Tennessee Vols Don’t Show Up Against Florida Gators
The Vols actually had more offensive yards than the Gators. But it had nothing to do with Tennessee’s defense stopping Florida. It had more to do with the fact that the Gators didn’t need a big offensive day. Brandon James almost single handedly took care of that himself. James returned the opening kickoff 52 yards – allowing the Gators an easy first touchdown drive – and then the junior returned a punt 78 yards for a score only a few minutes later. If you didn’t see the punt return, do yourself a favor and find a clip and then ask yourself repeatedly why any team would ever voluntarily kick to James.
Florida’s greatest weakness last year – its defense – was again its greatest strength. Twice in the first half Tennessee was able to get deep into UF territory only to turn over the ball. The Vols fumbled once and Gator freshman Janoris Jenkins intercepted Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton in the end zone.
Quick note to Crompton: I love it when guys get popped but immediately bounce up, but if you’re going to talk after the hit, make sure it’s directed at the right player. It wasn’t UF hit machine Major Wright that made you see stars. It was Joe Haden. Remember that for next year. He’s #5.
Quick note to Haden: You are the best tackling, hardest hitting cornerback I’ve ever seen. Seriously.
Gator critics – and more specifically Tim Tebow critics – are going to immediately point to the Heisman winner’s statistics and say something to the effect of UF not going far this season unless Tebow can put up similar numbers to last year. Well thanks for the thought, but you’re 100% wrong. If you haven’t watched any UF games this year, it would be easy to think Tebow isn’t nearly having the season he had in 2007. But here’s the catch, that’s a good thing. Tebow hasn’t needed to be all-everything. He’s playing the game smart, has yet to turn over the ball, and is just doing what UF needs him to do to win. He’s shown a few flashes when needed, so don’t worry Gator fans. Tebow’s 2008 statistics don’t mean he’s not the offensive force he was in 2007. It just means the offense is more balanced and the defense – which has allowed only 19 total points in three games – is greatly improved.
Lest we forget to say welcome to Gator football Emmanuel Moody. Wow. This is the Moody we all expected and this is the Moody UF desperately needed. Moody only carried the ball 9 times, but looked like the complete back the Gators have wanted. He showed speed, some good moves, and even a little power. It could get nasty for opposing defenses when coaches start to give him the ball 18-20 times a game.
The rest of the running game looked good too, but I’d like to see Tebow hand off the ball even more. He had 26 yards on 12 carries – most of which were on some kind of fake handoff or fake reverse. More than once I found myself yelling for him to hand it off. I know he’s just running the play as designed, but it might be time UF actually run more of those plays to the backs. Moody, Percy Harvin, and Chris Rainey all looked good. Let them get the ball and try to make some big plays. Tebow has the power to keep drives going, but the backs are all homerun threats. In a game like this where Florida has the early lead, why not give them the ball more to see what they can do. Unless of course – like many believe – Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen are still hiding most of their offense until they really need it. I can’t really blame them if that’s the case. At the point in the season, they’ve only needed part of the playbook and with some big games ahead, it might be wise to keep some things under wraps.
I do have to give poor scores to two of the cornerbacks unfortunately. First of all, I think I’ve been spoiled by watching Haden tackle so well and run up to hit ball carriers. It makes me want to see all of the defenders do the same and I think I might be expecting too much from the other corners. But I still feel like Markihe Anderson holds back just a little too much. Anderson seems to wait until the ball carrier comes to him, even when he has safety support. He’s giving up a few extra yards by doing this. I don’t want him to miss a tackle, but he could be a little more aggressive. I also have to call out Wondy Pierre-Louis. Pierre-Louis has made some big plays in his career as a Gator. But now he’s trying too hard to make more. Multiple times this season, he has gone for an interception, only to come up empty handed and then watch the receiver catch the ball and take off downfield. I don’t have a problem with taking a chance from time to time, but on the two most notable instances – once against Miami and once on Saturday – there was no chance Wondy would have picked off the ball either time. Both times the ball was placed almost perfectly to the receiver and Pierre-Louis essentially left his man uncovered.
The last two games weren’t shootouts and we didn’t see big play after big play after big play from the Gators’ offense, but I never thought I’d see a season where Florida would hold Miami and Tennessee to 9 points combined. Regardless of the current state of either program, that’s impressive in my mind.