December 18, 2019Comments are off for this post.

From Where I Sit – UF Early Signing

Florida signed a really strong group on December 18th that addressed most of their greatest needs. The day passed without any drama, good or bad. The Gators signed every committed player they expected with zero defections. Unlike last year, however, they didn’t have any unexpected good news. The class was ranked in the top 8 nationally by every significant recruiting publication. Florida will strengthen the class further by signing up to 6 more players in February.


The early signees included high quality and numbers of both offensive and defensive linemen. The group of defensive backs was also impressive. The Gators added a highly regarded dual threat quarterback and one of the nation’s top high school linebackers.


Additionally, Florida has three committed players who are expected to sign in February if they qualify academically and the Gators still have room in the class. These include; wide receiver Leonard Manuel, offensive lineman Jovans Janvier, and athlete Marc Britt.


Meanwhile, Florida is pursuing a number of other unsigned/uncommitted athletes. Ideally, the Gators add a wide receiver and a running back among the remaining 6 slots. New names to watch for include; running backs Jamyr Gibbs and Henry Parrish, wide receiver Xzavier Henderson, and safety Avantae Williams. Florida may also consider a transfer if the right one is available.


Remember, as well, the Gators will have Brenton Cox and Wardrick Wilson who missed last year for eligibility reasons available in 2020.

November 30, 2019Comments are off for this post.

From Where I Sit- Florida vs. Florida State

Florida passed its final exam with flying colors in the 40 - 17 dismantling of Florida State.  The Gators put themselves in great position to be chosen for one of the elite “New Year’s Six” bowl games. Most likely, the Cotton Bowl or the Orange Bowl, but we’ll know more after next week’s conference championship games.

This week, Florida played well on both offense and defense taking advantage of the struggling and unfocused (13 penalties) Seminoles.  By five minutes into the second quarter the Gators were never really threatened. The few opportunities Florida State generated quickly dissipated behind sacks or untimely penalties.  Injuries and an ejection further hampered the Seminole effort.

On offense, the Gators showcased their deep and talented receiving corps by distributing the ball to ten different receivers, eight of whom had three or more catches each. Seniors Van Jefferson, Josh Hammond, Tyrie Cleveland, and Freddie Swain will all be hard to replace next season. Kyle Trask made good decisions and threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns. Emory Jones completed 5 of his 6 attempts and also ran for 47 yards. On a day when Percy Harvin served as “Mr. Two Bits”, Florida showcased its most similarly elusive athlete, Kadarius Toney. Toney had several electrifying plays including a slip screen that went for 47 yards and a 12 yard punt return.

Jonathan Greenard led the Florida defense with three of the team’s eight sacks. With the exception of a 45 yard pass play on the first FSU drive and a 50 yard Cam Akers touchdown run in the third quarter, Florida completely shut down the Seminole offense. The success on defense for Florida was a clear reflection of total team relentless effort. The rivalry atmosphere ensured the intensity stayed high from start to finish.

Special teams play was uneven. Evan McPherson’s missed his first extra point in 92 attempts, but drilled two field goals, one from 50 Yards.  Tommy Townsend had one short punt and was stopped short on an ill-advised fake punt, but neither play ended up hurting the Gators. Tyrie Cleveland had a 40 yard kickoff return. Freddie Swain had his first muffed punt of the year erased by an FSU penalty.

Lamichel Perine, David Reese, and Adam Shuler also played their last games in the Swamp as Gators. Each have been incredible team leaders and strong on-field contributors. It was nice seeing these three and the 23 other seniors go out with a win to cap an undefeated HOME season. They’ve played a large role in restoring Gator football to prominence.

On a final note, the ten win regular season and prominent bowl game coupled with down seasons for both FSU and Miami will position the Gators to close the 2020 recruiting cycle very strongly.  The 2020 class should be a top ten class with the 2021 group to be even stronger.

November 16, 2019Comments are off for this post.

