First, as a football fan alone, you have to tip your hat to both teams and staffs. This was a slug fest and you saw it in the players, especially the Bama players walking off the field. Those boys left it all out there.
Now to our Gators. I posted my observations from Bama’s first two games and what we would need to do to beat Bama. We were close y’all and quite truthfully, with the exception of one quarter, Florida was the most dominant football team. They were also the faster team, even Saban admitted as such. Regardless, I don’t believe in moral victories and fully acknowledge that the Gators should have won this game at home with a raucous crowd behind them. CDM has to win this one. No one from Bama scares you right? Not even Bryce Young who made great plays, but his great plays came in the simplicity of the game. I will say it again, this is a good Bama team that is capable of winning a championship. This is not a great Bama team.
Defense
Here is what the film showed us. Bama attacked Tre’Vez from the onset. The second play of the game they went right at him on the wide receiver screen. Even the following PI call against Dean, you could see the scheme against Tre’Vez to the left side of the formation where he left his responsibility to cover the flats and retreated in coverage. Bama must of have saw this because they went back to that same concept but out of a different formation on their first touchdown of the game. See the 11:30 mark of the first quarter for reference. Wide receivers clear out, RB swings left to the flat, and Tre’Vez is still in a backpedal. Not sure if he is confused or just slow to diagnose, but he should’ve been breaking on that play a step into his drop. He is late getting there then misses the tackle. As soon as Burney came in on the second drive of the game, they attacked him too. Burney had a crucial missed tackle on 2nd and 10 of that second drive. BY threw a bad pass to the running back on a swing pass which should have been a tfl but Burney whiffed on a really easy tackle. Burney hides well. He will make a tackle or two every now or then, but more often than not, his tackles are assisted.
Overall, Bama's offensive gameplan was to attack the Florida offense from the outside in. Here is what I mean. Bama made it clear that they were going to attack the perimeter of this Florida defense in the first quarter with quick outs, running back swing routes, and hitches. This put our safeties and backers in 1v1 situations versus their backs and receivers. Then as the game progressed and the defense adjusted, the throws to the interior picked up in the 3rd quarter. They were less successful in this regard though.
But it worked in the first quarter as missed tackles contributed to the first quarter onslaught. Grantham actually dialed up a helluva blitz on the first drive. See the 13:15 mark of the first quarter on 3rd and 9. Dean destroyed Bryce but Torrence just has to break down and make that tackle.
The PI call on 3rd down of the second drive was a killer. But it signaled what fans have been looking for. Elam can lock down any team's best wide receiver. Let him follow that receiver, play man, and do his thing.
I will give props to our staff for making the adjustments and I think this might be the difference between having McGriff and Jules versus English and Gray. Here is a stat for you. Bryce Young went 22/35 for the game with 233 yards and 3 tds. In the first quarter he went 12/16 for 3 tds and 138 yards, with most of the yards being YAC. Let’s do the math. For the rest of the game we held BY to 10/19 for 95 yards and 0 touchdowns. What made the difference?
Our defensive line started to wreak havoc in that 2nd quarter. This forced BY into some forced throws and the windows also got tighter as our DBs started to close fast. Cox, Carter, and Gervon were playing out of their minds as were Diabate and Moon at backer. We saw some 4-3 and 3-3-5 looks in this game which also helped to limit Bama’s offense. Better play from the front four definitely helped Tre’Vez improve his play (though not entirely) after the first quarter. We also started to get more hats to the ball. Check the 5:10 mark of the 2nd quarter. On 3rd and 12 Young hit Metchie on a short crossing route where Tre’Vez and Burney get immediate help from Marshall to make the play and force 4th down. If those two are left solo to make that tackle on Metchie, history shows that it's a conversion.
Perkins, Helm and Marshall stepped up today in the secondary. That PI call on Helm was ridiculous and again, extended Bama’s fg scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Despite missing that one tackle in the first quarter, Torrence is a consistent free safety. Wouldn’t surprise me to hear more talk of him as a 2-3 round draft pick going into next season if he continues to develop.
Bama’s first drive of the 3rd quarter was the back breaker. We had a chance for a few 3rd down stops but the PI call on Cox and the few close conversions killed us. If we stop Bama on that drive I’m confident that Florida wins the ballgame. Although Cox made a major mistake there, I actually liked to watch us finally use the Buck as something other than a stand-up WDE. Multiple times we saw the OLBs drop into coverage and confuse a Young qb on the road.
Offense
Gotta love the variations and for those of you who criticized playcalling the first two weeks, you can see why keeping it vanilla worked. As I mentioned after the first game and in the lead up to Bama, those plays to the tight end were coming and CDM went right to it. They don’t have to be big gains but they serve the purpose of softening up the LB and safety’s ability to attack the ball. Zip and Gamble combined for 9 catches for 83 yards. Running the speed option out of multiple sets and to the weak side also put Bama on its heels multiple times. They have some NFL'ers on that squad though at the LB position, and at times, guys like ToTo, Sanders, and Anderson made life difficult. Anderson is one of the best OLBs I have watched in quite some time.
