We’ll get to the game specific thoughts shortly, but last night’s Arkansas/Florida football game attracted me to thoughts about the sociology of sports. The impetus for these thoughts was the contrasting relationships Kyle Trask and Feleipe Franks have with the Florida Gator fan base. Clearly, Florida’s current success and Franks’ departure at the end of last season are factors, but it goes much deeper than that. It’s also tied to emotional maturity and personality. At the end of last night’s game, the media tried to engage Trask in Heisman Trophy conversation. They also asked him if Florida had the best offense in college football. In both instances, he refused to take the bait. He deflected the Heisman discussion and reminded people that his larger goals were associated with team successes and championships. In response to the “best offense” question, he simply commented about his happiness with his own offense. He ignored completely the opportunity to compare/provoke others by claiming to be better than anyone else.

Franks’ rougher relationship with the Gator fan base extends back a couple seasons. The road became rocky when Florida fans booed Felipe in 2017 while he was Florida’s starting quarterback. In response, after scoring touchdowns, Frank’s shushed the home Florida crowd on at least two occasions. Given the opportunity to mend fences, Franks was unrepentant. The circumstances improved, but the fan base remembered. After a season ending injury and Trask’s emergence in 2019, Feleipe transferred to Arkansas. He left on good terms and with the blessing of Gator nation. Somewhat surprisingly (and disappointingly), Florida fans booed Franks the first time he took the field in last night’s game. In response, after a first quarter 47 yard touchdown pass, Felipe stared to the Florida sidelines and held up his index finger. As far as fans were concerned, it might as well have been his second finger. The feud was still on and Gator fans enjoyed every moment of the 63 - 35 beat down.

My point isn’t to vilify Felipe Franks in any way. He’s part of the Gator family, faced tough circumstances, and played an important role in the Gator’s return to relevance. My point is to illuminate the difference between athletes who motivate themselves internally and those who need to provoke external conflict to energize themselves. Franks, in fact, isn’t unusual in this regard. Many athletes these days choose to focus on criticism and perceived slights. Their goal becomes to succeed so they can prove others wrong. In my own long history around sports, I’ve learned that most of the true superstars have a much higher internal locus of control. They succeed by challenging themselves and raising their own bar.

Speaking of raising the bar, the Florida Gator offense took their 2020 success to yet another level against Arkansas. You can find the gaudy statistics online, but the salient point is continued improvement, week by week, for an offense that had already proven itself as prolific. Each week the Gators find yet another tool in the toolbox to feature. Missing perhaps their most gifted offensive threat, Kyle Pitts, Florida didn’t miss a beat. Ten different receivers caught balls. Five different guys caught touchdown passes. All this against an Arkansas secondary that has been one of the SEC’s best this season. Some people, myself included, expected the Florida running game would have to be the difference maker this week. In a testament to their confidence, the Gators just did what they do best and threw the ball. In a similar display of confidence at the end of the first half, Florida didn’t settle for a safer, chip-shot field goal to extend their lead. They ran the regular offense, threw the ball in the end zone, and went into the halftime with an even larger lead. There’s a difference between teams that play to win and those who play not to lose.

To be a national championship contender, the Florida defense must improve. Period. The Arkansas game provided continuing evidence the defense still has a ways to go to get where they need to be. The defensive approach is different with a lead of more than 14 points, but playing “prevent defense” wasn’t the problem. Quite the contrary. Last night’s problem, again, was giving up big plays. Arkansas scored on plays of 47, 83, 12, 12, and 82 yards. Their longest scoring drive took three minutes. Four of these drives were 75 yards or longer. Giving up big scoring plays and yards in large chunks is often a reflection on missed assignments/breakdowns or on being individually overly aggressive. Physicality and aggression are important parts of the game. Unfortunately, an over abundance of aggression at the expense of playing “assignment football” creates vulnerability. This is especially true if it occurs on the edges or in the back end of the defense. Florida is playing a large number of younger players, including several true freshmen. The mistakes, however, haven’t been limited to the young guys. There’s little question Florida possesses the talent to play dominating defense. The question, more than anything, is whether Florida can take advantage of the softer schedule over the next four weeks to make corrections and grow as a defense. To have any chance against Alabama, if Florida can get to the SEC championship game, the Gator defense must step up.

One week at a time. Steady improvement each week. Next week is at Vandy.