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Published Sep 17, 2017
The Day After Breakdown
Mark Wheeler  •  1standTenFlorida
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Here on The Day After Breakdown, Inside the Gators looks back on the Florida-Tennessee game, handing out positional grades based on the performance of UF's players and coaches, a by the numbers, hot and not and the bottom line.

GRADING THE GATORS
POSCOMMENTGRADE

QB

Judging by the standards set by an average college football offense, in going 18-of-28 for 212-yards, with two touchdowns and one interception, Feleipe Franks wasn't overly impressive from a numbers standpoint. However, Florida hasn't been average offensively for quite a while now, so we will grade Franks on a curve. He really only had one bad throw - that being the high pass to C'Yontai Lewis, which ended up being intercepted. You can't discount the poise or arm he showed on the final play.

B

RB

Thanks in very large part to a 72-yard run (which basically ended up working the same as a very long punt) by Malik Davis, Florida averaged 5.8 yards per rush with a running back by committee approach. Going forward though, Davis has shown that he is deserving of more carries. Five in the first two games simply isn't enough for the Gators biggest home run threat at the position. The biggest takeaway from the day though ended up being Mark Thompson's inability to pass block. When he gave up a sack earlier, it was because he was too far up in the pocket, out of position. That can be a teachable play. The final play of the game though, he looked as if he had no interest in attempting to block anyone. That is inexcusable.

C-

WR

We didn't see much Freddie Swain or Dre Massey, but the Gators still did a good job of spreading the ball around considering that except for the game winner, almost every pass completed was near the line of scrimmage in order to compensate for suspect pass blocking from the line. Considering that Florida doesn't run a full route tree (maybe they can't because of the lack of protection), passes to players like Kadarius Toney and Brandon Powell are basically long hand-offs. Tyrie Cleveland adding another long touchdown catch to his resume is what brought this grade up to an A.

A

TE

They weren't very involved in the passing game, though Lewis and Moral Stephens caught short passes. Lewis though did a commendable job blocking in the game.

C-

OL

The raw numbers weren't as bad as they were against Michigan - with Tennessee recording but two sacks, two quarterback hurries and three tackles for loss, but part of that is because Florida went with a quick passing game to get rid of the ball to avoid the rush.

D

DL

Florida only recorded one sack on the day, but that is only part of the story as the Gators had nine quarterback hurries. For the second game in a row Jordan Sherit, Jachai Polite and Jabari Zuniga played well. The interior defensive line on the other hand simply doesn't get much push. However, in his limited amount of snaps Tedarrell Slaton had some success. CeCe Jefferson and Kyree Campbell had their moments. Tavan Bryan and Khairi Clark looked over-matched.

C

LB

David Reese started off hot with two big tackles and an interception (which was more of a gift rather than him actually making a play) then went out with an injury maybe? In the second half of the game he was a non-factor. Jeremiah Moon played a good game in space, but he still doesn't carry enough bulk to go with his long frame to be physical in the run game. Though he has a heartwarming, movie of the week, type of back story, Christian Garcia being on the field during meaningful minutes in a rivalry game tells you all you need to know about this group right now.

C

SEC

They wore down a little late in the game, but overall the secondary, relying on so many young guys, played well. On the surface giving up 252-yards passing to a quarterback the caliber of Quinten Dormady may not look great, but the Gators did hold him to just over a 50% completion percentage while picking off three passes. Duke Dawson once again came up big, but that is expected at this point. The play of Marco Wilson (three passes defended) and C.J. Henderson (interception return for a touchdown) were a bonus.

B

ST

Even after the long return late, which was aided by Tennessee having to kickoff from 15 yards further back due to a personal foul penalty, it is still questionable why Cleveland is returning kicks. Otherwise, it was pretty much what you would expect as Eddy Pineiro was 2-for-2 in field goals and Johnny Townsend had two punts downed inside the 20.

B

Coaches

It was a big win, end of story. The journey to get there though leaves a lot of questions to still be answered about this staff. From going in a shell once again in the second half (in the first 22 minutes of the half, Florida attempted but three passes) to not calling a time out when Franks ran to the 35 on the final drive (the excuse being they thought he had a first down and the clock would stop while the chains were being moved). Honestly, there wasn't a feel good moment on offense until the very last play of the game.

C-

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* Notebook: Thrilling ending to a must win game

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DEFINING MOMENTS  

The most defining moment, not just for the game, but perhaps for the season and maybe even McElwain's career at Florida, was without question the game winning Hail Mary.

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Having said that, there are two other defining moments in my opinion.

1) On their last possession of the first half Florida gets the ball back with 2 minutes and 58 seconds remaining. Okay, so with the ball at their own 17 yard line, though I don't agree with it and most coaches with a killer instinct likely wouldn't do it, I understand being a bit cautious. But then after converting a 3rd and 5 to the 30, with still plenty of time remaining and timeouts in your pocket, why not at least play for a field goal attempt?

Florida instead went into a shell offensively, played kill the clock before punting the ball. That allowed Tennessee to walk down the field to attempt a game tying field goal, which was of course missed.

2) Speaking of going into a shell offensively. One year after doing just that in the second half while hoping and praying that they would be able to hold on to a big lead in Knoxville - which of course they didn't do - the Gators tried it again Saturday. This time in Gainesville, with a much smaller lead (6-3) to protect).

In the first 22 minutes of the second half the Gators attempted but three passes while going nowhere offensively. Finally, Franks was allowed to throw the ball, completing 3-0f-4 passes (the only miss was a shot in the endzone to Toney) on a drive which ended with him tossing a touchdown pass to Powell.

So to get this straight, last year you were unable to hold on to a 21-3 halftime lead following the turtle in a shell offensive philosophy, so the answer is to attempt it again this year while holding just a 6-3 lead?

With an offensive strategy like that, there's no need to wonder why you were hearing boos from the hometown crowd in the Swamp.

HOT & NOT  

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