Florida Gators offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Steve Addazio, redshirt junior quarterback John Brantley, senior center Mike Pouncey and senior safety Ahmad Black spoke to the media Wednesday as the team took a final look back on its close loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs and ahead to its match-up against the Georgia Bulldogs on Oct. 30.
EXECUTE ON FIRST AND SECOND DOWN
Asked about how the offense has been evaluated since the Mississippi State game, Addazio said that the process is “always intense” and “ongoing” especially during the bye week. “You’re going to sit down as a staff and evaluate what you see on tape and you’re going to move forward the next day,” he said. “On a bye week, you sit back and kind of have a chance to almost take a deeper look at everything.”
And what has that deeper look revealed? “You got to be on schedule [for] first and second down. We’re actually pretty good converting on the downs you don’t want to be in; we’re actually pretty good on those downs,” Addazio said. “Obviously, in an ideal setting, you’re looking to get four or more yards on a first down call. We’ve got to be much more efficient on first and second down.”
Addaio, like head coach Urban Meyer, pointed out that lacking healthy running backs has been a hindrance to Florida’s offense recently. “The run game is a big part on first and second down. That’s something obviously we’ve been very good at [in the past]. So that becomes a factor, yes,” he said. “The injuries to the running backs are certainly a factor on first and second down. Not having the availability to practice with them during the week [hurts].”
OFFENSE GOING THROUGH CHANGES…OR IS IT?
Wednesday morning Meyer said that the offense would be tweaked before the Georgia game with a focus on execution and making sure the right personnel were on the field to make plays. Addazio expressed a similar sentiment but did not speak about wholesale changes. “What you do is you try to make decisions to put your players in the best positions they can [be in] to make the plays they need to make,” he said.
BLITZ PROTECTION AND PICK-UP
Another topic of serious contention after Saturday’s game was how well the offensive line was picking up the blitz and whether or not Brantley was handling it correctly in the pocket. Addazio believes both are doing well though he admits they could be better. “You can always improve. We just have to improve overall in our protection as a group,” he said about the OL. “When you get a lot of pressure like that and you’re throwing the ball in third down-and-long scenarios, they’re pinning your ears back, there’s no threat of run. […] I think John’s done a great job. He’s got to do a better job picking those up and handling all that. […] He does a good job of flipping protections and trying to get the protections slid to match the numbers.”
QUOTES (After the break…)
Addazio on why Florida is good on third-and-long: “I think Johnny’s done a good job throwing the ball there.”
Addazio on throwing the ball downfield: “We’ve thrown the ball downfield. We’ve thrown it downfield. [We] took a couple real shots at it last week. And we’ve taken it, I remember clearly throwing one downfield against Alabama. I can go back and recollect those long balls. You’re going to take your shots at it. When you take them, you gotta take them, and we did. But when you do, if you don’t connect on them, you’re behind [on] down and distance. We took those shots down the field last week, and we were not able to connect on those. We’ll continue to do that.”
Addazio on throwing to Brantley at wide receiver: “It’s always a possibility. All those things are always possibilities. The execution level that we’ve had with [freshman QB] Trey [Burton] operating the Wildcat has been phenomenal. We’re going to keep working at that and keep that going.”
Brantley’s general statement: “We have great plays. We just got to go out there and execute. We got to work hard during the week and try to get better.”
Brantley on if he’s surprised how poor the offense has played: “I’m surprised. I’m still not doubting it at all really to be honest with you. We just have to be able to execute. We know the big plays are there.”
Brantley on what he means to “execute:” “It’s little things. We could be a shoestring tackle away from hitting big. It depends. We just gotta just keep doing what we know, and we don’t really want to change things up and make things all new and confuse everybody.”
Brantley on if younger players need to step in: “The guys who are on the field are great players. We got great players here. It’s tough to say. We’re going to keep with our guys; we all got each other’s back. I trust all the guys who are on the field with me, and I wouldn’t want anyone else out there with me.”
Brantley on how injuries have affected the team: “We’re a little banged up. That’s what this bye week will hopefully do us well – get everyone healthy and help us fix those bugs we gotta fix.”
Brantley on if fans have been giving him a hard time: “Not at all. They didn’t notice me before, and they don’t notice me now.”
Brantley on if he has watched the film: “I’ve watched the games. It puts a little sick feeling in my stomach. You learn from those mistakes, write down those mistakes and move on to your next opponent.”
Brantley on putting the onus on himself: “I put a lot on me. I’m the quarterback of the team. It’s tough. Everyone would probably put it on themselves, but it’s not. With our team, we’re so close that we’re not going to point fingers. There’s no one person that’s messing up at all. We’re just going to stick together. We’re a close bunch, and I think we’re going to turn things around and keep fighting.”
Brantley on being wide open when lined up at WR: “It’s whatever. If I was a team, I wouldn’t really guard me either.”
Pouncey on what has changed offensively: “We obviously still have a lot of guys hurt that we’re trying to get back healthy, so I haven’t seen really any big changes in the offense.”
Pouncey on what needs to change: “The plays are there to be made, obviously we just have to do a better job executing and get better as football players.”
Pouncey on possibly getting redshirt junior WR Chris Rainey back in the fold: “He’s the best player on our team. We really need him. He’s an exciting player and as long as he keeps his mouth shut, keeps doing what he do, hopefully we’ll have him [next] weekend.”
Black on the issue against Mississippi State: “We just got to get off the field a little big quicker. We’re holding guys to points, but I think we should get off the field a little faster.”
Black on how to get off the field quicker: “[We have to] make sure we know our assignments, make sure we key in and lock in and know what we’re doing.”
Black on the importance of getting off the field: “We can’t sit on the field and just let offenses take control of the game by the clock. That’s one of the things that helps you win games, that’s controlling the clock.”
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