Another day in paradise: Florida football, Sankey strikes and Murphy's Law

DJ Coleman (33) intercepts an FAU pass (Photo by Chris Spears)

Game one is in the books (Florida 66, Florida Atlantic 21), Campbell is on deck (Saturday, 5:30 p.m., SEC Network+) and the Gators are tied for No. 25 in the Coaches LBM top 25 poll. So, all is well on the Florida football front but down in Baton Rouge, LSU is starting to understand that hell hath no fury like a pissed off Greg Sankey.

Here is a recap of Florida football, the polls, Sankey’s latest reaction to LSU and a final bonus on FSU.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRAD WHITE (Tuesday)

White’s defense gave up three touchdowns, 396 total yards and 276 passing yards in the Gators’ 66-21 win over Florida Atlantic. The Gators rank No. 14 in the SEC and No. 97 nationally in total defense. Against the pass, the Gators are No. 14 in the SEC (276 yards per game; No. 112 nationally ) while against the run they are No. 12  in the SEC (120 yards per game; No. 75 nationally).

Here are excerpts from White speaking to the media Tuesday:

Reaction to how the defense played: “In every game, there's going to be good and there's bad. In the moment, immediately after the game, the whole deal, you’ve got that that pit in your stomach because you know we could have played way better. That was not the standard and the bar that we want to set for to how to play defense around here. Again, a lot of it, when you watch the tape, it wasn't an effort thing; it was an awareness thing and understanding football and basic football IQ. And the No. 1 goal we talked about was embracing the tempo. We knew that was going to be high pace. We knew it was going to be different than expected, and I think at in a significant portion of the game, we did not do a good enough job. We let it get to us and dictate how we played as players. Again, there was a little bit of survival mode. We talked about what you can't do against that is get into that mode where, ‘Hey, I just got to survive this down. I got to survive.’ You got to have a killer instinct, empty it on every play, and so it's a really good learning experience. Are you happy with it? No, we're really glad that we won the game. Obviously the offense played really, really well and relieved some of that pressure for those guys on defense, but we need to take a significant step forward in terms of our mentality and how we play and then awareness on the football field.”

Moving forward: “This is a time to challenge. We have to learn from that. We'll get better from that but by no means is it everybody's head down and this thing's over. This is a building process, and they've got to learn how I call a game. I've got to learn how they adjust on the sideline, how they take coaching, how literal. Sometimes when you talk and you give coaching points, can they can they read the tone or is everything like super literal? Every guy is a little bit different, and I'm still learning. There's some calls in there that, obviously, I would like back. There was a third down in the red zone that I was trying to take away one route, and then they ran the run play. Well, by taking away the route, I took the safety out of the run fit, so it was going to be late. I tried to muck it up, and we just missed the tackle inside, but that's a call I'd love to have back, especially as much as they were starting to run the ball on third down. I should have just said, ‘Hey, we could play the route in a one-on-one situation without safety help.’ But those are things again for all of us. You got to raise your hand. ‘Hey, how do I get better from week one to week two?’”

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BUSTER FAULKNER (Tuesday)

Faulkner’s offense ranks No. 1 in the SEC in scoring (66 points), No. 4 in rushing (281), No. 6 in passing (343) and No. 6 in total offense (624 yards per game). Nationally, the Gators are No. 6 in scoring, No. 6 in average yards per play (9.31) and No. 14 in total offense. Here are excerpts from Faulkner on Tuesday:

It was good but wasn’t perfect: “We got to make sure we're in sequence on our snap counts. You know, that showed up a couple times. Timing up our motions, making sure that we understand when we've got to slap the ball and being tied together with the center and when it comes to that. There's a few times I thought we got out-physicaled, you know, in some certain areas, and then there are other times I thought we played extremely, extremely hard. So there was a lot of good, a lot of bad.
I was proud of the way they came out and competed, because at the end of the day, we challenge them: what's it going to look like on Sunday? You're going to make mistakes, just make them full speed. I thought we did that. So overall, you know, it was good, but there's still a lot we got to improve on.”

Need more explosive plays on first down: “We want to be explosive, we want to be ahead of the chains. When we're not ahead of the chains, how do we get back on schedule or be explosive, you know, on second and 10? We weren't where I wanted to be on first downs. I wanted higher efficiency right there. You know, that always keeps you ahead of it. But we made up for it on some second downs. We were able to stay in, you know, third and manageable. We try to stay out of third and long the best we can. So that was good, it makes it easier on third down. And then, you know, Coach Sumrall, he's extremely aggressive, which helps the sequencing of plays and the communication there of knowing what we got to get to go for it on fourth down. All that was good. From that standpoint, Philo made the one scramble on third and 10 that got us to a fourth and short, big play in the game that, you know, you don't realize it at the time, but you look back, that's like extending the drive right there. So, we always tell them when the ball is in play, you got a chance. And so he kept it in play with his feet, and that was a good play for us." 

GATOR REACTIONS

S DJ COLEMAN (Monday) on the play of the secondary: “It was pretty underwhelming. I feel like we haven't played our best ball. I feel like this week we're gonna find some things and we'll put a better product on the field this week.”

