They were also missing 4 or 5 starters I think. I am disappointed but not totally writing things off yet. We have to get our running game really going or we will be pounded by the better teams. Even Tennessee's defense will feast I think if we are one dimensional. With sacks included we have averaged less than 1 yard a rush our last 2 games and even if that was excluded I bet the RBs have averaged not much over 2 yards a carry in those games. We need to line up against this FCS team and run it 75% of the plays to get it corrected.
Football Thoughts on this Florida team......
- Thread starter Gator Fever
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They were also missing 4 or 5 starters I think. I am disappointed but not totally writing things off yet. We have to get our running game really going or we will be pounded by the better teams. Even Tennessee's defense will feast I think if we are one dimensional. With sacks included we have averaged less than 1 yard a rush our last 2 games and even if that was excluded I bet the RBs have averaged not much over 2 yards a carry in those games. We need to line up against this FCS team and run it 75% of the plays to get it corrected.
I will tell you what I will give him the credit he earned when he gets us more than 1 TD on 44 passes and doesn't get FCS QB numbers against good FBS teams by throwing mostly high % stuff because the team cant run the ball which doesn't lead to much scoring.
Utah was missing 7 players. 2 starters and 5 backups. You can see it on their pregame injury report. Their stud LB got hurt early in the game, but he came back in the 2nd half. They are very experienced. Our O-line has got to jell for us to get the running game going.
You do realize not being able to run the ball makes it much more difficult to pass? You do understand that basic concept of football? You also realize being under constant duress makes it difficult to pass the ball. Guy completed 70% of his passes against probably the 2nd best defense we will see this season.
Not if you play high % passing mostly that doesn't lead to much scoring. Many FCS QBs have 300 yard area games against FBS teams with a bunch of pass attempts due to the running games being shut down mostly. They don't score much usually with that safe throw style though when they aren't completing many longer passes also.
Penalties, piss poor blocking, and oddball playcalling is why we only scored 11 points on 7 trips into the redzone. The Utah QB threw for 158 and 108 of that was 2 plays. After that his averaged roughly 5 yards per completion. Mertz averaged 10.74 yards per completion. Mahomes averaged 8.1 last season, but I guess he can't throw deep either. FYI the nfl avg is 7.1. Ncaa leader was stroud at 9.5 and the ncaa average was 7.4. So again, I have no clue what you are talking about. The stats back up anything you say.
P1
We will just disagree but I do agree most everything on offense was a cluster....
We will just disagree but I do agree most everything on offense was a cluster....
Cg1, can you give the date when the last Gator QB gave up 5 sacks in a game?
I wasn't surprised at that, because he gave up 49 sacks at Wis, so he's outdoing himself so far here.
I wasn't surprised at that, because he gave up 49 sacks at Wis, so he's outdoing himself so far here.
He’s figured out that as long as he doesn’t say anything inappropriate, we can do what he wants and be packaged out with inter generational wealth
Bama sacked Trask 5 times in SEC champ game in 2020 was the last time from memory. Insta can you give me a date the last time Mertz threw for 333 in a game? Very surprised at that. While you're at it can you also provide the date the last time a Gator QB was solely blamed for all the sacks?
333 Yds = 6 Pts --- As I said, MAR-VEL-OUS... 🙄
So if he'd thrown for 1,000 yards, they might have won....
Has any Gator QB ever had 54 Career sacks, and the season is young yet....
BTW, do you think that with the current team make up, that a QB-dt would have a better chance?
IF not, then Lagway also needs to do some hard thinking....
Edit PS -- From the Gator stat sheet:
333 Yds on 44 Attempts = 7.57 Yds/Att
Mertz did a lot of good things. Not just from a stat standpoint. But no, I don't think it would matter right now. The offensive line looks to be a real problem and in football if you can't block you're going to have issues. AR was a fantastic runner and he struggled at times last year in games when protection wasn't good. As I have said from the beginning, I do not believe Mertz is the answer at QB. I would not have chased him in the portal. But considering how poorly the oline played Thursday he did really well. Trying to dispute that by solely laying the blame at his feet is just simply moronic. Penalties, crappy line play, and questionable play calling were bigger issues.
Mertz is a great guy and QB, so don't change a thing.
