The Back Alley Archives

Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio looks at the box scores and sees imbalance. He’s the first to tell you that 50-50 is the way to go when it comes to running and passing the football. He also understands that you do whatever it takes to win and sometimes balance isn’t possible.

Florida fans still remember those Steve Spurrier start throwing when you get off the bus offenses of the 1990s and it’s still a little difficult to accept a run-based offense but that’s what the Gators are winning with in 2009. Most recently at lSU, the Gators won an SEC game on the road against the #4 ranked team in the natio with ball control and clock management. Florida got 193 of its 327 yards on the ground and held the ball for 36:30, which helped the defense stay fresh and explosive. Florida held LSU to only 162 total yards, only 44 after the half and the Tigers never crossed midfield in the second half.

Addazio looks at the box score and first off, sees the final score --- Florida 13, LSU 3. Then he sees the 134 passing yards.

“You’re always striving for balance,” Addazio said. “There’s not a coach that wouldn’t say you want to get balanced, but the number one thing you want to do is win. That’s number one. Every situation is different. We went into that game and consciously managed that game for a host of reasons. We’re going to keep doing that. But ultimately, it’s real nice to be 5-0.”

Addazio says he isn’t worried about the Florida passing game, citing that the Gators currently rank as the top team in the conference in third down conversions. The Gators are 34-61 on third downs, which is 55.7 percent. They’re the only team in the SEC converting more than 50 percent on third down.

The Gators are getting the job done but Addazio recognizes a need to improve the passing game and get some balance. There could come a time this season when the Gators have to throw the ball to win and it’s better to start preparing now for something that could be necessary down the road. Addazio doesn’t know when the Gators will have to win a game throwing the ball but he’s determined that they’ll be ready when the time comes.

One reason the Gators haven’t thrown much is they’ve jumped out in front in three of their five wins and in the other two, they got an early lead and were willing to milk the clock on the ground to ensure an SEC win.

“We’ve got to start chucking the ball around,” Addazio said. “That was not our M.O. in that game [LSU] for a host of reasons, and it wasn’t necessary the game before that when it was 31-0 in the first quarter. Some people ask me questions about it, and I don’t know if you want to have your [rushing and passing] columns read 50-50 or something, but in the grand scheme of things, [being balanced] is our goal. But the number one thing is to win the football game. Your defense is playing their tail off and we almost had double the time of possession. That’s a team win, team ball.”

One reason the Gators constantly win the time of possession and field position battles is quarterback Tim Tebow, who has the ability to keep the chains moving whether it’s in the running game or throwing the football.

Against LSU, Tebow ran for 38 yards and threw for 134. The numbers weren’t spectacular but they represented outstanding game and time management. Considering he was coming off a concussion that kept his playing status in the air until game day last Saturday makes Tebow’s accomplishment all the more amazing, particularly since Tebow wasn’t able to spend as much time watching film or preparing in team meetings as normal.

“He wasn’t able to sit in the meeting,” Addazio said. “You’re talking about one tough cat who did a remarkable job for a guy who wasn’t able to practice much and wasn’t able to meet at all. He didn’t have his normal routine.”

“For us and for you guys too, enjoy it. He’s a remarkable guy.”

Dominating a game with the run wouldn’t be possible without a governing offense line. Addazio spends most of his time at practice coaching the offensive line, so he hasn’t been surprised by their ability to dominate the line of scrimmage.

The only thing that does concern him is the depth. Playing in the SEC is a constant grind that wears down even the healthiest players and shreds the depth of even the deepest teams. Addazio would take as many healthy bodies on the line as he can but right now he’s only got six that he feels confident in putting on the field

“It’s hard to measure the wear and tear,” Addazio said. “That game was very physical football. We don’t have any non-physical ones coming up. What happens is, it’s cumulative. You learn when you come into this conference that you don’t have those five, six or seven (easy games). Here, you better strap it up every week because it’s going to be a physical game.”

When sophomore left tackle Matt Patchan went down for the season last week with a non-contact torn ACL, Maurice Hurt stepped in to be that sixth man that Coach Addazio has learned to trust. Hurt even got the start at right guard on Saturday night in Baton Rouge but he split time with James Wilson.

Addazio can make up for some lack of depth because of the flexibility he has with Maurkice and Mike Pouncey. They can play all five positions on the offensive line. If something were to happen to left tackle Carl Johnson, Addazio wouldn’t hesitate to move Mike Pouncey to left tackle, shift Maurkice to left guard and plug in redshirt freshman Sam Robey, who recently returned from a knee injury, in at center. There is also the possibility of playing the Pouncey Twins at the guards while Robey takes over at center.

Addazio has some young guys ready to step up. Freshmen Jon Halapio and Xavier Nixon are two players Addazio would like to step up as the seventh and eighth linemen. David Young and Nick Alajajian have also made recent pushes in practice.

