The Good, the Great, and the Ugly from the Florida Gators vs. Arkansas
Florida’s run game re-emerged? Trask for Heisman? Is the defense still a liability?
In the midst of all the chaos this week in the SEC, Florida and Arkansas squared off in the Swamp a week after the Gators' emotional victory over the Georgia Bulldogs.
In a 63-35 beat down, the Gators did a lot of things well, but a concern for the future darkened the post-game atmosphere. As a result, this week’s the good, the bad, and the ugly has taken another twist.
So without further adieu, the good, the great, and the ugly.
Good: Balanced play calling results in statement game offensively
Despite being equipped with arguably the best offensive unit in all of college football in 2020, the major question surrounding Florida was: Can they get the job done rushing the football?
To this point in the year, the Gators' play-calling had been heavily skewed in favor of the passing game due to the plethora of receiving weapons the unit contains.
However, as of Saturday, the questions surrounding rushing the football were put to rest.
Toting the rock a total of 45 times in their 63-35 domination of the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Gators balanced the play-calling out more than any other point in the season in the absence of their star tight end.
With the run-pass split seven plays in favor of the run game, Florida totaled 208 yards on the ground—their highest total of the season—and used this newfound balance to methodically make their way down the field for nine touchdowns drives on the night.
Splitting the carrying duties up evenly amongst Dameon Pierce, Malik Davis, Nay'Quan Wright, and Emory Jones, offensive coordinator Brian Johnson was able to see his offense excel unlike ever before, averaging 5.5 yards per carry amongst the four.
Controlling the possession battle 38:48 to the Hogs 21:12, the Gators made a statement about the all-around abilities as an offense. A statement that rings loudly in regard to a possible matchup in Atlanta with the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Great: Kyle Trask stakes Heisman claim with six TD tosses
Kyle Trask has looked like a legitimate Heisman candidate with his incredible performances at multiple points during the season.
Posting at least four touchdowns passes in every game entering Saturday night, Trask has already made SEC history and was on a fast track to national recognition.
Continuing the hot streak he’s carried since the season's kick, Trask tallied 356 yards on 23 for 29 passing and six touchdowns.
This touchdown total set the all-time SEC record for most touchdowns thrown in the first six games of a season at twenty-eight, toppling a record set by former Alabama star and current Miami Dolphins starter Tua Tagovailoa.
As a result, he staked his claim atop the Heisman leaderboard, becoming and made an emphatic statement in the absence of one of the county's best receiving options, Kyle Pitts.
Spreading the ball around at a high rate, including touchdown passes to four different receivers—Trevon Grimes, Kwon Zipperer, Jacob Copeland, and Justin Shorter—Trask put to sleep the talk that Pitts was a necessity for the Gators offense to function rather than a valuable asset and proved his significance in making the Gators offense a prolific and nearly unstoppable unit.
Trask now holds the reins of one of the best offenses in the nation and the top spot for te highest award in all of college football.
Ugly: Defense continues to show vast signs for concern
On top of the many positives taken away from the Gators throttling of Feleipe Franks’s Arkansas Razorbacks, not every aspect of play was auspicious.
With the defense being a major concern to the Gators' success early in the 2020 season, the play had been better statistically since the team returned to in-game action from their COVID hiatus on Halloween night.
Allowing 17 and 28 points in back to back week’s and capitalizing off the Missouri and Georgia offenses' missed execution, the Florida D was seemingly getting to the point many were calling for to give the Gators a chance to shine.
They didn’t need to be good; they just needed to be okay. And okay, they were.
However, against Arkansas, they didn’t have the luxury of relying upon the miscues and got burnt because of it.
Allowing two scores of over eighty yards, 35 total points, and 458 scrimmage yards to the Razorbacks, room for serious concern re-asserted itself into the forefront of Gator Nations mind as Florida approaches Atlanta.
When facing off against a program like Alabama, Florida’s defense will be heavily called upon to produce stops.
Already projected to be a high scoring affair, if it does occur, the winner will be the team that can come away with big stops and put the ball back in the hands of their offense.
As of right now, it looks as if the performance of Florida’s defense will make or break the future of the Gators season, and their outing against the Razorbacks did not provide optimism for that future.
