Week 11: Gators post-game news & notes

Losing the Southeastern Conference Eastern division title in pathetic fashion after winning two straight, the Florida Gators (6-4, 4-4 SEC) are searching for answers after dropping their third consecutive home game, this one to the South Carolina Gamecocks (7-3, 5-3 SEC) 36-14. With so much to discuss, OGGOA presents some important notes and quotes following the contest.

MEYER LEFT WITHOUT ANSWERS

After Saturday’s game, head coach Urban Meyer was – to put it succinctly – speechless. Most of the questions he was asked in his post-game press conference were met with responses that provided little or no insight into what he believes needs to be done with this team from this point forward.

– On why the offense was so poor: “If I had an answer for that, then we wouldn’t have struggled. Probably the same thing it looked like to you guys – very non-functional deal.”
– On how he evaluated redshirt junior quarterback John Brantley’s performance: “About like our offense – just struggled. Our whole offense struggled. I’m not into individual stuff yet, I have to evaluate it.”
– On who is the team’s best option at QB: “I can’t answer that right now. John Brantley’s our option at quarterback.”
– On what disappointed him the most: “Um…the most disappointing thing? It’s hard for me to start or to let you know that, I probably have to take some in-depth thought right now and I’m not prepared to do that.”
– On why the offense can’t deal with the opposition dropping eight and/or blitzing this year unlike previous years: “That’s a good question. I’m not prepared to answer that at this moment. I will be.”

ALL THAT’s LEFT IS WINNING FOR THE SENIORS

Both Meyer and Brantley made it a point after the game to explain that the team needed to keep its head held high and continue competing with maximum effort for the remainder of the season in honor of its dedicated senior class. “A group of seniors – I get emotional over seniors because I love those guys,” Meyer said. “They’ve made Florida football; the last several years have been pretty powerful stuff. I just look at Ahmad Black, [Justin] Trattou, [Duke] Lemmens and [Mike] Pouncey and all those cats right there and just want to make sure we give them the best we can – do the best we can for them.”

Brantley shared a similar sentiment: “These last two games we’re just going to play for these seniors. These seniors have been through a lot here,” he said. “They’ve dedicated their lives to this program. They deserve the best. We got to win these last two games, I think that’s the best we can do for them right now. We’re just going to play our hearts out for them.”

QUOTES (After the break…)

Meyer on not attacking the SEC’s worst pass defense: “They were blitzing the slot early, but it certainly was in the game plan to get down the field early. We just didn’t execute.”

Meyer on having Brantley throw against his body: “I think we only did it about two or three times. We just had to get out of that pocket. When you’re on the right hash[mark], obviously rolling out [to the left is what you have to do]. We just had to get out of the interior pressure that was going on. Every time they were just bringing interior pressure.”

Meyer on receivers going underneath the marker on 3rd and long: “[The Gamecocks] were dropping eight. It was a drop-eight game. They did a nice job with that, but they showed that on film, too. You have to work underneath, and it’s just a mess.”

Meyer on why he didn’t bench Brantley for redshirt freshman tight end Jordan Reed: “Jordan’s not functional in everything yet as a quarterback. We were going to be in a throwing game trying to come back, but we were trying to go win that game.”

Meyer on if his team is giving him full effort: “Oh yeah. It’s just execution. Our guys were ready for this week. They gave us everything they had in practice. And obviously a severe let down, but nobody’s quitting on these players. They went. Pretty good team we played out there. We’re just not a great team right now.”

Meyer on if the team is accountable: “We’re just not very good. We’re not executing very good. We’ve had not good teams before. Execution-wise, we’re not where we need to be. We had two pretty good games of execution and then a bunch of bad ones.”

Meyer on why junior running back Jeff Demps didn’t play more: “He’s got a stress reaction in his foot. It’s something that is very painful, and it’s something that you have to be very careful about.”

Meyer on if Saturday was a make-or-break game for the season: “Yeah, I think so. That’s our goal – to get to Atlanta. Obviously that’s not going to happen. We don’t get there every year. We got to find some playmakers. My whole focus is making sure that team sticks together.”

Brantley on the offense’s breakdown: “There’s really no explanation right now. We just couldn’t get things going. You can’t do that especially against a good team like South Carolina.”

Brantley on why no one has an answer for why the offense is struggling: “These last two weeks we had great, great games. We called the same plays this week. It’s tough to say. Things happen. Obviously our offense worked because it worked the last two weeks. South Carolina played a great game.”

Brantley on catching the ball and losing major yardage: “Obviously I should have just let it hit the ground, but in my mind I didn’t want anyone else to intercept it, so that’s what was going through my head.”

Brantley on if he has felt his job is in jeopardy: “No, not at all. Our big thing is running that option offense. I’m not the greatest at that, so we bring Trey [Burton] and Jordan in to bring another factor into that. It worked out well those last two weeks, just for some reason we couldn’t get it going tonight.”

Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin on not stopping South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore: “The guy did a great job. Runs though tackles, does a good job getting north-and-south and we didn’t do a great job putting our body on him, securing our gaps and making the tackles that we should have.”

Austin on how to motivate the team now without Atlanta as a goal: “It’s all about being a competitor, trying to get better as a football player and better as a team and that’s what we’re going to move ahead with. Our goal is: We still want to win this next game. Like everything we do, we move ahead. Whether it’s a win or a loss, you still have to prepare and get yourself ready to win the next game.”

Austin on the run defense this season: “When you look at it, the games that we’ve given up the run, it’s probably been a combination of some things. Third down defense where they keep drives alive, not tackling very well, possibly not fitting the run very well and some things in that area. In games that we needed to have great run defense, we didn’t.”

Austin on the lack of consistency between practices and the games: “We’ve practiced well. Obviously you don’t take backs to the ground in practice, but in terms of our fits and getting our feet on people and doing that, we’ve done it in practice. Tonight just didn’t carry over.”

Austin again on motivation: “I think you motivate guys with being a great football player and as good a team you can be. If you’re a competitor, no matter what happens, you want to go out and win because that’s the way you’re built. I think we have a lot of guys on our team who are built that way.”