Three things the Gators must accomplish against Tennessee-Martin

Florida is playing a "cupcake" game against UT-Martin this Saturday, but they need to treat it as anything but an easy win.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

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The spread for Florida's upcoming matchup against the University of Tennessee-Martin greatly favors the Gators. There's little argument that suggests Florida will play an easier opponent this season, with the FCS-level team traveling to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for Florida's home-opening game.

However, no matter how easy of an opponent UT-Martin appears to be on paper, Florida can't treat this game like a "cupcake" game - as an easy win. 

Given the talent diversity between the two programs, it's fairly obvious that Florida has this game in the bag, but the University of Tennessee was probably thinking the same way before their 38-30 loss to Georgia State of the Sun Belt Conference last Saturday.

As seen in their sloppy, 24-20 victory over Miami on August 24th, the Gators have several areas that need improvement across the board. While UT-Martin is far from a challenge for this squad, they present a perfect opportunity to hone in on fundamentals and executing proper technique in order to sharpen their iron for SEC competition.

Here are three things the Gators must accomplish against the SkyHawks on Saturday as they prepare for tougher competition down the road.

Feleipe Franks must improve consistency

Quarterback Feleipe Franks entered the 2019 season with a lot of questions surrounding his development. Florida sold Franks as a more confident quarterback and leader throughout the offseason, but it was unsure as to where he had grown on the field prior to the Miami game.

The Hurricanes did a good job containing Florida's run game (more on that later), which forced Florida to rely on Franks to move the ball. He paired three total touchdowns and one of the most clutch throws of his career - a 65-yard toss to slot receiver Josh Hammond on the game-winning drive - with two interceptions, a botched run-pass option pull that ended in a fumble, and accuracy/placement issues.

Being the first game of the season against a tough defense, there shouldn't have been an expectation for perfect play from Franks. However, with the rust shaken off now, Franks needs to come out firing against U-T Martin. His decision making needs to be sharper, and his ball placement should improve drastically against a weaker coverage unit.

Should Franks turn in such a performance against UT-Martin, he should be able to carry some momentum into the beginning of Florida's SEC slate of games.

Run game needs to find its 2018 groove

52 rushing yards is not a recipe for success in Dan Mullen's offense - an offense that ran the ball on nearly 60% of its plays last season.

Lamical Perine unsurprisingly led the team with 42 yards on 10 carries, but even his performance felt underwhelming. Change-of-pace backs Malik Davis and Dameon Pierce combined for -7 yards on six attempts, and Franks added eight yards as well as the only rushing touchdown for Florida during the entire game.

Mullen's offense is known as a "smashmouth-spread", with enough varying skill players to force defenses to respect both the run and the pass at all times. But in order for the offense to operate, the run game needs to constantly flow in order to open things up for the passing game. 

Florida averaged 213 rushing yards per game in 2018. UT-Martin gives Perine, Davis, and Pierce a chance to get back into 2018's running game flow.

Angling and tackling must be fixed

Yikes... While Florida did a great job rushing the passer and in coverage against Miami, tackling was a major issue across the board.

The safeties, specifically Jeawon Taylor, struggling with angling properly in pursuit of outside ball carriers and finishing tackles. All three cornerbacks - C.J. Henderson, Marco Wilson, and Trey Dean III - had issues getting off blocks and wrapping up tackles, which allowed Miami to turn short gains into chunk plays. 

These issues really stand out on tape, but they're fixable. A two-week stretch consisting of a bye and a home game against UT-Martin gives Florida plenty of time to focus on their tackling fundamentals, in order to clean up tackling heading into the tougher aspect of the schedule.