GB - midseason report
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:05 am
What players have surprised and disappointed you the most?
Marty Cohen: "In the surprise department, I could say the entire defense, but will just focus on two guys. Certainly the play of true freshmen Joe Haden and Major Wright in the secondary has been above and beyond what should be expected of most rookies. I don't care about recruiting rankings, the step up in level at positions like corner and free safety, with as much responsibility as Florida places on both those spots, is dramatic, but Haden and Wright have been solid from the outset. Both players, at a tender age, are already strong tacklers – Haden is one of the best tackling corners Florida's had in a while after just six games. On offense, we'll stay with the rookie theme and give a tip of the cap to guard Maurkice Pouncey, who has handled a starting assignment with four veterans seamlessly, and more than handled his own last weekend at LSU.
"On the flip side, offensively I'd say the receiver trio of Andre Caldwell, Riley Cooper and Jarred Fayson has disappointed. It's a little unfair since Caldwell and Cooper have been nicked up, but the notion that Florida would sport this vast array of playmakers has dissipated the past few weeks. And as an overall unit, I'd say the special teams. Sure Brandon James is a major threat in the return game, but the Gators have seemingly abandoned their penchant for going after the punter and performed sporadically in some areas. I thought we'd see more big plays from the special teams, more chances taken."
Adam Gorney: Two players have especially surprised me on offense and they are sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow and freshman right guard Maurkice Pouncey. I knew Tebow was talented. I was not sure he would progress at such fast clip. Talk about Tebow and the Heisman is really not that far off. He's thrown for 1,455 yards with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions and also leads Florida with 500 rushing yards and nine scores. He has really been impressive after six games.
Pouncey has held his own against older and more mature defensive linemen and he helped control LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, a first-round NFL draft pick after this season. Coach Urban Meyer called him one of the most impressive freshman linemen he's ever coached. That's good enough for me.
Guerry Smith: True freshman cornerback Joe Haden and true freshman offensive guard Maurkice Pouncey have been the most pleasant surprises.
It was obvious Haden would start in the first week of preseason drills, but freshman corners usually struggle with confidence, particularly after they get burned once or twice. Haden has remained solid despite getting toasted on a beautiful 77-yard thrown-and-catch by Ole Miss. Through four SEC games he has 28 tackles (third best on the team), five breakups (first on the team), one interception and two tackles for loss. He has been the most consistent performer in the secondary and will be a star in the future.
Pouncey has stabilized an offensive line that could have been in trouble when starting left tackle Phil Trautwein was lost for the year in the preseason. Pouncey¹s emergence allowed Carlton Medder to slide back to tackle, where he is more comfortable. Pouncey has played well in five of six games, rebounding from a subpar performance against Auburn with a tremendous night in Baton Rouge, teaming with Jim Tartt to stone All-America defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. True freshmen usually are a weak link up front.
Pouncey¹s not.
The biggest disappointments are the wide receivers other than Percy Harvin and Cornelius Ingram. After all the preseason hype about multiple playmakers, the Gators have not been very dynamic at the position since Andre Caldwell hurt a knee against Tennessee. Louis Murphy has been OK. Riley Cooper, Jarred Fayson and David Nelson have combined for five catches and one touchdown in SEC play. In other words, they have been non-factors.
Did you expect Florida to have two losses this early in the season? Why do you think it's happened?
Marty Cohen: "I didn't think it would happen, because I didn't think Florida would lose at home. But the main reason is because the Gators lost to a pair of pretty good teams. Let's boil it down – we're seeing now that Auburn is a far superior team to the one which was committing turnovers by the bushel the first three weeks of the season. And LSU isn't too shabby either. You don't want to use youth as a crutch, but a junior-senior dominated LSU team beat a sophomore-freshman laden Florida squad by four points in the last minute at home. The Gators did not play well against Auburn and that was disappointing, but two losses at this juncture isn't necessarily shocking."
Adam Gorney: No, I did not. I projected them to have two regular season losses. One was to LSU and the other was either getting caught by Georgia or at South Carolina. The Gators have more talent than Auburn and they let that one get away – especially in the first half when they were held scoreless.
With how the SEC East has worked itself out after the first few weeks, Florida is still in the race for the championship. They have to win their final four conference games and Tennessee has to lose once in six remaining SEC contests. I'm not predicting that Florida wins out but I would bet the Volunteers lose at least once.
Guerry Smith: I did not expect it, but there is nothing shocking about splitting home games with Tennessee and Auburn and losing at LSU. The Gators were vulnerable entering the season after losing almost their entire defense, and Auburn¹s awful start was misleading. The Tigers committed 11 turnovers in their losses to South Florida and Mississippi State. When they held on to the ball against Florida, they became a much better team.
