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Posted by will on Oct 20, 2016 in Archive

Looking Ahead for the Gators

The 15th ranked Florida Gators have their scheduled bye week this week, so this post will will look ahead to their remaining opponents, but also recap the first half of the season.

The Recap

The Gators started the season 3-0 and their defense looked as dominate as ever. The defense has lived up to expectation and then some, ranking in the top five in the country. Coming into the season Florida had a quarterback battle between Luke Del Rio and Austin Appleby. Del Rio won the starting job, but Appleby has played in two games due to a Del Rio injury. Appleby went 1-1 in his two starts, losing on the road to Tennessee and winning at Vanderbilt. Del Rio has yet to lose a game as a starter this season.

Florida also had a home game against LSU rescheduled to a later date at LSU, due to Hurricane Matthew. The Gators will no longer play Presbyterian at home on November 19th, but will travel to Baton Rouge to face the Tigers.

Florida has had to deal with injuries on both sides of the ball this season, but the Gators keep finding ways to win. However, the harder part of their schedule is approaching. The Gators play Georgia in Jacksonville next week, then on the road at Arkansas and Florida state, both of which are ranked in the AP Top 25.

Looking Ahead

If the Gators win out the rest of their games, they will repeat as SEC East champions, and will go on to likely face either Alabama or Texas A&M. If the Gators lose one of the remaining games, then Tennessee would clinch the SEC East if they win out. With the way the defense has been playing for the Gators, they should be able to hold teams in check. It’s a matter of if the offense can generate enough points to surpass their opponent.

Posted by will on Oct 20, 2016 in Archive

The Gators Dominate Missouri in Homecoming Game

The Florida Gators put on a show in the Swamp this weekend, defeating the Missouri Tigers 40-14. Jalon ‘Teez’ Tabor and Quincy Wilson returned an interceptions for a touchdowns, Jordan Scarlett and Lamical Perine rushed for over 100 yards, and Luke Del Rio was back under center for the orange and blue.

A Rough Day for Quarterbacks

It wasn’t a great day for Missouri to say the least. Drew Lock, who was second in the SEC in passing, had one of those days any quarterback would like to forget. Lock finished the first half with just seven passing yards and two interceptions returned for touchdowns. Lock finished the game just four of 18, throwing for 39 yards and those two interceptions.

Luke Del Rio didn’t have a great game either, but that shouldn’t surprise too many people. Del Rio hasn’t played since week 3 against the North Texas Mean Green. He finished the game 18 for 31 with 236 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Del Rio looked rusty, but he still made some bad decisions. Head Coach Jim McElwain had his own comments about his quarterback’s performance.

McElwain said Luke Del Rio tried to do too much in last Saturday's game, which caused some problems.

— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) October 19, 2016

There’s Always a Bright Side

The Gators were able to get the run game on track last weekend. The team combined for 287 yards rushing and had two players rush for over 100. The Gators have struggled running the ball this season in part that they have so many running backs. Scarlett, Perine, Mark Thompson, and Jordan Cronkrite have all showed flashes of good potential throughout the year, but there is no clear cut number one in this rotation. Scarlett has scored in the past five games, so he may be emerging as the favorite, but only time will tell in that one.

Even Missouri had a good day rushing the ball. The Gators have one of the best defense’s in the country, and their secondary proved that last weekend. However they struggled to stop the rushing attack of Isb Witter and Damarea Crockett.

Missouri Rushing Statistics

Ish Witter: 15 rushes for 82 yards, 1 touchdown
Damarea Crockett: 14 rushes for 145 yards
Marvin Zanders: 8 rushes for 31 yards

Missouri’s secondary played also played well this past weekend. The Tigers allowed just one touchdown pass and forced three turnovers against the Gators. Missouri will look to keep the same defensive intensity against Middle Tennessee this weekend. It’s also hard to imagine Drew Lock performs this poorly two straight weeks.

The Gators are on a bye week, and are preparing to face SEC East Rival Georgia next weekend in Jacksonville.

