Florida D and O line

[canebreak]

So they hold ECU to -13 yards rushing on 20 or so carries. Is Florida that stout up front? Looking at their depth chart they don't seem huge on the D-line. Of course ECU does not look like they are even pretending to be a running team. They threw 54 times.

The UF O-Line is a different story...quite big.

ANd I think they are mad about how they played last weekend.

 

[Rhavicc]

So they hold ECU to -13 yards rushing on 20 or so carries. Is Florida that stout up front? Looking at their depth chart they don't seem huge on the D-line. Of course ECU does not look like they are even pretending to be a running team. They threw 54 times.

The UF O-Line is a different story...quite big.

ANd I think they are mad about how they played last weekend.

Here's what I think. I think while Florida has a talented d-line, their fans are overblowing this whole -13 rushing yards against ECU thing. Keep in mind, this is a school that has, at no point in time, been known for being some great running team. For the past 3 years at least, that's a school that has done one thing pretty well, and that's throw the football, and do you know who they did that with? Only their all-time leading passer, all-time leading receiver, and an offensive coordinator that is now in Oklahoma, none of which are there anymore (being that all 3 left after last season).
Despite all of that, and despite being a horribly one-dimensional team, ECU still threw for a ridiculous amount of yards on Florida.

Other things to consider:
- East Carolina lost players that scored 15 rushing touchdowns total last season, their starting RB, their starting QB, and their all-time best WR. That's a lot of lost production.
- ECU only averaged 5.82 YPC against Towson. All of the Kentucky RB's in the 3 deep average at least 6 yards per carry. Boom Williams averages over 10 YPC through the first 2 games.
- For a team that stuffed East Carolina's run, they struggled to stop a one dimensional offense that lost all of its best players.
- Florida has a very, very young offensive line. Several of their offensive linemen weren't even in the 2 deep last season. UK has a ton of different blitz packages, which will be very stressful for a young offensive line. Plus, we finally have our top pass rusher back into the fold.
- Kentucky's offensive line weighs 315# on average. They're going to have to fight a lot of size, and in some cases, a lot of experience as well. UK has a lot of players that has a lot of reps under their belt.

 

[Blue Decade]

So they hold ECU to -13 yards rushing on 20 or so carries. Is Florida that stout up front? Looking at their depth chart they don't seem huge on the D-line. Of course ECU does not look like they are even pretending to be a running team. They threw 54 times.

The UF O-Line is a different story...quite big.

ANd I think they are mad about how they played last weekend.

These are good questions, and we will find out the answers soon. Good teams build game plans based on their strengths. Although we should see a couple new wrinkles this week, Kentucky will basically build on what has worked, and try to do it for 4 quarters this time. Florida's defensive line will be the best we have seen yet, but I don't know if their offensive line is better than South Carolina's. Brandon Shell and Alan Knott are probably better than any Gator offensive lineman.

 

[dingyibvs]

Florida's OL is by far the biggest question this season. Very inexperienced, returned only 2 players from last year's entire rotation, and 1 of them only played sparingly as he was a true freshman. They'll get Martez Ivey back this week, but he's a true freshman coming off a knee surgery, doubt he'll be much of a factor regardless of how highly rated he was and how well he played in fall camp.

Florida's DL, OTOH, is pretty good. No real game-breakers along the line, but it runs 10 players deep and they all rotate in a lot, so it really helps to keep them fresh. You'll see Florida making wholesale changes along the DL when opposing offenses move the ball a bit, especially around the redzone. The DTs are pretty good with penetration, and the DEs are stout against the run. There are some pass rushers who just ooze talent (Alex McCallister, CeCe Jefferson, Justus Reed) but haven't really found their groove yet.

As for Florida giving up a lot of passing yards, keep in mind that they played without 2 of their best DBs last game, CB Vernon Hargreaves and FS Keanu Neal. Both should be back for this game.