Share your thoughts on the Gators offense and defense through the first half of the season.
Marty Cohen: "In simple terms, I'd given both units a mid-term grade of B, and there's a different feeling about each grade. The B on offense is a tad, a hair, lower than expected just because of a subpar outing against Auburn and a shaky last 16 minutes last weekend at LSU. By season's end, especially if Caldwell could come back and contribute, the grade could go up.
"The B on defense is a little higher than I anticipated in August. I saw too many holes at the start, up front and in the secondary, with a trio of unproven linebackers in the middle. But somehow they've been terrific against the run, again, and with the exception of a pair of passes against Ole Miss, has not allowed any big plays. They now must find a way to get off the field and quit letting opposing offenses methodically control the action, but I think they've over-achieved, in terms of expectations, to this point."
Adam Gorney: The offense was very good earlier in the season and especially against Tennessee. It looked solid at times against LSU, arguably the best defensive team in the country, but at Ole Miss and in the loss to Auburn it was substandard. There seemed to be too much of a reliance on Tebow and sophomore Percy Harvin. That had to do with injuries but there are enough playmakers to toss the ball around. Maybe after the bye week Florida will open it up a little more.
The defense is so young it is a credit to the players and the coaches that they haven't been blown over by some offenses. The secondary is getting better. Freshman cornerback Joe Haden will be a good one and so will freshman safety Major Wright. More of a rotation along the defensive line would not be a bad thing.
Guerry Smith: Tim Tebow gives Florida a legitimate chance to win any game it plays at any location. LSU's players were effusive in their praise for him after he led the Gators to 24 points against the nation¹s top-ranked defense. Incredibly tough to tackle, Tebow is a winner and a playmaker, as his improvised shotput touchdown pass to Kestahn Moore illustrated against LSU. The problem is Tebow has to do too much for the offense, an issue exacerbated by the coaches' tendency to rely on him for everything. Moore is an adequate starting tailback, running hard, but he does not scare anyone. As I already mentioned, Andre Caldwell's injury hurt more than anticipated because UF's depth at wide receiver was overstated. And who would have guessed that Percy Harvin's longest run after six games would be 20 yards? He is the real deal, but opponents have been ready for him when he lines up in the backfield.
The defense has been average but still a little better than I anticipated, shutting down every opponent¹s running game until LSU wore the Gators down in the second half last Saturday. With career backups Javier Estopinan and Clint McMillan manning the middle, opponents still have not been able to run up the gut.
Obviously, UF's biggest concern is its anemic pass rush, and it's hard to see how that will improve in the second half of the year. The Gators get zero push up the middle, so opponents can concentrate on ends Derrick Harvey (who still has five sacks) and Jermaine Cunningham. If the Gators blitz too much, their inexperienced secondary will give up big plays. The compromise has bean a conservative defense that forces teams to nickel and dime their way down the field. Auburn and LSU executed that plan extremely well, but Florida still was in position to win both of those games if the offense had made one or two more plays in the fourth quarter.
Look into your crystal ball. What has to happen for Florida to win the SEC East this season?
Marty Cohen: "Win the rest of their games and have Tennessee lose one. Not trying to be a smart aleck, but that's what this is all about now. Although the Vols certainly bounced back last week against Georgia, I'm hard-pressed to see this team running the table and ending up on an eight-game winning streak. Don't see it.
"This opens the door for Florida and I don't foresee any stumbles at Kentucky, against Georgia or at home with Vandy. I truly believe it's coming down to Nov. 10 in Columbia, against the Ole Ball Coach, for all the marbles in the East. I know Gator fans would be loading up on the Prozac all week, but the prospect of this scenario is too enticing, the potential theater too great. I think it's going to happen and this team will take advantage of its shot to try and repeat as SEC champs. I'm more convinced now, after what happened in Baton Rouge, than I was at this point last week that Florida will make it back to Atlanta."
Adam Gorney: It's simple. Florida has to win its final four conference games and Tennessee has to lose once. OK, that's the nuts and bolts of it but it will be much tougher to accomplish. Games at Kentucky and South Carolina won't be easy for the Gators. Neither will playing Georgia in Jacksonville. Florida should focus on taking care of its own business. Its road is tough enough. I suspect Tennessee will lose at some point. I'm not so sure Florida will win out though.
Guerry Smith: Florida's offense has been good, but it needs to play even better for the Gators to win the East because the defense will be shaky all year. If they get more production from the complementary wide receivers and fewer costly breakdowns in the fourth quarter, they can outscore Kentucky, Georgia and South Carolina.
If the Gators run the table, they will be SEC East champions. Tennessee controls its own destiny, but the Vols still have six conference games left. They are not good enough to go 6-0 unless they get as many breaks as they received in 1998.
