Game Two: Jeff Demps and the Defense take over for Florida
by mlmintampa on Sep 11, 2010 4:25 PM EDT
in Florida Football
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Following an awful start on both sides of the ball, the Gators defeated USF 38-14. UF moves to 2-0 ahead of the SEC opener at Tennessee.
The Gators finally looked like the team we know in the second half. Halfway through the 3rd quarter, Jeff Demps gave the Gators a spark with his 62-yard touchdown run to make it 14-7 for UF. After a three-and-out, Florida got good field position following Janoris Jenkins' 30 yard punt return. Four plays later, Mike Gillislee scored, which was followed by a pick-six for Justin Trattou and a 28-7 Florida lead. USF was able to score before the end of the 3rd quarter, as the 28-14 Gators lead likely caused some acid reflux for Urban Meyer.
Any momentum the Bulls had was zapped by Demps' 54 yard kickoff return. That set up a Caleb Sturgis field goal. Sturgis had missed one earlier in the game and did not look to be 100 percent. Jenkins' interception set up the final score, John Brantley to Jordan Reed for the 38-14 final.
In the first half and throughout the game, USF's run game handled the Gators. The Bulls finished with 244 on the ground. B.J. Daniels was awful throwing (5/20, 84 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT) but gained 107 rushing. In the first half, the Bulls controlled the clock, scoring on a 17 play, 9:08 minute drive to open the scoring. The Bulls gained 244 on the ground, testing the depth of the Gators, who were without Dominique Easley and Will Hill. But William Green, Josh Evans and Jeremy Brown each made plays to make up the difference. Linebackers Jelani Jenkins and Jon Bostic were often fooled by the Bulls option packages, but were much better late in the game. The Gators first touchdown was set up by Ahmad Black's first interception just before the half. Had that not happened, UF probably would have been shutout in the first half.
Black finished with two picks, with Trattou and Jenkins each having one. The defense started out by getting shoved around by USF's experienced offensive line. But the Gators dared USF to throw, and the Bulls took the bait. The Gators must improve their interior line play, but today they had enough to survive.
On offense, Mike Pouncey played very well and the offensive line protected Brantley well. Against USF's blitzing defense, Brantley got expected pressure. He stood in and took the blows, opening the offense and making a decent day for the much maligned Deonte Thompson (six catches for 83 yards) and Carl Moore (five catches for 40 yards and a touchdown). Brantley was wild and finished 18/31 for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
Demps was the offensive standout. His 255 total yards was the difference maker. Demps had 11 carries for 139 yards as the Gators finally got enough blocks to open up Demps on offense and special teams. Demps has a little bit of Percy Harvin in him in that Demps does not make cuts, he swerves. It's like watching a BMW commercial when Demps is in the open field. UF ran the ball for 251, with Emmanuel Moody and Mike Gillislee getting touches following Chris Rainey's concussion in the first half.
Winning by 24 definitely provides comfort, but USF was toe-to-toe with Florida for 40 minutes. If USF had the depth of Florida or a quarterback that could throw, USF could have won this game. The Gators should not be happy with this performance, at least if you're talking about guys not named Demps, Jenkins or Black.
The real season begins next week at Tennessee. The Gators will need a compete performance next week and the rest of the season. Otherwise, it will be a long 12 games.
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Re: B.J. Daniels
USF’s quarterback quite obviously struggled throwing the ball, but the kid can throw. He’s young and hasn’t learned to be patient and throw the ball away, so his decision-making was definitely partly to blame today, but he really didn’t have much to throw at either. With two of their top-3 receivers already out, the early injury to the other (Dontavia Bogan) left Daniels with Evan Landi, their back up quarterback last season, Lindsay Lamar, a converted running back, and Stephen Bravo-Brown, a (true, I believe) freshman, to throw to. Oh, and their TE, Shields, is a sophomore who had exactly 0 catches and 1 start coming into the game (he managed one today). The Bulls were essentially one-dimensional to begin with.