EJ played better overall but had some major missed reads and throws. See 9:30 mark of the first quarter where he locks in on Davis and completely misses Whit who is on a drag and is wide open. The back shoulder pass to Cope at 14:34 of the second quarter is a missed opportunity but look at Gamble on the bottom of your screen on the very same play. In that situation it is 2nd and 4, so I do not blame EJ for taking a shot with man coverage on Cope, but if he is going to do so then he has to give Cope a chance to make the play. The simple route to Gamble would have secured the first down, which fortunately we got on the following play. I want to draw attention to one play which is not really a missed read, see 4th and 3 at the 12:11 mark of the 2nd quarter. Out of the timeout and with a full play clock, you want to see your qb extend the snap count to force the defense to show the blitz. Also, I’m grateful that ball was batted down on that play because if he was going to Whit on the out route, which I think he was, then it’s a pick six the other way. For another missed throw see the 3:45 mark of the third quarter; he missed big play to Wells on the corner route.
But then there was progress in some aspects. In the 2nd quarter he sailed that back shoulder throw to Copeland. Then at :52 of the third quarter, he completes a well placed back shoulder pass to Hendo. Another example is the big completion to Rick Wells (3:45 of 2nd quarter) which is exactly the in-route that he missed to Whit to begin the FAU game that I pointed out in my analysis. We saw it again, this time a short in-route to Whit at the 4:19 mark of the 4th quarter followed by a similar route to Zip on the next play to move the chains. EJ is definitely inconsistent but yesterday he showed signs that he can make in-game corrections to some of the throws he was missing on.
His one pick wasn’t terrible. You want to see him throw it away but Sanders, who is a football player, killed Gouragie on that stunt. Speaking of, the line wasn’t as crisp as what we saw the first two weeks but damn, they’ve come a long way. The hole that the interior opened on Malik’s 26 yard td run in the second was a thing of beauty. Kingsley, White and Braun also opened up a parking lot on Wright’s big run at the 3:36 mark of the 3rd quarter. Tarquin and Braun held it down when called upon.
About the two point conversion. Mullen said someone missed a read or ran the wrong play. I never want to assume what the play call is. I do wonder if Zip was supposed to pull or if the mesh was supposed to read right, because if EJ pulled, there was no way he was scoring as Bama had him covered on the edge.
Overall Takes
Now to our Gators. I posted my observations from Bama’s first two games and what we would need to do to beat Bama. We were close y’all and quite truthfully, with the exception of one quarter, Florida was the most dominant football team. They were also the faster team, even Saban admitted as such. Regardless, I don’t believe in moral victories and fully acknowledge that the Gators should have won this game at home with a raucous crowd behind them. CDM has to win this one. No one from Bama scares you right? Not even Bryce Young who made great plays, but his great plays came in the simplicity of the game. I will say it again, this is a good Bama team that is capable of winning a championship. This is not a great Bama team.
Defense
Here is what the film showed us. Bama attacked Tre’Vez from the onset. The second play of the game they went right at him on the wide receiver screen. Even the following PI call against Dean, you could see the scheme against Tre’Vez to the left side of the formation where he left his responsibility to cover the flats and retreated in coverage. Bama must of have saw this because they went back to that same concept but out of a different formation on their first touchdown of the game. See the 11:30 mark of the first quarter for reference. Wide receivers clear out, RB swings left to the flat, and Tre’Vez is still in a backpedal. Not sure if he is confused or just slow to diagnose, but he should’ve been breaking on that play a step into his drop. He is late getting there then misses the tackle. As soon as Burney came in on the second drive of the game, they attacked him too. Burney had a crucial missed tackle on 2nd and 10 of that second drive. BY threw a bad pass to the running back on a swing pass which should have been a tfl but Burney whiffed on a really easy tackle. Burney hides well. He will make a tackle or two every now or then, but more often than not, his tackles are assisted.
Overall, Bama's offensive gameplan was to attack the Florida offense from the outside in. Here is what I mean. Bama made it clear that they were going to attack the perimeter of this Florida defense in the first quarter with quick outs, running back swing routes, and hitches. This put our safeties and backers in 1v1 situations versus their backs and receivers. Then as the game progressed and the defense adjusted, the throws to the interior picked up in the 3rd quarter. They were less successful in this regard though.
But it worked in the first quarter as missed tackles contributed to the first quarter onslaught. Grantham actually dialed up a helluva blitz on the first drive. See the 13:15 mark of the first quarter on 3rd and 9. Dean destroyed Bryce but Torrence just has to break down and make that tackle.
The PI call on 3rd down of the second drive was a killer. But it signaled what fans have been looking for. Elam can lock down any team's best wide receiver. Let him follow that receiver, play man, and do his thing.
I will give props to our staff for making the adjustments and I think this might be the difference between having McGriff and Jules versus English and Gray. Here is a stat for you. Bryce Young went 22/35 for the game with 233 yards and 3 tds. In the first quarter he went 12/16 for 3 tds and 138 yards, with most of the yards being YAC. Let’s do the math. For the rest of the game we held BY to 10/19 for 95 yards and 0 touchdowns. What made the difference?
