Easy fix? Will Florida football's offensive line improve after rough opener at Utah?
Questions surrounded how the new-look Florida football offensive line would perform in its season opener last Thursday against No. 14 Utah.
The answer wasn't pretty. The Florida Gators surrendered five sacks and averaged just 0.6 yards per carry as Utah's defensive front manhandled UF in the trenches.
"It's not what we thought we were going to do," Florida left tackle Austin Barber said. "We've just got to learn from it."
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The Gators will begin that process in Saturday's home opener at The Swamp against McNeese State (7:30 p.m., ESPNU).
UF lost four starters from last season's offensive line, including All-American guard O'Cyrus Torrence, who was taken in the second round by the Buffalo Bills in last April's NFL Draft. UF's lone returning full-time starter, center Kingsley Eguakun, sat out the game with the leg injury. Florida also was without Lyndell Hudson Jr., projected as the third tackle in UF's offensive line rotation.
That left Barber as the most experienced starter on the offensive line against Utah, with five starts last season. With two assistants devoted to the offensive line (Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton), Florida should get enough hands-on instruction to fix its mistakes.
"I've got a ton of confidence in our group," Florida coach Billy Napier said. "I think some of our issues were in protection more than other stuff. We've always had really good play up front. It's one of the things we've invested in, we believe in ...
"We'll continue to get better as we go. At some point, we'll get Kingsley Eguakun back. I think Lyndell Hudson, the third tackle, will be available this week, so all those things I think will contribute to our group playing better."
Florida was among the best offensive lines in the country last season, surrendering just 17 sacks (26th nationally) and blocking for a run game that averaged 5.5 yards per carry (7th nationally).
"That's where you want to be," Barber said. "You want to be one of the top offensive lines in the country. That's how you succeed. I think we'll get back to that level.
"It's the first game. There's a few new faces on the offensive line. I'm confident in every single one of the people in that room. I'm not pointing any fingers. It's all of us."
Penalty issues on the UF football offensive line
Florida had a number of procedural and formation penalties on its offensive front. Right tackle Dameion George Jr. was whistled for two false start penalties in the first half. Center Jake Slaughter, making his first career start in place of Eguakun, also had a false start called against him in the third quarter.
In addition, Florida was whistled for two illegal formation penalties. George had a costly holding penalty in the fourth quarter, which negated a 15-yard completion from quarterback Graham Mertz to wide receiver Eugene Wilson III.
"Just not being totally locked in," Barber said. "I think those things like that are something we can learn from, not happen in the games coming up. A lot of those penalties were self-inflicted. Sometimes it's just what we got to fix. I think we're going to do a good job of fixing it."
Napier said he was surprised by the number of penalties on the offensive front.
"We had played pretty clean football, scrimmages, practice setting," Napier said. "We'd done quite a bit of significant crowd noise work. So those were surprising. I really felt confident our team was ready to play."
More blame to go around on UF football pass protection issues
Slaughter was put in position to call pass protection for the first time in a starting role. But Barber said all five offensive linemen shared responsibility in pass protection breakdowns.
"It was just a big learning curve for Jake," Barber said. "I think he's going to embrace it, going to learn from it. He's a guy that's always in the building watching film. He's locked in. He knows he wants to do this. I have all the confidence in Jake."
Other factors went into Mertz being sacked five times, including an inability of running backs to pick up blitzes effectively and Mertz himself being indecisive and holding onto the ball a count or two too long.
"We had other position groups that caused problems in protection in the game," Napier said. "It's not always just the offensive line. I think we're quick to point the finger at the quarterback. We're quick to point the finger at the offensive line. I think all positions contribute."
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida Gators football offensive line looking to bounce back
