Orange and Blue Debut '11: Conservative look at the 2011 Gators

[Escambia94]

Highlights
10 Tyler Murphy (Wethersfield, Conn.) went 7-for-11 for 68 yards with a long of 22 yards to lead all passers. Murphy connected on a 10-yard pass to sophomore running back 37 Ben Sams (St. Petersburg, Fla.) for the game’s first touchdown and put the Orange team up, 10-6.

Sophomore running back (originally defensive back) 20 Malcolm Jones(Fleming Island, Fla.) led the Gators in rushing with 13 carries for 68 yards.

Sophomore quarterback 17 Christian Provancha (Cocoa, Fla.) threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver 7 Robert Clark (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.). The 7-play, 72-yard drive was the longest drive of the game.

To open the third quarter, freshman quarterback 16 Jeff Driskel (Oviedo, Fla.) led the Blue team down the field setting up a 33-yard field goal by 19 Caleb Sturgis (St. Augustine, Fla.) to put the Blue team back in the lead, 6-3. Driskel shows great lateral movement and great zip on short to medium passes. He needs to work on the deep ball. Perhaps he is too strong.

Read my play-by-play notes:

My notes on the Orange and Blue Debut '11

 

[robdog]

Nice work on the play-by-play notes btw!

 

[Escambia94]

Nice work on the play-by-play notes btw!

Thanks! I am torn between believing that Coach Muschamp purposely restrained the offense and defense from showing off too much, or that the offense is that far behind the defense in terms of execution. I did not expect the offense to light up the scoreboards in a scrimmage game, but I did expect to see a different Brantley. The success or failure of the Gators depends highly on John Walter Brantley IV, and I did not gain any confidence after that scrimmage. I watched the Texas, LSU, South Carolina, and Oregon spring games and compared to Florida's. Florida absolutely raised the most red flags with its offensive performance, unless you want to spin that as being a shutdown performance by the defense.

All I really wanted to see was whether the 1st string outperformed the 2nd string. They did not. Either the 1st string is not that good, or the open competition is still not settled. The 2nd string showed that they were hungrier than 1st string. Either the Gators still have prima donnas with a sense of entitlement on 1st string, or the 2nd string is going to take some jobs during summer practice. Given the limited insight we get into the Gators, I see a lot of reasons to temper expectations for the 2011 offense, and a lot of reasons to root for the defense and no-name players (such as walk-on DB/RB Malcolm Jones, mystery QB Tyler Murphy, and WR Stephen Alli).

 

[DRU2012]

Let's just HOPE it was "just a scrimmage", NOT a preview of the season...of course, with all the missing bodies that's all is could really be, for the most part, but where it might have been more, it was mostly, well, I don't want to be TOO negative at this early juncture, but (as I've noted in detail elsewhere) it wasn't really encouraging as far as #12 was concerned.
Still, even minus most of the O-line and RB's, Rainey showed some flashes of what the coaches have been glowing about all Spring. We've got some good young receivers, so with the rest of our RB's and a healthy O-line I think Weis will eventually oversee a fairly potent offense--when and HOW potent will depend upon what happens at QB.
Meanwhile, even this early and missing some parts there as well the Defense showed the foundation of what will be our bedrock strength , especially in the early going while our Offense (hopefully) rounds into form.
We need to be careful at this point, neither getting too high or low based on the the little we've actually seen so far--and certainly not on what fans, pundits and/or media people are telling us. I've seen detailed game-by-game breakdowns that have us playing in Atlanta for a place in the BCS-title game. Truth is, we don't know enough to make that kind of projection--and to start from that point of expectation now leaves you nowhere to go but down: it sets us up for disappointment.
I don't think this will be your average "transitional year"--too much talent, on the field and stalking the sidelines, to come into the season without a certain amount of excitement, hope and optimism, but there's still a lot to be seen and settled (and no doubt some surprises, good and bad, thrown our way) before we'll see what this team is really capable of this season.
I expect it to be a bit of a wild rollercoaster ride, up and down with a lot of twists and turns. It should come out well--HOW well is still impossible to foresee--but we'll be really good by the end of the 2011 season, I think, and though a BCS Championship may not be there for us at the end THIS year, we should enjoy that ride, and know that that National Championship IS in our future, one way or another not far at all.

