With the first-down marker less than a yard away, coach Jim McElwain turned to Mark Thompson — a 6-foot-2, 237-pound transfer running back.
McElwain was betting on the redshirt junior to bulldoze his way through the Minutemen’s defense.
Instead, Thompson took the handoff, hit the left side and was smacked down by UMass linebacker Da’Sean Downey.
And while the No. 25 Gators went on to win 24-7, Thompson’s failure to score was emblematic of an offense that struggled to generate big plays all night.
“We didn’t have any,” McElwain said.
“We’ve gotta get ‘em… That’s something we’ve got to get a little bit better at, obviously.”
Thompson and the rest of the running backs were especially underwhelming, rushing for 96 yards on 23 attempts.
The wide receivers also struggled, though there were some bright spots.
Quarterback Luke Del Rio’s first career touchdown pass sailed to a wide-open Antonio Callaway from 12-yards out.
His second fell in the hands of Brandon Powell, who broke a tackle in the backfield on a screen pass to score.
But with 256 total yards through the air (last season Florida combined for 381 in its opener), McElwain said his team needs to improve.
“Explosive plays, not anywhere near enough,” McElwain said.
One area McElwain praised, though, was special teams.
The highly anticipated arrival of YouTube kicking sensation Eddy Pineiro lived up to his hype, as the transfer went 3-for-3 on field goals and 2-for-2 on extra points.
For a fan base starved for competent kicking after UF missed 10 of its 17 field goal tries a year ago, Pineiro splitting the uprights left the crowd chanting his name.
“That guy can really kick,” McElwain said.
“I’m so glad he’s here.”
Pineiro — the No. 1-rated junior college kicker in the country — was humble after the game.
“I really don’t care about the hype and all of that stuff,” he said.
“I’m just focused on making this team better and putting up points, something they didn’t do in the kicking game last year.”
But while McElwain praised Pineiro, UF’s running backs left its offense wanting more
Sophomore Jordan Scarlett led UF with 70 rushing yards, a figure McElwain credited to the UMass defense being vulnerable to outside runs.
Still, McElwain said Scarlett hasn’t separated himself in the running back battle. Jordan Cronkrite, Lamical Perine and Thompson will still be in the mix.
“We come ready to work every day at practice,” Thompson said.
“Whoever works the hardest gets the ball the most.”
Because of the lack of explosvie plays from its offense, UF often relied on Pineiro, who already surpassed UF’s longest field goal from last season — a 43-yarder from Austin Hardin — twice (48, 49 yards).
McElwain is hoping he won’t need to lean on Pineiro as heavily this Saturday against Kentucky.
“We gave Eddy some shots at some field goals,” McElwain said.
“But I’d rather have touchdowns.”
Contact Ethan Bauer at ebauer@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @ebaueri.
Jordan Scarlett (25) is tackled by UMass defenders during Florida's 24-7 win over Massachusetts on Sept. 3, 2016, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
