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Pedestrian Offense Has Gator Nation Grumbling

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By MICK ELLIOTT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

GAINESVILLE - Take a chill pill, Florida Gators fans.

Urban Meyer feels your anxiety. He hears the whispered concern. But, he promises, everything will be all right.

"Statistically, I know there are a lot of concerns out there about why there is not a million catches or something like that, but those guys are really playing well," Florida's football coach said.

A growing number of orange-and-blue constituents do not seem as certain. To many, the Gators' offensive prowess - a preseason promise of a high-wire thrill act of speed and skill - is a hand-wringing early concern. With only a few exceptions, passes have not been long or runs dazzling. After averaging 457 yards per game in 2007, the Gators so far are moving at 331 yards a Saturday this year.

Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow completed eight of 15 passes for 96 yards Saturday against Tennessee. Last year he bombed the Volunteers, going 14-of-19 for 299 yards.

At this point in 2007, the Gators were averaging more than 55 points. Now, it's 37.

Despite the nation's No. 4 ranking and 3-0 record to take into Saturday's home encounter with the Ole Miss Rebels, Florida seems to be worrying its own faithful as much as the opposition.

"I see the same thing," Meyer said. "I look at the score sheet and go 'what in the hell. Where are the points, where are the yards? What are we doing? Man, let's go.' But at the end of the day, I don't believe that at all.

"The three teams we've played - they were not Western Somewhere - all made a conscious effort to keep the ball in front of them and force us to run the football. Last year, we had a major issue on defense and felt like we had to score every time we had the ball. "

To sum it up: This is not the point-machine attack expected. But if winning is the only statistic that truly matters, that is not necessarily a bad thing.

"Not that I don't think we can do those things like last year," Tebow said. "I think we are just going at it with a little different approach. We are focused on controlling the ball, controlling the clock, no turnovers, good defensive position; all things we've done pretty well so far.

"With us having the lead early on, we didn't feel the need to open up and big-play them to death. I guess we're a little bit content with 3 or 4 yards and a cloud of dust. Control the clock."

And, my, how time flies, which is another factor.

A new NCAA rule this year intended to shorten game times does not set well with Meyer and contributes to lower offensive numbers.

From the moment a play is blown dead, the offensive team has 40 seconds to get its next play off. Also, the clock does not stop when the ball goes out of bounds except in the final minutes.

So far, average game times in the SEC have dropped from 3:23 in 2007 to 3:11 this year. More telling, however, is that total plays have been reduced by 15.2.

The result is that after getting off 65.2 offensive snaps a game last year, the Gators are averaging 57 this season.

"I'm not a fan of the clock rule," Meyer said. "I think it's wrong. I feel like they are cheating the fans and, more importantly, the players. The players need more plays.

"Right now we are scoring at a 51.4 percent clip. Every time we have the ball, over half the time we're scoring points. Last year we led the country at 54 percent. So, it is not that big of a difference."

There is, however, one offensive area that concerns Meyer. Three times against Tennessee the Gators were forced to settle for field goals after getting in the red zone.

"When we get down in the plus, we've got to knock it in," Meyer said. "We have to score a touchdown. At some point that's going to get you in this conference."

Reporter Mick Elliott can be reached at (813) 281-2534 or melliott@tampatrib.com

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