Quantcast
Channel: Gator Bytes blog: University of Florida | The Palm Beach Post» Patrick Benoist
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Sunday Rewind: Yes, Urban Meyer, the Gators’ win over Vanderbilt was ‘ho-hum’

0
0

The Gators beat an SEC opponent by 24 points on Saturday, improving to 9-0 for the third time in school history and increasing their nation’s-best winning streak to 19 games.

But Urban Meyer found himself on the defensive once again Saturday night, imploring a room full of reporters that there was nothing “ho-hum” about beating Vanderbilt 27-3.

“To the people in that (locker) room it’s not ho-hum, I can assure you,” Meyer said. “At 19-0 in the Southeastern Conference, if that’s ho-hum then you have one exciting life, man. … I don’t want to ever take anything away from what those cats have done. There is absolutely nothing ho-hum about what this team is doing.”

The winning streak and perfect record are great accomplishments, but that doesn’t negate the fact that the Gators shouldn’t write home to mama about beating Vandy 27-3.

Sorry, Meyer, but gaining 375 yards of total offense against Vanderbilt (2-8, 0-6), while giving up four sacks and scoring just two touchdowns in four red zone trips is “ho-hum.” The Gators also didn’t sack Vanderbilt quarterback Mackenzi Adams, and committed nine penalties for 68 yards, compared to two penalties for 15 yards for Vandy.

We’re talking Vanderbilt, here – the team that the Gators have defeated 19 years in a row; the only SEC team that is already eliminated from bowl consideration; the team that is playing 12 consecutive weeks without a bye this season; the team that lost 34-10 to Georgia; the team that allowed 597 yards of total offense two weeks ago against Georgia Tech; the team that lost to Army, for crying out loud.

“The win was a rough one,” running back Emmanuel Moody said. “We expected to blow them out, but Vanderbilt played a great game.”

These are the mighty Gators, ranked No. 1 in every poll and destined for a showdown with Alabama next month in the SEC Championship Game. Last year, they jumped out 35-0 on Vandy. There really isn’t much of an excuse for struggling on offense this time around, other than accepting one simple fact – the Gators, with first-year offensive coordinator Steve Addazio, simply aren’t as explosive as in previous years.

“We’re still lacking the big-play production we need on offense,” said Meyer, who skipped his regular day-after conference call on Sunday. “I know everybody’s pressing to get that done, and we have to get that done with these games coming up.”

Fortunately for the Gators, they have perhaps one of the greatest defenses of all time. Even without a suspended Brandon Spikes, the defense held Vandy to 199 total yards and kept their opponent out of the end zone for the fifth time in nine games.

“You said the fifth game we’ve not let up a touchdown?” Meyer said when told of the stat. “How about that. Tremendous.”

Can’t say the same about the offense, however. And at some point – either against Alabama or in the BCS Championship Game – the shaky offense will doom the Gators.

“This team still got a lot of talent, a lot of fire power,” said former Gator Percy Harvin, watching Saturday’s game from the sideline. “They just need to put it together a little better.”

Other news and notes from Saturday’s win over Vanderbilt, and a look ahead at this week’s game at South Carolina:

INJURIES

RB Chris Rainey carried four times for 12 yards and had one catch for six yards one week after injuring his shoulder against Georgia. … DTs Jaye Howard (knee contusion) and Lawrence Marsh (ankle sprain) are still working slowly back into the rotation. … Freshman RB Mike Gillislee (hamstring) did not play Saturday. … C Maurkice Pouncey injured his right ankle Saturday, but he played through it after halftime. … WR T.J. Lawrence watched the game on crutches.

ROSTER MOVES

Senior Ryan Stamper started at MLB in place of the suspended Spikes. … Dustin Doe started at OLB. …Maurice Hurt has claimed the starting right guard spot over James Wilson. … Moody led all tailbacks with eight carries. Jeff Demps had seven, Rainey had four and Brandon James had two.

GAME BALLS

TE Aaron Hernandez
Led the way with 7 catches for 120 yards, his first career 100-yard game. His 64-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter was a thing of beauty.

RB Jeff Demps
Gaines 57 yards on just eight carries, an 8.1 yard average, with a 25-yard touchdown run, his sixth of the season. Demps’ touchdown came on 4th-and-1, when everyone in the stadium – especially Vandy – expected Tim Tebow to run up the middle. Vandy played “no deep” coverage – sending seven defenders crashing into the line – and Tebow’s option pitch to Demps on the outside was the perfect play call. “We knew if we got it executed it would be a walk-in,” Meyer said.

Jeff Demps scoots past Vanderbilt LB Brent Trice to complete his 25-yard touchdown run / Photo courtesy AP

Jeff Demps scoots past Vanderbilt LB Brent Trice to complete his 25-yard touchdown run / Photo courtesy AP

LBs Dustin Doe and Ryan Stamper
Playing in place of Spikes, Doe led the Gators with 11 tackles while Stamper was second with six tackles and picked off his second career interception, and second in two weeks. Florida linebackers now have seven interceptions in the last three weeks. “Me and A.J. (Jones) are trying to get a little competition. He’s got three, I told him I’m going to catch him,” Stamper said.

