The Three Florida Offensive Players to Watch in the Gasparilla Bowl

Florida has three players that the UCF defense must contain.

Author:
Brian Smith
Publish date:
Dec 22, 2021 2:12 PM EST

For the UCF Knights to come out on top this Thursday evening, many things need to go right for the offense. Do not turn the football over, stay within the offensive game plan, and make big plays.

Much of that starts with holding down Florida’s top offensive skill players, however, to help the UCF get the ball back and not be forced to do too much with freshman quarterback Mikey Keene at the helm.

Throughout the season, Florida’s offense has been very good at creating big plays. Whether it’s a long pass or long run, the Florida offense has been explosive for much of the 2021 season.

Here are the Gators overall national rankings:

Scoring: 46th, with 31.8 points per game.

Passing: 39th, at 261.3 yards per game.

Rushing: 22nd, going for 209 yards per game.

Total Offense: 10th, averaging 470 yards per game.

It’s interesting that Florida’s scoring is only 46th, while total yards would be 10th. Part of that could be the inconsistent play from the quarterback position.

That’s where the Knights need to make the most headway; slow down Emory Jones to win the football game.

A few statistics to consider about Jones. First, he’s thrown 19 touchdowns, but he’s also tossed 13 interceptions. He’s talented, but turnover prone. Jones averages more than one interception per game.

While some of those interceptions could be caused by being hit prior to releasing the football and/or the intended receiver running the wrong route, there’s a good chance that one of UCF’s young and talented defensive backs has a chance to pick off a pass. Brandon Adams, perhaps?

For the season, Jones has passed for 2,567 yards while completing 67.7% of his passes. When he gets on a roll, look out. He smashed Samford with 464 yards and six touchdowns, but looked bad against Florida State with 163 passing yards and three interceptions. Passing is one thing, but there's another category to consider with Jones.

Perhaps even more important, Jones is a tremendous runner. He accounted for 696 yards on the ground, a 5.2 average, and four touchdowns. UCF Co-Defensive Coordinator Travis Williams explained Jones well.

Keep in mind that Jones split reps for part of the season with talented quarterback Anthony Richardson, a player that will sit out the bowl game while recovering from surgery. Therefore, Jones would have gained even more yards on the ground, and in the air, if offered the opportunity.

Next, there’s running back Dameon Pierce. He’s one of the SEC’s best running backs. Surprisingly, it was not until the twelfth game against rival Florida State that Pierce carried the football 10 or more times.

Against the Seminoles, Pierce had 12 carries for 62 yards and a score. Prior to that game, he carried nine times only once, and that was against Florida’s other big rival, Georgia, as he ran for 69 yards.

For the season, Pierce has 87 carries for 517 yards, a 5.9 average, and 12 rushing touchdowns. He scored a rushing touchdown 13.8% of the time he ran the ball. That’s productivity.

He’s also good out of the backfield by catching 18 passes for 217 yards, a 12.1 average, and three more touchdowns.

It’s quite possible that Pierce will be the most difficult of the Florida skill players to defend because he’s really good as a runner and receiver.

Finally, the wide receiver to watch.

That would be Jacob Copeland. Despite being in the Transfer Portal, he’s Florida’s leading 2021 receiver with 39 receptions for 607 yards, a 15.6 average, and four touchdowns.

Copeland is a good combination of size and speed, much like Jones and Pierce. He’s capable of running around a defender or running by him. It will be interesting to see how the UCF defense adapts to playing against Copeland at different points of the field.

For instance, does UCF try to man up and play him with just one player? That decision impacts slowing down the running game with Jones and Pierce.

However UCF tries to slow down Copeland, he’s one of three very dangerous offensive weapons for the Gators.

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