In this context, yeah, the mostly porous run defense stands out as a concern. The secondary looked but has yet to really be challenged. Loved Brantley’s poise today; he was pressured somewhat consistently in the first half, getting popped pretty good a few times, but he was accurate in the short- and intermediate-range no matter how busy the pocket got. He was not, however, accurate on his (I believe) one attempt on a deep-ball. All in due time.
by Michael Gallimore on Sep 11, 2010 5:15 PM EDT reply actions
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The secondary looked solid again
by Michael Gallimore on Sep 11, 2010 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Loved Brantley’s poise today; he was pressured somewhat consistently in the first half, getting popped pretty good a few times,
I was somewhat surprised by that. I didn’t think USF would be able to do it as much considering what they lost to the draft…etc.
The Once and Future King
Yeah, it was a good thing for the Gators offense that the Bulls defense had to stay on the field most of the 2nd quarter and the 2nd half. Their lineman, in particular, seemed to run out of gas and made the discrepancy in depth an issue.
by Michael Gallimore on Sep 11, 2010 8:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Instead of being so negative...
Look at the good things. The first two games are really like a preseason game. Its clear there is some real issues with the offense, but they are making HUGE strides.
1. It seems Pouncey is fixed
2. Demps has gone from speedy back to a real game breaking RB.
3. Brantley didnt force any passes that clearly wasnt there. IMO he looked very good in spreading the ball around.
4. Deonte is getting better, considering he actually caught 6 balls today. Is that a record for him…lol
5. Everyone is complaining that all of our points are coming off turn overs. Would you prefer our defense didnt make turn overs so you can see the offense sustain a real drive?Be happy that our offense seems to always get a gift from the defense…thats a good thing. BTW, they did have 3-4 good drives, whether it was Brantleys arm or Demps breaking long runs.
As far as the offense goes, I would like to see either Brantley make better reads in the option and actually run the damn ball or just let Burton take over the option and let Brantley pass the ball like they did in 06’ because there is no point in running the option without a threat of the QB keeping it.
The defense is horrible at tackling. I know BJ Daniels is good but he made us look like a Big East school. I gurantee the Vols will be drawing up some “BJ Daniel” plays specifically for next week. Hopefully Will Hill can help with that next game.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
1. Yes, that was very nice to see. I can only remember two snaps that weren’t all that good but that seems to be about the norm for all shotgun snaps by any center. So to me, he was perfect.
2. Totally agree.
3. I can remember one pass (at the goal-line) that he forced and if the DB hands on to it, it is an INT, and Meyer was talking to him about it right after it happened. But Sturgis hit his 22 yard FG right after the play.
4. Haha. 6 catches is his personal best.
5. The concern with that is, what happens if there are no turnovers?
Totally agree, and the tackling will have to improve because Tennessee is a run and play action type of team.
The Once and Future King
Ah, I guess he did force it on that goal line play. I was mostly talking about the play where Rainey in the Slot motioned behind the line of scrimmage to set up a sort of WR screen but it never worked and Brantley kept forcing it to Rainey even though it wasnt there. It seemed like today, Brantley was looking at all of his options even though he may have chose the wrong option here and there.
They were able to score when they started the ball on thier own side of the field. Its not like they couldnt sustain a drive, it just so happens they didnt have to that often today. I’ll admit the 1st quarter was making me nervous but after that they had the ball 9 times and only had to punt twice. Of those 9 series, 6 of them started in Gator territory and the two punts started at the Gator 3 yard line and 17 yard line. So whos to say they wouldnt of been able to sustain a drive if the other 3 series would of started out at the FLA 20? Last seasons team could drive all the way down the field every series almost because Tebow would pound it down the field but once they were in the red zone they always struggled because the defense just keyed in on Tebow. So its a good thing that this years team will be able to take advantage of being in the red zone so often.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
I agree with you about the opportunistic offense
It seems like the past two years UF has had problems scoring without a short field. The Gators seem to struggle putting together sustained drives. I like the way Brantley spread it around and I think this offense is finally starting to put it together.
Also, on that play Brantley threw to Dubose’s right (when he was running a post) he had his man beat by 5-10 yards. I think that kid is going to be a stud.
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