[UF: SG 1] Florida Spring Training

[Weeze]

Freshman QB Maximillian Howard in Spring Practice

 

          Florida Gators have been aching to see their new young stars under the lights. With spring practices and games underway, Gator fans did not have to wait long to see the future. Florida opened up spring games as one of the handful of teams playing on Thursday night. What a Thursday night it was! It was a night of possibility and reason to be excited not only for this coming season, but for the next handful of seasons. The Gators offense struggled much of the last two seasons. The Gators have had only three players over 400 receiving yards  in 2 seasons, and only 1 over 500. That being said, rushing they've had much more success, however when you are in a conference with the likes of Brandon Savage, you need to air it out at times to keep up. Thursday night, the Gator offense exploded and gave off the appearance that it was not the first time these young men played together. Freshman Quarterback, Max Howard came out with 25 completions of 33 attempts for 245 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. He was able to spread the ball around to seven different targets and keep the opposing defense guessing. Which is exactly what Headcoach Weeze and New offense coordinator wanted.

 

          At the close of last season, Coach Weeze in an attempt to make it look like he was making changes, brought in a new Offensive coordinator, and a new Defensive Coordinator. The goal was to rebuild the team from the ground up and hope the new blood from recruiting could help lead to wins. It can't be denied that the quality of players that have been coming to Gainesville in recent season is much much better. But the quality of play has not yet improved. We might be seeing the page start to turn as now only did Howard have a great game, he found a great connection with new Freshman receiver, Edward Watkins. Targeted 8 times, Watkins caught the ball 7 times for 44 yards. While not eye popping numbers, those 7 receptions did lead to 2 touchdowns. Not bad for a Freshman Wide receiver. But it wasn't just the young bloods who were making plays. Bruce Gedeon, the only starting receiver returning from last season(16 receptions, 191 yards, 3 touchdowns), had what would have been his biggest career game. 6 receptions on 8 targets for 112 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Bowman, the senior RB who is probably not as well known as he should be in the national spot light, has heard nothing but how great Howard will be, decided to remind everyone whose team this still was. The Gator Star, and all time leading rusher, ran for 237 yards on 22 attempts, 1 rushing touchdown, and 62 yards off of 7 receptions. He had himself a day. The O-line came out and busted open running lanes for him and the rest of the offense out of the backfield. 

Senior CB Andy Marte

           The Defense for the Gators underwent some changes this off season. Spring practice and spring games are the first look at the new identity. In the past, Coach Weeze rode a pretty heavy 4-3 Man defense. Last season they upped the aggressiveness of the defense. While it helped, it still wasn't enough to keep them in more games. 24.8 points allowed per game last season was an increase from 23.9 PAPG in 2022. Run defense increased dramatically, allowing 500 yards fewer last season than 2022. However they saw a huge increase in passing yards allowed. The defense as a whole needs to step up and make plays. They saw improvement in one area, and huge drop offs in others. New defensive coordinator wants to see huge improvements in 2 major areas. Sacks, and take aways. Last season, the Gators saw a small increase in sacks, taking down opponents 23 times(up from 15 the year before). The did not improve in take aways as the last two seasons both ended with 15 take aways. 

 

          The Spring game saw the hard work players have been putting into this. Not only did the defense force 3 take aways, they also scored touchdowns off 2 of them. Its going to be hard to lose when your defense is also scoring. Michigan State Jose Gonzalez was taken down 3 times as well. Both Defensive Tackles put in some work getting to the quarterback as True Freshman Michael Baig and sophomore Scott Anthony both came away with 1. Defensive ends Brandon Martin and Joseph Kloeckner both also got to the quarterback, but split the sack. If you're getting that kind of pass rush up the middle, and your ends are still getting to the qb, that's a very good thing. But Florida got production and quality play from all 3 phases of defense. The pass rush and Run defense both played well as the defense allowed only 65 yards on the ground(1 rushing touchdown). We already mentioned the 3 sacks. The Middle saw Linebacker Mahesh smith intercept and return it for a touchdown. He also added 4 tackles to his stats. Freshman Middle Linebacker Francisco Reza lead the team with 6 tackles. In the backfield, true freshman Corner Edgar Mendoza, along with his 4 tackles, managed to pickoff the quarterback. Shaun Thomas, a freshman safety, had the third pick and also returned it for a touchdown. 

 

          Andy Marte is one of three seniors starting on defense. everyone else is a Freshman or a sophomore(with more freshman starting). Marte is the only starting Corner back with any experience as Edgar Mendoza and Kevin Moore are both true freshman. That being said, Marte has quickly become a leader on this defense, and a very vocal component for the secondary. He has really tackled up the two young backs behind him and has stated multiple times this might be the best secondary Florida has assembled over the last few seasons. He thinks there is defiently a few NFL talent  level players starting. He feels both safeties could be playing on Sunday, as well as the two freshman playing with him in the other corner spots. 
"We are going to surprise a lot of people this season. They're not ready for us. This isnt the same team. We are only getting better" The young man said after thursday nights victory.