During the second season of the Jim McElwain era, it’s been much of the same story regarding how much further ahead the Florida defense has been as compared to the offense.
While the defense ranks third nationally in total defense and second in the country in scoring defense, the Gators sit tied for 53rd in total offense and tied for 65th in scoring offense. In Saturday’s 40-14 win over Missouri, Florida’s defense and special teams outscored the offense 21-19, as the offensive unit often struggled with finishing in the red zone and putting points on the board against a below-average Mizzou defense.
During his bye week press conference Wednesday, when asked for an assessment of the offense at the midway point of the regular season, McElwain called the offense “very average” while giving praise to the defensive group.
“They’re pretty darn good, and they’re a lot of fun to be around,” McElwain said of the defense. “And they’re holding each other accountable, and they’re not worried about when a play does break. This is where I think the difference of the mindset piece … they don’t worry about it, they come back and go get the next play. And that right there is what great teams do and what great units do, and you know we’ve got a ways on one side and yet the other side’s got it pretty well organized.”
Meanwhile, McElwain wants his offense to play with a similar level of confidence.
“Look, these guys have got to realize that they’ve got a chance to really be good,” explained McElwain. “You only do that through repetition and experience and that kind of stuff. What you do is you build on all of the things, the positives, and show, ‘Look, this is what you’re capable of.’ Now, overcoming the negative event or adversity or failure, that’s the key, right? And the great teams, they just clap it off and go win the next play. We’re still not there on that mindset piece. And yet, I’ve seen some steps in that direction where, I mean, you see it. Something bad happens and everybody just, ‘uh’ and ‘uh.’ Well, the next play, you’re probably going to be ‘eh.’ Does that make sense?
“You know what, we’re 5-1. Last time I checked, that’s leading the East. And our guys are excited about it. We’ve been given a breath of life through some things that have transpired through it without our control, right? And now go take advantage of it, right?”
Staying in rhythm is an area where McElwain is looking for the offense to improve in the coming weeks and during the bye week, where the Gators will practice Wednesday and Thursday before working out Friday morning, taking Saturday off and then meeting for a team dinner Sunday. Against the Tigers, the Gators offense committed eight false start penalties.
"Yeah, you know, how about coordinating the snap count with everybody on the team,” McElwain said. “That and there again, that stems back to maybe trying to do a few more things than what's needed. So anyway, that being said, and I'd say the biggest thing is really getting back from a fundamental standpoint with some of those younger guys that are playing a lot of significant snaps.”
As for redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Del Rio, who threw for 236 yards and a touchdown against three picks on just 47.4% passing, after evaluating the film McElwain felt Del Rio “played pretty darn good in some areas, and yet he know he can play a little bit better.” However, the second-year Florida head coach believes that a number of Del Rio’s mistakes are correctable.
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* McElwain updates Davis (ankle), three injured defensive linemen
* The Stock Report: Recent quarterback play leaving much to be desired
* Film Study: Breaking down Luke Del Rio
* Former Florida Player Feedback: Church's 10 Observations
* 3-2-1: Thoughts on Florida's homecoming victory over Missouri
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"Oh absolutely, 100 percent. I think the biggest thing is don't try to do too much.” McElwain said. “And I think he was, you know, he took the plan, he knew the plan and yet he got himself into trouble. I don't know, I like to refer to it sometimes when you're playing that position as seeing ghosts rather than just taking what's real and doing it. And I think he saw that when he watched the video. I mean, he was down on himself, and yet he shouldn't be that down.
“There’s some throws that he wants back, but here’s the good thing here, the one thing he’s got to realize here is you never get it back. But what do you learn from it. And he’s one of those guys.”
As for the trio of starting wide receivers in Antonio Callaway, Brandon Powell and Tyrie Cleveland moving forward, McElwain is excited about their development. He also offered some praise Wednesday for sophomore running back Jordan Scarlett, who remains a key piece in Florida’s current committee approach at running back.
“You know, when he’s taken advantage of his opportunities,” McElwain said of Scarlett. “No. 2 is not feeling sorry for himself, you know. He’s going, he’s excited about the other guys doing well and knows when he gets his opportunities he’s running hard. He’s keeping his feet moving more, last year when you saw you him you probably saw him stop his feet on contact. He’s doing a great job of not just running to the sideline, running through the inside arms of people and keeping his feet moving through contact, which I think has really helped him from a pad-level standpoint and everything else. He’s been good. He’s a great teammate and he just wants to win.”
QUOTABLES FROM MCELWAIN
--McElwain on Georgia freshman quarterback Jacob Eason, whom McElwain and Florida recruited during the 2016 cycle. "We tried to jump there late obviously when there might have been a crack. I don't know how big the crack was. ... That guy is a special talent. He understands the game, he grew up in it. I really enjoyed being around him and his family in the brief time that we were able to. He's a really good player."
--“We kind of knew what we had. He maybe jumped in there a little quicker than what we thought,” McElwain said of the emergence of freshman right tackle Jawaan Taylor this season. “In Waany’s case, the energy in which he’s come to now, there’s been some times where things have been pretty big for him to where experience, I think, will help him. We expect him to anchor that thing down and not worry about it. He’s getting better all the time.”
--“There’s nothing you can do about it. … When you go through life and start whining about stuff, that drives me crazy. It is what it is. It’s gonna happen. Let’s go and just prepare this week and get ready for going to Jacksonville in a great event,” McElwain said of playing four of the final five games of the regular season away from home.
--On which of the young defensive linemen stood out to him Saturday: “I thought Antonneous Clayton, he's still a long ways away from being where he's going to be, but I thought he and Keivonnis really kind of played well. I thought CeCe (Jefferson) - I know he's not young, but he is in relative terms - I thought he really showed up. When you go down inside, the guy that I'd like to recognize a little bit, you know we keep waiting for him and I think the light came on a little bit is Taven Bryan. I thought Taven, he showed up and became relevant in the game and I thought that was really important for us."
--McElwain on Steve Spurrier speaking to the team Thursday: “It was pretty cool, man. He came in for like seven or eight minutes, told some stories. The guys have a lot of respect for this guy. They drive by his statue, we play on his field and, you know, obviously his success. He was able to relay real-life situations that he went through with his teams and man it was it awesome. You know what, our guys understand, we got a great group of guys that respect and understand the traditions of the University of Florida and he’s a huge piece of that.”
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