It started against Florida Atlantic in the opener, carried over into the UAB game, and came to a head after beating Tennessee.
Everyone wants to know if the Gators can beat a team deep — through the air, instead of in the hands of Chris Rainey.
So much has been made of John Brantley’s numbers — receivers have hauled in just 17 of his 47 completions — that he and Will Muschamp are constantly inundated with questions about the downfield passing attack, or lack thereof.
The response is always the same, quickly becoming predictable: Take what the defense gives you.
Deonte Thompson was asked last week if he wants opponents to fill the box, bringing a safety out of coverage in an effort to stop the run. As a receiver, it would open things up downfield, allowing Thompson a chance to make an impact and pad the stat sheet. His response?
“Nah, I mean if they’re going to give it to us easy, we’re going to take it,” Thompson said. “We’re trying to get this championship, man.”
In reality, the Gators are doing what they want: punishing opponents with some of the most dynamic players in the country.
Rainey, and to a lesser extent, Jeff Demps and Trey Burton, are the strengths of this team. They want to use them as much as they can. And why not?
They’re significantly better options than anything Florida has to offer outside the hashes.
But still, time after time, somehow we go back to that phrase — take what the defense gives you. Let’s get Muschamp’s take.
“Within Charlie’s system, we evaluate our talent and decide what we can do,” he said after Rainey ran around, over and past everything in that other shade of orange Saturday.
Subtle but telling, Boomer. Not to read too much into one quote, but Muschamp is basically admitting that Florida’s best option is not to pass the ball to the wide receivers. And who could blame him?
Thompson has been the definition of lackluster throughout his time here. Quinton Dunbar is raw, still in his first real season playing at the collegiate level. Andre Debose is definitely not the next Percy Harvin. Frankie Hammond? Does he even have a catch this year?
They are not the weapons on offense; they are decoys. They are not downfield threats, except, of course, when they’re blocking for Rainey and Demps.
Asked if he was content with receivers catching just three passes in the win against Tennessee, Muschamp cemented the message.
“Yeah,” he said bluntly. “We’ll line up and run the wishbone if we can win.
“It’s all about winning to me. When I first was a coordinator, I’d run and grab these stat sheets right when I come off the field. ... As I won as a coordinator I started to figure it out. It’s about winning. Do what you’ve got to do to win the game.”
“It’s hard for me to sit there and not put the ball in Jeff Demps’, Chris Rainey’s and Trey Burton’s hands at this point.”
Because UAB and FAU didn’t defend the flats and Rainey dismembered Tennessee doesn’t mean the Gators took what the defense gave them. They took what they wanted.
Contact Matt Watts at mwatts@alligator.org.