And if he gets hurt taking sacks, Billy's always got Miller to fall back on... 😉
And if he gets hurt taking sacks, Billy's always got Miller to fall back on... 😉
Yes, change the qb and poof everything will be awesome!! If Nappy head would just take all of your amazing advise Gators would never lose again!! Why hasn't some team gobbled you up yet??? Shocking I tell you!
I know enough about what I don’t know to not bitch about a particular play call or execution. This board missed Ooz for those arguments. But it’s pretty hard to ignore when you’ve got 3rd and short multiple times and you’re trying to move half your formation around presnap in a crazy environment and you end up jumping or lining up wrong. Those are drive killers, turnovers basically and good teams don’t do it. CU had 65 new players or whatever playing their first game on the road and they had 6 penalties total.
Then you don’t have a special teams coordinator and you hand them a td with a bad substitution and send 8 guys out there to defend a fg.
I’m just saying it is not encouraging that these things are happening in year 2. Obviously he’s got the whole year to get it sorted out. If he beats UT in two weeks I think everyone would be happy with that start.
But as fans we’ve seen 14 years of this same crap and heard every excuse in the book and I’m just tired of it. If you look at the top 25, it is the same as 20 years ago except us.
Then you don’t have a special teams coordinator and you hand them a td with a bad substitution and send 8 guys out there to defend a fg.
I’m just saying it is not encouraging that these things are happening in year 2. Obviously he’s got the whole year to get it sorted out. If he beats UT in two weeks I think everyone would be happy with that start.
But as fans we’ve seen 14 years of this same crap and heard every excuse in the book and I’m just tired of it. If you look at the top 25, it is the same as 20 years ago except us.
It would take winning at home against Tennessee for me to have any faith this gets turned around big time this season. Not too confident that will happen unless our defense reverts back to the defenses the prior coaches had when they took over.
True but nobody is expecting Mertz to be Cam Newton. He has some inaccurate short passes but he was far from the worst spot on offense, really he wasn't bad.
O line was bad...can these guys just get lined up correctly??!?? Undisciplined team in the first game... That's all coaching. Drives me nuts when guys can't get up on the line.
Don't expect much from the O line going forward unless we can impose a running game on SEC teams. It looks like George is a big liability and doesn't have the movement to be a decent tackle like Bama fans were claiming. On passing downs we will likely have to leave a TE in there most times with not much threat of him being a receiver. Also Etienne whiffs on blocks quite a bit when that is his job. They seem to use his height to get around him pretty fast. SEC teams starting with Tennessee are going to park their speedy ends right on top of that right tackle position. If the interior doesnt hold up also it may be a disaster the whole season just like in the Utah game.
Oline couldn't block and as you pointed out they had a few penalties at critical times.
Bad or young inexperienced OL and so you put a QB-PP with 54 career sacks and counting back there to run up the other teams sacks record. MAR-VEL-OUT.
While you have 2 QB-DT's rotting on the bench. GENIUS!
And so far, what I've seen as the Gator HC's schematic offense, Tom Brady couldn't win here vs a quality team.
But hey, maybe he's just sandbagging powerhouse McNeese State to throw them off guard.....
We may find out what it takes to give Brown a shot at QB. If we were to lose to Tennessee that KY game is going to be huge for this season.
You say that as if there is any question…lol…
Q. Were there communication issues on your offensive line during the game?
BILLY NAPIER: "I think everybody likes to talk about the offensive line, okay, when it comes to protection and maybe inefficient runs. All position groups contribute to both, okay?
I've said this publicly many times. When you rush the ball effectively, it's not just the offensive line. I mean, I think we've got to play well on the edges. We've got to have precision in footwork and eye discipline at running back. The quarterback has to make the right decision in terms of distributing the ball. The same could be said for protection.
We had other position groups that caused problems in protection in the game. It's not always just the offensive line. I think we're quick to point the finger at the quarterback. We're quick to point the finger at the offensive line. I think all positions contribute.
Sometimes it's a receiver, right? Maybe the receiver doesn't run the route with precision, and the quarterback has to hold the ball. I think there's a number of things that contribute to protection issues.
So the lesson here is that there's no one single individual to blame here, other than me, okay? I think ultimately the buck stops here. We're going to go fix it. That's what I would tell you."
=====
Q. Princely's production, what can you do to get him more involved?
BILLY NAPIER: "Well, I think at times late, he landed a few times. Think (they) did a good job getting the ball out of their hand.
