Mourning ex-UF quarterback Reaves.
Can UF ignite an offense John Reaves would be proud of?
GAINESVILLE — On the day we learned that John Reaves — one of the greatest quarterbacks in Florida Gators history — had died, UF’s latest crop of quarterbacks talked of resurrecting the legacy of highflying and defense-defying offenses that Reaves left behind.
While his name was unfamiliar to most current players who showed up for UF’s annual preseason Media Day on Wednesday, Reaves’ massive influence was felt nonetheless. You see, it was Reaves and his iconic teammates of nearly a half-century ago who set the standard for offense that the contemporary Gators have tried so futilely to live up to.
“We need to establish our own legacy of offense like he did,” UF redshirt freshman
quarterback Feleipe Franks said when I explained to him the story of John Reaves.
Reaves, who was found dead at his Tampa home on Tuesday, is symbolic of the offensive pyrotechnics Gator Nation fell in love with all those years ago. None other than Steve Spurrier himself said the offense Reaves quarterbacked as a member of UF’s famed “Super Sophs” team of 1969 was a precursor to the revolutionary Fun ’N’ Gun offense Spurrier created at UF when he became coach.
“A lot of people think the SEC started airing it out when we got to Florida in 1990,” Spurrier said. “It actually began 21 years earlier with John Reaves, [receiver] Carlos Alvarez and the Super Sophs of 1969.
“Coach [Ray] Graves allowed [offensive coordinator] Fred Pancoast and his offensive coaches to put in a big passing offense, they came out firing against Houston and away they went.” Away they went indeed. Into the history books. The Gators offense of 1968 was a boring, snoring, run-oriented offense that threw just two touchdown passes and averaged 15 points per game. In the 1969 season-opener against Houston — Playboy magazine’s preseason No. 1 team — Reaves threw a 70-yard TD pass to Alvarez on the third play from scrimmage. By the time the game was over, the Gators had routed Houston 59-34 and Reaves had thrown for a school-record 342 yards and five touchdowns — UF records previously held by Spurrier.
In his first season as a starter, Reaves would go on and rewrite the SEC record books with 2,896 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. By the time his college career was finished, he was the NCAA’s all-time career passing leader with 7,581 career yards.
Gator Nation is now mourning the death of Reaves, 67, but they have been mourning the death of his style of offense for the better part of a decade now.
When you count Urban Meyer’s final season, Will Muschamp’s four seasons
and Jim McElwain’s first two seasons, UF’s offense has been horrible for SEVEN consecutive seasons. The highest-ranked offense the Gators have had in those seven years was 82nd back in 2010. McElwain’s two UF offenses have been ranked 111 and 116.
But the common theme at Media Day was this is the year it’s going to be different. Malik Zaire, the transfer quarterback from Notre Dame, says the Gators “plan to win the national championship” this season.
“I know we’ve been a defensive school for a long time, but I think we have the talent and potential to be the best offense in the country and the best show on TV,” Zaire said. “We don’t accept anything less than being the best offense in the country.”
Love the kid’s confidence, but I think Gator Nation would settle for an
offense that is just not terrible. McElwain and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier understandably get defensive when talking about their offense over their first two seasons at UF, and both mentioned Wednesday that their primary job is to “win games.”
However, McElwain also acknowledged that one of the reasons he was hired at UF was to fix the offense and “it hasn’t been done yet.” Then again, he hinted in a candid moment, not even the best chef can turn ground chuck into filet mignon.
“In the art of poker, whatever hand you're given, you figure out how to play that hand,” said McElwain, who has taken his UF teams to the SEC Championship Game in each of his first two seasons. “Sometimes you've got to bluff. But at the same time, you've got to get a win at the end of the day, and I think our guys have done a pretty decent job of that.”
This year McElwain thinks he has the ingredients to finally put an exciting offense on the field. He has the best receivers, running backs and offensive line since taking the UF job.
The perennial question is: Do the Gators have a quarterback who can hit the ground running, er, passing?
Nearly 50 years ago, another young UF quarterback did just that in his first collegiate start.
Thomas Johnson “John" Reaves passed away earlier this week.
Here’s hoping his style of offense can someday rise again at his beloved alma mater.