 

[Escambia94]

I tried to analyze the play-by-play within the constraints of a beat up o-line, new play book, vanilla offense/defense, and RB corps injuries. Knowing all that, I am still concerned. In the spread or the pro-style, Brantley still acts like a third string QB--staring down the receiver, fluttering the deep ball, not stepping up or sliding sideways into the passing lanes, and letting the defense bat the ball back. The success of the 2011 Gators depends on John Walter Brantley IV figuring out how to fix those issues, and do it without the protective, red jersey. I am worried, because I did not see any glimmer of change in JB4 from last year. None. I want to believe in JB4 more than I ever believed in Santa Claus, but it ain't (sic) happening! I will say that the Tyler Murphy I saw is what I wanted to see from Brantley. I also wanted to see the power-I, but I understand we lacked healthy players for that. I wanted to see intricate pro-style receiver routes, but I barely saw a difference from the spread. I am already worried for the 2011 season.

 

[DRU2012]

OK, E-, I've kind of "talked around" my deepest concerns, and mostly "pulled my punches" even when I was more to the point, but given your open assessment, I can do no less:
Brantley shows every sign now of being a complete bust.
I too have analyzed his and the offense's performance, while trying to keep all of the conditions and constraints in mind: that and an effort to understand the coaches' position, see things from their POV, has led me to believe that the reason he is still the titular "senior starting quarterback" is that first, there's no one else READY to step into that role yet, and second, if and when they DO move to replace him, that'll be it--they only have this one last chance with him (given how shaky his confidence is as a team leader now, he'd then be essentially 3rd string, or worse). So they put the best face they can on things for now, knowing they've got some time yet, time for Brantley to get it together, AND time for the young talent to get better, learn the system, and perhaps one of them to step up and seize the role. As I've suggested elsewhere, right now this approach gives Coaches Muschamp and Weis the most hope and flexibility.

 

[Escambia94]

OK, E-, I've kind of "talked around" my deepest concerns, and mostly "pulled my punches" even when I was more to the point, but given your open assessment, I can do no less:
Brantley shows every sign now of being a complete bust.
I too have analyzed his and the offense's performance, while trying to keep all of the conditions and constraints in mind: that and an effort to understand the coaches' position, see things from their POV, has led me to believe that the reason he is still the titular "senior starting quarterback" is that first, there's no one else READY to step into that role yet, and second, if and when they DO move to replace him, that'll be it--they only have this one last chance with him (given how shaky his confidence is as a team leader now, he'd then be essentially 3rd string, or worse). So they put the best face they can on things for now, knowing they've got some time yet, time for Brantley to get it together, AND time for the young talent to get better, learn the system, and perhaps one of them to step up and seize the role. As I've suggested elsewhere, right now this approach gives Coaches Muschamp and Weis the most hope and flexibility.

I am trying so hard to be a good football fan and just shut up and enjoy the beginning of the Muschamp era. Alas, watching John Walter Brantley IV gives me fits! Somebody fix that kid before he jacks up the team. Is anybody else ready? No. Then again, I see no signs that Brantley is ready. My suggestion is to have all the QBs duke it out inside a steel cage.

On defense, I cannot wait to watch this beast tear up the SEC.

 

[totenkopf13]

I agree. I was very dissapointed w/ Brantley's Spring Fest' outing. I understand the injury situations w/ the O line & the defense looking to get "out of the gate" on a good note w/ Muschomp, but damn, I couldn't help but having a sinking feeling from an offensive perspective with Brantley being the "spark."

1st post. Lurked via Taptalk for some time.

 

[Escambia94]

I agree. I was very dissapointed w/ Brantley's Spring Fest' outing. I understand the injury situations w/ the O line & the defense looking to get "out of the gate" on a good note w/ Muschomp, but damn, I couldn't help but having a sinking feeling from an offensive perspective with Brantley being the "spark."

1st post. Lurked via Taptalk for some time.

It is getting tiring to blame everyone else but the QB for QB mistakes. If Brantley had not stared down the left sideline the entire 3 seconds, maybe Dunbar would have reeled in that first pass of the day. If Brantley actually did the play-action part of the play-action pass, maybe the DB would have given Dunbar an extra yard or two of cushion to make that catch. If Brantley had stepped left, right, or backward, maybe he would not have two passes batted back at him.

