Florida football: Survive and advance: Gators-Canes recap

There were plenty of missed tackles, flags, and turnovers to go around on Saturday, but Florida football found a way to win against in-state rival Miami on Saturday night in Orlando.

“That was exhausting,” a relieved Dan Mullen started his post-game press conference.

Those three simple words summed up every fan’s emotion after a down-to-the-wire victory at Camping World Stadium.

A win is a win. And a win over Miami should be always appreciated. Saturdays are about survival and on the first Saturday of the season, the Gators got the job done.

Quick hitters from Game One

• Despite preseason optimism surrounding QB Feleipe Franks and the offense, the Orange and Blue faithful endured the all-too-familiar sight of a grind-it-out victory led by the defense in an opening season 24-20 win over the Hurricanes. Franks lacks consistency, but his ability to bounce back and make some key plays should be applauded. Get ready for some ups and downs with Franks this season. We’ll see clutch fourth-down conversions, followed by missed throws, a 65-yard completion in a critical moment, and a pick in another critical moment. If Franks can cut back on the errors there is plenty of room for him to live up to the preseason hype.
• The defense executed (between penalties) when Florida needed it most down the stretch. Despite some sloppy play, Mullen praised the defensive effort, “You know what I loved? We made some mistakes, we missed some tackles, but we just kept going.”
• “On both sides, it was a game littered with mistakes,” Miami head coach Manny Diaz said in his Monday press conference, “I think when it really came down to it, we made one or two more mistakes at a crucial time than they did.”
• With the win over the Hurricanes, it’s easy to envision a scenario where Florida football finishes September with a 5-0 record. The slate features three home games and one road game: UT-Martin, at Kentucky, Tennessee, and Towson.

Conservative Canes offense took a beating but hung around

It was clear from the opening drive that the Miami gameplan for freshman QB Jarren Williams centered around avoiding the big mistake.

Yes, Williams made mistakes and put the ball the ground on two occasions, but the conservative approach also kept Miami within striking distance.

Florida Gators Football

Williams went 5-5 through the air on the first drive for 61 yards, but only one of the passes, a one-yard third-down dump off to TE Brevin Jordan, traveled past the line of scrimmage. Quick releases were a common occurrence throughout the game and the Gators were not tested down-field.

Florida’s experienced defensive front took advantage of Miami’s youth all night, however, there was a silver-lining to Williams’ first collegiate start.

Williams may not be a big-time scrambler, but he was elusive enough in the pocket to avoid a few sacks despite constant pressure from the Gators front. He also had shown enough discipline to not force the ball into a tight window. Sometimes avoiding the big mistake is just as useful as making a great play.

“I thought one thing Jarren [Williams] did do was compete,” Miami offensive coordinator Dan Enos said, “I thought he showed some toughness, showed competitiveness, but certainly we need to be way, way more consistent at that position if we want to beat good teams as we played on Saturday.”

The dominant defensive front leads the way for Florida

Florida football recorded 10 sacks against Miami on Saturday night. 10 sacks!

The Gators defensive front was a steady force throughout the night.

“Obviously, we have a young offensive line,” Diaz said in his postgame press conference, “They’ve got an experienced front that we knew would give us some trouble.”

Florida DL Jabari Zuniga and LB Jon Greenard have wreaked havoc on the young Hurricanes offensive line, but Miami OC Dan Enos believed his QB helped drive the sack count up.

"“Five of the sacks were his [Miami QB Williams] fault,” according to Enos, “Two times he was out of the pocket and he stepped out-of-bounds one-yard behind the line-of-scrimmage which counts as a sack which has nothing to do with the offensive line or anyone. He’s just got to learn how to throw the ball away.”"

Does Enos credit half the sacks to Williams? A win is a win and sack is a sack.

To put this freakish performance into perspective, the Gators did not record their tenth sack of 2018 until the fifth game of the season at Mississippi State.

