Saturday Hash: Breaking down Florida’s season-ending loss to FSU
Whether you are a fan of the Florida Gators or Florida State, you have to admit that Florida’s first Friday night game since 1979 was an entertaining one.
Up and down the field both teams went with explosive play after explosive play until Florida could not come up with the necessary one at the end. I will always wonder if Billy Napier would have gone for two if he had scored at the end, but that’s irrelevant.
What is relevant is that Florida finished the season with a 6-6 record and will find out its bowl destination after the championship games. And that FSU fans have bragging rights for a year.
Since it was a Friday game, in a season where there was also a Sunday game, you never know what Hash is coming your way. But here we go with Saturday Hash, served up with some humble pie.
Nothing worse than I-10 after a loss
Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun
I am sure the bus ride home for Napier and the other coaches was two-plus hours of rehashing everything that happened on a wild night (and a long one where the game time was seven minutes short of four hours).
“There’s going to be 20, 25, 30 plays – we get a handful of those 25 or 30, we probably win the game,” Napier said. “But we come up a little short. The football wasn’t good enough tonight.”
It was closer to being good enough than a lot of people expected. The Gators did cover the spread. But that only matters to gamblers.
And Florida played hard
Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat
What it didn’t do was play smart. The 10 penalties were a reflection of a team that may be out of gas. These young men have been through a lot and played one of the toughest schedules Florida has ever faced. On top of that, there were so many missing players.
Rivalry games tend to bring out the fire in everybody, but they also get players too fired up which is why the two teams combined for nine fourth-quarter penalties.
It was tough for Richardson
Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat
Because not only was he facing a fierce pass rush and a defense designed to take his legs away, he was doing it without five receivers who have played significant roles this season.
And FSU took [autotag]Ricky Pearsall[/autotag] away after his second touchdown catch, limiting him to nine yards the rest of the way. Florida needed other receivers to step up and they did not.
“There’s a handful of plays where we got our hands on the ball,” Napier said.
[autotag]Caleb Douglas[/autotag] did not have a good game and the third-quarter drop by seldom-used [autotag]Jordan Pouncey[/autotag] showed how far Florida had slipped down on the depth chart.
And yet, Florida still found a way to score 38 points
James Gilbert/Getty Images
And that was without a bunch of short fields. Florida had its fourth straight 400-yard game and eighth of the season rushing for more than 200 yards.
Don’t forget, this was against a team that statistically was among the nation’s best defenses going into the game.
There won’t be a lot of calls for Napier to give up his play-calling this week.
Overall, Napier seemed almost upbeat
James Gilbert/Getty Images
Nobody likes a loss. But he is 12 games in now and knows who he can count on. More than that, it feels like the culture has now been established.
“There’s a legitimate brotherhood, like I would do anything for a teammate in that locker room,” he said. “And I think that showed up.”
One thing everyone might want to show up to do is tackle. Trey Benson’s 45-yard run on the second FSU series was a clinic on missed tackles and Jordan Travis, well…
Jordan Travis was a Gator killer
James Gilbert/Getty Images
The dude has had an awesome season and Florida tried to counter with a lot of blitzes. But he almost always found a way to escape with his spins and speed. Travis finished with 270 yards passing and 83 yards rushing.
“His legs were the difference in the game,” Napier said. “Anybody that watched that game would say, ‘Yep. Quarterback, the legs of the quarterback of Florida State was the difference in the game.’ Gave us fits all night.”
Ventrell Miller didn’t make a difference
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Which is unusual. After sitting out the first half because of last week’s targeting call (the dumbest rule in sports), he only made one tackle in the second half.
“It didn’t feel too good,” Miller said about sitting out. “I know the guys were ready for me to come back in. They were talking about, ‘free me’ after halftime.”
But with Miller back, FSU scored 17 points in that terrible third quarter.
Still, after the game, Miller said this: “I know we didn’t win as many games this year, but, like I said, this would have to be one of my favorite years just being here.”
It did feel like the rivalry was back
Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports
It was intense, chippy and loud. FSU has a chance to win 10 games this season and was a year ago where Florida is now. Florida’s next step is to get where FSU is, then blow past the Seminoles.
That’s a tall order, but we know it cannot be done with a team that makes too many mistakes to win too many games. That’s on Napier and his coaching staff and certainly the players. Mistakes happen. You just have to try to limit them.
Was this a waste of a great offensive line?
James Gilbert/Getty Images
Sorry, but that is what I take from this season. Florida’s offensive line finally delivered on a decade-long promise and allowed Florida to control the line of scrimmage on that side of the ball.
The Gators averaged 213.7 yards a game running the ball, 5.8 yards a rush and the total offense was 441 yards a game. Those aren’t the statistics you usually see on a 6-6 team.
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