But I think at times his position was disruptive, if that makes sense, the position that he plays. T.J. was productive in the game. Princely affected the quarterback. Maybe he didn't land a couple times, but he did affect the quarterback at times. Princely will be just fine."
=====
If you're wishing for some good news concerning Gator sports, here you go....
Harry Fodder: 'Watch how they celebrate' - Florida Gators
The 2023 Florida volleyball squad sensed a special chemistry heading into the season and the bond is only growing stronger with each victory.
floridagators.com
Can anybody say who the issue is between sale and Stapleton? There is no way that line should look like that and make that many mistakes with 2 spots being ate up there.
Dang, Napier making some very confusing accountability comments...sounds like Sad's wife on date night.Q. Were there communication issues on your offensive line during the game?
BILLY NAPIER: "I think everybody likes to talk about the offensive line, okay, when it comes to protection and maybe inefficient runs. All position groups contribute to both, okay?
I've said this publicly many times. When you rush the ball effectively, it's not just the offensive line. I mean, I think we've got to play well on the edges. We've got to have precision in footwork and eye discipline at running back. The quarterback has to make the right decision in terms of distributing the ball. The same could be said for protection.
We had other position groups that caused problems in protection in the game. It's not always just the offensive line. I think we're quick to point the finger at the quarterback. We're quick to point the finger at the offensive line. I think all positions contribute.
Sometimes it's a receiver, right? Maybe the receiver doesn't run the route with precision, and the quarterback has to hold the ball. I think there's a number of things that contribute to protection issues.
So the lesson here is that there's no one single individual to blame here, other than me, okay? I think ultimately the buck stops here. We're going to go fix it. That's what I would tell you."
=====
Q. Princely's production, what can you do to get him more involved?
BILLY NAPIER: "Well, I think at times late, he landed a few times. Think (they) did a good job getting the ball out of their hand.
But I think at times his position was disruptive, if that makes sense, the position that he plays. T.J. was productive in the game. Princely affected the quarterback. Maybe he didn't land a couple times, but he did affect the quarterback at times. Princely will be just fine."
=====
If you're wishing for some good news concerning Gator sports, here you go....
Harry Fodder: 'Watch how they celebrate' - Florida Gators
The 2023 Florida volleyball squad sensed a special chemistry heading into the season and the bond is only growing stronger with each victory.
On a positive note watching these film breakdown videos our defense looked much improved defending the run. They did a pretty good job most of the game except for letting that package QB get a few big runs on us. They definitely held those good RBs in check and looked good on the line of scrimmage doing it. That first TD of theirs it was actually Mitchell that created that situation where Moten was late getting there to stop the TD from happening. Mitchell slipped against his man making Moten have to react to that guy running wide open even though his primary responsibility then was helping on the guy that caught the TD.
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I noticed that the front 4 had good gap integrity pushing up the field. Though no sacks, this is a huge improvement from last year.
Yep I doubt we have to worry about a USF game type situation this year and I doubt we give up 176 yards rushing a game like last season.
“We have a lot of players that will continue to get better as they gain experience,” Napier said. Napier said the best way to bring his youngest players and newcomers up to speed is by giving them opportunities on the field. That will certainly continue against McNeese State. (too bad that hasn't included rsFr Max Brown so far) 😕
Here's to seeing all of the young guys playing vs McNeese....
Here's to seeing all of the young guys playing vs McNeese....
I’d advise you to concentrate on Troy.Chomp the Dogfaces 10/28.
Perkins is hitting the portal. Probably a combination of his play on the field and supposedly pulling a gun on security before his friends got him out of there. No cops called but the place called him out publicly on it I guess.
Florida DL Tyreak Sapp says Gators must rush the passer better
Florida DL Tyreak Sapp talked about what the defense needs to do to improve.
www.saturdaydownsouth.com
Some men know how to take responsibility and work, instead of whining about criticism from outside....
Sapp was asked about how he’s dealt with the outside criticism of Florida so far.
Sapp stated that he loves the criticism and takes pride in going to work everyday.
“I love it. I love it. Bring it on,” said Sapp. “I just take pride in going to work every day.”
Sapp was asked about how he’s dealt with the outside criticism of Florida so far.
Sapp stated that he loves the criticism and takes pride in going to work everyday.
“I love it. I love it. Bring it on,” said Sapp. “I just take pride in going to work every day.”
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