Dooley Grades The Gators: Debacle at Swamp
Pat Dooley from The Tailgate Show on WRUF brings you the second chapter of Grading the Gators after Saturday night’s deflating 18-16 loss to unranked South Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium:
OFFENSE F
FIRST HALF: The good news was that Florida (1-1) scored on every possession. The bad news was that they only had three in the half. Also, on the bad news front — Florida had two TDs called back because of penalties and had to settle for three field goals.
SECOND HALF: Florida’s only touchdown of the game came on a 20-yard drive. The play-calling is going to get a lot of people really fired up and not in a good way. Especially the first-down pass late when all you needed was a couple of first downs.
FOR THE GAME: All of this talent is wasted on a coaching staff that can’t seem to get out of its own way. After no penalties last week, the Gators were a mess on a steamy Saturday night.
DEFENSE D-
FIRST HALF: The Gators also had issues on that side of the ball with penalties (count to 11 much guys?) Florida couldn’t get off the field quickly enough in the half and allowed USF (2-0) to eat up the clock and keep Florida possessions to a minimum.
SECOND HALF: The one touchdown USF scored came on a bad reaction play in the secondary and allowed the Bulls to believe. And then to allow the opponent to drive 87 yards for the game-winning field goal at the buzzer is just not how elite defenses are built.
FOR THE GAME: Three field goals, a safety and one fluky TD? That would usually be the formula for a win. Instead, Florida’s inability to get a turnover and get off the field was a problem all game. The Gators were so concerned about quarterback Byrum Brown running the ball they had very little pass rush.
SPECIAL TEAMS B
FIRST HALF: Trey Smack appeared to find his rhythm after three misses last week. The special teams did very little else as Vernell Brown III fair-caught all of the punts that came his way.
SECOND HALF: Oh boy. Rocco Underwood is usually money but the snap that sailed over punter Tommy Dorman’s head cost Florida two points and field position. Brown’s 40-yard punt return was a thing of beauty.
FOR THE GAME: Special teams were not the problem. Or were they? Florida lost by two, which is how many points USF scored on the bad snap. Dorman actually had a good performance with a 46.8-yard average.
OVERALL F is for flop
Playoffs? Playoffs? Look, I know South Florida is way better than we thought. But Vegas also thought Florida would roll. You lose again in September, this time as an 18.5-point home favorite, and there is going to be a lot of noise in the system. This doesn’t look like a team that can go into Baton Rouge or Miami Gardens and win. The schedule got more difficult, because of what Florida is now, not what it was last November.
WRUF.com sports columnist Pat Dooley can be heard on “The Tailgate” along with Jeff Cardozo from 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday on 98.1-FM/AM-850 WRUF.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gators Football, Pat Dooley