 

[Smashcat]

So they hold ECU to -13 yards rushing on 20 or so carries. Is Florida that stout up front? Looking at their depth chart they don't seem huge on the D-line. Of course ECU does not look like they are even pretending to be a running team. They threw 54 times.

The UF O-Line is a different story...quite big.

ANd I think they are mad about how they played last weekend.

We should be madder about not beating them last year.

 

[Rhavicc]

We should be madder about not beating them last year.

Pretty much. Both teams will go out with something to prove. Both teams have a goal, and that's to win.

 

[ktbug]

Their offense is not good. We will be able to score on them. Limit to's and we win.

 

[hmt5000]

i dont think they are better on D than last year and we are better on O. if we limit to's we win.

 

[bssparks]

i dont think they are better on D than last year and we are better on O. if we limit to's we win.

They lost the 3 pick in the draft, that's pretty hard to replace.

 

[C.W.1]

When UK was considering ECU's OC, Lincoln Riley, to replace Neal Brown, I remember looking at the offensive numbers of the potetial OC's and ECU was the team who ran the ball the worst of the OCs being considered. ECU has been very much a pass first offense. Florida defense gave up 70 yards on the ground to a really bad New Mexico State team. My guess is UF is good against the run but not near as good as the ECU game would suggest. They are probably also good against the pass and much better than the pass defense number against ECU suggest, especially considering their best 2 DBs were out.

I would expect UK to run the ball more than pass, especially with UF's best LB likely out.

 

[Gator Fever]

ECU kind of abandoned the run in the 2nd half and got caught in the backfield quite a few times. I think this D will be pretty stout against the run but not one that can totally stuff the run when a team with a good big O line just plays to get a hat on a hat and is determined to establish the run some.

 

[Rhavicc]

ECU kind of abandoned the run in the 2nd half and got caught in the backfield quite a few times. I think this D will be pretty stout against the run but not one that can totally stuff the run when a team with a good big O line just plays to get a hat on a hat and is determined to establish the run some.

Kind of what I expect. Kentucky's success in the ground game (UK running backs collectively averaging 8.35 yards per carry) is mostly attributed to execution, and when a team executes well, it's incredibly hard to stop them. Dawson has shown the ability to draw up good plays, calls good ones, and we have a lot of very good blockers everywhere on the field (TE's and WR's exceeded all expectations as blockers this season, it has been showing).
Kentucky just needs to do what it has been doing, and that's open holes, put hats on the right guys, and bust big runs. What you described in your post is how Kentucky has approached its running game to this point.

 

[canebreak]

Kind of what I expect. Kentucky's success in the ground game (UK running backs collectively averaging 8.35 yards per carry) is mostly attributed to execution, and when a team executes well, it's incredibly hard to stop them. Dawson has shown the ability to draw up good plays, calls good ones, and we have a lot of very good blockers everywhere on the field (TE's and WR's exceeded all expectations as blockers this season, it has been showing).
Kentucky just needs to do what it has been doing, and that's open holes, put hats on the right guys, and bust big runs. What you described in your post is how Kentucky has approached its running game to this point.

Good point...I have noticed that our tempo also contributes to successful plays more so than a year ago. Seems to keep defense off balance.

 

[Rhavicc]

Good point...I have noticed that our tempo also contributes to successful plays more so than a year ago. Seems to keep defense off balance.