Let’s go one step further and check out the total season sack numbers for year one of Mullen and all of the McElwain and Muschamp eras:

• 2018 – 37 sacks
• 2017 – 23 sacks
• 2016 – 31 sacks
• 2015 – 40 sacks
• 2014 – 30 sacks
• 2013 – 19 sacks
• 2012 – 30 sacks
• 2011 – 28 sacks

The 10 sacks against Miami were not limited to just a few players. Nine Florida football defenders took part in the dominance: LB Ventrell Miller (2 sacks on the night), LB Jon Greenard (1.5 sacks), DB Trey Dean III (1.5 sacks), DL Jabari Zuniga (1.5 sacks), LB  Kyree Campbell (1 sack),  LB James Houston IV (1 sack), and LB Jeremiah Moon, DL Marlon Dunlop Jr., and DL Adam Shuler (0.5 sack each).

Danny Danger

Dan Mullen’s aggressive approach on fourth down paid off and put the Gators over-the-top.

#1. First possession of the game (first quarter): 4th-and-3 at Florida 28 

Mullen dialed up a fake punt deep in Florida territory after a three-and-out on the initial possession for the Gators.

Punter Tommy Townsend showed off some speed and sprinted toward the sideline for a six-yard gain.

On the next play, WR Kadarius Toney took a bubble screen 66 yards for a touchdown to give the Gators an early lead.

#2. Second possession of the game (first quarter): 4th-and-1 at Florida 49

For the second time in the first quarter, Mullen went for fourth-and-short, only this time he left the offense on the field.

Toney used his speed to get past a tackler around the right edge for a three-yard rush to keep the Gators drive alive.

#3. Second possession of the game (second quarter: 4th-and-1 at Miami 24

Mullen stayed on the ground for a third time (second time on this drive) in three 4th-down attempts as Franks rushed for a three-yard gain.

Unfortunately, Mullen’s gamble was nullified when a fault exchange led to a Miami fumble recovery inside the UM 10-yard line.

 #4 Seventh possession of the game (third quarter: 4th-and-5 at Miami 37)

Franks rolled out to the left and hit WR Trevon Grimes for a 10 yard gain along the sideline.

The drive later fizzled out inside of the red zone and Florida settled for a 27-yard field goal.

Mullen’s gambled on three drives and it led to 10 points. Coaching matters.

Special night key to Florida victory

Special teams fanatic, Urban Meyer, must’ve have been beaming with pride in his Gators polo after watching Florida’s special teams’ execution play a key role in Florida’s win.

Two big plays on special teams set up two Florida touchdowns.

Aside from showing off his athletic ability on a first down run, Townsend boomed three punts for an average of 44.7 yards per punt and completely nullified dangerous Canes WR and return man, Jeff Thomas

The first two punts pinned Miami at their own 10 yard-line and 5 yard-line respectively. The third punt was muffed by Miami’s Thomas and recovered by Florida WR Van Jefferson, setting up a Franks 8 yard touchdown pass to RB Lamichal Perine to give the Gators a 17-13 lead in the third quarter.

Mullen praised Jefferson after the game, “I don’t know if any one of our individual receivers is going to put up huge stats, but collectively they’re going to put up big numbers. Our starting receiver [Jefferson] made one of the biggest plays of the game, recovering a punt on special teams. It’s our leading returning receiver and this is his first time playing on punt because they’re a veteran group that really understands how to win football games.”

Florida K Evan McPherson also did his part in keeping Thomas in check by booting four touchbacks in five kickoff attempts. He also tacked on three extra points and a 27-yard field goal.

It seems minor to appreciate a 27-yard field goal, but when you stop and consider how significant Miami K Bubba Baxa‘s missed 27-yard field goal attempt around at the 9:48 mark in the fourth quarter proved to be, it’s easy to see the beauty in McPherson’s understated evening.

The special teams turned in an outstanding performance and were key to Florida’s opening win.