2022 [W7: UF Post Game] Kentucky Declawed

[Weeze]

#21 Kentucky Declawed!

Florida Upsets SEC East Rival in the Swamp

 

QB Morgan Neal 31 of 41 for 304 yards, 1 Int

Florida hosted the Kentucky Wildcats in the Swamp Saturday afternoon. The Gators have officially entered must win mode for the remainder of the season following their 31-14 loss to LSU last week. In a game that was close going into the fourth, the melt down that followed was a gut punch that will haunt them the remainder of the season. So despite the lead this week going into the fourth, there was a nervous energy in the stadium as the crowd, players and coaches held their breath until the clock read 00:00. When it did how ever... The collective euphoria that could be felt around the stadium was unreal. Not only had the Gators snapped a five game losing streak, not only had the Gators kept their slim Bowl hopes alive, not only had the Gators finally managed a SEC win, they did it against a ranked rival. The 20-7 win over #21 ranked Kentucky was desperately needed, and could very well be the momentum change that salvages the season for a team that is ranked near the bottom of college football.

 

That statement can not be under stated. The Florida Gators are ranked near the bottom in college football. The first four weeks, the Gators averaged 10 PPG. 10. The last three weeks, the Gators almost double that. The Passing game, which you can say is the "strength" of the offense averaged 167.3 YPG. Last three weeks, 286. The rushing attack is a little hard to look at because of one statistical outlier against Maryland in which the team rushed for 209 yards, but if you take that one out, the Gators have slightly increased over the last three weeks from 93 to 97 YPG. One thing is clear though concerning the running game and it is that its wildly inconsistent, though it seems to be finding some traction as the season has gone on.

 

 

So why are we saying all of this? what does any of this have to do with Kentucky? This is a team that has struggled mightily. But since the beat down against TAMU, a constant thing said about Florida is, "they look like they are starting to put it together." "Florida looks like they are starting to figure it out". Perhaps Florida has finally managed to figure it out. Offensively, this is the best showing since Week 2. This is the first time they have Rushed over a hundred yards since playing Maryland, and the best Game of the season in terms of passing yards. As a side note, they also managed to double their Field goal Attempts, as well as how many they made. In the coming days, we will have to ask the staff why did it take them so long to find what potentially is the best way to run the offense, but for now lets just enjoy the moment.

 

Morgan Neal came out with a season high 304 yards passing. While he didn't manage to find the endzone, his passing attack set up the running backs so that they could punch it in a few times, as well as a couple chip shot field goals from Derrick Gassol, which have been just as rare as Touchdowns. A Nod to the Kentucky Defense however as they did manage to sack Neal twice, only the third team this season to sack him, and only the second to sack him more than once. The pressure and good coverage caused Neal to throw an Interception. Ryan Bowman, Who has been the starting Running Back since week 5, had his first career 100 rushing yard day. He has slowly been getting better on the ground as the staff has figured out his running style better, but he has also been a huge bright spot in the passing game. In three weeks he has managed to get 145 yards off of 19 receptions. If there was any question about whether or not to go back to Sam Hayes, I think Bowman solidified his starting role for the rest of the season, with Hayes giving him breathers. The Best Player however over the last two weeks has easily been Michael Burawa. Against Kentucky he caught 9 balls off 13 targets for 125 yards. Last week he was 6 of 6 for 123 yards. 248 yards of his 513 yards came in the last two weeks. The coaches need to find a way to get him into the endzone, however his burst of production has been nothing short of a god send for a struggling offense.

 

RB Zach Parnell 9 attempts for 105 yards, 1 TD, 1 reception for 12 yards.

As standup as the offense was, the Defense should get all the credit for this win. After all the offense still only scored 20 points. What allowed them to win with 20 points is a defense holding Kentucky to 7. This impressive display from the defense hasn't been seen since week 1 against Kent State in the 14-9 win. The Last two weeks, Florida Played the two teams who will probably be playing in the SEC Championship and they played them surprisingly well. They Held the then ranked #5 team 10 point difference, then went into the 4th quarter last week only down by seven against LSU. These have been the only two teams that have been able to throw on them, with most teams struggling to pass consistently. The downside to this is most teams haven't had a need to past well to still score.

 

Michael Oliveros, the Kentucky QB, was a miserable 8 for 20(40%) for only 90 yards and an interception. It was great to see the secondary come back out an shut down a QB after the last two weeks. The Run game however continue to be what it has been. Bad. Zach Parnell easily got 105 yards off only 9 attempts. His back up, Kelvin Dupree, managed 86 yards off 19 attempts. This isn't as bad as it has been, but still not what we want to see. But, seeing as the team bent but didn't break, we can be more forgiving this week. Next week however, they are gonna need to be careful. On the road against Vandy, who had their own big win against SCAR, the defense is going to need to take every lesson they learned this week and the last couple, and take it with them into next week. Its a winnable game, but as we have seen, Florida hasn't played up to its potential too many times this season.

 

The far more exciting thing about this game is how it might affect recruiting. Florida has found itself trying to lock down several different targets, the most important being Colt McIntyre. McIntyre, Who Florida has been one of his top program choices all season, has recently been announced as an Elite 11 Final invitee. “Colt McIntyre, from Jacksonville, Florida. He’s got a shot at being the best arm in the class. I’d put him right up there with Dick Richards in just pure, unadulterated arm talent. Needs to work on consistency, but man with the right coaching, enough practice, McIntyre, watch out for this kid in Nashville. Can’t wait to see his growth inbetween events.”[Elite 11 SE article]. Landing such a viable target would do wonders for the program moving forward, especially with the QB position being in question next season. A Game like this might be the tipping point the Gators need to lock up Colt, as well as several other big names on their board.

 

The Gators will be on the road the next two weeks, both games being incredibly important. Next week is Vandy, then against rival Tennessee. Tennessee beat Mizzu this weak, will be looking to finish out the season unbeaten. Florida, if they can keep improving, could potentially play spoiler and who better to play spoiler against than Tennessee? Either way both Games will be tough for a team who is now 2-5 on the season, and just looking to hang on to sneak into a bowl game.

[Ezaco]

Dupree is the primary back, Parnell the backup. So you stopped the primary.

[Weeze]

Ah. thanks for correcting me. i will fix that monday