Indeed. More importantly, we're not sacrificing execution for tempo. We're maintaining very good execution while moving at a fast pace, which is the difference between the ceiling of an offense being very good, and elite. If you let teams line up with you, and you're still executing to the level that we have been (namely in the first half of these games), then your offense will still move the ball well, but it's going to be more of a grind-it-out type deal. It's all about timing and accuracy (again, two things that even Towles himself said was the emphasis).
Is it possible for a defense to get a jump on the ball? For sure, but if it's executed correctly, then defenses have very little time to read plays and make a good play on the ball.
But if you execute at that same level, and get the ball snapped before the defense can get in place, that opens up the chances for explosive plays being made, by quite a bit. Being efficient and explosive is what it means to be an elite offense. Last year, we were fairly explosive, not very efficient though. This year, we're doing both of these things, we just have to maintain it for all 4 quarters, and not just 2.
Kentucky took a step towards that direction against South Carolina. We didn't really see the full potential of what we're looking at right now with UK's offense because of two consecutive holding penalties to start off 2 consecutive drives, but the way we ended the game against South Carolina on offense looked exactly like the way that we ended the first half against them. Outstanding ball movement, putting hats on defenders, making our way several yards downfield at a time. We lacked that for all of last season, really against South Carolina too. We failed to put hats on defenders downfield, and the way we beat them was a sheer numbers game at the line of scrimmage. Maybe that's simply the way Brown drew plays up, maybe it was just the youth of our team, maybe it was both (I think it's more of this), but Dawson has drawn up a scheme that works, the players said they love it before the season even started, it's not complex for them, and we're playing more physical (which is one thing that Dawson drove home from the day he was hired here).
So far, he's been an excellent offensive coordinator, and I think that continues. We've just been playing some very fundamentally sound football with more talent than we've ever had.

 

[instaGATOR]

16 DL-men - 7 DT's - 3 RUSH - 6 DE's

90 - #4 DT/DE Jonathan Bullard 6-3 283 Sr 3L ***** Shelby, NC
91 - #42 DT Joey Ivie 6-3 295 Jr 2L **** Dade City
57 - #6 DT Caleb Brantley 6-2 314 rsSo 1L **** Crescent City
55 - #2 DT Thomas Holley 6-3 320 rsFr SQ ***** Brooklyn, NY
93 - #32 DT/DE Taven Bryan 6-5 292 rsFr *** Casper, Wyo
54 - #16 DT/NT Khairi Clark 6-2 321 rsFr SQ **** Hollywood
62 - #44 DT/OG Andrew Ivie 6-1 302 Fr *** Dade City,
-----------
14 - #32 DE/RUSH Alex McCalister 6-6 239 rsJr 2L **** Winston Salem, NC
17 - #26 DE/OLB/RUSH Jordan Sherit 6-4 250 rsSo **** 1L Tampa - (questionable-foot)
97 - #25 DE/OLB/RUSH Justus Reed 6-3 234 rsFr **** SQ Clearwater
-----------
59 - NR DE Dakota Wilson 6-0 269 rsSr *** SQ Bradenton
94 - #62 DE Bryan Cox Jr 6-3 268 rsJr 2L *** Fort Lauderdale
96 - #2 DE CeCe Jefferson 6-1 275 Fr ***** Glen St. Mary
92 - #18 DE/78-DT Jabari Zuniga 6-3 263 Fr *** 78 Marietta, Ga.
95 - #138 DE Keivonnis Davis 6-4 227 Fr *** 73 Miami
98 - #148 DE Luke Ancrum 6-5 251 Fr *** 71 Sebring
===========

The reason most of that OL were not 2014 starters is that UF sent 4 OL'men to the NFL Draft, including 1st round LT D.J. Humphries.

