The way things looked in The Swamp on Saturday, you’d think the Urban Meyer era never ended.
The Gators were using superior speed to run around, past and through the Owls. The defense was suffocating. Special teams came through with a blocked kick and one (nearly two) touchdowns, and hey, there was even a 6-foot-4, 235-pound quarterback running the ball as Florida romped to an easy 41-3 win.
But don’t think one convincing victory against a vastly overmatched Florida Atlantic squad is a sign of things to come this season — a subpar Sun Belt team is not a Southeastern Conference-caliber foe.
Coach Will Muschamp even said as much Monday afternoon when he admitted the team approached the game with the understanding it will “play better people throughout the year” and “to be realistic here,” venturing away from the coach-speak to which we’ve all become accustomed.
Sure, quarterback John Brantley finally looked calm and collected under center. He looked like a man who was in command of the offense, but he wasn’t asked to do much against FAU.
Of his 21 completions, 13 were on screens or passes in the flats. He took what the defense gave him, dropping off dinks and dunks to the fastest running back duo in the land, Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps, who made the Owls pay.
Those swing passes won’t always cut it against an SEC defense, and Florida’s offense is going to have to show a lot more than that if it wants to make some real noise this year. Part of that means establishing a legitimate vertical passing game with Quinton Dunbar and Deonte Thompson, something Florida was unable to do against FAU, resulting in an 0-for-4 effort from Brantley on passes of 20 yards or longer.
That shouldn’t be the Gators’ biggest concern moving forward, though. The offense looked just fine against FAU and moved the ball with relative ease. Florida didn’t even have to punt a single time.
The real issue is with something that Muschamp has been preaching since he was introduced as the Gators’ head guy in December: turnover margin.
Florida gave the ball away three times (two Brantley interceptions and one from freshman Jeff Driskel on his first career pass attempt). However, the number of takeaways looked just like the first letter in Owls, thanks to a dropped would-be pick-six from Jelani Jenkins.
Similar performances against SEC teams won’t pan out as favorably for the Gators down the line.
“[Not forcing any turnovers] is a huge concern,” Muschamp said. “That’s something we try to emphasize. We were minus-3 in turnovers … it’s a huge concern of taking care of the ball offensively.”
For as many positives as there were to take from Saturday’s win — and there were plenty — there’s also a lot that needs to be worked on.
Because, let’s be realistic here, the Gators did what they were supposed to Saturday and nothing more.
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