Marty Cohen: "In the surprise department, I could say the entire defense, but will just focus on two guys. Certainly the play of true freshmen Joe Haden and Major Wright in the secondary has been above and beyond what should be expected of most rookies. I don't care about recruiting rankings, the step up in level at positions like corner and free safety, with as much responsibility as Florida places on both those spots, is dramatic, but Haden and Wright have been solid from the outset. Both players, at a tender age, are already strong tacklers – Haden is one of the best tackling corners Florida's had in a while after just six games. On offense, we'll stay with the rookie theme and give a tip of the cap to guard Maurkice Pouncey, who has handled a starting assignment with four veterans seamlessly, and more than handled his own last weekend at LSU.
"On the flip side, offensively I'd say the receiver trio of Andre Caldwell, Riley Cooper and Jarred Fayson has disappointed. It's a little unfair since Caldwell and Cooper have been nicked up, but the notion that Florida would sport this vast array of playmakers has dissipated the past few weeks. And as an overall unit, I'd say the special teams. Sure Brandon James is a major threat in the return game, but the Gators have seemingly abandoned their penchant for going after the punter and performed sporadically in some areas. I thought we'd see more big plays from the special teams, more chances taken."
Adam Gorney: Two players have especially surprised me on offense and they are sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow and freshman right guard Maurkice Pouncey. I knew Tebow was talented. I was not sure he would progress at such fast clip. Talk about Tebow and the Heisman is really not that far off. He's thrown for 1,455 yards with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions and also leads Florida with 500 rushing yards and nine scores. He has really been impressive after six games.
Pouncey has held his own against older and more mature defensive linemen and he helped control LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, a first-round NFL draft pick after this season. Coach Urban Meyer called him one of the most impressive freshman linemen he's ever coached. That's good enough for me.
Guerry Smith: True freshman cornerback Joe Haden and true freshman offensive guard Maurkice Pouncey have been the most pleasant surprises.
It was obvious Haden would start in the first week of preseason drills, but freshman corners usually struggle with confidence, particularly after they get burned once or twice. Haden has remained solid despite getting toasted on a beautiful 77-yard thrown-and-catch by Ole Miss. Through four SEC games he has 28 tackles (third best on the team), five breakups (first on the team), one interception and two tackles for loss. He has been the most consistent performer in the secondary and will be a star in the future.
Pouncey has stabilized an offensive line that could have been in trouble when starting left tackle Phil Trautwein was lost for the year in the preseason. Pouncey¹s emergence allowed Carlton Medder to slide back to tackle, where he is more comfortable. Pouncey has played well in five of six games, rebounding from a subpar performance against Auburn with a tremendous night in Baton Rouge, teaming with Jim Tartt to stone All-America defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. True freshmen usually are a weak link up front.
Pouncey¹s not.
The biggest disappointments are the wide receivers other than Percy Harvin and Cornelius Ingram. After all the preseason hype about multiple playmakers, the Gators have not been very dynamic at the position since Andre Caldwell hurt a knee against Tennessee. Louis Murphy has been OK. Riley Cooper, Jarred Fayson and David Nelson have combined for five catches and one touchdown in SEC play. In other words, they have been non-factors.
Did you expect Florida to have two losses this early in the season? Why do you think it's happened?
Marty Cohen: "I didn't think it would happen, because I didn't think Florida would lose at home. But the main reason is because the Gators lost to a pair of pretty good teams. Let's boil it down – we're seeing now that Auburn is a far superior team to the one which was committing turnovers by the bushel the first three weeks of the season. And LSU isn't too shabby either. You don't want to use youth as a crutch, but a junior-senior dominated LSU team beat a sophomore-freshman laden Florida squad by four points in the last minute at home. The Gators did not play well against Auburn and that was disappointing, but two losses at this juncture isn't necessarily shocking."
Adam Gorney: No, I did not. I projected them to have two regular season losses. One was to LSU and the other was either getting caught by Georgia or at South Carolina. The Gators have more talent than Auburn and they let that one get away – especially in the first half when they were held scoreless.
With how the SEC East has worked itself out after the first few weeks, Florida is still in the race for the championship. They have to win their final four conference games and Tennessee has to lose once in six remaining SEC contests. I'm not predicting that Florida wins out but I would bet the Volunteers lose at least once.
Guerry Smith: I did not expect it, but there is nothing shocking about splitting home games with Tennessee and Auburn and losing at LSU. The Gators were vulnerable entering the season after losing almost their entire defense, and Auburn¹s awful start was misleading. The Tigers committed 11 turnovers in their losses to South Florida and Mississippi State. When they held on to the ball against Florida, they became a much better team.