From Where I Sit: UF at Missouri

A road win in the SEC is always a good thing. Especially when the opponent has beaten you the last two years. Now, add in the dynamic of how tough Missouri had been playing at home (5-0) and you have a good reason to be satisfied. Florida certainly wasn’t crisp but did grind all day. Finally, in the third quarter, the Gators made a couple of big plays on offense to take control. From there smothering defense and steady offense closed out the 23 - 6 win.


The Florida highlights included great run defense and very solid pass defense. Missouri managed less than 2 yards rushing per carry and completed only two pass completions for longer than 12 yards. The Florida defense stuffed the Tigers for negative yardage on an impressive 9 plays. Tiger quarterback, Kelly Bryant, was frequently able to elude the Gator pass rush but wasn’t able to deliver big plays. On offense, the good Gator news was a success on first down plays and solid field position football. Missouri began just two drives beyond their own 25-yard line (once in Gator territory). Statistically, Kyle Trask was good against Missouri’s highly regarded pass defense. As is typical, special teams were better than solid for the Gators. Evan McPherson made all of his placekicks, Freddie Swain handled all nine Tiger punts cleanly, and Tommy Townsend averaged 45 net yards per punt despite a twenty-eight yarder (big backward bounce).


Areas, where Florida struggled today, were mostly on the offensive side of the ball. The inside run game, as usual, was absent. Trask held the ball too long several times in the first half and gave up sacks. He also had a couple of passes that should have been intercepted. The Florida receivers had a number of (uncharacteristic) drops. Of the Gator’s six penalties for 64 yards, three were poise related.


The Gator win sets up an excellent opportunity for a ten-win regular season. Florida will likely be a double-digit favorite at home against FSU in two weeks. News on the extent of the Campbell injury won’t be available until Monday. Hopefully, Jabari Zuniga is healthy for the FSU game.

November 9, 2019Comments are off for this post.

From Where I Sit: UF vs. Vandy

Florida started slowly on offense but ended up with 560 total yards in a lopsided 56 - 0 win over Vandy in the swamp. The Gator defense was, perhaps, even more, impressive than the offense. The Commodores generated only 128 yards of offense for the game.

In what has become a pattern for the Florida offense, scoring early has been difficult. The Gator's first two drives ended with a failure to covert a 4th down and a red-zone interception. Florida also had a missed field goal attempt and a second red-zone interception later in the first half. Throughout the early offensive scoring challenges, the Gator defense controlled the game by limiting the Vandy offense to a paltry 19 yards of total offense.

The second half was a different story for the Florida offense as the Gators scored 28 third quarter and 14 fourth-quarter points. The Florida defense secured the shutout by forcing four punts, a fumble, a long field goal attempt, and an interception in the second half.

The highlights for Florida included nine players each with two or more receptions and eight players with multiple carriers. Trevon Grimes led the receivers with 95 receiving yards. Kyle Trask threw for three touchdowns and Emory Jones ran for three touchdowns. On defense, James Houston had eight tackles, Donovan Steiner had two interceptions, and Jon Greenard had an 80-yard fumble recovery return for a touchdown. Mohamoud Diabate emerged with three sacks and a forced fumble.

Beyond the slow start offensively, the only other problem areas were a missed 41-yard field goal and one kickoff return beyond the 40-yard line. Very little went wrong for Florida today.

The Gators had four new starters against Vandy. Ethan White and Richard Gouraige in the offensive line and Mohamoud Diabate and Zach Carter on defense.

Florida’s next opponent, Missouri, was shutout 27 - 0 today at Georgia but played without their starting QB, Kelly Bryant. Bryant should return next week. The Gators have struggled in recent years against Missouri and the Tigers have been mostly good at home this year. Florida will need to get off to a better start in Columbia to avoid the upset.

November 2, 2019Comments are off for this post.

From Where I Sit: UF vs. Georgia

This was a great SEC battle with high stakes. This type of situation really defines why the SEC “just means more”. To make it to the SEC championship game, Florida needed to run a four-game gauntlet that included three top-ten opponents and three consecutive games away from Gainesville. The task was too tall for this year’s Gators, but the team handled itself well and earned respect. Mullen and his Gators won’t be satisfied with the respectable showing and that’s exactly why even better days are ahead.
High notes for the day included poise and confidence through adversity. Another strong fourth quarter offensively. Zero turnovers. Trask also has another solid day passing the ball. The Gator run defense was good, for the most part, against one of the best running teams and backs (Swift) in the country.


