Updated 11:45 p.m. (ET)
Head coach Urban Meyer and a small group of players meet with the media each Monday after the Florida Gators participate in a game the previous Saturday. OGGOA has compiled some of the most important notes and quotes from the event this week.
INJURIES CONTINUE TO MOUNT
Just as Florida was lucky enough to a number of its starters back healthy another rash of injuries has hit the team. In addition to junior running back Jeff Demps missing Saturday’s game with a sprained foot, sophomore RB Mike Gillislee appeared to hurt his ankle, redshirt freshman guard Jon Halapio broke a finger, and both redshirt junior WR Deonte Thompson and freshman safety Matt Elam suffered concussions. Halapio had surgery on Sunday and will miss Saturday’s Mississippi State game, but Demps, Gillislee, Thompson and Elam are all expected to be able to play.
Speaking of injuries, redshirt junior quarterback John Brantley expressed for a second time in three days that his ribs are neither broken nor fractured nor cracked and that his thumb is just sprained. This counters rumors and a report from ESPN‘s Joe Schad that claimed Brantley was more injured than he and Meyer were letting on. Meyer did indicate that Brantley had some shoulder issues during the week because he was overcompensating for his injured ribs; however, he was fine to go on Saturday and will be starting once again this week.
HOME RUNS AND RED ZONE ISSUES TO BLAME
Meyer noted that the two biggest issues facing the Gators offense are the lack of home run plays and inefficiency in the red zone, not play calling. Those two factors, combined with unforced errors in the form of turnovers and penalties, were what limited Florida the most on Saturday.
ADDAZIO FULLY SUPPORTED
Though fans have been getting on offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Steve Addazio for his play calling, he received plenty of praise and support from his head coach and players on Monday. Meyer said Addazio has “a tough job, obviously I think he can handle it” while redshirt junior quarterback John Brantley said, “I trust coach Addazio and his play calling.” Senior center Mike Pouncey added that the team is “moving the ball, just ain’t making the plays when they’re there to be made” and that Addazio does not deserve the blame whatsoever.
The dive play was booed extensively during Florida almost-game-winning scoring drive at the end of the fourth quarter, something that confused Pouncey and redshirt senior wide receiver Carl Moore (and likely many others, too), both of whom said it did not bother them. Pouncey specifically noted that the Gators were “going down to win the game” on that drive, making the boos quite ridiculous.
QUOTES (After the break…)
Meyer on the defense: “I don’t feel that we did play great defense, I thought we played – at times – good defense against a talented team. Gave up four in the red zone, three TDs and obviously the last one hurt us bad.”
Meyer on the penalties negating junior cornerback Janoris Jenkins’ long punt return: “That was a significant play in that game.”
Meyer on the team’s outlook: “One thing around here is we win as teammates. We win championships as teammates and as a team, and we fight through adversity as a team. I made that real clear to our guys. I’ve seen poison January 9th after we hosted the crystal ball. I’ve seen some things go on with NFL and other stuff. I just want to make sure we avoid the poison that infects a lot of college football teams across America. There’s only one way to do that: get a little tighter, get a little closer and work a little harder, and that’s all we know how to do around here.”
Meyer on standardized plays inside the five: “We’re banged up at running back. We feel right now that [freshman QB Trey] Burton and [redshirt freshman tight end] Jordan [Reed] are kind of big backs. We need to go get one. We need a pounder in there. The one thing about red zone, basically, when you get inside the five yard line there is no depth to the field. […] Single-wing … there’s only one defender that’s unblocked.”
Meyer on Brantley’s performance: “I thought he fought through great. […] He’s a tough guy; he played really tough in that game. Showed a lot of toughness came back on that last drive and led us down the field. That really showed us a lot about who Johnny is, and I’m really proud of the way he played that last drive.”
