Florida Gators Offense Comes up Short vs Florida State Seminoles

Before the Georgia game, I wrote a piece defending Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp where I focused on the strong defensive and running-oriented teams he was able to build. Like magic, that team emerged in early November. And then it was gone.

At the time then, I observed that the Georgia game was Muschamp’s chance to turn things around and show he could get the Gators to win. But the resounding victory over Georgia wasn’t the end of the job, it was only the beginning.

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Unfortunately for both Muschamp and the Gator Nation, that job was never finished. And it was painfully evident in the Gators 24-19 loss to No. 3 Florida State on Saturday. The offense never got fixed.  The Gators loss to Florida State put the full strengths and weaknesses of this team on display.

Defense Strong, Offense Can’t Capitalize

The defense was as strong as ever and performed remarkably in the second half, holding quarterback Jameis Winston and the other Seminoles weapons to only 3 points. The special teams was average, making a big play, but also missing two second half field goals that would have made the difference.

But once again, the offense could not consistently move the ball, could not get first downs, could not throw down the field and could not keep from making costly turnovers.

Four interceptions and a blocked punt set the Gators up in good field position several times. But only once were they able to punch it in for a score. With their best chance to turn the tide and take control of the game, the Gators offense squandered a third quarter interception that set them up at the FSU 33. Florida went backwards one yard and missed the field goal.

Running Game Nowhere to be Found

The Gators showed flashes of offense — a 41 yard pass play to Demarcus Robinson, a first-half-ending touchdown pass to Clay Burton — but when the game was on the line with 3:23 left, the Gator offense hardly posed a threat.

Muschamp’s failure to develop the offense can easily be pinned on a poor passing game. At the beginning of the season, fans put the blame of quarterback Jeff Driskel, but freshman Treon Harris wasn’t much better against FSU, completing just 13 of 32 passes, for 169 yards.

But Muschamp’s inability to beat the Seminoles stemmed as much from a suddenly weak running game as it was from the pass. The team that ran for more than 400 yards against Georgia had just 113 against the Seminoles. The fact that quarterback Harris was the leading rusher with 41 yards demonstrates just how ineffective the Gator running backs had become in the offense.

There were signs that the Gators running game was fading in November. Though 218 yards rushing against South Carolina looks good on the stat sheet, 111 were from Harris, as running backs Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor were mostly bottled up by the Gamecocks, just like they were against the Seminoles. Even against lower-division FCS Eastern Kentucky, the Gators struggled rushing, with just 44 first-half yards, and Taylor couldn’t convert a two yard, 4th down run in the third quarter.

A November to Forget

Many Gator fans were confident about the matchup with Florida State, especially with the way the Seminoles struggled with mediocre teams. And again yesterday, they did struggle with a Gator team that could only be described as mediocre.  But the Gators’ recent offensive performances against South Carolina and even Eastern Kentucky really didn’t give much support to that hope.

Had the Gators been good, they would have won this game. But this wasn’t a good Gator team, only a mediocre one. While I believe Muschamp is a good coach, by his fourth year, he was unable to produce a good offensive team. The great defense could only carry them so far and in the end, that place was mediocrity.

After the Georgia win, there was hope that this could be a “November to Remember” for the Gators. Instead, it’s a month worth forgetting. A fired coach and mediocre performances on the field leave Gator fans with another sub-par year.

Waiting Until Next Year

While there will be a bowl game for the Gators, the time to start thinking about next year starts now. The good news for Gator fans is that there is plenty of talent on this team and there’s no reason to think that next year’s Florida team won’t be able to compete for the SEC title and maybe more. But next year won’t start until Florida hires a coach that develop a more well-rounded team — and one that knows how to create offense.