The biggest struggles included third-down defense, especially in the first half.  Anemic run offense. The defense failed to get any consistent pressure on Fromm in passing situations. Trey Dean struggled again in coverage. Stone Forsyth struggled again to protect Trask. Not a good day for Mullen and the coaching staff. Wasted timeouts, some struggles having the right guys on the field, and an inability to figure a way to get pressure on Fromm. Georgia was a half step ahead all day.


Florida is still in a position to have a very good season. It will be nice being home next week against what should be a softer opponent. If Florida wins out, a 10 - 2 record and a New Years Day bowl game are nice accomplishments for year two of the Dan Mullen era.

October 19, 2019Comments are off for this post.

From Where I Sit- Florida at South Carolina

Florida slogged thru the rain and persevered to beat a solid South Carolina team, 38 - 27, on a wet Saturday in Columbia, South Carolina. The difference was in the “big” plays. The Gators capitalized with a (Pierce) 75 yard touchdown run, a 37 yard touchdown pass (Copeland), and with a fourth quarter strip sack (Carter) fumble recovery (Campbell) on the Gamecock’s 29 yard line. For the day, SC out gained (387 to 354)and out possessed (32:03 to 27:53) Florida, but gave up too many big plays.

First the good. Florida’s defense survived despite the absence of their two top pass rushers and several in-game injuries that forced the Gators to play freshmen in key situations. At different points, at least 5 Florida defenders were helped off the field. David Reese rallied the troops and stabilized a wobbly run defense in critical moments. Kyle Trask wasn’t sharp early, but gained momentum (and accuracy) as the game progressed. The O-line pass blocked pretty well. Kinlaw (SC DT) is a beast. Four TD passes to four different receivers is a nice accomplishment against a tough (Muschamp) defense. The Gators extended drives with two fourth down conversions and a couple long third down conversions. Special teams were good, making a long field goal and averaging nearly 45 yards per punt.

Now the bad. The run game for Florida is still unreliable. Without the 75 yard touchdown run, the Gators netted less than 100 yards on 29 carries. The receivers had several dropped passes and blocked poorly on the perimeter today. Without Greenard and Zuniga, the Florida defense failed to get consistent pressure on Hilinski.

With the exception of last week at LSU, the Gators have made good in game adjustments and finished games strong. Florida leverages it’s superior conditioning and depth to dominate late in most games. The open date comes at a great time. The Gators are a banged up team with a physical Georgia team looming in two weeks. It was great having Pierce back today. By the Georgia game, Florida could be close to full strength (barring injury reports from today).

October 12, 2019Comments are off for this post.

From Where I Sit- Florida at LSU

The bottom line in Florida’s 42 -28 loss to LSU was that Joe Burrow took Florida’s vaunted defense apart like a precision mechanic. The LSU run game controlled the line of scrimmage and Burrow had ample time to find open receivers on the occasional LSU passing plays. The few times Florida got pressure on Burrow, he escaped to scramble for double digit yardage. LSU had zero turnovers, two punts, and a missed field goal. The remaining possessions all resulted in touchdowns.

Highlights included Kyle Trask’s poise in one of the toughest away venues in college football. The receivers as a unit were more than solid again. Overall Florida competed all the way to the end and gave themselves a chance to win. Absent a couple late, bad breaks, this game might have come down to who had the ball last.

The disappointing pieces were mostly on the defensive side of the ball. Injuries to Greenard and Zuniga impacted Florida’s ability to get any consistent pressure on Burrow. The run defense struggled to get guys in the correct gaps and, consequently, allowed LSU to avoid third and long situations. The few opportunities the Gators had to force punts escaped with Joe Burrow on third down scrambles.

Trask’s single turnover (interception) came when Florida took an end zone shot in a third and short situation, down one score late in the game. Unfortunately, Trask’s primary read (Cleveland) was drug off his route forcing Trask to try a back shoulder throw to a well covered receiver.

