The Florida Gators will kick off SEC conference play this Saturday when they welcome the Kentucky Wildcats to the swamp. The Gators are coming off a marginally impressive 65-0 win over Eastern Michigan and will look to build upon many positives from their opener.
The Gators are coming off a game where they put up 655 total yards of offense and 65 points, both high marks for the Will Muschamp era. It was a welcome sight, coming from a team that averaged just 18.8 points per game a season ago and struggled to even get first downs during their season-ending, seven-game losing streak.
The big offseason addition, new offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, will get his first chance at attacking an SEC defense. The former Duke coordinator was hired in December to bring his high-octane, up-tempo passing attack to Gainesville and help turn around an offense that has struggled during Muschamp’s tenure.
If the first game is any indication, the offense may not struggle for much longer. The Gators threw for 396 yards and rushed for 259 more. Detractors may say it was only Eastern Michigan, but this is a team that lost to Georgia Southern last November- I’m pretty sure they’ll take a lopsided win against anyone. However, Kentucky figures to provide a bit more resistance than the Eastern Michigan Eagles did.
Florida vs Kentucky Week 3 Preview
The Wildcats were just 2-10 in their first season under Mark Stoops, the former University of Arizona head coach and Florida State defensive coordinator, and struggled on both sides of the ball. However, Stoops has brought in several of his own highly-rated recruits and is hoping to make big strides in 2014. He welcomed in a top 25 recruiting class this season and a lot of those talented young players should see plenty of playing time. The influx should help them, specifically on defense.
Kentucky added three 4-star defensive backs this off-season as well as junior college transfer A.J. Stamps at strong safety. They will also benefit from the return of cornerback J.D. Harmon, who missed all of 2013 with an injury. This should greatly improve a secondary that gave up 230 yards passing per game a season ago, ranking 10th in the SEC.
The Wildcats front seven should also continue to improve. The defensive end position was a strength a season ago as Za’Darius Smith and Bud Dupree combined for 13 sacks. They also return both starting outside linebackers but will be looking for people to step up in the middle at the defensive tackle and middle linebacker spots. It will be a work in progress, but they figure to lower the 31.2 points per game they gave up last season.
Between having a year of experience under head coach Mark Stoops, and the influx of new talent, Kentucky should provide the Gators with a much stiffer challenge for the new offense than Eastern Michigan did. The game plan will likely stay pretty basic, with Alabama just a week away, but it will be nice to see how they look against an SEC Eastern division foe.
Jeff Driskel will be looking to build on his opening performance, a 31-for-45 day totaling 248 yards and a touchdown. He still didn’t quite look comfortable calling this offense and I expected them to move faster between snaps. His command of the huddle needs to improve and he needs to be the confident leader who knows the assignment of each and every player. The offense as a whole will look to clean up some of those issues this week, as well as play a bit faster, and Driskel will continue to get comfortable at the position.
Florida showed they have a thunder, lightning, and BOOM combination at running back with Matt Jones, Kelvin Taylor, and Mack Brown. The three-headed monster is a huge advantage for the Gators as they can spell their backs on a consistent basis and keep fresh legs attacking the Kentucky defense. Jones and Taylor each had eight carries, while Brown handled the ball six times. Each should see increased carries in this game. The Wildcat front seven is strong at certain positions, but can still be exposed; they gave up close to 200 yards per game on the ground last year and are on pace for a similar average, having given up 197 a game through two games this season.
The wide receiver position is a work in progress for both team. Quinton Dunbar was the only Gator who came to play in the opener, catching 5 passes for 81 yards. However, he also seemed to be the only target Driskel went to on a consistent basis. Demarcus Robinson had an impressive stat line, with 6 catches for 128 yards and a touchdown. He showed that he is capable of being an electric receiver; however, most of that came late in the contest with backup quarterback Treon Harris in the ballgame. The Gators will need some other options to step up, especially with the loss of tight end Jake McGee for the season. Clay Burton will step into his position, but losing a sure-handed, experienced tight end will hurt the game plans that Roper built in the off-season.
