Florida Gators 56 – Troy Trojans 6
After a slow start,
Florida
got the offense rolling and cruised to a 56-6 victory over
Troy
. There are still a few wrinkles to iron out, but overall, the Gators are doing what they are supposed to be doing against early opponents. A bigger test comes next week against
Tennessee
, but for now, fans can be happy with the performances Florida is putting together.
Tim Tebow was, well, Tim Tebow. A vanilla offense in game one didn’t give us the chance to see the usual Tebow in all of his glory. But this week, the offense opened up a little more and Tebow was Tebow. Superman ended the day with four touchdowns through the air (three of which went for more than 30 yards) and one on the ground. The touchdown run tied Tebow with Cadillac Williams for third on the SEC’s career list.
If you can say one thing about John Brantley it has to be the zip he puts on the ball. CRIMINY! The speed the ball reaches after coming out of Brantley’s rocket arm is ridiculous. Now if he can just get it under control a little bit. Not that I’m complaining one bit, after all he did go 10-of-12 in this one, but the passes seem to rise and receivers had to adjust more than once to make a catch. In the end, Florida is in for a treat when he becomes the full time quarterback in 2010.
Emmanuel Moody found out exactly what happens when you put the ball on the ground. One carry, 12 yards, one fumble, day over. Luckily the Gators have a stable of backs to rely upon. Jeffery Demps and Chris Rainey each scored and totaled 172 yards on the ground on only 19 carries. Mike Gillislee looked much more like a true freshman in his second collegiate game, but that was in part to an offensive line that didn’t play well. Either way, Gillislee also needs to hold on to the ball.
Dammit Deonte! After dropping another pass, I was wondering if it would be another week before we’d see Deonte Thompson make his first reception of 2009. Thompson got his head back in the game though and caught two touchdown passes. But the clear #1 receiver is Riley Cooper. Cooper had another great game doing it all. He was part of the play of the game with his touchdown grab until Brandon James one upped him and made a slightly tougher catch a quarter later. Omarius Hines looks like the real deal, although a drop may have put him out of contention for surprise player of the game.
I can’t be the only one that is concerned about the offensive line play so far. The quarterbacks were constantly pressured. Running backs were stopped too many times in the backfield. The line looks great at times and lost at others. I’m sure they will continue to improve and gel over time, but there is no consistency thus far.
I’m officially patting myself on the back about William Green. Keep watching him. Jermaine Cunningham will get the bulk of the playing time, but with the Cunningham being a senior and the possibility of Carlos Dunlap leaving after this season, you may be watching the next star on the defensive line. Green needs to put on a few more pounds, but his speed is his greatest asset.
How much of a difference does the return of a starter make? Just look at the pass defense with the return of Janoris Jenkins. Jenkins obviously didn’t do it all himself, but he did intercept a pass and the Gators only allowed 66 yards through the air one week after allowing 228 to an FCS team.
Brandon James must be getting frustrated at this point. He laughs it off, but it makes me wonder what the record for kick/punt returns for touchdowns called back because of penalties is.
A good game for the Gators and another big win. Now we move on to week three and the matchup with Tennessee. I will be there and couldn’t be more pumped. I’m practically counting down the hours at this point.