Huge game at USC this upcoming week. The Gamecocks, fresh off an upset of Georgia in Athens, will have home field in Columbia. A Gator win returns Florida to a strong position in the SEC east. A loss ends any SEC title hopes. Injuries on both sides will be a factor. Noon kickoff.

October 5, 2019Comments are off for this post.

From Where I Sit: UF vs. Auburn

Today’s solid win over a really good Auburn team was a big step for the Gators. Not only is today Florida’s tenth consecutive win (over two seasons), but it came against a national top ten team. The Gators continue to make head-scratching mistakes each game, but have also shown an impressive resilience. Just when you think they’ve made a fatal mistake, they come up with a big play to restore order. The Florida defense has the ability to erase mistakes and keep this team in games. The offense, while erratic, has the capacity to move the ball in a variety of ways.

Here’s the good from today. Auburn has a very good defensive line. Two of their starters will be high draft choices in this next NFL draft. Despite this, Florida was diverse enough on offense to deflect the pressure and roll up nearly 400 yards of total offense. Almost half of it (184 yards) came on three big plays. The anecdote for high-pressure defenses is big plays. The Gators kept moving the ball around, spreading the field, and looking for seams. Lamichael Perine’s fourth-quarter 88-yard touchdown run was a major nail in Auburn’s coffin. Kyle Trask managed the game well for the most part and made three or four NFL caliber throws. He made good reads and delivered the ball to the right receivers. It was his best week yet for resisting the urge to force the ball into coverages. Freddie Swain and Kyle Pitts (again) had big games. Pitts is a mismatch nightmare for defenses.

The Gator defense was impressive all day. This week, both CJ Henderson and Marcus Wilson we’re available. Having two very good cover corners allows Todd Grantham to be very aggressive with the front seven. Wilson seems to have moved past the early season struggles he endured after sitting out injured all of last year. The defense, as a whole, tackled very well today. Auburn is a national leader in the run game and Florida controlled that threat very nicely. David Reese had 13 tackles. Greenard is a powerful force in both run and pass defense. Once Auburn was forced to throw, the Gator secondary (DBU) picked Bo Nix off three times. I think Auburn might have had only one play for 25+ yards today.
Special teams were good for Florida. Converted on all placekicks. Covered three punts inside the Auburn twenty yard line and recovered one muffed punt. The Gators take special team play seriously and it shows.

Now the areas for improvement. Defensively, there is very little to complain about. One 46 yard pass completion on what may have been a busted coverage. Only two sacks, but constant pressure leading to three interceptions and a completion rate of about 40% for Nix.>> The offense (Trask) must take better care of the ball. Three sack/fumbles usually means a loss. In every case, Trask held the ball too long and was hit from behind by guys who had been blocked beyond the pocket. He simply must step up further and/or get rid of the ball a half second sooner. Florida’s receiver’s had several uncharacteristic drops today. Perhaps four and all in the second half. The O line is still a work in process.

I haven’t heard why we didn’t see Zuniga today, but presume he’s still recovering from the injury in the Kentucky game. His return will strengthen an already impressive defense. Assuming Trask’s knee is okay, Florida is banged up (Delance, Peirce, and Shawn Davis), but didn’t lose any additional players for next week.

Dan Mullen made a couple of shaky decisions this week. I typically prefer a coach who isn’t afraid to be unpredictable, but...the fake punt and the throwback pass were both I’ll-advised. The fake punt occurred while Florida led, but was trying to recover from back to back turnovers on their own end of the field. The Gator defense was playing well enough to where flipping field position with a good punt was a better choice than risking giving Auburn a third consecutive short field. Happily, the gift of 7 points wasn’t the difference in the game. The throw-back pass was also an unnecessary risk. With an 11 point lead and less than five minutes to play, the better choice is to play field position and trust your defense. My site line was perfect to see that Krull threw a blind pass to Trask. A pick-six at that time would have placed a game well-in-hand back into serious question. Again, happily the pass was completed and helped Florida by making Auburn begin burning time outs. Still, an unnecessary risk.

