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Will 2020 Be A Career Year For Gators RB Dameon Pierce?

With Lamical Perine gone to graduation, Florida running back Dameon Pierce will lead the orange and blue backfield in 2020, how will he be?

Graham Marsh

© Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

What's it like to be the man? 

For two years now, Florida running back Dameon Pierce has been in the UF rotation at running back. He played understudy his freshman season to Jordan Scarlett and Lamical Perine, while playing understudy to Perine once more his sophomore season. 

But now, Scarlett is a Carolina Panther and Perine is a New York Jet. And with two seasons of experience in the same system and showing signs of success most of the time he gets the ball, there is no reason he shouldn't take over the Gators' backfield just fine. 

Pierce is closer in running style to Scarlett than Perine. Watch how both bounce off tacklers and keep moving. 

And often in 2019, Pierce seemed to be more effective than Perine. With UF's struggles to run block all season, a guy that slipped out of tackles and kept moving as well as Pierce did catered more to an inexperienced group upfront. 

But as the season wore on, and the offensive line got more push, Pierce was right there to hit the holes created. 

Against Virginia in the Orange Bowl, left guard Richard Gouraige and center Nick Buchanan perfectly execute this counter to open a lane for Pierce. Also watch UVA's middle linebacker right when Pierce takes the ball. Pierce completely fools No. 33 with his misdirection and convinces him to pursue left, leaving the right side wide open. 

Pierce then slips past a falling defender and doesn't get touched for another 20 yards. He fights for another five to get the Gators a huge run in a crucial time of the game. 

But his biggest run of the year was against South Carolina. At a time in the second half where UF was down seven, a big play was needed badly. So, Pierce showed off his special lateral quickness to start, then showed off his open-field speed to finish. 

First-round draft pick Javon Kinlaw, now a member of the San Francisco 49ers, dominates Buchanan on this play. An unbelievable bull rush from an unbelievable talent almost wrecks this play before it starts. 

However, Pierce reacts immediately and side-steps Kinlaw to find a hole. He runs in between an excellent kick-out block from tight end Kyle Pitts and a lead-block from pulling-guard Brett Heggie. Then, 75 yards later, the Gators are celebrating. 

Aside from his fearlessness as a runner, one of his best qualities is his pure strength. His power at his speed is a rare combination at the college level. Typically, one person is not going to bring him down. 

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No. 26 for Tennessee tried, he really did. 

Florida State's defensive line tried, too. 

While Pierce still hasn't accumulated 1,000 yards for his career, that is only due to lack of carries. His freshman season, he averaged 6.1 yards per carry, while his sophomore season he averaged 5.6. 

With his hard-nosed running style, along with a much more experienced offensive line, UF's ground attack in 2020 could return to 2018 form, when the Gators backfield had nearly 3,000 yards on the season. 

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Graham Marsh
GRAHAM MARSH

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