Share your thoughts on the Gators offense and defense through the first half of the season.
Marty Cohen: "In simple terms, I'd given both units a mid-term grade of B, and there's a different feeling about each grade. The B on offense is a tad, a hair, lower than expected just because of a subpar outing against Auburn and a shaky last 16 minutes last weekend at LSU. By season's end, especially if Caldwell could come back and contribute, the grade could go up.
"The B on defense is a little higher than I anticipated in August. I saw too many holes at the start, up front and in the secondary, with a trio of unproven linebackers in the middle. But somehow they've been terrific against the run, again, and with the exception of a pair of passes against Ole Miss, has not allowed any big plays. They now must find a way to get off the field and quit letting opposing offenses methodically control the action, but I think they've over-achieved, in terms of expectations, to this point."
Adam Gorney: The offense was very good earlier in the season and especially against Tennessee. It looked solid at times against LSU, arguably the best defensive team in the country, but at Ole Miss and in the loss to Auburn it was substandard. There seemed to be too much of a reliance on Tebow and sophomore Percy Harvin. That had to do with injuries but there are enough playmakers to toss the ball around. Maybe after the bye week Florida will open it up a little more.
The defense is so young it is a credit to the players and the coaches that they haven't been blown over by some offenses. The secondary is getting better. Freshman cornerback Joe Haden will be a good one and so will freshman safety Major Wright. More of a rotation along the defensive line would not be a bad thing.
Guerry Smith: Tim Tebow gives Florida a legitimate chance to win any game it plays at any location. LSU's players were effusive in their praise for him after he led the Gators to 24 points against the nation¹s top-ranked defense. Incredibly tough to tackle, Tebow is a winner and a playmaker, as his improvised shotput touchdown pass to Kestahn Moore illustrated against LSU. The problem is Tebow has to do too much for the offense, an issue exacerbated by the coaches' tendency to rely on him for everything. Moore is an adequate starting tailback, running hard, but he does not scare anyone. As I already mentioned, Andre Caldwell's injury hurt more than anticipated because UF's depth at wide receiver was overstated. And who would have guessed that Percy Harvin's longest run after six games would be 20 yards? He is the real deal, but opponents have been ready for him when he lines up in the backfield.
The defense has been average but still a little better than I anticipated, shutting down every opponent¹s running game until LSU wore the Gators down in the second half last Saturday. With career backups Javier Estopinan and Clint McMillan manning the middle, opponents still have not been able to run up the gut.
Obviously, UF's biggest concern is its anemic pass rush, and it's hard to see how that will improve in the second half of the year. The Gators get zero push up the middle, so opponents can concentrate on ends Derrick Harvey (who still has five sacks) and Jermaine Cunningham. If the Gators blitz too much, their inexperienced secondary will give up big plays. The compromise has bean a conservative defense that forces teams to nickel and dime their way down the field. Auburn and LSU executed that plan extremely well, but Florida still was in position to win both of those games if the offense had made one or two more plays in the fourth quarter.
Look into your crystal ball. What has to happen for Florida to win the SEC East this season?
Marty Cohen: "Win the rest of their games and have Tennessee lose one. Not trying to be a smart aleck, but that's what this is all about now. Although the Vols certainly bounced back last week against Georgia, I'm hard-pressed to see this team running the table and ending up on an eight-game winning streak. Don't see it.
"This opens the door for Florida and I don't foresee any stumbles at Kentucky, against Georgia or at home with Vandy. I truly believe it's coming down to Nov. 10 in Columbia, against the Ole Ball Coach, for all the marbles in the East. I know Gator fans would be loading up on the Prozac all week, but the prospect of this scenario is too enticing, the potential theater too great. I think it's going to happen and this team will take advantage of its shot to try and repeat as SEC champs. I'm more convinced now, after what happened in Baton Rouge, than I was at this point last week that Florida will make it back to Atlanta."
Adam Gorney: It's simple. Florida has to win its final four conference games and Tennessee has to lose once. OK, that's the nuts and bolts of it but it will be much tougher to accomplish. Games at Kentucky and South Carolina won't be easy for the Gators. Neither will playing Georgia in Jacksonville. Florida should focus on taking care of its own business. Its road is tough enough. I suspect Tennessee will lose at some point. I'm not so sure Florida will win out though.
Guerry Smith: Florida's offense has been good, but it needs to play even better for the Gators to win the East because the defense will be shaky all year. If they get more production from the complementary wide receivers and fewer costly breakdowns in the fourth quarter, they can outscore Kentucky, Georgia and South Carolina.
If the Gators run the table, they will be SEC East champions. Tennessee controls its own destiny, but the Vols still have six conference games left. They are not good enough to go 6-0 unless they get as many breaks as they received in 1998.