Our defensive line started to wreak havoc in that 2nd quarter. This forced BY into some forced throws and the windows also got tighter as our DBs started to close fast. Cox, Carter, and Gervon were playing out of their minds as were Diabate and Moon at backer. We saw some 4-3 and 3-3-5 looks in this game which also helped to limit Bama’s offense. Better play from the front four definitely helped Tre’Vez improve his play (though not entirely) after the first quarter. We also started to get more hats to the ball. Check the 5:10 mark of the 2nd quarter. On 3rd and 12 Young hit Metchie on a short crossing route where Tre’Vez and Burney get immediate help from Marshall to make the play and force 4th down. If those two are left solo to make that tackle on Metchie, history shows that it's a conversion.
Perkins, Helm and Marshall stepped up today in the secondary. That PI call on Helm was ridiculous and again, extended Bama’s fg scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Despite missing that one tackle in the first quarter, Torrence is a consistent free safety. Wouldn’t surprise me to hear more talk of him as a 2-3 round draft pick going into next season if he continues to develop.
Bama’s first drive of the 3rd quarter was the back breaker. We had a chance for a few 3rd down stops but the PI call on Cox and the few close conversions killed us. If we stop Bama on that drive I’m confident that Florida wins the ballgame. Although Cox made a major mistake there, I actually liked to watch us finally use the Buck as something other than a stand-up WDE. Multiple times we saw the OLBs drop into coverage and confuse a Young qb on the road.
Offense
Gotta love the variations and for those of you who criticized playcalling the first two weeks, you can see why keeping it vanilla worked. As I mentioned after the first game and in the lead up to Bama, those plays to the tight end were coming and CDM went right to it. They don’t have to be big gains but they serve the purpose of softening up the LB and safety’s ability to attack the ball. Zip and Gamble combined for 9 catches for 83 yards. Running the speed option out of multiple sets and to the weak side also put Bama on its heels multiple times. They have some NFL'ers on that squad though at the LB position, and at times, guys like ToTo, Sanders, and Anderson made life difficult. Anderson is one of the best OLBs I have watched in quite some time.
EJ played better overall but had some major missed reads and throws. See 9:30 mark of the first quarter where he locks in on Davis and completely misses Whit who is on a drag and is wide open. The back shoulder pass to Cope at 14:34 of the second quarter is a missed opportunity but look at Gamble on the bottom of your screen on the very same play. In that situation it is 2nd and 4, so I do not blame EJ for taking a shot with man coverage on Cope, but if he is going to do so then he has to give Cope a chance to make the play. The simple route to Gamble would have secured the first down, which fortunately we got on the following play. I want to draw attention to one play which is not really a missed read, see 4th and 3 at the 12:11 mark of the 2nd quarter. Out of the timeout and with a full play clock, you want to see your qb extend the snap count to force the defense to show the blitz. Also, I’m grateful that ball was batted down on that play because if he was going to Whit on the out route, which I think he was, then it’s a pick six the other way. For another missed throw see the 3:45 mark of the third quarter; he missed big play to Wells on the corner route.
But then there was progress in some aspects. In the 2nd quarter he sailed that back shoulder throw to Copeland. Then at :52 of the third quarter, he completes a well placed back shoulder pass to Hendo. Another example is the big completion to Rick Wells (3:45 of 2nd quarter) which is exactly the in-route that he missed to Whit to begin the FAU game that I pointed out in my analysis. We saw it again, this time a short in-route to Whit at the 4:19 mark of the 4th quarter followed by a similar route to Zip on the next play to move the chains. EJ is definitely inconsistent but yesterday he showed signs that he can make in-game corrections to some of the throws he was missing on.
His one pick wasn’t terrible. You want to see him throw it away but Sanders, who is a football player, killed Gouragie on that stunt. Speaking of, the line wasn’t as crisp as what we saw the first two weeks but damn, they’ve come a long way. The hole that the interior opened on Malik’s 26 yard td run in the second was a thing of beauty. Kingsley, White and Braun also opened up a parking lot on Wright’s big run at the 3:36 mark of the 3rd quarter. Tarquin and Braun held it down when called upon.
About the two point conversion. Mullen said someone missed a read or ran the wrong play. I never want to assume what the play call is. I do wonder if Zip was supposed to pull or if the mesh was supposed to read right, because if EJ pulled, there was no way he was scoring as Bama had him covered on the edge.
Overall Takes
- Florida dominated Bama in damn near every aspect of the game. But you can’t spot Bama, nor any SEC team for that matter a 18-point advantage.
- Mullen can coach his ass off. Those scoring drives were a thing of beauty.
- Bama gets away with some obvious penalties. Horse collar tackles, face mask, picks and holding. Gotta get ready for this against UGAly because their DBs will absolutely mug our wide outs.
- Receivers have to start getting better separation.
- We are wasting timeouts on stupid stuff. Burning a crucial timeout because we don’t have a receiver covered on 4th down early in the fourth quarter stings. We could’ve used that at the end of the game.
- Moon (damn this kid is balling)
- Carter
- Elam
- Gervon
- The entire RB room
- Torrence
- Gamble and Zip