Auburn/Florida was the marquee game for the SEC today, so you’d expect the best officiating crew to be assigned. Perhaps they are a strong crew, but it just didn’t seem like it today. I may change my mind once I’ve watched the replay, but there were several questionable no-calls. I thought the Peirce injury/fumble was caused by a head to head hit that could/should have been targeting. It looked like Townsend was intentionally tripped on the fake punt attempt. There were also several likely pass interference calls ignored on crossing routes before this crew finally began throwing flags.

This was a great win for Florida, but the reward is an even tougher opponent (LSU) at their place next week. Such is life in the SEC. Joe Burrow is a more experienced quarterback than Bo Nix and the Gators should not expect to get three interceptions. Florida must take care of the ball themselves next week to have a chance of winning.

September 28, 2019Comments are off for this post.

From Where I Sit: UF vs Towson

Don’t be misled by the score or the stat lines. Florida was solid, but by no means dominant. The Gators were the beneficiaries of three turnovers, a missed short field goal and a blocked field goal. Florida will have to be much sharper to win next week against Auburn.

First the good news. This win creates the opportunity to Florida to face Auburn with an unblemished record. There were no new injuries and Florida will have back several key defenders for the game next week. Track managed the game well and distributed the ball to eight different receivers. He completed 18 (mostly short) passes with only two incompletions. Kyle Pitts has arrived as a marquee target and Pierce ran hard all night. The defense was good in the red zone. Florida stepped up the D in the second half and corrected a number of first half problems. Special teams had a winning night. The blocked FG attempt was the first this season for Gators.

Now the areas for improvement. Trask was sacked three times on the night and all three were because he held the ball too long. He’s looked good overall, but still needs to learn it’s okay to throw it away occasionally. The OL gained momentum in the second half again, but still has frequent assignment issues. Copeland had another drop on a long ball. The defense had a few missed tackles. Admittedly, Tony Flaco is an excellent athlete. Early in the game, the Gator D couldn’t keep him contained. Towson’s first punt was with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

At the end of the day, it’s a win and a date with undefeated Auburn.

September 21, 2019Comments are off for this post.

From Where I Sit: UF vs Tennessee

Another SEC win, so there is certainly a reason for the Gators to feel good about themselves. For perspective, however, let’s not forget Tennessee is a train wreck. Much of the Florida success was enabled by Volunteer’s miscues. 75 yards in penalties, four turnovers, and an overthrown wide-open receiver or two. Florida deserves credit for overcoming their own mistakes (three turnovers). They won’t beat Auburn, LSU, Georgia, or Missouri if they have three turnovers in those games, though.

First the good news. Kyle Trask passed his first test with a solid performance. He was sharp in the first half and made good decisions (minus the sack fumble). He is patient and seems to go thru the progressions better than Feleipe. He throws a very catchable ball. The receivers shined again. Ten different guys caught balls. Pitts was especially impressive. He gets open and has great hands. Jefferson is an NFL talent. The Gator defense was aggressive and effective despite missing Henderson, Zuniga, and Stiner (for a half). A few missed tackles, but mostly swarmed. It was nice seeing the DBs come up with three interceptions. Seven tackles for loss (four of them sacks). Special teams we great. Florida made all their placekicks, netted 43 yards on the one punt, and allowed zero return yards.

The areas for improvement include the short yardage run game (again) and ball security. The three giveaways could have been even more if the recovery on Davis’ fumble hadn’t been reviewed and overturned. Two of Florida’s giveaways occurred on FIRST down.

Stray thoughts. None of Florida’s five penalties were due to composure issues. No unsportsmanlikes and no targetings. Jefferson could have been flagged for taunting, but...somehow got away with one. If Copeland didn’t have his one drop, the passing yardage would have been at least 50 more yards. The Gators played several freshmen significant snaps (Elam, Kimbrough, Hill, Bogle, and Zipperer). Florida was 5 for 5 in the red zone.

Towson, next week, is a tune up opportunity. They lost today (in overtime) to Villanova. The Tigers feature a dual threat QB. Tom Flacco is Joe Flacco’s brother and is also a baseball talent. Flacco is nearly 25 years old and attended both Western Michigan and Rutgers before transferring to Towson as a grad transfer.