Four Things Learned From Florida's Loss to Utah
Photo: Florida quarterback Graham Mertz; Credit: Zach Goodall
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Understandably, Florida fans want to put the Gators' Week 1, 24-11 defeat at Utah behind them, to forget about the loss and move on.
But before doing so, it is important to analyze UF's first showing of Billy Napier's second season as head coach in order to learn what the 2023 squad might be capable of. Or incapable of, for that matter.
Of course, Florida will have 11, perhaps 12, opportunities to display significant growth moving forward, but Week 1 undeniably set a low bar pertaining to what might be showcased over the rest of the year.
With that in mind, below are four things All Gators learned from Florida's debut performance of the 2023 campaign.
Florida's offense, currently, is as predicted: Not built to come back from behind
As All Gators and, frankly, most media outlets predicted over the course of the offseason, Napier is leaning into a ground-and-pound offensive attack this season with a game-managing style of quarterback in Graham Mertz.
Gone are the days of last year when an explosive play seemed possible at any time with Anthony Richardson at the helm, whether it be through the air or on the ground. Instead, Florida intends to be methodical with the ball by controlling the clock with its running backs toting the rock the majority of the time, with the passing game serving as a supplement to the rushing attack.
But when Utah scored on its opening offensive play and built a double-digit lead halfway through the second quarter, Florida was forced to abandon the run, and rather, ask Mertz to lead a comeback. Despite his 330 passing yards and 70% completion percentage, he and the Gators' offense were unable to do so.
Beyond what could be considered inflated stats for Mertz given the situation, Florida was an abysmal 3-of-18 on third and fourth-down conversion attempts combined, including a 1-of-13 mark on third down. The Gators were also one-of-three in the redzone, scoring one field goal when there were three touchdown chances in that area.
UF's only touchdown of the game was scored with 9:22 left to play, concluding a drive that summed Napier's approach to calling the offense up to a T: Florida burned six minutes and 54 seconds to run a 13-play, 98-yard drive while down 21 points in crunch time.
Whether it is due to Mertz's inability to take over a game as often displayed throughout his college career, Napier's noted deployment of an outdated scheme, Florida's offensive line regressing significantly from last year, or another factor, the unit is not built to come back from behind in its current form. It was capable of doing so with a historically athletic quarterback in 2022, albeit not consistently.
Perhaps things will change in the weeks to come, but Week 1 didn't offer much hope in that respect.
The Gators' defensive line, edge rush depth appear greatly improved
A 70-yard touchdown on Utah's first play from scrimmage accounted for over 25% of the Utes' offensive output on Thursday night.
After that, while the unit certainly wasn't perfect, Florida's defense stepped up to limit Utah's offense to 17 points and 200 yards over the final 58 minutes of the game.
Florida's defensive line and edge rusher rotation is a big reason why the defense, as a whole, looked better as the game went on.
The front was not dependent on any one player like it was Gervon Dexter last season, and with the ability to keep players fresh — even at 4,700 feet above sea level — the line was able to stifle Utah's rushing attack, allowing just 3.5 yards per carry over 30 attempts.
The pass rush was dinged for not posting a sack, a reasonable concern, but it was effective in applying pressure as the game went on, reducing the potency of Utah's air attack after the first play. Pro Football Focus credits UF with tallying 18 quarterback pressures, with 10 coming from the trenches and eight from the off-ball linebackers.
Freshman Kelby Collins (three), and junior Princely Umanmielen, redshirt sophomore Tyreak Sapp and redshirt freshman Caleb Banks (two apiece) led the front in generating pressure on the opposing passer. Whereas, Sapp and freshman TJ Searcy each generated two run stops while sophomore linebacker Shemar James took advantage of the line's gap integrity to produce a team-high three stops.
Perhaps most importantly, to return to the point about Dexter, Umanmielen — an edge rusher, a lighter player compared to Florida's interior linemen — led the front with 40 defensive snaps logged. The frequency of the unit's rotation, consisting of 10 contributors across the four positions (not including linebacker Scooby Williams' usage on the edge), prevented any other lineman from reaching 30 snaps in the game.
Florida's special teams might be worse than last year. At least, they're of equal concern
Poor choices to return a kick and two punts, a 31-yard field goal missed wide right by incumbent starter Adam Mihalek, an undermanned field goal block unit taking the field and a pathetic formational penalty made Florida's special teams on Thursday night appear as poor in quality, if not worse, than they were in 2022, when similar issues plagued the third phase of Gators football.
One could argue running back Trevor Etienne redeemed himself on kick returns. An unwise first attempt took a high, deep kick from the endzone out to the 19-yard line, but after waving off a couple of touchbacks to follow the first attempt, his second try went for 28 yards.
But, Florida's punt return unit was disastrous, and that label was best exemplified by two players wearing the same jersey number — receiver Eugene Wilson III and cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. — being on the field on the same punt return. Utah was gifted five yards and a first down as a result of the penalty, and it went on to score a touchdown on the extended drive.
Wilson tried to return two punts within the ten-yard line while Utah's coverage team closed in, once on the penalized play, then after retreating to catch a 61-yard punt. Credited with one return, the second, he averaged negative one yard per attempt.
As if the first procedural special teams snafu wasn't enough, Florida not only had fewer than 11 players on the field for the aforementioned field goal block attempt, it was missing several. Unacceptable as it may be, being without one special teams player on a given unit isn't uncommon. Being without multiple is, and it is disgraceful.
Fortunately for the Gators, the 55-yard attempt was no good.
A year ago, it was easy for onlookers to place blame onto underperforming players for Florida's special teams woes. Without any noticeable improvement in the department, instead a display of the same issues, the fault should now shift entirely to the Gators' special teams coaching approach.
Florida has an off-field analyst overseeing the unit, Chris Couch, meaning his influence in the practice setting is limited in nature. Napier bears responsibility for maintaining such a system following 2022's shortcomings on special teams.
UF beat itself after an offseason dedicated to eliminating such a possibility
Find a more in-depth story about this takeaway here, but arguably the most concerning aspect of Florida's loss was that the team beat itself, badly, despite Napier's stated emphasis on improving the Gators' all-around football fundamentals over the offseason.
Several of Florida's botched conversion down and redzone trips were impacted by procedural penalties, including multiple false starts and illegal formation flags. When the Gators weren't being penalized, they often were simply failing to execute, specifically on offense and on special teams as noted above.
Utah had its way with Florida throughout the first half, but it was clear that the Utes gradually took their foot off the gas as self-inflicted wounds piled up for the Gators during the contest.
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