spend their evening not cheering. You are an unpleasant, soulless man. Stay positive. There were plenty of good things to take away from Saturday’s win; namely, the running game looked as good as advertised.
However, Florida will need to show more balance in the future — beginning this weekend. The team doesn’t need a more even run-pass ratio; the Gators actually threw the ball three more times than they ran it. But the team does need to get the ball to playmakers not named Demps and Rainey.
Ignoring incomplete passes, Florida’s two burners touched the ball on about 55 percent of plays from scrimmage. Expect defenses to key on Demps and Rainey for the rest of the season. They will stack the box and dare John Brantley to beat them deep. If Florida’s offense wants to be good this year, or at least serviceable against Southeastern Conference powers, Brantley needs to show he can burn teams with the long ball.
Matt: Thanks for solidifying my point, big guy. The secondary didn’t have a chance to be exposed. That’s the point. And on the one play where Wilbert actually had time and threw the ball more than 10 yards downfield, guess what happened? It went for a 28-yard gain.
While the SEC isn’t littered with talent at quarterback as in recent years, the Gators will face much stiffer competition in the weeks to come. Even a guy like Tyler Bray at Tennessee has a legitimate chance to torch UF’s inexperienced secondary.
He went 17 of 24 for 293 yards in Week 1, connecting with Da’Rick Rogers and Justin Hunter 11 times for 246 of those yards — an average of more than 20 yards for both.
Florida started two freshmen and two sophomores and none of them have faced the caliber of player they’re expected to cover week in and week out in the SEC.
It doesn’t matter how Brantley throws or Demps and Rainey run if the secondary can’t hold up against a vertical passing attack.
Tyler: That wasn’t the only time Wilbert “tested” the secondary, hater. He threw down field multiple times, and even defensive tackle Omar Hunter said the Gators defensive line did a poor job of applying pressure.
Offensively, Florida clicked way better than it did last season out of the gates, but the passing game still has a lot to prove. The bulk of Brantley’s workload came on short passes. Seventeen of his 29 passes were less than 10 yards. He did great on those, completing more than 80 percent of his passes.
But while dumping the ball off to Demps and Rainey in the flats is easy money against FAU, it won’t work as well down the road.
Also, Muschamp talks about the importance of “explosive plays” — runs longer than 10 yards, passes north of 20. Brantley was 0 for 4 on throws of more than 20 yards. He was praised for “taking what the defense gave him” Saturday. We heard that last year, and it didn’t work out so well.
He has to get the ball downfield this year; otherwise the formula for stopping Florida will be easy: stack the box, cover the flats and dare Brantley to throw.