20 OL'men: 5 OG, 6 OT, 4 C/OG, 5 OL/WO -- 2 *****, 6 **** (15 on ship)

51 - #27 OG/DT Antonio Riles 6-4 322 rsSo 1L **** Lawrenceville, Ga - SEC Honor Roll Received the Gator freshman Most Valuable Offensive Scout Team Award in 2013.
52 - #26 RG/DT Travaris Dorsey 6-2 318 4.8/40 rsFr **** Jacksonville, Raines - Rivals Camp OL MVP >>> 515 squat, 450 bench, 4A All State
67 - #36 OG Brandon Sandifer 6-3 357 Fr *** Warner Robins, Ga - 5A All State, State Champ
68 - #79 OG/DT Richerd Desir-Jones 6-4 290 Fr *** 75 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - 7A State Champ
66 - #105 OG/DT Nick Buchanan 6-4 285 Fr *** 73 Dunwoody, Ga - flipped Cal - 5A Honorable Mention
----------
63 - #13 LG/C Trip Thurman 6-5 313 rsSr 2L **** Dover, Del. SEC Honor Roll (rehabbing shoulder)
54 - #20 OG/C Cameron Dillard 6-4 308 rsSo 1L **** Canton, Mich - HS All State - 4 games in 2014
64 - #3 C-OG Tyler Jordan 6-4 292 Fr **** Jacksonville, FL - UA-AA - 5A 1st Team
59 - #89 C/OG/DT T.J. McCoy 6-1 302 Fr *** 75 Groveland, FL - an EE at NCSt, Hardship xfer.
----------
75 - AA LT Mason Halter 6-8 297 Sr 3L - (with 38 career starts at LT)
78 - #2 LT David Sharpe 6-6 355 So 1L ***** Jacksonville - Played LT in 6 2014 games.
53 - #21 RT Kavaris Harkless 6-5 300 rsFr SQ **** Jacksonville - 3A 1st Team & State Champ
77 - #32 RT/DT Andrew Mike 6-6 302 rsFr SQ *** Tucson, AZ - Semper-Fi AA, 1st Team All State
73 - #1 LT Martez Ivey 6-5 302 Fr ***** 92 Apopka, FL Top 5/300, UA-AA Parade-AA, 'Opening'
74 - #155 RT Fredrick Johnson 6-6 305 Fr *** 72 West Palm Beach, FL - 7A All State
(way under-rated imo)
============

With no injuries, there is good quality depth on both lines imo.

The only trouble with that is none of that matters when they strap it on and get out on the field. We'll see...

 

[dingyibvs]

When UK was considering ECU's OC, Lincoln Riley, to replace Neal Brown, I remember looking at the offensive numbers of the potetial OC's and ECU was the team who ran the ball the worst of the OCs being considered. ECU has been very much a pass first offense. Florida defense gave up 70 yards on the ground to a really bad New Mexico State team. My guess is UF is good against the run but not near as good as the ECU game would suggest. They are probably also good against the pass and much better than the pass defense number against ECU suggest, especially considering their best 2 DBs were out.

I would expect UK to run the ball more than pass, especially with UF's best LB likely out.

First game jitters, NMSU got all of their rushing yards in the first half. In the second half they were -9 yards rushing. NMSU and ECU are hardly world beaters, but I think it's still pretty impressive that Florida has held their opponents to a total of -22 yards in the past 6 quarters. Obviously, they're not minus-yardage good, nobody's minus-yardage good, but it's a fairly solid run defense that gets the better as the game wears on because of the 10-man rotation on the DL.

 

[meteordealer]

We should be madder about not beating them last year.

We did beat them.

 

[instaGATOR]

Yet another that needs to read the SEC Rule Book on how a delay of game is determined. The 'SEC Official Review' agreed with the on the field no-call.
Time to stop crying and move on, you'll get another chance tomorrow night.
===========

DE Dante Fowler 6-3 260 ***** Freshman All SEC, early departure JR as the #3 pick in draft.

Difficult to replace? Not at all imo.

#2 DE CeCe Jefferson 6-1 275 Fr ***** 5/300 rated overall.
However, his playing time is somewhat limited by the quality-experience
that's playing in front of him.

 

[Rhavicc]

Yet another that needs to read the SEC Rule Book on how a delay of game is determined. The 'SEC Official Review' agreed with the on the field no-call.
Time to stop crying and move on, you'll get another chance tomorrow night.
===========

DE Dante Fowler 6-3 260 ***** Freshman All SEC, early departure JR as the #3 pick in draft.

Difficult to replace? Not at all imo.

#2 DE CeCe Jefferson 6-1 275 Fr ***** 5/300 rated overall.
However, his playing time is somewhat limited by the quality-experience
that's playing in front of him.