The Gators defense continued to show dominance under Muschamp. What has been the strength of this Florida team during his tenure appears to be even better this year. Dante Fowler, Darious Cummings, Jonathan Bullard, and the rest of the defensive line can be a nightmare for any offense. They get pressure on the quarterback and are effective at stuffing a running game. Kentucky has an experienced offensive line, but they will face one of their toughest challenges this season when they enter the Swamp.
Kentucky features a dual-threat play maker at quarterback in Patrick Towles, for whom the whole Gator defense will have to be prepared. The former 4-star recruit has turned plenty of heads in his first two games, completing 37 of 60 passes for 547 yards and 2 touchdowns, and has also rushed for 89 yards and a score. He has fans in Lexington excited about this team and Towles will give the Gator defense a different look, providing them with good preparation for facing other mobile SEC quarterbacks such as Alabama’s Blake Sims.
The Gators will also look to stuff a Kentucky run game that has their own version of thunder and lightning with Mike Horton and Braylon Heard at running back. Horton has gotten the bulk of the carries, 17 of them for 90 yards and two scores. Braylon Heard has been a very successful substitute, taking his two carries a combined 116 yards and two touchdowns. He missed last week’s game against Ohio but is expected back on Saturday. He is Kentucky’s most electrifying playmaker on offense and the defense will have to have eyes on him at all times. The Gators will have to keep these guys in front of them; if they get into space, they can all-too-easily make a move and take it to the house.
On the outside, a very talented Gator secondary will try and contain Ryan Timmons and Demarco Robinson, the two big targets for Kentucky thus far. The tight ends have only caught five balls for fifty yards, so Florida should be able to key in on the wideouts and try to take away the passing game. Vernon Hargreaves III has separated himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the nation, but freshman Duke Dawson had a good game last week against Eastern Michigan. Dawson returned his first collegiate interception 36 yards for a touchdown, in his very first college game. Muschamp and defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin are very excited about Dawson and fellow freshman Jalen Tabor, so keep an eye on both of them in this contest.
The Gators are still breaking in Frankie Velez at their kicking position, taking over field goal and point after duties from Austin Hardin. Velez nailed all three of his attempts last week. Punter Kyle Christy kicked the ball away three times for a total of 145 yards, 48.3 yards an attempt, including a long of 60 yards. For Kentucky kicker Austin MacGinnis has struggled thus far, converting only 3-of-6 through two games. Veteran punter Landon Foster is very capable of pinning the Gators back inside the 20 and giving them a long field to play with.
Florida has won their previous 27 meetings against Kentucky, including a 24-7 victory in Lexington with their backup quarterback a season ago. The outcome isn’t likely to be in question for very long, but it will be interesting to see how much progress Kentucky has made under Stoops. It will be just as important for the Gators to stay healthy and try to take the next step on offense as they get ready to travel to Alabama the following week. It’s exciting to get SEC conference play started and this should be a fun one.
KEY MATCH-UP: Kentucky offensive line vs. Florida defensive line. If Kentucky can give quarterback Patrick Towles some time in the pocket, open some holes for the running game, and allow time for the receivers to get open, they could give the Gators defense some problems. They will need to play ball control and have long, efficient, and effective drives in order to stay in this game. If the Gators are able to shut down the running game and make Kentucky one-dimensional, they should be able to get pressure and swallow Towles up in the pocket when he’s forced to throw. This will be a big match-up and should tell us early if this one will stay close.
OVERALL ADVANTAGE: GATORS. Kentucky is making great strides and has gotten much more athletic and talented the past two years. They are building it the right way and have taken over Vanderbilt’s role as “scary underrated team that nobody wants to play” in the SEC East. They’re still a couple of years away from contending, so the Gators should still be able to run their streak to 28.
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