Film Study: Breaking Down the Florida Gators Performance vs. Ole Miss
Photo credit: University of Florida athletic association
It was a tale of two offenses in Oxford, Miss. on Saturday. Which provides a lot of fun in the film room, but also an equal amount of frustration, defensively.
There is hope, however. Florida did surrender 613 total yards to Ole Miss, but there were some promising aspects of the Gators defense that defensive coordinator Todd Grantham will look to build off of entering week two against South Carolina.
The bread and butter of this team is its offense, though. Head coach Dan Mullen had his unit firing at will on the Rebels, posting 642 yards of its own as quarterback Kyle Trask tied the SEC record for touchdown passes in a conference-opener, with six.
You've heard these storylines already though, plenty in the day and a half that has passed since the final whistle blew. That's why this story is going to go a little, no, a lot more in depth. After a thorough rewatch, I've compiled observations of players across the entire roster, from the entire game, and what they mean moving forward for Florida.
First, some editor's notes: I can't post any game clips from scratch on this website due to potential copyright violations. The only film provided is what Florida's official account and other licensed outlets have published on social media, as it relates to certain observations.
All-22 film angles are also not provided by the SEC or NCAA, making routes hard to confirm should the wide receiver leave the camera's shot, as well as coverages, some defensive line techniques, and so on. These observations were put together after hours of rewatching plays, slowed down and on loop in order to best analyze the available tape. It isn't perfect, and I couldn't tell you full play concepts without an All-22 angle, but it's the best we've got.
With that being said, below you can find my in-depth film observations from Florida's 51-35 victory over Ole Miss. We'll go position by position.
Quarterback
It truly was a near-perfect performance for Kyle Trask in his first season-opening start in recent memory.
Trask completed 30-of-42 passing attempts (71.4%) for a career-high 416 yards and six touchdowns, spreading the ball around to 11 different pass catchers. On tape, his chemistry with tight end Kyle Pitts was obvious, notably extending plays and throwing passes to his back-shoulder that we didn't see much in 2019.
Slants and crossers, deep outs, tight end post routes remained Trask's strongest throws like we saw last season. His throwing power appears to have increased a bit this offseason on throws to the middle of the field, especially in the 15-30 yard range, although his deep velocity remains a bit underwhelming. He remains a mild threat as a rusher, however, Trask seemed more comfortable and slightly quicker when rolling out.
Pass protection was strong throughout the day (more to come on that), but when things broke down, Trask remained poised and relatively mistake-free. He delivered multiple accurate lasers while taking hits from different angles, including on what appeared to be a comeback route from Jacob Copeland and a crosser from Kadarius Toney.
Trask missed an underneath defender when targeting Justin Shorter, the lone receiver play-side on an RPO with Nay'Quan Wright in the backfield. The defender hopped up and dropped what should have been an interception as Trask threw to Shorter on a slant, with another two defenders in the area. Left guard Richard Gouraige had pulled across the formation timely and was in position to lead block if Trask had given the ball to Wright, which would have been the smarter decision at the end of the day.
Trask also had an errant incompletion thrown while taking a hit that hung in the air a while, but other than those two plays, it was a great day through the air for the redshirt senior.
Emory Jones saw eight snaps against the Rebels compared to Trask's 70, his first snap ending with an interception - a bad one. Jones seemed to decide to throw on a whim after rolling right, and he let the ball go while being hit by a rusher. The pass remained in the air for a while and picked off by A.J. Finley easily.
However, Mullen sent Jones right back out on the next drive for a couple of plays, and for five plays on a drive kept to himself in the third quarter that ended in a field goal. The next passing play design allowed Jones to connect with a wide-open Trevon Grimes for 30 yards, but his final throw was off targeting Toney, while under pressure.
Jones added 37 rushing yards on four attempts with a long of 22.
Running back
The Gators' running back tandem of Dameon Pierce and Malik Davis certainly looks like a strong pair, but we'll need to see more volume against tougher competition before drawing any conclusions.
However, for a team that struggled running the ball a year ago, things are trending upward. The duo averaged 6.4 yards per rush on 16 carries, nine for Pierve and seven for Davis, certainly serving as a complement to the passing game but an efficient one at that.
Pierce isn't a back you'd bet on suffering from negative runs much, if at all, given his brusing rushing style and aggressive, downhill demeanor. Only one of his carries went backwards, for a loss of one, otherwise Pierce consistently churned out solid gains including a four-carry stretch of plays for 26 yards (gains of eight, six, eight, and four) near the end of the third quarter.
Davis does look like he has returned to an old form, a year removed from a recovery season after two back-to-back season-ending injuries. Recording double-digit touches, Davis earned 82 scrimmage yards on Saturday, 8.2 yards per touch. He looked explosive and quick, making several impressive jump cuts and fighting for extra yards, however his long-speed does seem to have taken a hit over time from his injuries.
Even redshirt freshman Nay'Quan Wright had the ball come his way, rushing four times for a disappointing loss of one yard, however he made exciting things happen on a 25-yard reception, making numerous defenders miss as he worked downfield.
Wright probably won't offer much more than a third-down role this season, as Pierce and Davis appear to have the bulk of the carries and snaps going their way. The question is: How efficient can this group be should Florida go run-heavy in a gameplan? Can it be depended on?