Cece Jefferson isn't playing because he's having difficulties acclimating to college football at the moment, which is typical of many freshmen. You do not have a star on your defensive line though. There is no Fowler Jr., and if you're trying to say that there is one right now, by all means, show me who it is.

 

[Gator Fever]

Cece Jefferson isn't playing because he's having difficulties acclimating to college football at the moment, which is typical of many freshmen. You do not have a star on your defensive line though. There is no Fowler Jr., and if you're trying to say that there is one right now, by all means, show me who it is.

We don't have a Fowler but Bullard has been creating some major problems for other teams and has a real fast first step going almost untouched to the backfield on a few plays this season due to the O lineman being faked out so bad.

 

[uofkFTW18]

UF's d-line is the smallest we've faced so far but it's also the quickest and most athletic. Running the ball is going to be important this game because UF probably has the best secondary in the SEC. Everybody knows that Hargreaves is the best corner in the country, but nobody really talks about Jalen Tabor who is also an NFL caliber CB. Our receivers will be tested early and often Saturday night.

Their offensive line is in shambles, though. No doubt about it. Our defense should be able to have a reasonable amount of success against them due to the state of their o-line.

 

[Rhavicc]

We don't have a Fowler but Bullard has been creating some major problems for other teams and has a real fast first step going almost untouched to the backfield on a few plays this season due to the O lineman being faked out so bad.

I get that, and the talent for Bullard is apparent, but we need to see him doing against SEC opponents every week before we say that Dante Fowler Jr. isn't hard to replace.
I'm sure UK is going to have a plan for Bullard tomorrow though. He's your best linebacker available, so Kentucky will find ways to keep a hat on him, especially with that inverted wishbone that UK runs. A lot of blockers in the backfield.

 

[Rifleman521]

The Gators have pretty good quickness and speed on their D line but are a bit undersized. Which means that when we pass out of the pocket, they will likely get pressure from the edges. Our interior O linemen have to make sure that Towles can step up into the pocket to avoid the edge pressure. Play calling has to be made to help our OTs (Swindel has had some problems which have resulted in some sacks, pressures, and holding penalties). Draws help slow the pass rush because the D linemen can't just pin their ears back and go. Having said that about pass protection, I expect a heavier dose of running the ball right at UF. Hope Horton is completely healthy. If so, he might have a huge game.

 

[dingyibvs]

Cece Jefferson isn't playing because he's having difficulties acclimating to college football at the moment, which is typical of many freshmen. You do not have a star on your defensive line though. There is no Fowler Jr., and if you're trying to say that there is one right now, by all means, show me who it is.

CeCe Jefferson played starter minutes last game, and he practiced with the starters this week. You're right that there's no star along the DL, but overall it's improved.

Fowler Jr was a great talent, as was our other 1st rounder DJ Humphries, but neither even came close to realizing their potential at UF. Fowler only had 8.5 sacks last year, which is just average in the SEC, and Humphries was just mediocre.

 

[dingyibvs]

The Gators have pretty good quickness and speed on their D line but are a bit undersized. Which means that when we pass out of the pocket, they will likely get pressure from the edges. Our interior O linemen have to make sure that Towles can step up into the pocket to avoid the edge pressure. Play calling has to be made to help our OTs (Swindel has had some problems which have resulted in some sacks, pressures, and holding penalties). Draws help slow the pass rush because the D linemen can't just pin their ears back and go. Having said that about pass protection, I expect a heavier dose of running the ball right at UF. Hope Horton is completely healthy. If so, he might have a huge game.

Hasn't really worked out like that though, the pass rush has been good but not great, whereas the run defense has been great.

 

[Gator Fever]

CeCe Jefferson played starter minutes last game, and he practiced with the starters this week. You're right that there's no star along the DL, but overall it's improved.

Fowler Jr was a great talent, as was our other 1st rounder DJ Humphries, but neither even came close to realizing their potential at UF. Fowler only had 8.5 sacks last year, which is just average in the SEC, and Humphries was just mediocre.

