I coulda been a Rain-bow Warria!

Okay, I am back by popular (or at least some) demand, but I'll to try to be more concise. Anyway I had great seats - 45 yard line 24 rows in. Naturally I get the great seats for a subpar game. We kicked the (formerly Rainbow) Warriors asses, just as we were expected to. It's tough to draw a lot of conclusions about this team from playing a such a patsy.

QB: The Savior is better. He still is more great athlete than great quarterback, but a couple of times I was pleased to see him scrambling with his head up and flip the ball to someone who had come open as the defense broke down. He still does not have great pocket presence - for a guy who is such a good runner, he is surprising poor at realizing when the play has broken down and he should take off. He was hit from behind and fumbled when he was half running while deciding what he should do (he was lucky the ball bounced right back too him). Meyer called his number a lot less - and he found more yards than usual, not really a shock you can catch the defense by surprise when you don't run Tebow into the line 20 times a game. Two backups played: John Brantley (#12) and Cameron Newton (#13). Brantley, a redshirt freshman, is supposedly the better passer, but has been hurt a bunch. Newton, a true sophomore, seen as is the runner. I can't say much because they barely did anything other than hand off - and the platooned, so either hand a chance to get any rhythm. Newton is significantly bigger (bulkier) than last ear, so it is nice not to see such a gangly guy out there - but I don't know if he still has hat awkward throwing motion.
GRADE A- (Almost gave an incomplete because we barely passed - 17 total passes attempted).

RB: Wow, for the first time since C4 left for the draft there are some real threats in the backfield. Of the three big new names Chris Rainey (3) looked the best as he showed shiftiness and some ability to break tackles to go with his already famous speed. Equally speedy Jeff Demps (2) also looked good running the ball – and he showed some toughness taking on two blockers while covering a kickoff (of course he got knocked down too…). Much hyped USC transfer Emmanuel Moody (21) showed nothing, but reportedly had an injured ankle. Rainey and Demps made last year’s leading runner, Kestahn Moore (33) look superfluous. And it is not just me saying that, Meyer has had him lineup at fullback occasionally in practice. This may also be because we don’t have a fullback (need to recruit one there Urban). KR Brandon James (25) surprisingly got some carries early. Mon Williams (27) briefly stepped on the field – if he is back from his knee injury, he might be able to provide some power.
GRADE: A (There are no A+’s awarded again Hawaii).

WR: Seeing them play without the injured Percy Harvin (1) really made it clear how special he is. We just don’t have anyone else who compares. Of course when we throw so little it is tough to tell. Louis Murphy (9) had two catches, one more than any other WR – which is about right, because he is probably the best after Harvin. Props to Riley Cooper (11 – formerly 86) for blocking down field. I saw the hype Juco WR Carl Moore (16) on the field, but he was quiet. Probably the best looking WR was freshman Deonte Thompson (6). He only had one catch, but on the deep bomb Tebow threw to the TE on broken play he was wide open even further downfield and was running towards the sideline to help the QB out. He also used the sideline well on another play, but could not get the ball.
GRADE: Incomplete.

TE: We had a Tater Salad (#84 in your program, #1 in your heart) sighting! Actually the redshirt senior (who successfully appealed for one more year of eligibility) was the starting TE and played quite a bit. With superstar Cornelius Ingram (7) out for the year and promising youngster Aaron Hernandez (81) not playing for reason Meyer refused to share, Tater Salad was the guy. He blocked well – even lining up in the backfield to replace our nonexistent fullback, and caught a deep pass on the sideline when he broke free as Tebow was running for his life. He played about as well as I have ever seen him.
GRADE: A (good for him).

OL: They opened running lanes well, but Tebow was pressured a fair amount (actually a lot for how little we passed). We started with the Pouncey twins (Mike is back from emergency DT duty last year) and Jim Tartt (63) inside. The talented, but fragile Tartt got hurt (he already was dinged and getting some practices off) and Carl Johnson (57) replaced him (I think Marcus Gilbert (76) also got on the field) because Maurice Hurt 74 – potentially a starter – was out. Phil Trautwein (75) and Jason Watkins (77) played at tackle. Trautwein is the big name, but I’ve seen him get pushed around a lot more than I have seen him push others – Watkins played well when Trautwein went down last year.
GRADE: B- (really - it was Hawaii, they should not have gotten pressure).

