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Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said his players didn’t scrimmage or do any tackling in fall training camp as a COVID-19 precaution.
While the Midshipmen were getting out-physicaled 55-3 by BYU, Florida was scrimmaging Monday for the second time in as many weeks.
“He’s a great coach,” UF coach Dan Mullen said of Niumatalolo. “You would guess what their plan was didn’t work real well. Everybody right now is dealing with different scenarios now trying to figure it out. ... We were scrimmaging and watching our film. I didn’t see the game.”
Fortunately for the Gators, they’ve been able to practice COVID free and better prepare for their season opener than teams such as Navy. Mullen cautioned Friday that the scrimmage would be more physical with live tackling to the ground.
He said a couple guys got “banged up” Monday, but didn’t specify who or the severity of their injuries.
“I want to see at the end of the week where we’re at, who’s ready to go,” Mullen said. “I do think we’re headed in the right direction. When guys are flying around, executing and popping pads, it looked more like, you know, better football, and probably cleaner football.
“Overall, the sense of the 22 guys on the field playing at a high level was much higher than it was in scrimmage one on a more consistent basis. But still mistakes, a lot of little mental things. It was much more consistent, but not consistent of where you want to be to go play an SEC game.”
Mullen said the team still played with some sloppiness from “lack of playing football” and made critical errors that can’t happen. He added that the altered training camp has put his players behind, but credited them for the improvements they’ve made.
“We kind of planned it out that we’ve been pretty physical up to this point,” Mullen said. “When the SEC came out with whatever their rules were, the things that got eliminated were some of the conditioning and lifting. So we’re trying to catch up on some of that over the next two weeks and just make sure we’re ready for four quarters.”
“I’m excited about how we’re improving. Obviously, you’d like to be further along a little bit as a whole with some of the sloppy, little mistakes right now. But I really like some of our guys’ effort and trying to figure out how to play the game. Now we’ve just got to start putting it all together at this point right now. That’s your last scrimmage.”
Some of the sloppiness came from Kyle Trask. After looking “really sharp” in the first scrimmage and leading the offense on a pair of touchdown drives, Mullen said his starting quarterback was just “OK” on Monday with more on his plate.
“I don’t think yesterday was his best day, but I think he has improved a lot, ” Mullen said. “You’re always going to have little off days here and there. I thought he was a little crisper in scrimmage one. We gave him a little bit more work yesterday than we did in scrimmage one as we continue to build up and get ready to go.”
Mullen didn’t mention any standout performers from Monday, but said freshman defensive back Tre’Vez Johnson “played really hard” at the STAR spot. He also praised tight ends Kemore Gamble, Keon Zipperer and Jonathan Odom for their play in the scrimmage with starter Kyle Pitts sitting out once again.
“I didn’t see a need for him to go play,” Mullen said of Pitts, “with what he’s been able to do so far every day on a consistent basis at practice. I thought Gamble probably did a really good job for us in the last two scrimmages. Zip’s doing a really good job. Still learning a lot of the intricacies of the route running and all of that stuff. Really physical guy, really athletic. Both guys are getting tons of reps, Kemore and Zip.
“Odom actually did pretty well last night, too. Coming off of an injury last year he’s still trying to get his strength back. You watch and he had a couple of nice catches, he put his face on people blocking. He was not afraid to be physical. He’s just got to get bigger and stronger. He’s got some range catching the ball.”
The Gators will have a lighter week to let players recover from the scrimmage, followed by one more stretch of padded practices before game week. Mullen feels “OK” with the physicality of his team, but said getting prepared to play their season opener will be a “big mental grind.”
“Obviously, this is going to be a unique season. Not just dealing with injuries as they come along like a normal season, but you’re also going to have to deal with potentially guys missing games for quarantine or other reasons,” Mullen said. “What I’m really pleased with is that we continue to take steps forward in creating depth across the board. And the next-guy-up mentality. Everything we’re trying to do in practice and scrimmage is rolling.
“That could be a huge factor this season. I can’t tell you how many guys are going to have to play this year for us. And so, I am pleased after two scrimmages to see some young guys coming along. We talk a lot about that. Are we making sure we’re continuing to accelerate these guys because you don’t know when we might have to call on their number to get them into a game. Your travel squad for Week 1 and your travel squad for Week 5 could be a completely different roster, so we have to get as many guys ready as possible.”