Posted by will on Sep 22, 2016 in Archive

Gators Lose Starting Quarterback in Win Over North Texas

The Florida Gators improved to 3-0 on the season and moved to No. 19 in the AP Poll after defeating the North Texas Mean Green by a score of 32-0. However, the Gators can’t help but feel that they lost in a way. Starting quarterback Luke Del Rio suffered a left knee injury, and is expected to miss the next two to three weeks. The Gators will turn to backup quarterback Austin Appleby to lead the Gators to victory in Del Rio’s absence.

Despite the injury to Del Rio, the Gators posted their second shutout of the season, four different running-backs got into the end-zone, and Appleby was able to get some more in-game experience under center for the Gators.

Notable Statistics

Mark Thompson (UF)- 11 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD
Jordan Scarlett (UF)- 11 carries, 63 yards, 1 TD
Luke Del Rio (UF)- 14 for 25, 186 yards, 1 INT
Jeffery Wilson (UNT) 10 carries, 30 yards

The Gators defense continues to amaze, as they allowed just 53 yards of total offense last weekend, the lowest in school history. The Gators have also held their first three opponents to under 10 points combined, which is the first time since the team has done that since 1988. The Gators look to bring the same defensive intensity to Knoxville this Saturday as they square off against SEC East rival No. 14 Tennessee.

Posted by will on Sep 15, 2016 in Archive

Game Preview: North Texas at Florida (23)

After putting on an offensive-showcase against the Kentucky Wildcats, the Florida Gators look to build off that momentum as they square off against the North Texas Mean Green. Both teams are coming off victories where they scored over 40 points each.

If Florida comes out against North Texas like they came out against Kentucky, then the Mean Green are going to be in for a long night in the Swamp. Luke Del Rio is coming off a performance that put him in the conversation with Gator greats such as Tim Tebow and Rex Grossman, so Florida might look to air it out early.

However, the Mean Green have only allowed 245 yards through the air this season. For Florida, establishing the run will be important and could be the better strategy, as North Texas has given up over 400 yards rushing to opposing teams. Offensively, North Texas’ run game is their team’s strong point, rushing for over 400 yards in the first two games of the season. Although the numbers might not show it, Florida had its struggles last week against the run. Granted, Kentucky only threw the ball 13 times so most of their offense had to come from their ground-game.

If Florida comes out like they did against UMass then North Texas will need to take advantage of the opportunity while it lasts. But, if the Gators come out like they did against Kentucky then North Texas could be in for a long night in the Swamp

Posted by will on Sep 15, 2016 in Archive

30 Years of Dominance

1986: The year the NFL adopted instant replay, the year Michael Jordan set a record for points scored in an NBA Playoff game with 63, and the last year The University of Kentucky beat The University of Florida in football.

After last Saturday’s 45-7 thrashing of the Wildcats, The University of Florida football extended its current 29-year win streak to 30. After struggling offensively the week before against UMass, the Gators combined for a total of 564 yards of total offense, their highest total in SEC play since 2001. Jim McElwain’s high power offense was on display in the Swamp last Saturday; here are a few notable statistics from the game:

Florida Offensive Numbers

Luke Del Rio 19-of-32 passes for 320 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Lamical Perine rushed for 105 yards on 17 carries
Antonio Callaway posted a career-high in receiving yards with 129
Florida had 13 third-down conversions, 10 coming in the first half

Florida’s defense has come out this season looking strong as well. The Gators have allowed just seven points over the first two weeks of the season, the fewest since 2011. Kentucky’s starting quarterback Drew Barker, who threw for over 300 yards in his first game, threw for a measly 10 yards on 2-of-10 passes. The team as a whole only had 55-yards through the air. Here are a few notable defensive statistics from the game:

Florida Defensive Numbers

Four forced turnovers (3 interceptions and 1 fumble)
Jachai Polite had his first career forced fumble
Jalon “Teez” Tabor had his first interception of the 2016 season.

The Gators have a long season ahead of them, but if they play anything like they did against Kentucky for the rest of the season then the Gators will have a very successful 2016 season.