Tyler: Picking apart Florida’s faults is like choosing the biggest tool during rush week: There are almost too many options.
“You can’t just put your finger on one thing and say, ‘This is it,’” Muschamp said, not referring to frat bros.
Yes, the Gators had plenty of problems this year. But, more than anything, they need to upgrade their running game if they want to improve in 2012.
Florida ranks 75th in the nation in rushing yards per game with 144, a number that isn’t terrible on the surface. But against the country’s best teams, and even some downright average ones, the Gators couldn’t run the ball when it mattered: UF averaged just 61.8 yards per game in its six losses.
Matt: Sure, sure, Florida’s running game was bad at times, but it wasn’t the biggest problem the team faced.
In four of the six games the Gators lost, they had a chance to win only to blow it away with turnovers.
At minus-11, UF ranked 114th out of 120 BCS teams in turnover margin. That’s not just bad, it’s abysmal. And although Muschamp said you can’t put your finger on one thing, there’s one stat he pointed to before the season as most important: turnovers.
In six wins, the Gators posted a margin of plus-1. In six losses, they were minus-12.
That issue was never more glaring than in the final game of the season, when Florida’s defense held Florida State to less than 100 yards of offense but lost the game because of four interceptions.
Tyler: Muschamp actually pointed out two stats as being key: turnovers and explosive plays. Florida only busted 60 runs longer than 10 yards, which ranks 51st in the country. With running backs built on breakaway speed and nothing else, that performance is not good enough.
Florida needed more long runs, because it wasn’t getting anything else. Florida’s top-three rushers weigh an average of 187.7 pounds. Look at the best two running teams in the country, Alabama and LSU, teams Muschamp dreams of having. The Crimson Tide’s top-three backs average 230 pounds. The Tigers’ runners average 217.7.
On Saturday, Demps finished with negative-8 yards on four carries, each time ignoring a running lane up the middle while trying to bounce outside. Attention running back recruits Mike Davis and Matt Jones, both of whom weigh 200 pounds: Expect to make the weight room and the dining hall your second and third homes when you arrive.
Matt: In the long run, explosive plays aren’t as big a factor in losing games as turnovers, and there’s no denying it.
In losses to Auburn, Georgia and Florida State — games the Gators averaged 33.6 yards rushing — Florida would have won each time had it not turned the ball over in pivotal moments.
Against the Tigers, the first touchdown and the clinching field goal were both set up by muffed punts. Against Georgia, the Bulldogs scored 14 points off Gators turnovers.
And you already know that Florida State didn’t stand a chance if John Brantley and Jacoby Brissett didn’t throw the game away.
Whether the team has big backs next season doesn’t matter nearly as much if it continues to give the ball away.
As Muschamp so eloquently put it: “Fumbles? They aren’t good.”
The defense also shares some culpability here, as that unit forced just 12 takeaways this season, which ranked 113th in the nation. West Virginia and USC are the only two ranked teams outside the top 80 in takeaways.
If you give the ball away, and can’t take it back, little else matters. Football is about the ball, after all.
Tyler: But if you can control the line of scrimmage, you will win almost every time. Florida’s inability to run was highlighted in short-yardage situations. When the Gators needed 3 yards or less on third downs this year, they converted only 51 percent of the time. Tim Tebow isn’t walking through those doors.
On Saturday, Florida converted one of three short-yardage third downs. In a game when points were at a premium, the Gators were especially hurt in the second quarter when they couldn’t move the chains at the FSU 15-yard line.
On third and 1, Hunter Joyer was stuffed up the middle. On fourth and 1, Trey Burton somehow managed to lose 14 yards on a quarterback sneak in what can only be described as the worst college football play of all time.
Matt: And after all of that, after all the embarrassing plays, the lack of a run game or a receiver of note, Florida still would have won the game if they didn’t turn the ball over. It’s really that simple.
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@alligator.org and Matt Watts at mwatts@alligator.org.
