COLUMBIA, S.C. — Brent Pease looked like a new man on Saturday night.
Actually, he looked like an old man — the guy who came from Boise State in 2011.
You know, the school with the blue turf that upset Oklahoma 43-42 in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl with Hook-and-Ladder and Statue of Liberty trick plays.
(Pease wasn’t the offensive coordinator then, but he was part of the system as the wide receivers coach. But I digress.)
Using a variety of backfield shifts and heavy fronts consisting of as many as eight men on the line of scrimmage at a time, Florida ran wild during the first half of a 19-14 loss to No. 10 South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Gamecocks eventually shut down the Gators’ new-look offense, but the performance was an eye-opener.
With third-string quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg — and numerous other players — taking the snaps, Florida tallied 169 rushing yards in the first half against a defense that entered the night allowing 145.3 yards on the ground per game.
The effort was not only shocking, but exciting.
Although the Gators racked up only 31 more rushing yards on 19 second-half carries, the performance shone with potential.
Florida’s stagnant offense actually moved the football.
Direct snaps to Kelvin Taylor, sweeps to Solomon Patton and Valdez Showers and Trey Burton-run Wildcat plays that did not lose yardage gashed South Carolina’s defense.
Last season, Pease famously said, “Mass kicks ass.”
On Saturday night, during the first half, mass, as well as mass confusion, kicked ass.
Imagine if Jeff Driskel were healthy.
Not only would the 6-foot-4, 239-pound quarterback be a potent runner in those sets, but he possesses the arm to balance the attack and keep the defense honest.
Many Gators fans rag on Driskel’s pocket presence and susceptibility to turnovers — two faults that overshadow the strides he seemingly made as a passer during the offseason.
Two bad throws that resulted in interceptions and a sack fumble overshadowed a stat line against Miami that included a career-high 291 passing yards by the Oviedo native.
Imagine a talented dual-threat quarterback like four-star commit Will Grier of Davidson (N.C.) Day High running this offense. He has amassed more than 5,500 yards of total offense and 82 total touchdowns as a senior this season.
Mostly, think of what Florida’s running backs could do in this offense that only loses two starters along the offensive line in Jon Halapio and Jon Harrison while returning three injured starters in Chaz Green, D.J. Humphries and Tyler Moore next season.
Matt Jones, Taylor and Mack Brown would run wild. Taylor and Brown averaged 4.6 yards per carry on a combined 32 rushing attempts. Add in a bruiser like Jones and all bets are off to how much Florida could run.
Pease has come under fire during his two-year tenure as Florida’s offensive coordinator and deservedly so. The Gators rank 113th nationally with 332.8 yards per game this season, a step back from last season’s No. 104 ranking of 334 yards per game.
The results are simply unacceptable and sufficient, and notable progress was mostly absent — until Saturday night. As two-touchdown underdogs in front of 83,853 hostile fans, UF nearly pulled off the upset with an inexperienced redshirt freshman quarterback.
Regardless of whether you want Pease fired (based on my Twitter feed, many of you do) or you want to give him more time, you have to admit he was impressive on Saturday.
And if this season is it for Pease in Gainesville, the South Carolina game will always serve as an enticing and interesting case of “What if?”
And with a potentially bowl-less offseason looming for Florida, there is plenty of time for “What if?”
Follow Joe Morgan on Twitter @joe_morgan.
Brent Pease watches players warm up prior to Florida’s 19-14 loss to South Carolina on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. Using a new-look attack, the Gators ran for 200 yards — 169 coming in the first half — against the Gamecocks.