Meyer on Debose: “We tried to throw a fade down there and there was a PI against him going into the end zone. […] We’re trying to get that ball in there trying to have someone go make a play and obviously Debose is fitting into that equation much more than he had in the past.”
Meyer on the offensive line: “I don’t think we played great. There were some plays to be made. As a group offensively I don’t feel we played very well. Very inconsistent. It seems the moment you get one group back from a series of injuries, then the skill positions gets all banged up. We’re anxious to get everybody back and have some explosive plays in there. […] We need them to play better. We had a couple issues where we missed protection in the backfield. Teams will have a tendency to blitz more when you don’t have the home run shot, so we need to strike when they blitz. LSU became a blitz-a-thon.”
Meyer on the I-formation: “Inexperience at tight end. It’s difficult to run the ball from an I-formation without an extended end. We’re still trying to develop the tight end position, especially for blocking. What makes an I-formation successful is a pounding tailback, a very stout tight end and a very good fullback, and we’re still working through all of that.”
Meyer on Addazio and fans booing because of play calling: “I think [Addazio] has a tough job. I think he can handle it. I’m very involved in the offense as well. An offense minus big plays is tough in this day and age. How do you create big plays? If your big playmakers are hurt, you get guys loose and hit ‘em when they’re open and break some tackles.”
Meyer on how play calls are made: “During the course of a game you have a scripted series that you say, ‘Let’s go head off in this direction.’ And then [QB coach] Scot Loeffler and [WR coach] Zach [Azzanni] are in charge of the throw game, coach Addazio is in charge of everything and I have my opinions as well.”
Meyer on dealing with losses now: “I can’t say I’m dealing with it better. I can’t stand it. It’s something you never want to get used to, obviously. We’ve been very fortunate around here to not have to deal with it very often.”
Meyer on if the team was told about a fake field goal possibility: “It was discussed at the time. It was also discussed – we watched the film of it before.”
Pouncey on the offensive line’s struggles: “Seventeen-play drives, 10-play drives, we’re moving the ball, we’re just ain’t making the plays when they’re there to be made. Obviously everybody has to get better and week-in and week-out we just gotta stay together as a team and keep fighting because it’s not over yet. But to point fingers at position groups, it just ain’t right. It’s a team effort.”
Pouncey on players holding each other accountable: “We do hold people accountable. Obviously we know the guys that need to get better, but we went out and had a great day on Sunday at practice. We need to find out who is going to be there to make the big plays when we need them.”
Pouncey on players showing leadership: “The leaders on the team, they’ve been doing good all year. We got a young team and we just gotta stick together and just believe in each other, that’s the biggest part. I hope that we can get it right because I hate losing games. I don’t even know how to act after a loss.”
Pouncey on if the offense is close or far from improvement: “It’s close. We look on film and it’s inches away from breaking big runs or inches away from getting a great pass off. We just gotta make the plays that are there to be made and get the players on the field that need to be on the field.”
Pouncey on the booing at the end of the game: “[Nodding] I didn’t even know what they were for. It was going down to win the game. I don’t know what the boos were for. I don’t even know.”
Pouncey on the booing when finding out it was for Addazio: “The play calling has been good. Coach Addazio is a great coach. He’s been calling all the right plays. They’re just not making the plays when they are there to be made. Obviously, it makes it look bad on him, but he’s calling the best plays that he can.”
Johnson on how the team played vs. LSU: “We have yet to put a whole game together. We have good spurts and good moments and obviously we have bad moments, but we have yet to put a whole game together. Just waiting for it to come together, click together.”
Johnson on the fake field goal: “I don’t want the NCAA to fine me for speaking on the refs, so I’ll just leave that alone.”
