Florida looks flat in close win over Miami (OH)

By Adam Silverstein
September 4, 2010

The No. 3/4 Florida Gators (1-0) pulled out a 34-12 win Saturday against the Miami (OH) RedHawks (0-1) at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL, but not without raising plenty of questions about how prepared the team is to play this season.

Senior center Mike Pouncey had trouble with his snaps all day, tossing numerous balls past redshirt junior quarterback John Brantley right from the get-go; Brantley also had problems reeling in many of Pouncey’s snaps, letting one get by in the beginning of the first quarter which led to an early Miami field goal. There were a total of 13 “questionable” snaps experienced throughout the game by the offense and eight total fumbles, three of which resulted in turnovers after being recovered by the opposition.

Redshirt junior wide receiver Chris Rainey coughed up the team’s second fumble in the first quarter, but Florida was able to negate the miscue with an aerobatic interception by sophomore linebacker Jon Bostic on the following drive.

After failing to score early, the Gators got on the board quickly just minutes into the second quarter when junior cornerback Janoris Jenkins intercepted RedHawks QB Zac Dysert and returned the ball 70 yards for a touchdown.

Seeing their first punt of the game blocked, Miami completed a fake punt on their next attempt but failed on another fake later on, allowing Florida to take over on their 21-yard line and score their first offensive touchdown of the season on a 10-yard pass from Brantley to sophomore WR Omarius Hines.

Florida’s defense stayed on their toes, leading senior safety Ahmad Black to the team’s second pick of the quarter, which he returned for 40 yards to the RedHawks’ two. Two plays later, freshman QB Trey Burton scored on a keeper, putting the Gators up 21-3.

Miami would then go on to score three-straight field goals against Florida, cutting the lead to 21-12 in the fourth quarter. On the first play following the RedHawks’ final field goal, Gators junior running back Jeff Demps propelled his team to a 27-12 lead by taking a hand-off 72-yards for his first touchdown of the season.

Looking for some positives late in the fourth quarter, head coach Urban Meyer allowed Florida to go for it on 4th and 15. Brantley completed a pass to Hines to get UF into the red zone, but sophmore RB Mike Gillislee fumbled the ball just one play later while fighting for additional yardage. After an interception by Gators redshirt sophomore CB Jeremy Brown (initially ruled incomplete but overturned), Gillisslee made up for his mistake with a powerful 41-yard run down the field.

Another bad snap forced Florida into a 4th and 21, which Meyer once again had the Gators attempt. Brantley, running out of bounds, threw up a prayer into the end zone that was luckily brought down by Rainey for a 25-yard score to put Florida ahead 34-12.

Adding to UF’s mistakes, junior kicker Caleb Sturgis missed a 44-yard field goal early in the game and shanked the extra point on Demps’ TD.

Brantley finished the day 17-of-25 for 114 yards and two touchdowns, while Miami’s Dysert went 24-of-42 for 188 yards with four picks. Demps led the Gators with 97 yards on eight rushes; Gillislee posted 57 yards on six carries. Hines was Florida’s leading receiver, hauling in three balls for 48 yards; Rainey caught a team-high seven passes for 36 yards, and redshirt junior WR Deonte Thompson finished with only three grabs for 24 yards after dropping a TD early in the first quarter.

Florida looks to rebound from its shaky start next Saturday when they take on the South Florida Bulls at The Swamp. Kickoff is set for 12:21 p.m., and the game will air live on SEC Network (check your local listings).

Photo Credit: Rob C. Witzel/The Gainesville Sun

28 Comments

  1. Gatorbuc15 says:

    I just have one thing to say to the Gator football team:

    WHAT IN THE HELL WAS THAT!!!!!!!!!

  2. RK says:

    Worst looking offense I have seen in 17 years as a Gator fan. WTF is the problem? If we do this against Miami of Ohio, what will Alabama do to us?

  3. dmbwcblue says:

    What happened to Will Hill? They said he was out, but it was not due to any injury.

  4. dmbwcblue says:

    sorry, i just read the other post. Robey sure is looking good after this game!

  5. Dan says:

    This was an atrocious spectacle. Omarius Hines and John Bostic were the few bright spots to this terrible outing. I won’t question the play calling too much as it was the first game but so far not a whole lot different than last years.