DL: The lack of passrush was a deadly last year and I have been saying all summer we don’t have one. Meyer hyped Carlos Dunlap (8), but I never bought into it. I was right – his one contribution was getting a false start penalty (on us for invading the neutral zone) – the same went for also overhyped (by others, not Meyer) DE Jermaine Cunningham (49). But there is good news: oddly our starting lineup included a third DE Lawrence Marsh (90) who I was unfamiliar with (internet says he is a soph) – he actually played DT. He is a tall guy, but not very big (internet says he is 6’5” 305lbs, but he looks maybe 280) – which you could say about our whole DL. But Marsh is good. Note: I’m not saying he’s not bad, he looked GOOD. He had the best game for a Florida defensive lineman in the last two years. He got penetration several times and was in the QBs face (had at least 1.5 sacks). On the first his inexperienced showed because he got through the line and then chased a RB for a step before turning around to collect the helpless QB. Our last starter Terron Sanders (92) had a wide body, but did not go much (and Hawaii found running room inside early). Freshman DT Omar Hunter (99) looked big, but did nothing. Sophomore DE Justin Trattou (94) showed a few flashes, which he did early last year too before disappearing. Freshman DT Matt Patchan (71) played some, but his biggest impact was a personal foul. Sophomore DE Duke Lemmens (44), who I remember seeing a little last year, made some smart plays snuffing out shovel passes – heads up plays have been rare on the DL lately. Overall this unit doesn’t look good, and I think passrush will be tough to come by against a better teams, but at least we have one bona fide quality guy in Marsh. And we shut down their run after a while – although running QBs may give us trouble.
GRADE: B

LB: Our best defender last year, MLB Brandon Spikes (51), was hurt so Ryan Stamper (41) started in the middle. I noticed him last year and thought he should have played more – a feeling reinforced by his steady play Saturday. He was constantly in good position: on a young defense that is a valuable skill. When Spikes comes back I think Stamper should stay in the starting lineup. The OLBs are A.J. Jones (16), who is undersized, but good in coverage (to the point I half expected Meyer to try him a safety last year). When Hawaii went three-wide we stayed in the 4-3 and just moved Jones out. Given the questionable nature of our secondary it might be wiser to bench Dustin Doe (32) for Stamper. Doe is a hyped guy, but I hardly ever seen him do much of anything (to be fair he did have one play on Saturday, getting behind the blocking and dragging down a WR on a bubble screen).
GRADE: B

DB: Easily the most improved defender from last year was CB Joe Haden (5 – formerly 12). He was our best corner last year, but was all over the place Saturday. In part that was because we threw out a bunch of corner blitzes – which usually involved Haden. Those might be dangerous to use as much as we did against better competition. Wondy Pierre-Louis (4) continues to start on the other side – which appalls me. Isn’t Markihe Anderson (14) healthy by now? He was on special teams. Wondy’s most noticeable play was a missed tackle. At safety converted corner Ahmad Black (35) started next to the hard hitting (but often missing tackles – at least last year) Major Wright (21) both had picks for TDs, but both were on bad throws not great defensive plays. Black especially is a fan favorite right now, but our secondary is still a concern. Make no mistake about it, we benefited from them searching for a new starting QB. Our first pick (when the game was still 0-0) by Black was an overthrow to a wide open receiver, which would have been 6 had the pass been good. Final note: freshman CB Janoris Jenkins (29) got some playing time.
GRADE: A-

ST: Brandon James remains lethal – but I don’t like that everyone is calling him “BJ” (initials are not a nickname – and certainly not those initials). On that punt returned he displayed an ability to stop and change direction so quickly there is almost no way a single tackler can keep up. I also liked the balls our punter Chaz Henry (17) showed on running the fake – that was not a called play. Just don’t do that against LSU. We also blocked a field goal (play was redone due to an unrelated penalty).
GRADE: A

Coaching: Not much to say here, Hawaii is not much of a test. I did like the defensive adjustments – early on the Warriors found some yards running and with shovel pass (ah…shades of Meyer’s first season), but the DL adjusted and that stopped.
GRADE: Incomplete

Football 101: Most of the time defenses send their defensive linemen to try to sack the opposing QB. Sometimes they will send extra players – linebackers or defensive backs: this is called a “blitz.” When extra guys rush the passer there are often more than the offense has blockers (at least on one side of the field), so the QB is sacked or has to hurriedly throw the ball away. Hopefully this is a surprise to the offense – defenses will blitz inexperienced QBs more, because they are more likely to be caught by surprise (and/or make a bad play under pressure). The danger is with more guys rushing there are less defending receivers and the offense can hit a big play (usually just one defender is covering a receiver, so he has to be perfect) – especially if they defense can’t get to the QB quickly enough. Offenses have special plays (“hot reads”) if they suspect a blitz is coming. Thus blitzes can be very effective if used judiciously, but too many can end up costing a defense big plays. Ideally your defensive linemen will get enough pressure on the QB on their own (that’s not happening in Gainesville this year – but it did against OSU), but if you can’t the blitz become crucial.

Fans: It was a hot day at first, but we were fairly loud. Once the ass-kicking seriously got going our cheering became rather pro forma. A few drunks were angry we could not keep a shutout (it was weak that they kicked a fieldgoal down 56-0).
GRADE B+ (we’ll call that a warmup game).

Play of the game: Brady’s punt return – it really was beautiful.

Player of the game: Joe Haden

Bottom line: Last year against Western Kentucky we blew them out, but I saw some holes in our defense – which time eventually proved I was right about [SIDE NOTE: I was right about former Gator WR Chad Jackson in the NFL too – the Pats just cut him after two unproductive years despite spending a second round pick on him. This is why I am the one spreading knowledge] despite naysayers. I feel the same way now. Plus our offense only scored 5 TDs against a weak opponent (and none for the first 18:00 minutes).