Fowler was double teamed like crazy or would have had a ton of sacks.

 

[Rhavicc]

Fowler was double teamed like crazy or would have had a ton of sacks.

I would rather have a player double teamed on most plays and end up with 8.5 sacks than have a player draw one offensive lineman on every play, and end up with 11 sacks on the year. Fowler opened a lot of things up for other players on the front 7 because of how often he was doubled.

 

[Poetax]

Yet another that needs to read the SEC Rule Book on how a delay of game is determined. The 'SEC Official Review' agreed with the on the field no-call.
Time to stop crying and move on, you'll get another chance tomorrow night.
===========

DE Dante Fowler 6-3 260 ***** Freshman All SEC, early departure JR as the #3 pick in draft.

Difficult to replace? Not at all imo.

#2 DE CeCe Jefferson 6-1 275 Fr ***** 5/300 rated overall.
However, his playing time is somewhat limited by the quality-experience
that's playing in front of him.

Just because the SEC officials can't see the forest for the trees doesn't make them right. If that call was against us, you guys couldn't find an official on that field that would have ruled against you and YOU know it.

 

[Gary4UK]

If it does come down to two solid defenses and offenses going after each other, the kicking game could be important... I'm not worried about our kicker, but our punter has yet to get on track persistently....

 

[Gary4UK]

Yet another that needs to read the SEC Rule Book on how a delay of game is determined. The 'SEC Official Review' agreed with the on the field no-call.
Time to stop crying and move on, you'll get another chance tomorrow night.
===========

DE Dante Fowler 6-3 260 ***** Freshman All SEC, early departure JR as the #3 pick in draft.

Difficult to replace? Not at all imo.

#2 DE CeCe Jefferson 6-1 275 Fr ***** 5/300 rated overall.
However, his playing time is somewhat limited by the quality-experience
that's playing in front of him.

There's no crying here, even with all the times that Florida has gotten the benefit of the calls for soooo long... I agree we don't have to worry about it like we used too.. We have instant replay, and refs just can't get by with some of the things that they did before the replay... If anyone will begin crying now, I'm afraid it will be Florida.. Your team's gone down hill as much as any team in the SEC... This coach you have now hasn't proved himself any more than the last few coaches at Florida...

 

[Blue Decade]

We should be madder about not beating them last year.

At this point, last year is irrelevant. If we beat them tomorrow, nobody will remember last year. If we lose tomorrow, last year won't matter. Time to move on.

 

[Gary4UK]

I hope you're right, but I expect next year the media will have a chart before our game, 28-2 in the last 30 years...

 

[Rhavicc]

I hope you're right, but I expect next year the media will have a chart before our game, 28-2 in the last 30 years...

Which may irk the fans, but the players aren't gonna see it.

 

[Rifleman521]

Hasn't really worked out like that though, the pass rush has been good but not great, whereas the run defense has been great.

Might not have worked out like that in the first two games, but it sure worked out like that in the game Saturday. Sadly for us.

 

[instaGATOR]

Go look it up, UF is Top 3 in the SEC for penalties nearly every year, and over the last 3-4 decades, UF is far and away the most penalized by the crappy SEC officials than any other team. We aren't Bama you know....
Google The Rip-Off on Rocky Top or The Swindle in the Swamp.

DE A.McAlister led the team in TFL last season, not Fowler, and he was only a couple behind Dante in sacks due to DF's great Bowl production.

Gator 2015 Team D Stats:
25 TFL - 14 PBU's - 14 QB-H's - 11 Sacks - 4 Ints - 3 FF's
14 Players with a TFL. (In just 2 games, McA already has 4 TFL)
7 Players in on a Sack. (DE/DT Bullard with 3, DT Joey Ivey with 3)
3 Players with an Int. (VH-3 with 2, Q.Wilson and J.Tabor with 1 each)

To steal/paraphrase an old saying, UF's demise has been greatly over-stated.