K Caleb Sturgis
2-for-2 on field goals, and once again booted a 45-yarder that would have been good from about 60. Meyer said Sturgis’ leg is so strong, he will consider kicking a field goal as soon as the Gators reach the 40 yard line – i.e. a 57-yard field goal. “Within 60 yards, unless (the wind) is in his face, I might take a shot with him,” Meyer said. “He can make it. He does it in practice.”

Florida special teams
A game ball to every player on the punt and kickoff coverage units, who held freshman Warren Norman, who has three kickoff touchdowns this year, to just 99 kickoff yards on five returns. “We spent more time on kickoff cover this week than we ever have,” Meyer said.

Vanderbilt LB Patrick Benoist
Nine tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack Saturday night. Vandy’s defense came to play, sacking Tebow four times and tackling the Gators behind the line of scrimmage seven times.

GATOR GRADES

Offense: C
Same old story for the Gators – vanilla playcalling (besides the Demps TD run); Tebow taking too many sacks; poor protection from the O-line; Tebow missing wide open receivers after locking in on Hernandez and Riley Cooper; the Gators’ jumbo package getting stuffed on the goal line; the Gators scoring just two touchdowns in four trips inside the Red Zone. If not for Hernandez’s 64-yard catch-and-run late in the fourth, and David Nelson’s lucky TD catch that slipped through Cooper’s fingers, the offensive stats from this game would have been downright putrid.

Defense: A+
No one is scoring on this defense. It has allowed six touchdowns in nine games. It has not allowed a touchdown in five of nine games. Vandy gained 77 yards in the second half, 199 for the game. Years from now, people will marvel at the collection of NFL talent on this defense, much like they do with the early-2000s Miami Hurricanes.

Special Teams: A
Sturgis was a beast, the cover units busted their tails to contain Warren, and punter Chas Henry has a cannon, averaging 52.8 yards on four punts. The Gators allowed positive punt return yardage – 7 whole yards – for the first time this season.

Coaching: B
Nice job by Meyer getting his players ready to play despite the incredible amount of distractions this week with the Spikes suspension and Meyer $30,000 fine. And Charlie Strong gets a gold star for putting together a dominant game plan without Spikes. But Addazio and the offense drag this grade down. The playcalling is more predictable than a Michael Bay movie.

POLL WATCHING

The Gators retained their No. 1 ranking in the AP, Coaches, Harris and BCS polls. Following the Gators in the BCS standings: Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati.

QUICK SLANTS

– The rematch is officially on: Florida vs. Alabama, Dec. 5 in the Georgia Dome for the SEC title. Florida won last year, 31-20. “It will be exciting,” Tebow said. “Obviously, we won’t be worried about them for a few weeks. We’ve got a big game against South Carolina. But I’m looking forward to it. It will be a great game, they’re a great team, are coached very well and it will be very exciting.”

– Former Gators Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy watched the game from the sidelines. Both of their NFL teams are on byes this weekend. “We’re so proud of those two,” Meyer said. “Those two will be two of the better receivers in the NFL. I mean, Percy is already just dominating.”

– The Gators have scored a touchdown on just 30 percent of Red Zone drives in seven conference games (10 out of 33). In 2008, UF scored a touchdown on 27 of its 37 (73 percent) red-zone trips in conference play.

– Stamper, on the play where he made the interception, was the defense’s “rat.” “That’s what we call it,” he said. “I got to get in the middle, try to get in the cross-hairs. I saw the tight end with my peripheral vision, just got under it and got an interception.”

– Spikes, though he didn’t play, remained a big part of the team on Saturday. He delivered passionate speeches in the team hotel and in the locker room before the game, and sat in on defensive meetings during the game. “He was still there, even though he wasn’t playing,” Stamper said.

UP NEXT

No. 1 Florida (9-0, 7-0) at South Carolina (6-4, 3-4), 3:30 p.m. Saturday, CBS, Williams Brice Stadium, Columbia, S.C.

QUOTE OF THE DAY I

“Tim Tebow, he’s taking too many hits this year. I don’t like seeing that at all.”

– Former Gator Percy Harvin. Tebow took four more sacks Saturday – many of them his own doing – to increase his season total to 21, a career high and third-most in the SEC this year.

QUOTE OF THE DAY II

“I’d much rather just pitch it and watch Jeff run than go fight for 1 more yard. I’ve done that a lot of times.”

– Tebow, on pitching to Demps on the outside on fourth-and-1 instead of keeping it himself up the middle. Demps scored a 25-yard touchdown on the play.

QUOTE OF THE DAY III

“We’re what, 19-0 now? Teams are really just coming out to get us. They have us as their No. 1 game to win. They’ve been scheming really well. No matter who we play, they’re going to give us their best.”

– Moody, who has a point. In almost every game this year, Florida’s opponent has shown new wrinkles on offense and defense that the Gators have not seen before on film.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Suspended middle linebacker Brandon Spikes and coach Urban Meyer get funky fresh on the sidelines.

AP

AP

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from Saturday night’s game, plus other action around the SEC:


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images