Wide receiver
Remember the concerns about Florida's passing game after losing four senior wide receivers to the NFL? It was a legitimate worry entering the season, but doesn't feel like one any longer.
11 different receivers caught a pass on Saturday: Six wide receivers, three running backs, and two tight ends. Specifically, three wide receivers caught their first pass as Gators: Penn State transfer Justin Shorter, redshirt freshman Trent Whittemore, and true freshman Xzavier Henderson. Whittemore made the most of his five targets, catching three for 26 yards and fighting for extra yards every time he hauled in a pass. He also made a nice concentration catch at the endzone boundary that was ruled out of bounds, but his effort was refreshing.
Trevon Grimes and Kadarius Toney led the receivers, both scoring a touchdown and making things happen with the ball in their hands. Toney has markedly improved as a true receiver, running better routes to the middle of the field and being decisive when moving downfield, rather than going east to west as he's well known for.
Trask tried Grimes, 6-foot-5, 214 lbs., on numerous contested catches and back-shoulder throws as well, notably connecting on a similar throw to Kyle Pitts' adjustment touchdown in the front left corner of the endzone, this time on the right.
Jacob Copeland also had a solid day, consistently getting open on out-breaking routes and catching three of four targets for 39 yards. Copeland dropped one well-placed pass down the middle of the field, which Trask squeezed into a spot with numerous defenders enclosing. It was a nice ball that Copeland nearly caught, but a defender knocked it out.
The unit as a whole blocked well, but Copeland had one block in particular that stood out, sealing off the edge against cornerback Keidron Smith, a big defensive back at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, which was a big factor in Toney's 50-yard rush in the first half.
Pitts is the No. 1 receiver in this offense, there is no doubt. But Florida need not be concerned if teams double or even triple team the 6-foot-6 tight end, because Trask and Jones have plenty of other options to throw to.
Tight end
It's the Kyle Pitts show in Florida's offense and rightfully so. Catching nearly everything that came his way, whether it be a contested ball in double coverage in the endzone, a slightly underthrown seam route, an adjusted out-route, the short post he's found plenty of success with, back-shoulder throws, and so on, Pitts simply couldn't be stopped.
On contested catches, Pitts timed jumps well, boxed out defenders, and utilized his strength in the air to snatch the ball away. He also forced numerous missed tackles with impressive cuts for his frame, and won a footrace to the endzone on the deep seam pass that was slightly underthrown.
Pitts also blocked on 23 of his 55 snaps. He's still not perfect there as his anchor and base isn't the strongest, which allows bigger defenders to knock him off balance. However, there is little doubt that Pitts is willing and aggressive as a blocker, as he attempted blocks all day and often found himself in good position to seal off edge rushers in the run game.
We didn't see much of the tight end room behind Pitts in terms of production, but Kemore Gamble found the field for 15 snaps, with Keon Zipperer adding another 10. Both did an ample amount of blocking, however, Zipperer did bring in one catch for 11 yards.
Offensive line
My biggest takeaway from Florida'a victory was how sound the offensive line looked all day. This isn't an angry group yet. There isn't a Jawaan Taylor, at least yet, that chews up edge defenders consistently and spits them back into the grass in the run game, but undoubtedly, progress has been made.
Left tackle Stone Forsythe, center Brett Heggie, and right guard Stewart Reese were Florida's top performers on the offensive line. Forsythe looked stronger in the runnning game, notably sealing off the edge on runs to the interior and getting defenders out of rushing lanes with his upper body strength on play-side blocks. He had at least one solo pancake on a run block.
Florida now lists Forsythe at 6-foot-9, 312 lbs., and at a size like that he'll never be the most agile tackle. That shows up on occasion in pass protection against nimble, quick rushers, but it didn't bother Forsythe much on Saturday. He slid well adjusting to rush angles and simply didn't let much by him.
Heggie started at center after playing guard as of late for the Gators and did well. There weren't any issues with snap accuracy, and I only noticed one quarterback pressure given up. His highlight came on the Gators' first play, a nine-yard rush from Pierce, where Heggie man-handled his block 10 or so yards downfield.
Reese provided a consistent presence at right guard in both the run and pass game. The 6-foot-6, 350-pound interior lineman pulled across the formation six times according to my count, with three successful reps in pass protection and and three solid run-blocking pulls. I also saw one interior play-side combo block, moving to the second level and washing out a linebacker on a run play. Reese didn't make any powerful downhill blocks that will "wow" you, but he was usually in the right place in the run game and helped the unit in that department, a welcome upgrade.
Richard Gouraige was solid, however, he doesn't appear to play with a ton of power on the interior. He's an athletic lineman who mirrors well, and paired with Jean Delance's struggles in protection on Saturday, I could see Gouraige flexing to tackle when sophomore Ethan White returns from a knee injury. Delance drove a block out of the rush lane into the endzone on a QB keeper from Trask that fell a yard short of a touchdown in the first quarter, his best rep of the day, but otherwise it was a lackluster performance for the redshirt senior.
Defensive line/Buck rush end
The defensive line flashed in moments but struggled with consistently pressuring Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral as a unit, and lost contain on the edges that provided opportunities for quarterback rushing yards. As a whole, though, the Gators gave up only 3.8 yards per carry on 45 attempts, and did a great job of containing electric rushing QB John Rhys Plumlee, who gained four yards on as many rushes.