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Published Sep 25, 2016
The Day After Breakdown
Mark Wheeler  •  1standTenFlorida
Publisher

Here on The Day After Breakdown, Inside the Gators looks back on the Florida-Tennessee game and hands out positional grades based on the performance of UF's players and coaches, a by the numbers, hot and not and the bottom line.

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* Watnick: Five takeaways from the Game

* Recruit Reaction: Quarterback high on Florida despite loss

* Uncensored Sound Off - Former/current players on the loss

* Instant Analysis: Florida blows 21-point lead

* Florida-Tennessee discussion thread in the Alley

* Limited Time: 3 months for the price of 1 ($9.99)

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GRADING THE GATORS
POSCOMMENTGRADE

QB

Going into the game I thought Austin Appleby would play well and matched-up better against Tennessee than did Luke Del Rio. For the most part, that looked to be the case as he went 23-of-39 for 296-yards and 3 touchdowns. He stood in the pocket and hit three deep passes - two of which were on the money. He did have the one interception, while under intense pressure. He certainly did more to win the game than any other offensive player.

B+

RB

Jordan Scarlett led the way with 44 yards very well earned yards on 10 carries while the other three backs all averaged under 3.2 ypc. Jordan Cronkrite only 14 yards on the ground, but added 26 yards receiving on 5 catches. Neither Mark Thompson or Lamical Perine contributed much.

C

WR

Once again it was the Antonio Callaway show. He caught 4 passes for 134 yards while the remaining receivers combined for 6 catches for 102 yards. Three freshmen (Tyrie Cleveland, Freddie Swain and Josh Hammond) caught passes while Brandon Powell was targeted but once. Another receiver or two needs to step up.

B

TE

The tight ends combined for 7 catches for 34 yards. The longest gain on the day from the position was a mere 7 yards. Neither player is a factor down the field, but rather are dump off options. C'Yontai Lewis had two outright drops and had a third pass hit his hands near the endzone.

D-

OL

The line looked as if it should receive a passing grade in the first half, but that is skewed somewhat by the fact that Scarlett was able to carry defenders and bull his way for considerable yardage after contact. They fell completely apart in the second half. For the game, though Florida topped the 100-yard mark, the Gators only averaged 3.4 yards per carry. The line gave up 2 sacks, 3 quarterback hurries (more than that if you watched the game) and 7 tackles for loss.

D

DL

We knew heading into the season that Florida didn't have a premiere pass-rusher, but through the first three games they were able to step up as a group, and in a collective effort led the nation in sacks. They were able to get to Josh Hobbs somewhat, the problem is he responded well. While they started out playing solid, by the second half the wheels had fallen off against what had, up until this game, looked like a below average Tennessee line.

C-

LB

Alex Anzalone and Jarred Davis combined for 19 tackles, but no impact plays. Enough said.

D

DB

Apparently ducks can pull trucks and being a big talker in itself doesn't get the job done once the ball is kicked off. Yes, both Quincy Wilson and Teez Tabor recorded interceptions, but the bad significantly outweighed the good. The emphasis is on the 35 points given up in the second half, but the coverage issues began well before that. If not for a handful of drops (including one in the endzone), this game would have been a toss-up at the half. Other than Marcus Maye, no one looked particularly good, but Duke Dawson did look particularly bad.

F

ST

What can be said about Callaway's day? To be clear, this grade is just for this game and doesn't take his past return heroics into consideration. Having made that distinction, that was the worst punt return performance I have ever witnessed. The punt returner should put his heels on the 10 yard line and anything that isn't in-front of him or right to him, he should let roll - chances are - into the endzone. He inexplicably attempted to fair-catch three balls (2, 7 and 1 yard lines) inside the 10 yard line. That is unacceptable. Johnny Townsend had a solid day while Eddy Pineiro, who many thought would carry the day, never attempted a field goal.

F

Coaches

After having incredible success going down the field in the first half on first and second down (Florida's three long pass completions came on a 2nd & 5, 1st & 10 and 2nd & 3) not only did Florida strictly run on early downs, the Gators only attempted three passes in the third quarter, two of them screen passes behind the line. The Florida coaching staff appeared to be channeling their inner Will Muschamp, choosing to go into a shell offensively in order to let the defense carry the day. They came out of it too late though. At times, Jim McElwain looked almost like a dispassionate observer on the sidelines rather than an active participant in the game

F

HOT & NOT

* Hot: Cleveland saw his first action of the year, and though it was but one catch, he showed that he is potentially a deep threat going forward.

* Not: After talking the talk, the Florida secondary wasn't able to walk the walk on Saturday. They were torched for over 300 yards and 4 touchdowns in the air.


DEFINING MOMENTS  

* After holding Tennessee to 35 yards on 6 plays on their opening drive, for some unknown reason Callaway decided to attempt to fair-catch the punt at the two-yard line. His fumble set the Volunteers up with excellent field position, and though Florida's defense kept them out of the endzone the mistake flipped the field. The Gators started their next three drives at their own 1, 8 and 7 yard line.

* Holding a 21-3 lead on their first drive in the second half - two straight Scarlett rushes netted 9 yards. Then, facing a third and one from their own 19 Florida tried to run Scarlett again to the left, where he was met by multiple Volunteers' defenders and dropped for no gain. Hindsight is 20/20, but a rush up the middle with a back or even a quarterback keeper seemed to be a higher percentage play in that situation.

* On Tennessee's following possession, facing a third and three at the Florida 38, Jason Croom made an acrobatic 15 catch over Anzalone - who was well positioned on the play. The Volunteers scored two plays later to cut the lead to 21-10.


BY THE NUMBERS  

0 - It was thought that he would play a prominent part, but Pineiro attempted zero field goals in the game.

0 - Though he was ejected, the number of punches actually landed by Brandon Powell.

6 - Florida went six straight possessions to open the second half without gaining a first down. The Gators first five possessions resulted in a three and out while the sixth was a first down interception thrown by Appleby.

11 - It needs no explanation. Florida wasn't able to get to 12.

900 - Going in it was expected to be a defensive battle, but the two teams (Florida 402, Tennesssee 498) combined for 900 yards of offense.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Though this loss stings because it brings the long winning streak to an end, this is Tennessee, not Kentucky. The streak was bound to come to an end at some point. It wasn't going to remain so lopsided for forever. Before the season started, many Florida fans and most media had this penciled down as a loss for Florida. To begin the week the Volunteers were better than a touchdown favorite, were higher ranked and were at home. The way it happened isn't ideal, and while no loss is a good loss, this isn't exactly a terrible loss.

At 3-1 (1-1) Florida is still in the thick of things in the SEC East and some of the games which were looking like hard rows to hoe in the preseason (namely LSU and FSU) aren't looking all that intimidating at the moment.

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