Florida Gators Game Preview: Muschamp, South Carolina Enter The Swamp
After an impressive offensive performance in Oxford, Miss. this past Saturday, the Florida Gators have catapulted themselves to being the third-ranked team in the nation for the first time since 2012.
Headed back to The Swamp to take on the coach that had them ranked at number three in 2012 in Will Muschamp, Florida looks to build off their 51-point outing against Ole Miss and improve upon their defensive showing against South Carolina to reach their “standard” according to Todd Grantham.
“We’re supposed to play to the standard we played the last couple of years. We just got to go execute the game plan and understand you have a role within each call and play to your role. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Under Muschamp’s head coaching tenure, the defensive side of the football has consisted of talent, unpredictability, and, is quite frankly, the only reason he still has the title of head coach attached to his name.
Equipped with pieces in the trenches like Kingsley Enagbare and Zacch Pickens, a star at the linebacker position in Ernest Jones, and length on the backend with cornerback Jaycee Horn leading the charge, the Gamecocks have an opportunity to make a statement against an explosive Florida unit in week two.
The likelihood that Florida comes out with another hot start and exploits the holes that SCAR does present is very high. As a result, the team that allowed 31 points to Jarrett Guarantano and Tennessee last weekend is unlikely to stop an offense that—in week one—was up there with the best college football had to offer.
Can Kyle Trask continue forward at the level we saw him in Oxford? Will Kyle Pitts continue to look unguardable, or will he be taken away, allowing others to step in? Do we see more from the running game against a SCAR team that allowed 4 yards per carry against Tennessee?
All questions to be answered offensively.
However, this matchup's focus falls on the opposite side of the ball with Florida’s defense versus South Carolina’s offense.
Last week, Florida saw an offense, run by one of the best football minds in the game, with a multitude of weapons to utilize within a brand new game plan. Little preparation material and the unpredictability of Lane Kiffin’s playing calling was an evident handicap UF struggled to contain the Ole Miss passing attack.
In their second outing of 2020, Florida doesn’t see the same offensive prowess from South Carolina but faces a similar matchup in terms of a new offensive system and a dominant receiving threat out of the slot. Taking over for the Gamecocks play-calling this season is former Georgia offensive coordinator and Colorado State head coach, Mike Bobo.
As the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Columbia, Bobo undoubtedly played a large role in his former Colorado State quarterback and graduate transfer, Collin Hill taking over the starting spot from 2019 starter Ryan Hilinski.
Bobo’s offensive style is one that is derived from the principle of balance. For this new scheme, the South Carolina offense is designed to see a near-even mix of run and pass in play-calling, shown in week one with the 39-35 distribution in favor of the pass.
In week one against Tennessee, the Gamecocks gave us their first look at what the offense consists of. In that contest, SCAR employed a number of quick hitters in the passing game—slants, bubble screens, and other underneath route concepts focused on getting the ball out of Hill’s hand quickly—complemented by misdirection in the run game.
For the most part, despite head coach Will Muschamp being synonymous with stagnant offenses, the Gamecocks passing game saw signs of life with former CSU Rams' Bobo and Hill in control.
In particular, the offense saw Shi Smith work his way to 10 receptions for 140 yards and a score out of the slot position. The skillset he provides across the middle of the field can significantly hurt the Gators if they don’t improve their play in the backend from the season opener.
Just a week removed from allowing 227 yards on ten receptions to Elijah Moore out of the slot, Florida’s secondary will face another dynamic playmaker in Smith who can work the middle of the field at a high-level and imposes near-identical threats that Moore presented.
Against a secondary that struggled to say the least against Ole Miss, Smith is bound to be a matchup problem for Florida's defense—specifically against STAR cornerback C.J. McWilliams—and will be utilized accordingly.
This threat was not lost on Grantham, as he pointed out the significance in limiting Smith’s impact during yesterday’s press conference.
“We're going to have to have awareness of him and make sure we don't let him beat us single-handedly."
Something that can very well occur if they allow it to.
The biggest knock on head coach Will Muschamp during his time as a head coach, no matter which University, is his teams' inability to produce on the ball's offensive side consistently.
The Gamecocks saw some early success to start the season in the passing game but were inefficient in other areas of the game. Most significantly, the performance of their offensive line.
Struggling against Tennessee, the South Carolina offensive line allowed four sacks in pass protection and contributed to a stagnant run attack that accumulated only 89 yards on 35 carries.
This Saturday, Florida is likely to get back some of the pieces they missed throughout the defense in week one. As a result, expect to see a much more disciplined and crisp performance from Grantham’s unit. One that’s more indicative of the defense the Gators will field throughout the remainder of the year, according to Mullen.
“I expect us to make a really big jump from week one to week two defensively with tackling, the effort, with running to the football, with communication and making sure we are fitting everything properly. I think all of those things since we are kind of in a game mode, I expect us to be much better defensively this week.”
Continuing to exploit the holes of their opponent offensively and finding their groove defensively in all likelihood carries the Gators to a wide margin of victory for the first time at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium this year.