  6. Aligator says:

    They will work the kinks out, or maybe just sputter along this season on offense? Defense, did well for the vanilla looks and will improve. Like I said, I think we will drop Alabama and get better as season progresses.

  7. AddoozieO says:

    Horrific effort. If we play like that in SEC games we’re done…please figure out a way to snap the ball to the QB, start small and work your way up Addazio.

  8. Billgator95 says:

    Don’t hit the panic button yet everyone. With some luck we will get some of our starters back on the o line and we will see some consistency.

    Am also hopeful that this lackluster effort will bring this young team together.

    In all kinds of weather… Go Gators!

  9. Drew 4 Orange & Blue says:

    Flat would be the description of several snaps that were barely a few inches off the ground…the experiment of Pouncey at center needs to end….put him at guard and pull him all you want…..as long as Robey or any serviceable lineman can get the ball to Brantley he needs to start….what a disgrace that offesive display was….BRING MULLEN BACK

  10. Drew 4 Orange & Blue says:

    ADAM…did Debose even see the field?

  11. Denver Gator says:

    First off, thanks for the write up here Adam.

    As for the positives, I think the defense mostly did what they should have against an inferior opponent. Coach Austin and his staff looked like they prepared for this game.

    The negatives have all been listed and I agree with them all. The two that stuck out the most were the fourth and short runs that were blown up in the backfield and just the lack of any imagination in play calling. I not asking for trick plays but please can we not run the same sweep three times in a row?

    I didn’t mention the snaps because I tried to kill my brain cells with alcohol each time it happened so I have a lot of blank memories from this morning.

  12. gatorzone says:

    heard debose was inactive

    problem was simple…pouncey
    that was the worst game shotgun snapping most of us have ever witnessed
    we need a new center (if we stay in the shotgun), let Pouncey do what he does best – hit people
    this is VERY correctable but Pouncey’s name ranks close to Tebow with Urban Meyer so there is a long long long leash Trust me NOBODY feels worse than Mike. Hang in there there will be MUCH better days for this OL and ESPECIALLY Mike Pouncey

  13. Basshole says:

    I have to say that I was shocked that after all the spring and summer practices Pouncey and Brantley struggled with their exchanges, but I have to agree with Billgator95 here. All though the Gators would have lost to almost anyone else on their schedule, I have to believe they will right the ship soon. I just imagine Pouncey practicing snaps in his apartment/house as we speak…

  14. TX Gater says:

    If UF is to grow into the USC (formerly, as it was) of the east, Meyer’s gimmick will have to grow as well. This is the bottom line as this fan sees it.

    I’ve said it for years, even when the Gators and Meyer were at the top of the world. UF recruits kids with the mutually beneficial and very real prospect of moving on to the NFL, only to place their future in an offense they probably ran in Pop Warner.

    You run Meyer’s offense at the MAC, WAC, Conference-USA, Division II level because you don’t have the guns to go head up with the big boys, whose recruiting budgets and national appeal allows them to haul in the very best of the best, so you have to resort to trickery and outright foolishness just to advance the ball. Meyer’s system didn’t evolve with the quality of player available when the left Utah for the greener pastures UF.

    I know we had great success in this year’s draft, but I give very little in the way of credit to Meyer for it. IMHO, if you’re a 5-star defensive guy looking to make it to the NFL and suceed, then by all means COME TO UF, but, if you fancy being on offense, playing in a real system that translates to the big league look elsewhere.

    Ditch your “offense” Meyer, you have the talent in spades to beat any team in the nation without that sandlot garbage you brought from Bowling Green and actually develop some players for the next level.

  15. gatorzone says:

    I stand corrected…wow

    Neither suspended nor injured, freshman receiver Andre Debose saw no time against the RedHawks, but Meyer said it wasn’t intentional. Meyer said he would discuss it with receivers coach Zach Azzanni, adding Debose is still developing.

  16. gatorzone says:

    anyone who calls themself a gate-r has a non orange and blue angle

  17. ReimLaw says:

    TX Gater = Troll. Move along. Nothing to see here but 2 NC rings.

    Our boys will be fine. The coaches will address the issues at practice, iron them out and we will remain vanilla against USF. IMO, we will see our true identity vs. Tennessee. GO GATORS!

