Advertisement
Published Nov 27, 2016
The Day After Breakdown
Mark Wheeler  •  1standTenFlorida
Publisher

Here on The Day After Breakdown, Inside the Gators looks back on the Florida-Florida State 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.

------

* Sunday Injury Update: Another starter ruled out

* GET YOUR 30 DAY FREE TRIAL MEMBERSHIP

* Impact Analysis: Florida takes a huge hit as Hansard flips

* Former Florida Player Feedback: Church's 10 Observations

* Recruit Reaction: Frustrated with the offense

------

Advertisement
GRADING THE GATORS
POSCOMMENTGRADE

QB

As was stated last week, Florida fans know what they have in Austin Appleby - a player who when things are going well can be maybe slightly above average. However, when things aren't going well, he isn't going to carry the load or dig your team out of a hole. While he had a couple of plays where he simply held on to the ball way too long, on quite a few others, he wasn't given time to blink much less go through his progressions or even toss the ball away. He ended up 19-of-35 for 149-yards. His receivers had several drops though and he himself was dropped five times by Florida State defenders.

C-

RB

If playing running back was all about just running the ball, this grade would be higher. However, there are other aspects of the game to be taken into consideration. For the second consecutive week Jordan Scarlett was a huge liability in pass protection. He single handedly cost the Gators two big plays by not picking up a blitzing defender. His second offense, when Antonio Callaway, out to the left of the formation, clearly pointed out pre-snap where the blitz was coming from was an inexcusable unforced error that has to be remedied if he is to become an every down back. For the second game in a row Mark Thompson didn't have a carry. That isn't surprising. What is surprising is that Jordan Cronkrite had as many carries - three - as Lamical Perine. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

D

WR

There are only two games left in the season, so it might be a little late to face this reality now, but Brandon Powell is nowhere near the player he was last year. If it is because of issues with his foot, playing on it certainly isn't going to help. He has become a negative rather than a positive. Not only did he have a couple of drops, he doesn't look as athletic or explosive when he does have the ball. Freddie Swain or Josh Hammond should be taking some of his snaps. Though it wasn't a perfect throw, Callaway had the huge drop (he had both of his hands on the ball) in a bad situation. Tyrie Cleveland and Ahamd Fulwood were non factors.

D

TE

The two tight ends combined for 15-yards on two catches. C'Yontai Lewis had his usual drop. The lack of production in the receiving game isn't exactly shocking. Neither are elite receivers at the position in the first place. What was disappointing is that they had perhaps their worst blocking game of the season.

D

OL

Talk about a roller-coaster ride of a season. No single position group has been up-and-down as much as the offensive linemen. Some of it has to do with injuries - some of it has to do with youth. The thing about youth is that as the season wears on, as young players gain more experience, they are supposed to get better, not worse. For as well as T.J. McCoy and Jawaan Taylor have played at times this year, they both took their lumps on Saturday. Demarcus Walker - as you might expect - abused them both one-on-one. They are hardly alone in that. That is the difference between signing good players and signing elite players.

F

DL

Florida State came into the game as one of the 11 worst teams in the NCAA in allowing their quarterback to be sacked. How did Florida take advantage of that - by not dropping Deandre Francois a single time in the game. While some players - namely Caleb Brantley - flashed at times, there was no consistency along the line. Not only did they not record a sack, they allowed FSU to average 6.2 yards per rush.

C-

LB

The three starting linebackers combined for 14 tackles and two impact plays - a quarterback hurry by Daniel McMillian and a tackle for a loss by Kylan Johnson. The third one, David Reese, recorded 5 tackles (2 of them solo). None of the three looked particularly good shedding blocks in defense against the run.

D

DB

Going into the game if you would have said that Florida held Francois to 138-yards passing while recording an interception, I would have guessed that it was a much closer game. Then again, taking into account the Gators' non-existent offense, maybe not. All things considered - especially that there was no pass rush to speak of - the Gators performed very well against one of the top 25 passing attacks in the country.

B+

ST

This was a bit of a mixed bag. Johnny Townsend's first punt only traveled 38 yards, but then he was on for the rest of the night. Eddy Pineiro was 2-of-2 on field goal attempts, but also knocked two kickoffs out of bounds, giving Florida State field position. The saving grace, and tipping point as far as a grade is concerned, was the touchdown scored on the fumbled punt.

B+

Coaches

What is there to say at this point about Florida's offense? For the second year in a row the Gators weren't able to score an offensive touchdown in their biggest rivalry game of the year. Once again, on the first drive, while running scripted plays, the offense could do no wrong. Then on every drive after that, they basically could do no right.

F

DEFINING MOMENTS    

If the game had been closer, the decision to go for it on fourth and goal from the Florida State two-yard line instead of kicking the field goal to go up 3-0 would have factored prominently in this discussion. However, the game wasn't close or ever really in doubt, so that bad choice didn't really come back to bite the Gators in the butt.

By stating what I would have done in that situation - and yes that is my stance even had the Gators scored a touchdown on the play - my defining moment though may come across as a bit of a paradox.

The real defining moment to me was when Florida got the ball on their own 27-yard line with 55 seconds left in the half and still in possession of three time outs.

On one hand I understand the thought process here - the Gators were only down 10-3 - play it safe, go into the half and regroup.

However, that sounds a whole hell of a lot like it came from the Will Muschamp book of how not to play to actually win games.

I know that it sounds contradictory to advocate that the best bet was to go for the safe three points on the opening drive - but then not play it safe to end the half. My reasoning being putting points on the board on the road - even three points - on that first drive changes the dynamic of the game in that you shut the crowd up, you gain something for driving the ball and you keep momentum on your side.

Coming away from that situation empty handed had the impact of negatively effecting momentum.

However, right before the half, it made more sense to throw caution to the wind. In this case, you are roughly 35 yards away from putting points on the board. It is a defining moment not because it defines you as having a killer instinct, put your foot on their throat mentality, but because it was a legitimate moment to show some faith in your offense (deserved or not) while perhaps gaining some points - which have been hard to come by for the Florida offense for the last month.

Instead McElwain basically decided to kill the clock (what else would you call that little swing pass) and live to fight another day (or half). The problem being, neither decision worked out well for him and causes more questions than provided answers about his ability to be a big time coach.

HOT & NOT      

* Hot: The defense, particularly Caleb Brantley and Marcell Harris.


* Not: The offense, particularly Doug Nussmeier's playcalling and the offensive line's pass blocking.


BY THE NUMBERS    

0 - You knew we weren't going to be able to go through this entire breakdown and not mention the fact that Florida was an astounding 0-for-12 on third down conversions. You knew it, I wrote it, no need to rub it in by going into great detail about how much that attributed to a worn out defense collapsing late in the game.

THE BOTTOM LINE    

When does an 8-3 record and No. 15 ranking in the Associated Press Poll not feel so good? When you are coming off your second straight blowout defeat to your most bitter instate rivals.

Florida can win the SEC East each and every year - and as down as it is, they very well may do just that - but if they aren't able to be more competitive against Florida State, they will forever end the year on a down note.

If - or more like when - the Gators are blown out by Alabama this weekend, that won't be held against McElwain anywhere near as much as this loss to the Seminoles.

We expect Florida to lose to the Tide. They are a machine. It is that one sided (though that should never be the case, that is an entirely different column altogether) in their favor.

However, despite the injury situation, there isn't a huge talent gap when it comes to Florida and Florida State. That game should not have been that lopsided. And the bottom line is the fact that it was was more about coaching more than it was about players.

------

Thank you for reading this Inside the Gators article. To discuss it, please visit the Alligator Alley Forum.