Finally a win
DJ's excites, hope arrives
Pray it's no mirage
Praises:
* DJ Lagway - must watch TV ... feel something special is about to happen with the ball in his hands
* DJ's ability to throw the deep ball and work the middle of the field - touch and accuracy was a thing of beauty
* Kam James - yet agains shows all out effort tackling another player 30 yards downfield (play was negated for offensive holding, but the effort remains on tape and demonstrates why he was chosen a captain this week as a 2nd year player.
* Tre making the most of his limited touches
* Depth at RB - there's talent at running the rock... questions will always be picking up pass blocking schemes and will the blocking be available to create running lanes/creases.
* Special Teams - again the law firm of Dike, Crenshaw and Smack gave the Gators an advantage in this unit
* Opportunity for depth players to get game time and rewarded for their contributions to the Gators
* Postgame interviews of Sapp (what a boisterous, infectous personality... a leader I'd want to gravitate towards) and Lagway's humbleness, leadership by example. Both players praising others and showing Napier's greatest strength - identifying and developing our next generation, while allowing the players to be their most authentic self.
* Finally recording a 3 & out on D.
Postulates:
* Reminder - the game was against a team it should dominate and the sputtering in the first half especially is a tell tale sign of potential ceiling of this team. Championship teams boatrace these opponents in the first half to allow backups to play the entire 2nd half. The struggles on both sides can be foreshadowing if continued improvement doesn't take place
* Coaching situational awareness - it's gotten so bad that I believe wholesale coaching changes at the top is the only way to cure
Examples:
> 4 & 1 - The good - going for it. The bad - why run wildkat with DJ split wide and have your smallest RB running it? Wouldn't it be better to run an RPO with DJ and a powerback?
> Twice more the offense wasn't ready and an unnecessary TO was called. The first was after the long pass to Badger for 77 yards which caused them to sputter w/o a TO before the first half ended (btw - when was the last time the offense had a successful 2 min TD score before half?) The 2nd was the change of quarter to the 4th quarter... C'mon... this is unacceptable and insane this continues to happen in year 3.
* The personal foul penalties... while some were borderline (Marshall's suplex) ... they are not happening with other programs as frequently and at critical moments here at Florida. This needs to stop
* Illegal Formation... While they were only called for 1 (maybe two) - there were countless times where receivers were scrambling late figuring out who's on the line. The Gators lucked out on Mizell's TD - as he should've been flagged for not lining up on the LOS. There were 3-4 other instances where there were clear 5 in the backfield and were fortunate that wasn't called
* Middle 8 - UF won 7-0
* TO battle - tied at 1 each ... although Florida forced 3 additional ones - need to find a way to recover those...
* Red zone - Samford was 100%, while Florida was only 4 of 6 with downs, a fumble and a FG consisting of 3 of the 6 non TD results
* Napier continues to deflect on who is calling the plays - saying it's a "we". It's clearly not efficient or effective and could possibly explain the lack of flow in calling, the odd use of calling TO and the situational playcalls. Playcalling is an art and while trying to maximize current drives, it is also used to set up a successful critical play in the 4th quarter when a must convert situation arises. There are too many chefs in the kitchen and paralysis by analysis taking place
* While not at the level of what championship teams display - I did see improvement in teammates celebrating big plays together. Next step is to continue being more consistent in this phase...
* The OL rotation needs to settle down and choose the best 5 and run with it for better/worse... The constant rotation doesn't allow for cohesive communication and building of trust of the players beside you, resulting in breakdowns in the running/passing game. It's like basketball... you can play 10-11 players to start the season - but it's conference season - and now time to shorten to best 7-8 players.
* The Lyons fall camp injury has been a major impact and has shown these first 2 weeks. The dropoff and resulting cascade in rotation has been significant and has played a part of not being able to stop the opposition
* Whether agree/disagree with the coach decision to have Mertz start next week - Lagway has to get game action in the first half next week. Can't use the excuse that there wasn't enough Offensive plays to bring DJ in.
* Interesting the speed difference between the true freshman and the upperclass - think the long TD plays scored and the long ones that didn't. Are the WR's being put in the correct position to run the routes they are best at?
* When DJ got his bell rung before HT - it was helmet/helmet on a slide... why wasn't Billy going berzerk asking for a review for a targeting call? Even if the telecast said it wouldn't have ruled targeting - you got defend your franchise QB?
* Feels better to be a UF fan than the following schools: FSU, ND, Aub, Ark, Col
* At the end, it feels good to finally feel victorious, however the long term issues that put Billy on the hot seat still persist and A&M becomes a must win game especially as ND once again became dumpster fire with it's performance yesterday.
