Analyzing the good and bad from Del Rio's performance against UMass
Although Florida’s offensive did not generate a ton of explosive plays in its 24-7 win over UMass this past weekend on a rainy night in The Swamp, overall it was a solid debut for redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Del Rio.
After saying following Saturday’s contest that Del Rio “did some pretty darn good things,” Gators head coach Jim McElwain reflected Monday during his weekly press conference and expressed that Del Rio “did all right.” Del Rio finished the contest 29-of-44 passing for 256 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Considering the offensive line didn’t give Del Rio much time to drop back in the pocket and attempt a good number of deep throws – the rainy conditions could have also been somewhat a factor - the Florida offense consisted mostly of short-to-intermediate throws, screens and check downs.
Del Rio took only one sack in the contest, as he did a good job of releasing the ball under pressure and rolling out of the pocket when it collapsed. How he read and anticipated the UMass defense in many instances was also impressive. There were a couple of instances where he didn’t have very many available options, but he did the smart thing and dumped the ball out of bounds rather than try to make something happen in a precarious situation.
When Del Rio did have time to work in the pocket, he delivered some excellent throws over the middle, including an 18-yard pass to wide receiver Brandon Powell in the first quarter and a 20-yard strike to tight end DeAndre Goolsby in the fourth quarter. A play earlier, Del Rio rolled out of the pocket with the protection breaking down and delivered a pretty 20-yard ball to Powell.
“There was never a sense of panic,” McElwain said. “The guy got them together, we moved it, we stalled ourselves. Now we've got to produce more points when we're down in the red area."
However, Del Rio's Saturday night wasn’t perfect - as one would expect from a quarterback making his first collegiate start.
“Probably about six throws that I know he would like back,” McElwain said. “He had four drops, I think. You take those throws back, I thought he was good as far as not taking sacks. He did a good job of that. Threw it to our colored jersey and was pretty efficient for a first start. Literally got his feet wet. I thought played pretty darn good.”
Looking back at the film, of those four drops, two were committed by running back Mark Thompson, while Joshua Hammond and Antonio Callaway each committed one on a catchable ball – although a UMass defender initially tipped the pass intended for Callaway. That’s not even mentioning an incomplete pass from Del Rio intended for Ahmad Fulwood that hit the senior wideout right in the chest.
A memorable drop that stalled a Florida drive came on 3rd and 6, where Del Rio targeted Thompson with Florida in the red zone. With the Gators operating in the shotgun, Del Rio took the snap and tossed it to Thompson, who rolled out of the backfield for the swing pass. However, Del Rio’s throw was behind and Thompson couldn’t hang on. That’s still a play though where Thompson needs to adjust and make the catch.
One play Del Rio would obviously like to have back is the first one of the game. Working out of the pistol with two receivers to his left and a sixth blocker in the game in freshman tackle Jawaan Taylor (who was eligible by wearing No. 86), Del Rio had decent protection against the blitz and time to operate in the pocket. However, his deep ball to Antonio Callaway was overshot by a couple of yards.
"A couple times he maybe cut it loose a little quick, had maybe a little more time but he was a little anxious,” McElwain said. “That first play I think Antonio could have set his angle a little bit and stick the route like you're supposed to, but I don't think he knew he could throw it that far either.”
With the Florida offense at the UMass 25 on 1st and 10 in the first quarter, faking a handoff on play action Del Rio stepped out of the pocket and then targeted Powell in the end zone – but it was a ball that was dangerously close to being picked off. Powell had a defensive back tightly covering him running the post route, but Del Rio tried to squeeze it into a tight window that wasn’t there. Against an SEC secondary, he may have seen that ball get intercepted.
In the second quarter on a 2nd and 5, Del Rio had Goolsby over the middle, but his throw was behind the junior tight end as Goolsby may have run the wrong route.
Del Rio’s 19-yard touchdown pass rolling out the pocket to Powell (that was called back) was also somewhat of a risky throw to double coverage, but the junior wideout made a good play on the ball. However, Powell had stepped out of bounds running his route, so the play was nullified.
“I'd said about a handful of throws here or there, just missed a little bit,” Del Rio said. “I thought decision making, I was pretty sound. Just a few things in there, just lining my feet with my eyes. It's things that are correctable and we're going to work on them."
Still, there’s plenty of positive Del Rio can build off of from his Gators debut. If he can get better protection from the offensive line moving forward, it should bode well for what he and the Florida offense may be capable of doing moving forward.
“In protections, which we knew we were going to get line movement, so why be surprised by it? It's not like you haven't seen it a couple thousand times in practice or whatever, but we've got to clean that piece up and make sure we keep the chief clean,” McElwain said. “You know, we've got to make sure we secure the pocket, because even in their five-man pressure stuff when we had it picked up, I mean, Luke was at a 78-percent clip. So what that tells you is, you know, (with) a pretty clean pocket he's going to get his feet set and get it to where it needs to go.
“When we were on edge and we had to move a little bit, he did a good job of moving in the pocket, but he missed a couple throws because of that. So those are things that the whole team has to take accountability for.”