The difference between Florida’s rushing attack in September and October has been just like that of the team’s record those months — night and day.
Through the first third of the season, Florida averaged 259 rushing yards per game, including a season-high 405 yards against Kentucky. But during the team’s four-game skid, the Gators have amassed just 175 total yards on the ground.
“I’ve said it before, and they get tired of hearing me say it: We’ve got to find ways to run the football,” coach Will Muschamp said Monday.
Florida’s struggles the last month were highlighted by a negative-19-yard output against the Bulldogs on Saturday, when the Gators failed to pick up a first down on the ground.
The inability to run the ball during their last four games, when the team has averaged just 43.75 yards per contest, has dropped the Gators’ rushing offense to 66th in the nation at 151.38 yards per game. After beating Kentucky, Florida was ranked ninth in the country.
“My experience in this league, there’s no question that in order to win in this league … you’ve got to be able to run the ball when you need to,” Muschamp said. “Whether it’s ending the game, whether it’s in the red zone, short yardage, goal line, there’s some critical times in the game you’re going to need to run the football.”
That’s a lesson Muschamp said he learned as an assistant at LSU and Auburn. While a defensive coordinator at those schools, Muschamp saw his teams’ offenses consistently finish in the top half of the Southeastern Conference in rushing. The worst output was in 2001 at LSU, when the Tigers finished sixth in the SEC with 153.33 yards per game. The best season was in 2004 at LSU, when the Tigers led the conference with 193.83 yards per contest.
This season, UF is eighth in the SEC in rushing.
While Muschamp attributed some of Florida’s woes the last month to a higher level of competition, the Gators’ personnel in the backfield and on the offensive line have also struggled.
Most of Florida’s players were recruited to run the spread offense and not a pro-style system, including running backs Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps. While both have been hindered by injuries, they have not been able to utilize their speed to do what they do best: beat defenses to the outside.
“It’s not about what you want to do, it’s about what you can do,” Muschamp said of the run game. “We gotta do a better job of figuring out what we can do. We haven’t done a very good job of that.”
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
Running back Jeff Demps was held to 12 yards on eight carries against Georgia, as Florida rushed for negative-19 yards as a team in the 24-20 loss. The Gators did not record a first down on the ground.