  18. obgator says:

    obviously gater is a troll. I am curious about Will Hill and Carl Johnson. Also, an injury update would be great.

    Hines was a great bright spot as well as Janoris Jenkins (who was already a proven commodity). Some of our true freshmen looked pretty good too, as well as Howard and Hunter.

    Robey or Pouncey getting a second chance next week?

  19. Basshole says:

    Everybody talks about UT and our SEC schedule, but if the Gators don’t get their act together by next week, USF will put a loss on us. I think USF is a tougher test than UT.

  20. John Shanks says:

    As hard as it might be lets try to stay positive. Granted the OL was bad (worst I’ve ever seen), but that can get fixed, especially the bad snaps. Better this happened today. We do need to abandon the option unless Trey is out there though, The play calling is still too subborn…Tebow is in Denver.

  21. notsoyounganymore says:

    Listen, folks, this team will be 8-4 or 7-5 if it doesn’t replace Addazio’s play calling with something that fits John Brantley’s style of play. It’s just this simple: The SEC, and division 1A in general, has caught up to the basic spread scheme, and without the right dual-threat QB and surrounding personnel , this offense will not work any longer against decent competition. I am just a regular guy, and I can see this as plainly as the day outside. We all saw this coming last year with the diminishing efficacy of the offense even WITH Tebow at QB. This offense without a great dual-threat QB is going to go exactly nowhere – or about 7-5, if that’s somewhere to you. Coach Meyer, wake up, man!! This isn’t about a spiritual connection to some of the athletes or how much you like their families. This is about schemes, coaches, intelligence, and change. I’ve been around long enough to know the difference between effort/talent and scheme, and this scheme is done as it stands today. Today’s game was the worst offensive performance since the late 70’s. Mark that down! Go GATORS!!

  22. Billgator95 says:

    Not sure that SA playcalling fit Tebow’s talent either.

    The tendency seems to be that we don’t stretch the field (when we can get the ball in QB hands… Sorry MP).

    When we do stretch the field like we did against Cincinatti, we look like a great Gator offense and will this year too.

    We tend to default to the high percentage, short yd plays to get our athletes in space but it seems that in doing so we have become predictable and defenses are able to scheme against us which is part of what happened yesterday.

    I am hopeful SA and UM will get back to what worked which was blowing opponents doors off 117 different ways.

  23. Gatorgrad79 says:

    I went to UF 1976 – 1979 and believe me, I know stinky Gator football, and that STUNK!! Maybe the offensive brain trust was trying to hide the big gun super threat offensive scheme until the start of SEC play, but USF will definitely score on us, and we better be ready to out score them, and end this ‘save our offense weapons’ garbage if that is truly what they are doing. I am not convinced Addazio is calling the plays, but if the coaches think ANYBODY is surprised by our scheme anymore they are mistaken. The 10 year old kid in front of me was predicting every offensive play accurately. As for Pouncey, nobody makes 13 bad snaps on purpose, but anybody not named Pouncey would have been riding the bench. Scary thought – DO WE NOT HAVE ANOTHER CENTER!!!! Maybe this is good – we need the edge back – I liked Meyer’s coaching style better when he was stressed out and slightly psychotic. Somebody hide his zanax so he gets his edge back, please…

  24. Whiskeyman says:

    The O-line will again shape our fortunes,a nd I fear that all may not find the fortune that we seek.

    Coach Addazio needs to be the Offensive Coordinator or the Offensive Line coach. I fear that he cannot do both.

    Choose one, or choose the other. He will be the master of theone he chooses, or the master of neither if he attempts to do both. My gut call is that the O-line took a minor turn after Coach Mattson left, and a bigger turn once Mullen left. To be either th O-Line coach or the Offensive Coordinator takes a tremendous amount of work and time. To do both is impossible.

  25. GatorStud says:

    I just want to run more toward the end zone and less to the sidelines with heavier backs that can break arm tackles. Short, lighter, nimble legs need to be in flight patterns…… Thick tree trunk thighs need to punish the line, juke LBs and run over DBs…. ugh, hmm, what, sorry I must have been daydreaming again. O-Line get healthy quick despite you are not of the caliber of the Great Wall of Florida (Phil Bromley, Lomas Brown, Billy Hinson, Crawford Ker, Scott Trimble and Jeff Zimmerman). Go Gators!!

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