Offensive coordinator Brent Pease said the Trey Burton wildcat — or WildBurton, as it will henceforth be called — is here to stay.
On the surface, that seems smart. Excluding fake punts and field goals, UF has snapped the ball to Burton 30 times and gained 6.9 yards per play. That’s a pretty solid total, considering the rest of the offense gains an average of 5.1 yards per play.
But, if you take away Burton’s perfectly blocked, poorly defended 80-yard touchdown run against Tennessee, the WildBurton’s other 29 plays have gained an average of just 4.4 yards.
The numbers say Burton is at the center of the problem. Of the 30 plays run out of his formation, he’s either handed the ball off or pitched it 12 times. Those 12 plays have netted 90 yards — a 7.5 yards per play average — and a touchdown.
Burton has averaged 6.5 yards per play on the 18 plays where he’s kept the ball, which is basically a negligible difference over such a small sample.
But, removing his 80-yard touchdown, Burton has averaged just 2.2 yards per carry on 17 runs.
Still, that’s not the most damning stat.
The WildBurton doesn’t accomplish its primary mission.
Most teams view wildcat packages as a way to grind out 3 or 4 yards to either move the chains or set up manageable second- and third-down situations.
Because Florida ranks No. 118 nationally and last in the Southeastern Conference with 143.6 passing yards per game, avoiding third-and-long is essential.
The Gators have converted just 16.7 percent of their third-down tries with 9 or more yards to go.
Florida should be focused on avoiding negative plays, so giving the ball to Burton is a bad idea.
Of Burton’s 18 carries out of the formation, five have gone for negative yards, totaling a loss of 15 yards. By comparison, Mike Gillislee has lost only 22 yards in 161 carries — nearly 10 times Burton’s total.
Instead of feeding Burton, Florida should just keep working the ball to Gillislee.
While his torrid pace has slowed in the past three games, Gillislee still looks as fast, shifty and tough to tackle as ever.
If Pease and the Gators still want to run the WildBurton plays, just let Driskel quarterback them.
Driskel is bigger, faster, stronger, more elusive and a better passer than Burton.
Perhaps Florida is concerned about Driskel taking too much of a pounding, but he can handle it.
Those two or three extra carries per game aren’t going to make that much of a difference.
Coaches should let UF’s quarterback of the present and future take every snap he can. The experience will only help his development.
That being said, coaches are right to have the Burton package.
If opposing defenses don’t take the time to prepare, an unorthodox look has the potential to make them pay, and Pease will likely recognize that early on. But, if the defenses are ready, leave the WildBurton on the sidelines and hope the base offense can take advantage.
Either way, Burton shouldn’t be the one taking the snaps.
Contact Greg Luca at gluca@alligator.org.
Trey Burton (8) runs after a taking a direct snap in the wildcat formation during Florida’s 17-9 loss to Georgia on Saturday at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
