Florida football: USF has Gerry Bohanon on offense and that’s about it
On paper, USF has mid-level FBS talent that shouldn’t provide any scares for Florida football but should be capable of at least making the Gators earn its win. USF is ranked 65th in the 247 Sports talent composite for 2022, ahead of teams like Kansas State, Syracuse, and Wake Forest.
In reality, USF continues to have a dumpster fire of an offense that the Gators’ defense should feast on all night on Saturday.
Florida football: Gerry Bohanon needs a miracle
USF fans had reason to be excited in the offseason when Baylor QB Gerry Bohanon transferred into the program. The junior from Earle, Arkansas started 12 games for Baylor last year and threw for 2,200 yards and 18 TDs. Bohanon also ran for nine touchdowns.
Two passes into Bohanon’s stint at USF and all those good vibes were gone. His second throw in USF’s opener against BYU was a telegraphed screen pass that was picked off and returned for a touchdown.
USF tries to run an offense that creates safe throws for Bohanon and utilizes runs between the tackles to set up deep shots. The problem is that USF doesn’t have the size nor the athletes to create chaos after the catch.
Against BYU, USF tried other screen plays that were blown up at the point of attack by BYU being more physical. When USF and Bohanon did try to go deep, Bohanon mostly floated his passes without any real drive behind the ball.
Xavier Weaver is a respectable enough receiver for USF that had 715 yards receiving last year and has 170 yards off 12 catches so far this year. Weaver can high point the ball and will contend for Bohanon’s floated passes, but beyond him, there isn’t a receiver for USF that has more than four catches through two games.
Florida football: Desmond Watson should feast on the O-line
When USF does try to run it is mostly unsuccessful. The Bulls don’t have a small offensive line by normal human beings’ standards. They have a couple of starters listed over 310 pounds. Compared to Florida’s offensive line featuring three starters over 320 pounds and no one under 300, USF has a small line that Florida defensive tackle Desmond Watson should have great success against.
For example against Howard, USF didn’t exactly exert their will for the first three quarters in the run game. Eventually, Howard wore down and USF was able to pop some big runs. Brian Battie had a 60-yard run for a TD and does have 59 yards rushing from his other nine attempts in two games.
Jaren Mangham has been the lead running back for USF with 17 carries but is only averaging 3.9 yards a carry.
USF’s running backs have decent breakaway speed if given space, but they have yet to create that space for themselves and they don’t make any cuts that should scare Florida linebackers. If Watson can fill space like he did against Utah and Florida’s linebackers can fill the correct gaps, it should be a long day for USF’s running back.
Florida football: Ten points or less
Outside of a long bomb to Weaver or a blown gap assignment, there just are not enough playmakers on USF’s roster or size along the offensive line for the Bulls to string together long drives with any consistency.
A good chunk of the yardage USF had against BYU was after the Bulls were down 38-0 and BYU started playing a soft shell defensively. Against Howard, USF was only ahead 21-14 late in the third quarter and pulled away because Howard has zero depth.
With the starters in playing a normal defense, Florida football should be disappointed if it gives up more than ten points against USF.
Keep up with all things Florida football with Hail Florida Hail.