Gators continue searching for offensive magic
GAINESVILLE — Florida is still feeling its way through the first part of this football season, learning what its young players can and can’t do and learning to move on without expected offensive focal points Jordan Scarlett and Antonio Callaway.
The Gators already have evolved considerably through three games, Florida vs. Vanderbilt, noon, ESPN
turning to a pair of first-year freshmen and their backup quarterback to lead a fourth-quarter rally at Kentucky.
Now that backup quarterback is the starter, as redshirt junior Luke Del Rio has formally reclaimed the job from redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks. For the time being, at least.
Everything about the Gators remains a work in progress.
But that’s OK. They’re finding their way and nonetheless off to a 2-0 start in SEC play as they prepare to host Vanderbilt on Saturday.
For everything this team has been through, No. 21 Florida (2-1) has a real chance to pick up a third consecutive
win and build some actual momentum, especially if it can do so without needing a nail-biting finish this time.
With that said, here are the keys for the Gators this week against the Commodores:
Stability at QB
This is not what the Gators envisioned in the preseason, and that’s not a knock on Del Rio.
When graduate transfer Malik Zaire arrived, there was genuine excitement for the offense they could build around his dual-threat abilities. When the focus shifted to Franks during his strong preseason, there was genuine excitement that the young quarterback was ready to take the reins for the next several years.
Instead, the Gators are back where they were a year ago, deciding that Del Rio’s veteran presence, command of the playbook and leadership abilities present the best chance to win.
And it just might work. Some fans will never forget the way Del Rio finished last season, injured and ineffective. They need to, though.
Now that he’s healthy, he’s plenty capable of taking this offense to another level.
As the first three games have reminded, there is more to playing quarterback than having a big arm. Franks’ cannon bailed out the Gators against Tennessee and he may yet have a great career at Florida, but he wasn’t ready for all that’s demanded from that position.
Del Rio, meanwhile, showed real poise and confidence after taking over in the second half at Kentucky. The offense moved at a quicker tempo and the playbook seemed to open up a little bit.
The fact is the coaches trust Del Rio, as do his teammates.
Now he needs to reward that confidence and give the Gators some stability at quarterback around which to build.
Rein in Webb
The Vanderbilt running back hasn’t really gotten going yet, but he will. The Gators have to make sure it’s not this weekend.
Webb, the Commodores’ all-time leading rusher, has been held to 49, 54, 46 and 20 rushing yards, respectively, through the first four games.
But the Gainesville native has a penchant for performing well against the Gators.
Webb ran for 110 yards against Florida last season and 118 yards and a touchdown two years ago on his last visit to The Swamp.
Vanderbilt’s passing attack has been efficient, with Kyle Shurmur throwing for 721 yards, eight touchdowns and only one interception. But the Commodores’ offense is built around Webb, and he needs to be the Gators’ chief concern.
Don’t look past Vandy
Vanderbilt was off to a great start heading into last week, riding a 3-0 record and the momentum of its win over a good Kansas State team.
Then it played Alabama, and Alabama did Alabama things.
The Tide rolled to a 59-0 drubbing of the Commodores in which the hosts managed only three first downs and 78 offensive yards all game.
It’s clear that one of coach Jim McElwain’s talking points to his team this week is that the Gators need to ignore those ugly numbers and understand that Vanderbilt poses a legitimate challenge nonetheless.
“No matter what you want to say about what happened last week, there’s a lot of people that that happens to when they play Alabama,” he said.
The bottom line is Florida isn’t yet good enough to assume anything against anybody. The Gators are two dramatic finishes away from being 0-3. To their credit, they’ve showed the grit and confidence to win both of those games, but their margin for error remains slim.
This has not been an easy game for Florida the past two years — winning by just 9-7 in 2015 and 13-6 last season — and there’s no reason to expect it will be this time either.
Use Toney
Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier found creative ways to get dazzling freshman Kadarius Toney involved last Saturday, resulting in Toney’s 36-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat and his 50-yard receiver pass to Tyrie Cleveland to spark that fourth-quarter comeback.
The Gators need to continue building Toney’s role in the offense. He’s simply too good.
Maybe back in early August they expected Callaway and Scarlett to be their top playmakers. Now Toney is that guy, just three games into his collegiate career.