While the biggest question of Florida’s offseason has been the quarterback competition, the Gators used their annual Spring game as an opportunity to find some answers in the running game.
The Gators are coming off a year where they were the SEC’s worst rushing team, averaging about 128 yards per game in the 2016-17 season.
And the Friday night indicated that not much has changed in the Gators’ ground game.
Last season, coach Jim McElwain split the rushing duties among four players with Jordan Scarlett getting the bulk of the carries, while Lamical Perine, Mark Thompson and Jordan Cronkrite competed for second-string.
All but Cronkrite — who announced his transfer to USF on Thursday — worked in during UF’s Orange and Blue Debut.
After both teams took the field, it was clear the staff likes Scarlett shouldering the burden.
The rising junior, working with the first-team offense on Orange, racked up 39 yards on nine carries.
On the first drive of the game, Scarlett took four handoffs from quarterback Feleipe Franks for 19 total yards. Scarlett set himself up at the one-yard-line after muscling seven yards through a pile of tacklers. One play later he had the game’s first touchdown.
Scarlett’s low point of the night came when defensive lineman Richerd Desir-Jones forced a fumble, although Scarlett recovered it.
But Scarlett wasn’t the only running back to have issues with ball security on Friday.
Thompson fumbled on his second carry of the game. It was a discouraging for Thompson, considering he had the most fumbles of all UF running backs last season and had made hanging onto the ball a point of emphasis in the offseason.
But Thompson salvaged his night with an impressive third quarter when he picked up 34 yards on seven carries, bringing his total on the night to 43 yards, 5.7 per carry. He also reeled in the biggest catch of any RB on the night when he took a screen pass from Kyle Trask 21 yards down the field.
After the game, defensive back Chauncey Gardner pointed out Florida’s improved response to turnovers.
“Keeping their heads high when things go bad,” Gardner said. “Because most guys when they turn the ball over they were like, ‘Awww.’ This year, these guys' mindset is completely different.”
Of Florida’s three chief halfbacks, Perine was the only won not to lose his grip on the ball.
After a freshman season in which he leapfrogged Cronkrite and Thompson, Perine got 10 carries on Friday but struggled make them count, averaging just 2.5 yards per rush.
But in a game where the two backs he’s competing with fumbled, Perine continued to be solid. As a freshman, he didn’t turn the ball over once in his 91 carries.
“That’s the key thing to any offense, to move on from the mistakes,” Gardner said.
Follow Matt Brannon on Twitter at @MattB_727, or contact him at mbrannon@alligator.org.
UF running back Jordan Scarlett carries the ball during Florida's Spring game on Friday night at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
