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UF Seeks 'Space' Odyssey In 2007

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By ANDY STAPLES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2007

Updated: 09/14/2007 12:12 am

GAINESVILLE - Erik Ainge sat, head bowed, at the University of Tennessee's postgame news conference following last year's 21-20 loss to Florida. After playing his third game in the rivalry, Ainge knew the most important numbers on the stat sheet.

'The last 15 of 17 games, the team that rushes the ball best wins,' Ainge said. 'That's not a statement that should be taken lightly.'

The stat conjures up images of Florida's Fred Taylor or Tennessee's Travis Henry lining up in an I formation and slamming the ball up the middle or off-tackle. But while Tennessee's running game should look like the one that produced Henry, Jamal Lewis and Travis Stephens (226 rushing yards against Florida in 2001), the Gators' likely will look more like Utah's in 2004.

In Florida coach Urban Meyer's final season with Utah, the Utes outrushed opponents 2,833 yards to 1,682, but no Ute rushed for more than 802 yards. So how did the Utes average 236.1 rushing yards a game without a dominant back? With a dynamic quarterback (2005 No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Alex Smith) leading the way, they got the ball to playmakers 'in space.'

That concept seemed nebulous in Meyer's first year at Florida. In 2005, Meyer would spend the week trying to script plays that would give the Gators room to run. Then, on Saturday, a player would take an option pitch, only to be seized by three tacklers at once. It seemed that in the Southeastern Conference, 'space' amounted to about 3 centimeters.

That changed last season with the arrival of quarterback Tim Tebow and receiver Percy Harvin. By the end of the season, when Tebow spelled starter Chris Leak, defenses had to respect the fact that he might run or throw. Meanwhile, Harvin could take an option pitch, an end-around, line up at tailback or line up behind the center for a direct snap. This worked to perfection in last year's Southeastern Conference title game against Arkansas, when, after getting the ball a variety of ways, Harvin took a handoff, made one move and ran untouched for a 67-yard touchdown.

This season, Meyer's goal is to have Tebow - who remains a threat to run - get the ball to Harvin, tailback Kestahn Moore, receiver/tailback Jarred Fayson or any of the Gators' best athletes with a bubble of about 5 yards around them. In practice, Meyer will put his offensive players in a 5-yard-by-5-yard box and make them force a tackler to miss.

'A lot of staffs and a lot of players think making tacklers miss is a God-given right,' Meyer said. 'No, that's just like tackling. It's just like blocking. It's a skill that you have to practice. We spend an enormous amount of time on getting guys in open space and then evaluating them and teaching them how to make a guy miss.'

Meyer said Moore, who carried 31 times for 169 yards and four touchdowns in Florida's first two games, has developed the skill only recently. But Harvin, who likely dodged his doctor's tackle when emerging from the womb, said elusiveness is only part of the equation.

Much of the 'space,' Harvin said, comes from receivers sealing off defensive backs. That, he said, is why receivers who excel at running and catching sometimes stay on the sideline in favor of a player who seem less dynamic.

'In this offense,' Harvin said, 'you can't play unless you block.'

Harvin, who threw a block last week against Troy that turned a short Tebow run into a first-down play, said creating space with that oft-overlooked dirty work is the only way to break a long run against a defense as athletic as Tennessee's. Slamming the ball up the middle is just so 1997.

'Just getting the ball and having room to run, that's somebody's dream,' Harvin said. 'That's why we practice so hard on perimeter blocking, because we know we've got a lot of playmakers. All we need is a little seam, and we can go the distance.'

Reporter Andy Staples can be reached at (352) 262-3719 or astaples@tampatrib.com.

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