After Florida defeated Toledo 24-6 on Mack Brown’s shoulders, the Alligator ran the headline: “What Can Brown Do For You?”
Since then, the answer has been, “not much.”
Brown has sputtered, and in the meantime, freshman Kelvin Taylor has excelled.
It’s time for coach Will Muschamp and offensive coordinator Brent Pease to end the Mack Brown experiment and start Taylor.
Taylor made his best case for the starting job on Saturday against Missouri.
The Tigers defense shut down every other facet of the Gators’ offense. Taylor was the lone exception.
The true freshman, playing in the fifth game of his career in front of a hostile crowd, notched 74 yards on 12 carries.
Meanwhile, Brown ran for 19 yards on eight rushes for a meager 2.4 yards per carry.
Taylor has excelled every time he has been given a chance to succeed.
When Taylor entered the game against Toledo — to rapturous applause fitting of a Heisman winner, not a freshman — he pounded the ball for 43 yards on five carries. He averaged four more yards per rush than Brown, who had a superb game.
Taylor barely saw the field for the rest of September.
Florida stuck with Brown and starting sophomore Matt Jones despite their mediocre performances against Miami and Tennessee; Taylor got one carry for 3 yards.
Jones looked like he would establish his hold on the position after a stellar game against Kentucky, rushing for 176 yards and a score, but he suffered season-ending torn meniscus early in the game against LSU on Oct. 12.
Taylor looked better against the LSU defense than either Jones or Brown, rushing for 5.2 yards per carry versus a defense that limited UF to six points.
Taylor is simply the Gators’ best running back. At this point, the argument is settled.
Since Brown’s solid season-opening performance, the redshirt junior has averaged 3.3 yards per rush. That just does not cut it for a team whose offense is based around pounding the football.
Florida needs a running back who can make plays like the one Taylor made against Missouri.
While the Tigers stifled Brown, the freshman managed to find the end zone and score the Gators’ sole offensive touchdown of the game.
It was also Florida’s longest play of the afternoon.
The Gators cannot keep plowing forward with the same rushing attack. If Florida’s offensive line keeps failing to protect quarterback Tyler Murphy, then UF needs a running back who can get past the line.
Taylor is the Gators’ only player who can consistently be a threat out of the backfield. If defenses see Brown lining up, they can play people back to guard the pass without worrying about Brown breaking off a big run.
He has not shown he can do that against a Southeastern Conference defense. Taylor has.
He averaged 5.7 yards per carry against the No. 3 and No. 8 rush defenses in the conference. Opposing defenses have to respect him.
Muschamp has been saying since fall camp that Taylor is great at running the ball, even if he was substandard at other aspects of the position.
Right now, Florida needs a playmaker more than it needs a blocker or receiver in the backfield — although it needs those, too.
If UF’s season has any chance of being salvaged, the Gators need someone to step up.
It’s time to free Kelvin.
Follow Adam Lichtenstein on Twitter @alichtenstein24.
Kelvin Taylor (21) runs the football during Florida’s 36-17 loss to Missouri on Saturday at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. Taylor, a freshman running back, gained 74 rushing yards and scored the first touchdown of his college career on 12 attempts against the unbeaten Tigers.
