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.