 

[DRU2012]

We've been hearing the same kinds of explanations (let's face it: excuses) since Brantley stepped into the starters role last year (and trying to rationalize it ourselves): meanwhile, we're STILL waiting for him to "overcome", to "outshine" the weaknesses, mistakes and injuries JUST ONCE, for merely a PORTION of a game--you know, "be the man". That's what bigtime QB's do. Ergo, #12 is NOT a "bigtime QB" (as if anyone needed THAT little piece of logic-chain).
Again, put in stark terms, here's the scary part: Once again we're being asked to "have faith" in this guy based not on what we've seen with our own "lying eyes", but on what the coaches are TELLING everyone is the case when none of us are around.Even if it's completely true, SO WHAT? That's pretty well the verdict on this kid already, settled long before last season was over--that he's a "practice stud", and can't reproduce ANY of it when it counts...why did he bomb THIS time in the Orange and Blue? 'Cause for him it DID count this time, and he KNEW it, felt it through and through.
I stick with my above comments on where I think the coaches are at with this question, and my overall faith in them...this is NOT any kind of repeat of 2010, not with Weis in charge of the "O" and Muschamp in charge overall. If I were them, though, I'd see this latest performance, or lack thereof, as a kind of final warning: start arranging your hierarchy of "Plan B"s, and be ready to make a viable change as early as possible in the Fall, "just in case".

 

[robdog]

I agree. I was very dissapointed w/ Brantley's Spring Fest' outing. I understand the injury situations w/ the O line & the defense looking to get "out of the gate" on a good note w/ Muschomp, but damn, I couldn't help but having a sinking feeling from an offensive perspective with Brantley being the "spark."

1st post. Lurked via Taptalk for some time.

Glad to see you finally jumped in! Welcome to the forum.

BTW how does this site look on TapaTalk now that we are on the new platform?

 

[DRU2012]

I just want to say this:
If it seems that we're spending a lot of time and effort discussing this one topic, ie. John Brantley IV and his (lack of) progress at the QB-position, it is because that position is so critical to our short, medium and long-term success--and let's face it, we have high expectations there: fair or not, not only have high standards long been set at QB here at UF, but JB looks to be "sandwiched" timewise between one of college football's all-time greats, AND a bevy of talented newcomers, including TWO much-hyped incoming freshmen.
Menawhile, there aren't that many other things to focus on right now...while there ARE some problems elsewhere--we're thin on both line and at RB, for eg.--they're things that are mainly beyond anyone's control right now. Injuries must heal, freshmen must get here and either get up-to-speed or redshirt, guys will come in as they finish up their seasons at other sports, others need to get their grades up, and so on (not to mention the needs for the next recruiting class--Coach M's all-important 1st full one).
These are all reasons, in addition to the normal ones, that John Brantley and the QB-drama is in the brightest of spotlights now.
The other stuff is mostly a matter of time, for now--we'll be better able to examine and discuss it all come the summer.
Meanwhile, THIS--as important as it is--is staring us in the face.

 

[DRU2012]

From the "Spoke Too Soon"-Dept.:
No sooner do I post the above comment than down the pike comes the news that two formerly highly-sought-after recruits from last year at WR have announced they're moving on...
Chris Dunckley and Tavares McRoy are both transferring, albeit each for different reasons, it turns out. McRoy says he just wants to join his brother at Texas Tech, while it's a bit cloudier in Dunckley's case: he DID have some off-the-field issues over the past few months and was recently (according to Coach Muschamp himself) "suspended for academic reasons".
Wide receiver was an apparent position of need last season, and we've been waiting, COUNTING on some of the talented young recruits to round into form and begin realizing their supposed potential. I'm not sure to what degree the coaching staff was still counting on either of these two (McRoy seemed to get a bit "lost in the crowd" at WR, and Dunckley may have begun to wear out his welcome with his off-field problems), but there was talent there in both cases, and now expectation and responsibility has fallen on fewer shoulders. Let's hope our future downfield success really is there among the promising young men--recruits, redshirts and upperclassmen--whom are left.

 

[Escambia94]

No biggie. Both were alright kids with injuries or academics being the only dark mark. I wish them both well, until they are Gator Bait.

 

[DRU2012]

Yes, it looks like we're going to be fine at WR this year after all...still, I remember all the recruiting hype about Dunckley, also his flip-flopping on his commitment there at the end--I remember even commenting on it and wondering aloud whether this wasn't a sign of possible problems "up the road"...maybe I gotta remember to take my own "passing thoughts" more seriously in the future!
(In the meantime, I probably should be careful I don't strain a muscle patting myself on the back)