“We’ve got six guys with experience that I feel we can go win with, and those are the guys who played on Saturday night,” Addazio said. “They played against arguably as tough of a defensive front and they did a heck of a job. We were in there grinding it out.

“You’d like to have eight. That’s the problem to me. The issue is we’re a banged up six. That’s where you worry. You’ve got to get healthy each week. We’ve trying to bring up a few of those freshmen guys. They’re freshmen and they make mistakes, but the reality is, in my mind, they’re going to have to play.”

So we've got....Cooper....Hernandez....and Cooper.....and Cooper....and Hernandez....and....maybe Thompson every now and then...

Speaking of receivers...I saw Dubose on the pre-show or maybe it was post-game say when asked how long his recovery was say "24 months"....what? That sounded odd...Bill and I figured he meant to say "2 to 4 months"?

So we've got....Cooper....Hernandez....and Cooper.....and Cooper....and Hernandez....and....maybe Thompson every now and then...

Yep...it's maddening that our WR corps is so paper thin.

but they aren't. I think we have some quality guys that I don't see getting on the field. Maybe they aren't getting it done in practice.

Looking at the roster...I see (excluding the injured guys) Alli, Lawrence, Cooper, Williams, Thompson, Hines, Hammond, and Nelson. Alli, Lawrence, Hines, and Hammond are all pretty young...don't see them being totally capable of playing at a high enough level at this point...That leaves us Cooper, Williams, Thompson, Nelson who should be able to play at a high enough level...that seems thin to me.

Who are you counting in the group of quality guys who aren't seeing PT?

It doesn't help that Tebow throw's an awful ball. It's a floating, wobbling duck anything over 15 yards.

^^^ Maybe, but Florida's had a number of excellent QBs who didn't exactly throw on a rope. Danny Wuerffel springs to mind.

I can't tell if our passing inadequacy is due to receivers who can't get open or Tebow not making the right reads quickly enough or play selection.

^^^So hard to know the answer to that question watching on TV. You don't get the benefit of seeing the whole play develop and who is open etc.

I can't tell if our passing inadequacy is due to receivers who can't get open or Tebow not making the right reads quickly enough or play selection.

Tebow won't look at anyone other than Cooper and Hernandez.

I agree w/ Doc that the wobbly throw has little to nothing to do with any of this. The guy has proven he can the ball deep...wobbly or not.

I think Lawrence, Hines, and Hammond can play at the right level. I think they are better than Nelson, who IMO, plays lazy. Last to the LOS. Never seems to hustle.

Wuerfel had touch and timing at least. If you don't think a wobbly ball has nothing to do it your crazy. Its like trying to catch a knuckle ball. Did anyone see the last pass that Cooper had to play defense on. That pass was a wreck. It was late, end over end and horrible. I hate to say it but it seems Tim has regressed as a passer under this new QB coach. Also doesn't help that he does stare down Hernandez and Cooper. The deep ball is a joke also. He has under thrown a ton of balls this year. At least 3 in the Charleston Southern game we went to.

I wouldn't say that was end-over-end joe. Wobbly as it was, it was a typical tebow toss

I've been saying it for the last 2-3 years that murph, bubba, harvin, dallas, and coop were making tebow look REAL good. Lesser WRs wouldve made tebow look bad.

Then again, the reason why we're so successful is because of tebows legs....not his arm.

Well, I've seen a couple of balls thrown perfectly (wobbly but right where they should be) to Cooper that he just plain dropped. Everyone also forgets that he set all kinds of records throwing the ball in HS too. But overall, I just think he's just a FOOTBALL player and a competitor which makes him so fun to watch.

I think Tebow can kiss the Heisman goodbye with that performance last night. I think he is kind of miffed at Steve Addazio and his horrible offense.

Agree 100% Todd.

i don't know that tebow has had his eyes on the heisman...obviously don't know that for sure but it's just that he doesn't strike me to be that kind of player...as for addazio's offense, i just don't think they're making the adjustments necessary to match what their opponents are showing them...it's obvious that these types of coaching responsibilities are not needed when playing the likes of charleston southern or troy...i hope that the staff are preparing for their opponents on a week-to-week as opposed to preparing our boys on execution of plays in the book...i'm sure there's a good mix of both from monday-friday but i'm hoping it's slanted towards preparing for opponent specific plays as opposed to perfecting execution of the normal playbook.

saw a lot less of the between-the-tackle dive...saw a lot less of that hernandez forward pitch...saw a lot less of that bullshit "look to the sideline before the snap" that takes the offense out of their rhythm...i DID like that one play where tebow played under center and in the I-formation that netted a TD...kinda surprised the defense.

as for addazio's oline play, i thought they were super once again...offense seemed to favor the left side of the oline and had much success there...mike pouncey finished ALL his blocks and looked terrific.