Five Takeaways: Offensive ineptitude on display in Gators' loss to FSU

1. There’s a lot of criticism to go around offensively, from Florida’s play-calling to quarterback play to its protection up front. Really, a number of factors led to poor production from the group Saturday.

Florida managed 67 yards on its opening drive but came up empty after a gamble by Jim McElwain to go for it on fourth down from the 3 rather than take the three points. But maybe the most glaring aspect of that opening drive is that past that point, the Gators recorded just 140 yards throughout the rest of the contest. A noticeable trend in recent contests has been that Florida managed to find success - and show a little more creativity than it usually does – with its scripted plays at the start of games, but following that the play-calling has tended to be predictable and sometimes stale.

As you can read on our message boards, plenty of fans have had it with Doug Nussmeier’s play-calling – and a lot of that frustration is warranted. However, his players need to do a better job of executing at the same time.

Florida’s offensive line got bullied up front on passing downs, and receivers were responsible for a number of drops – including Antonio Callaway’s drop on a corner route that would have been good for a touchdown. Austin Appleby also needs to put the ball in better spots for his wideouts. Overthrown passes were an issue for Appleby on Saturday.