Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Gators push to run more, balance out offense
GAINESVILLE — Florida tailback Dameon Pierce has been willing to do his part, but he now enters his final season ready to do what he does best.
The Gators aim to balance out an offense that relied heavily and successfully on the passing game the past two seasons with quarterback Kyle Trask at the controls and Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney and Trevon Grimes on the receiving end of his pinpoint passes.
Pierce hopes to lead the charge with the football in his hands, knowing a QB change to the fleet-footed Emory Jones and a deep running back corps lends itself to more of a groundbased game.
“There’s obviously more options to run the ball,” Pierce said. “We’re gonna work with that. We’re going to play with that and see how that feels and see how that looks. We will just go from there.”
UF coach Dan Mullen prefers to have a run-pass ratio of around 50 /50, but not at the expense of gaining yards and scoring points.
The 2018 Gators won 10 games averaging 213.5 yards passing and 213.2 rushing yards, but the past two seasons UF averaged just 130 and 131 yards, respectively, and last year won the SEC East.
Knowing the team’s strength was with Trask and his receivers, Mullen adapted the Gators’ offensive scheme and the 2020 team led the nation in passing.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Jones’ gifts as a runner and potential as a passer will allow Mullen to return to his offensive roots with a spread attack featuring zone-reads and power runs.
“Like with any mobile quarterback, it’s gonna displace the defense,” Pierce said. “Get linebackers out of position where he can pull or he can give. It’s just gonna be a matter of when there’s an appropriate time to do so.”
The Gators expect Jones to open up the playbook.
Senior safety Trey Dean said Jones is going to catch defenses off guard because of his reputation as a runner and limited chances to throw the football the past two seasons during spot duty as Trask’s backup.
“If people think Emory Jones cannot throw the ball, they need to second guess it,” Dean said. “Emory Jones can throw the ball as well as Kyle Trask. He can do everything with his legs also. He’ll be a great dual threat and he’s going to surprise a lot of people.”
At its best, Mullen’s quarterback runs complement carries by the tailbacks. The Gators could have plenty of options lined up behind Jones.
“The more the merrier,” Pierce said. “The more people to learn from. It’s a bigger bond between everybody.”
The powerful 5-foot-10, 212-pound Pierce is the most experienced and enters his senior season with 1,232 yards, a 5.4-yard average per carry and 10 touchdowns at UF.
Redshirt senior Malik Davis is capable of explosive runs, but he might be best in the passing game. Davis caught 33 passes for 377 yards in 2020, including five catches for 100 yards during a win against rival Georgia. Junior Nay’Quan Wright provides versatility and big-play potential, too.
The X-factor could be former five-star transfer Lorenzo Lingard. The former Orlando area standout transferred from Miami in 2020, but he enters his redshirt junior season after gaining just 32 yards on five carries last season.
The Gators have yet to find out whether Clemson transfer Demarkus Bowman, a five-star recruit from Lakeland, will be eligible in 2021. But if he is, the redshirt freshman could make an immediate impact.
Pierce is pushing to set an example for the other tailbacks.
“Being one of the older guys in the room, I’m taking on that leadership role,” he said. “Like for a guy like Bowman in his first year here, how can I help him get more comfortable? How can I help him learn the playbook? How can I get him more involved and more knowledgeable? I have to make sure that he’s OK.
“If he ain’t set, that’s a reflection on me.”
But Pierce, Bowman and the rest of the Gators runners will be stuck in their tracks if the team’s offensive line cannot generate a better push than the past two seasons. The reliance on Trask, Pitts and the passing game was also a reaction to the ineffectiveness up front in the run game.
Pierce is confident UF’s O-line is ready to pave the way for an offense able to keep defenses guessing when the Gators kick off the season Sept. 4 against FAU.
“It’s becoming a more cohesive unit,” he said. “They’re making calls quicker. The tempo is faster. Not a lot of guys are thinking. They’re reacting off the defense and making the right calls. We’re not missing much.
“But it’s practice. We’re just trying to get everything fine tuned for the first game.”