Florida football: First-half thoughts and takes for Florida-Miami

Miami leads Florida football 13-7 lead at halftime as Miami has struggled to contain the Gators on offense early, but did force a pair of turnovers. Surprising enough, the Florida defense has also been impressive.

You never really know what to expect in the first game of the season.

Of course, you could expect Miami to bring out an obnoxious gold chain with “305” brandished (for turnovers apparently) on it, but on the field, it’s anyone’s guess.

The first half of Florida-Miami provided plenty of excitement on both sides of the ball.

Here are a few takeaways from the first half:

That fake punt though

Who would have thought that Mullen would pull out the fake punt so early in the season?

But, Tommy Townsend did exactly what he needed to do. He found a gap in the Hurricanes’ coverage and exploited it.

Not to mention Townsend really turned on the jets.

The wheels on that kid …

Kadarius Toney gets it done

Let’s get to Miami’s “tackling” in a second.

But, Toney caught that first pass from Feleipe Franks and made it happen — 66 yards for the first touchdown of the season.

Toney was able to show some versatility with a pair of rushes in the first quarter for nine yards.

Now, on the touchdown run, he was clearly helped by Miami’s secondary, who seemed to forget their tackling fundamentals, allowing Toney to scamper into the end zone and give Florida football a 7-3 lead.

Say what you will about the Gator offense …

But, I was moderately impressed by what they accomplished in the first half.

They seemed to give Franks, on most occasions, enough time to make plays. They also did provide some gap room for Lamical Perine upfront, even though the Gators chose to throw more than run the football.

It was enough for Mullen to have the confidence to keep the offense out on 4th and short on two occasions early in the game — completing both of them.

But, the miscues have to stop

The biggest issue, however, was the offensive turnovers.

A botched hand-off between Franks and Perine gave Miami the ball early in the second quarter. Then, on the next drive, Florida football had the ball at the Miami 40, only to fumble a snap and turn the ball back over.

Franks also struggled to make good decisions when he had the opportunity to. Especially when he was forced out of the pocket. He should do better in his second year under center.

Those miscues did a better job slowing Florida football’s offense down than Miami’s defense.

Miami offense sputters early

Jarren Williams struggled to get the Hurricanes’ offense off on the right foot.

The first drive nearly led to a touchdown, but an offensive miscue coupled with a big defensive stop forced a field goal.

The Hurricanes had six penalties three minutes into the second quarter — three of those were false starts and there was another for illegal substitution.

Two of those penalties came after Miami recovered the fumble by Perine early in the second.

All of it halted any momentum Miami may have gained with the fumble recoveries.

But, they were able to score late on a 12-play, 90-yard drive to take a 13-7 lead.

I think a lot of credit for Miami’s offensive issues can be attributed back to the Gator defense. Jon Greenard and Ventrell Miller were both strong first half.

We look for more from him and the Florida football defense in the second.