DJ's excites, hope arrives
Pray it's no mirage
Praises:
* DJ Lagway - must watch TV ... feel something special is about to happen with the ball in his hands
* DJ's ability to throw the deep ball and work the middle of the field - touch and accuracy was a thing of beauty
* Kam James - yet agains shows all out effort tackling another player 30 yards downfield (play was negated for offensive holding, but the effort remains on tape and demonstrates why he was chosen a captain this week as a 2nd year player.
* Tre making the most of his limited touches
* Depth at RB - there's talent at running the rock... questions will always be picking up pass blocking schemes and will the blocking be available to create running lanes/creases.
* Special Teams - again the law firm of Dike, Crenshaw and Smack gave the Gators an advantage in this unit
* Opportunity for depth players to get game time and rewarded for their contributions to the Gators
* Postgame interviews of Sapp (what a boisterous, infectous personality... a leader I'd want to gravitate towards) and Lagway's humbleness, leadership by example. Both players praising others and showing Napier's greatest strength - identifying and developing our next generation, while allowing the players to be their most authentic self.
* Finally recording a 3 & out on D.
Postulates:
* Reminder - the game was against a team it should dominate and the sputtering in the first half especially is a tell tale sign of potential ceiling of this team. Championship teams boatrace these opponents in the first half to allow backups to play the entire 2nd half. The struggles on both sides can be foreshadowing if continued improvement doesn't take place
* Coaching situational awareness - it's gotten so bad that I believe wholesale coaching changes at the top is the only way to cure
Examples:
> 4 & 1 - The good - going for it. The bad - why run wildkat with DJ split wide and have your smallest RB running it? Wouldn't it be better to run an RPO with DJ and a powerback?
> Twice more the offense wasn't ready and an unnecessary TO was called. The first was after the long pass to Badger for 77 yards which caused them to sputter w/o a TO before the first half ended (btw - when was the last time the offense had a successful 2 min TD score before half?) The 2nd was the change of quarter to the 4th quarter... C'mon... this is unacceptable and insane this continues to happen in year 3.
* The personal foul penalties... while some were borderline (Marshall's suplex) ... they are not happening with other programs as frequently and at critical moments here at Florida. This needs to stop
* Illegal Formation... While they were only called for 1 (maybe two) - there were countless times where receivers were scrambling late figuring out who's on the line. The Gators lucked out on Mizell's TD - as he should've been flagged for not lining up on the LOS. There were 3-4 other instances where there were clear 5 in the backfield and were fortunate that wasn't called
* Middle 8 - UF won 7-0
* TO battle - tied at 1 each ... although Florida forced 3 additional ones - need to find a way to recover those...
* Red zone - Samford was 100%, while Florida was only 4 of 6 with downs, a fumble and a FG consisting of 3 of the 6 non TD results
* Napier continues to deflect on who is calling the plays - saying it's a "we". It's clearly not efficient or effective and could possibly explain the lack of flow in calling, the odd use of calling TO and the situational playcalls. Playcalling is an art and while trying to maximize current drives, it is also used to set up a successful critical play in the 4th quarter when a must convert situation arises. There are too many chefs in the kitchen and paralysis by analysis taking place
* While not at the level of what championship teams display - I did see improvement in teammates celebrating big plays together. Next step is to continue being more consistent in this phase...
* The OL rotation needs to settle down and choose the best 5 and run with it for better/worse... The constant rotation doesn't allow for cohesive communication and building of trust of the players beside you, resulting in breakdowns in the running/passing game. It's like basketball... you can play 10-11 players to start the season - but it's conference season - and now time to shorten to best 7-8 players.
* The Lyons fall camp injury has been a major impact and has shown these first 2 weeks. The dropoff and resulting cascade in rotation has been significant and has played a part of not being able to stop the opposition
* Whether agree/disagree with the coach decision to have Mertz start next week - Lagway has to get game action in the first half next week. Can't use the excuse that there wasn't enough Offensive plays to bring DJ in.
* Interesting the speed difference between the true freshman and the upperclass - think the long TD plays scored and the long ones that didn't. Are the WR's being put in the correct position to run the routes they are best at?
* When DJ got his bell rung before HT - it was helmet/helmet on a slide... why wasn't Billy going berzerk asking for a review for a targeting call? Even if the telecast said it wouldn't have ruled targeting - you got defend your franchise QB?
* Feels better to be a UF fan than the following schools: FSU, ND, Aub, Ark, Col
* At the end, it feels good to finally feel victorious, however the long term issues that put Billy on the hot seat still persist and A&M becomes a must win game especially as ND once again became dumpster fire with it's performance yesterday.
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