Johnson on comparing this team to the 2007 squad: “I think it’s different because the team we had in ’07 was a lot different, it was a lot younger guys who became Gator Greats like Brandon Spikes, Tim Tebow, Joe Haden and Jermaine Cunningham. We don’t have those so-called elite status players yet. But just like it took them time to get to the level they were, it’s going to take these guys time too. You know, Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Johnson on if he is frustrated when watching film: “All the time. Especially watching the film from Saturday and you see one or two minor steps or just putting your hand on a person could spring a back, or a back making a wrong cut could be the difference between a 15-yard gain and a 35-yard gain. That’s part of football. It’s a game of inches. Every inch count.”
Johnson on which players have stepped up: “I really think our defense has done a tremendous job as a whole. I mean we lost the entire defense to the NFL Draft and through seniors, so I think our defense has played really good. And our receivers have come a long way, so those guys have really, really impressed me.”
Moore on catching so many third downs: “It’s just competitive excellence really. Our coaches always talking about practicing and brining what we do in practice to the field. It’s my job to get open; I’m going to get open.”
Moore on how the pass catchers are doing: “I definitely think our receivers have gotten better in all aspects of the game.”
Moore on if he wishes there were more deep passes: “You gotta remember too that our Florida offense, we’re known for deep balls. Defenses notice that. Corners, when we do deep routes, corners bail before we can even get on their toes sometimes. It’s just certain things in a game that can eliminate the deep pass. Johnny B. makes his read and throws it to the open receiver. […] From what I’ve seen, a lot of DBs bail on us.”
Moore on if Brantley looks his way on third down: “It’s really more just a read. He’s making a read. [It’s] what the defense gives us. I’m supposed to be open on that route. That’s pretty much what it is. Just play calling. That’s great play calling.”
Moore on Debose’s improvement: “His work ethic has definitely improved and that shows in the game. Like coach always says, you gotta do it in practice first. He’s been doing it in practice and he got his chance in the game and he made something of it. Sky’s the limit for that kid as long as he just keeps working and comes to practice with his work helmet on trying to get better every day. There’s no telling what he can do. He can be whatever he wants to be.”
Moore on if the team needs more playmakers: “Only the Florida Gators really know what’s going on in this program and we know the playmakers we have. So I’m not really concerned with what the media or fans or anybody else is saying outside of who is in this room. Because we all know.”
Senior linebacker Brandon Hicks on Debose: “He will be a great player, he will. He doesn’t put anybody down or put himself down or get mad at himself for not playing or get angry at the coaches. He just goes. And once you put the ball in his hands, magic happens.”
Brantley on the trouble with getting plays in from the sideline: “It’s not one thing at all. I can miss one little hand signal and that can throw off the entire play. We just gotta make sure our signals, make sure nobody is running out in front of the signal caller and stuff like that.”
Brantley on if he was limited during practice last week: “I wasn’t limited too much. I took the reps I needed to take. I wouldn’t really call it limited, maybe one or two less throws. I wouldn’t call it limited because of an injury.”
Brantley on what hurt him the most injury-wise: “Nothing was really too bad. Nothing was going to keep me from not playing. They’re a little sore but it’s football, you’re going to be a little sore.”
Brantley on Moore: “He’s making great plays, and I’m really happy for him. He’s been working really hard in practice during the week and it’s showing on Saturdays.”
Brantley on if he wants to throw it 30-35 times, throw it downfield more: “It don’t matter to me to be honest with you. I trust coach Addazio and his play calling. I’m going to do what he says, and I’m not going to complain, because I trust coach Addazio and I think he’s a great coach. He’s trying to put us in the best position to win, and I believe that. So I’m just going to keep doing what he wants me to do.”
Brantley on the rumors about his cracked ribs: “I even had my sister text me asking if I was playing or not. I’m like, ‘Yes, I’m playing. Are you kidding me? Of course I am.’ I told her that all week.”
Brantley on Debose: “Andre’s been working really hard during the week. That’s been showing on Saturdays. If you can go out during the week and work hard and take game-like reps during practice then it’s going to show in the games. He can do a lot. He’s a very versatile player and he loves the game, that’s for sure. He’s really bought into this, and he’s working really hard.”
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