Cleveland on the fast track to success
GAINESVILLE — Tyrie Cleveland always was fast. For a young receiver, that was more than enough.
But when he arrived last year at UF, Cleveland still knew only one gear.
“Freshman year, I was just out there running, just playing,” he recalled this week.
At times, Cleveland’s speed was impossible to contain. Too often, he was easy to defend.
This offseason, Cleveland set out to expand his game, give defenses something more to fear and develop into a go-to option for the No. 20 Gators.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Cleveland reshaped his physique, honed his route running and studied his playbook.
UF coach Jim McElwain, who has spent more than half his career working with wide receivers, witnessed Cleveland’s transformation.
“The biggest thing is he really invested in getting in shape, No. 1,” McElwain said. “No. 2, understanding the position and the playing with some technique where I think he was able to get away with just running fast when he got here. But learning some of the technical details and places you need to be.
“Here’s what I like, he’s learned how to practice. By learning how to practice, then that becomes confidence in games.”
Cleveland, of course, remains most confident when there is a need for speed.
No one on the Gators’ roster could have pulled off his game-winning, 63-yard hook-up with Feleipe Franks on the final play against Tennessee.
Cleveland, as stunned as everyone else in the Swamp, still could not believe the turn of events a day later. He said he watched the replay about 50 times.
“The thing I like most about the play is the crowd when they made the noise, when they go crazy,” he said. “That’s why I like looking at the play. Just to see my teammates all running on the field and going crazy and just to see the fans going crazy.
“I just feel like that play was a dream come true.”
Two series earlier, though, Cleveland made the kind of routine, uncelebrated play that keeps touchdown drives alive.
With UF facing third-and-5 from the Tennessee 39-yard-line, Cleveland picked up nine yards on a slate route with Vols cornerback Justin Martin in tight coverage. Four plays later, the Gators took a 20-10 lead.
Two weeks earlier against Michigan, Cleveland’s leaping 31-yard catch along the sideline was one of the team’s few offensive highlights during a 33-17 loss.
All told, Cleveland leads UF (1-1, 1-0 SEC) with nine catches for 149 yards and has shown the makings of a No. 1 receiver — a role designated for junior Antonio Callaway prior to his suspension amid an investigation into credit card fraud.
But Cleveland, Franks and the Gators’ passing offense enter Saturday’s trip to Kentucky (3-0, 1-0) a work in progress and looking to remain grounded after such an emotional high.
“Definitely off a big win like that, we enjoyed it Saturday and Sunday and now it’s back [to work] on Monday and we have to prepare for Kentucky,” Franks said. “We have to beat them Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so we can have fun on Saturday.”
Based on the team’s fourth-quarter blitz against Tennessee, Cleveland believes the Gators are at their best playing fast. But UF currently ranks 115 of 130 teams nationally in pace of play, averaging nearly 29 seconds per play.
“I like playing quick tempo,” Cleveland said. “I feel like we’ll score more points like that instead of huddling up and taking more time to call a play out. If we get in a hurry-up situation, I feel like the defense won’t be able to stop us.”
If nothing else, defenses soon could struggle to keep up with Cleveland. No longer a one-dimensional receiver, the 19-year-old is on the fast track to success.
“This year, I feel like I’m more comfortable with the play calling and the offense,” he said. “I feel like I just put in the time.”