WR BAILEY STOCKTON (Monday) on hearing “I Won’t Back Down” at the end of the third quarter: “It was awesome. It was funny because Buster (Faulkner) was addressing the offensive staff  and me and Harp (tight end Luke Harpring) were like dancing. We were supposed to be in the huddle but we were out there dancing toward the hash.”

RB DUKE CLARK (Tuesday) on the Faulkner offensive scheme: “His scheme is great. He spreads everybody around.  I mean if you just watch it. It’s just very explosive. He can throw the ball over the top. He can hand the ball here. Even the running backs can go wide. It’s just very explosive.”

PK PATRICK DURKIN (Tuesday) on Jadan Baugh’s 25-yard run: “I was on the net, and I saw it was third and 28, and I was assuming that we were gonna kick a field goal, and then I saw Baugh get the ball, and I'm like, all right.”

STAR KANYE CLARK (Tuesday) on his first game as a Gator: “I think I played good. I think there’s a lot of areas where I can improve on and continue to learn and grow from. It was still a good performance overall.”

Associated Press top 25 (SEC teams bold face): 1. Ohio State (1-0); 2. Georgia (1-0); 3. Notre Dame (1-0); 4. Texas (1-0); 5. Indiana (1-0); 6. Oregon (1-0); 7. Miami (1-0); 8. LSU (1-0); 9. Ole Miss (1-0); 10. Texas A&M (1-0); 11. Oklahoma (1-0); 12. Alabama (1-0); 13. Texas Tech (1-0); 14. Southern California (2-0); 15. BYU; 16. Penn State (1-0); 17. SMU (1-0); 18. Tennessee (1-0); 19. Washington (1-0); 20. Utah (1-0); 21. Iowa (1-0); 22. Houston (1-0); 23. Missouri (1-0); 24. Louisville (0-1); 25. Virginia (1-0)

US LBM Coaches top 25 (SEC teams bold face): 1. Ohio State (1-0); 2. Georgia (1-0); 3. Texas (1-0); 4. Notre Dame 1-0; 5. Indiana (1-0); 6. Oregon (1-0); 7. Miami (1-0); 8. LSU (1-0); 9. Texas A&M (1-0); 10. Oklahoma (1-0); 11. Ole Miss (1-0); 12. Alabama (1-0); 13. Texas Tech 1-0); 14. Southern California (1-0); 15. BYU (1-0); 16. Penn State (1-0); 17. SMU (1-0); 18. Tennessee (1-0); 19. Washington (1-0); 20. Utah (1-0); 21. Iowa (1-0); 22. Houston (1-0); 23. Missouri (1-0); 24. Michigan (1-0); 25. (tie) FLORIDA (1-0); Virginia (1-0)

SANKEY DOUBLES DOWN ON LSU

Greg Sankey and the Southeastern Conference were back in US District Court in Birmingham Tuesday, this time filing an amendment to their lawsuit against LSU asking for a restraining order that will prevent “any action to block or interfere” with a Thursday vote by the league presidents on whether or not to oust LSU from the SEC. The amendment is in response to an implied threat by Lane Kiffin, who said at halftime of LSU’s beatdown of Clemson Saturday night, “Imagine if we had pro players.”

The amendment filed in Birmingham Tuesday stated Kiffin’s statements "stand in sharp contrast to the silence by the President and Athletic Director of LSU" confirming “the lack of institutional control over the athletics program at LSU that is required by Article 6 of the SEC Constitution and by the remaining provisions of the Constitution and Bylaws."

This ongoing soap opera is the result of a local Baton Rouge judge issuing a temporary restraining order that would allow players in NFL training camps to return to play a fifth year of college football. The SEC responded to the TRO with a Federal lawsuit that did not challenge the Baton Rouge decision which is based on the fairness of the NCAA’s newly implemented 5-for-5 rule but instead on the league’s ability to enforce rules that prevent professional players from returning to play collegiate sports.

The SEC action in Federal Court seemingly stopped LSU in its tracks from playing tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive lineman Zxavier Harris, former Ole Miss players who signed with LSU after spending time in NFL training camps (Wright with Cleveland, Harris with New Orleans). Neither player was listed on the roster LSU submitted to the SEC on Friday prior to the game with Clemson. The sideshow prior to the game obviously had zero in the way of negative effect on LSU, which handed Clemson a 51-10 thrashing, the worst defeat of Dabo Swinney’s coaching career.

In the three days since that game one win LSU has given no indication that it will abide by SEC rules or add Wright and Harris to the roster for any future games. The amendment filed in Birmingham court is a pre-emptive strike to keep LSU from getting a court order that would prevent the SEC from moving ahead with debate and a vote that would terminate membership in the league. It would take a 10-5 vote by the league presidents (LSU obviously would not be voting) to vote LSU off this exclusive island. Do they have the stomach for it? We do know there are a number of calls in the ranks for harsh sanctions in the form of draconian fines and suspensions.

BONUS: FSU AND MURPHY’S LAW

Just when you think the Florida State Seminoles have hit rock bottom, Murphy’s Law kicks in once again. You know how that goes: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Some folks have amended it to read “and at the worst possible moment.” The Seminoles are nearly a half billion dollars in debt and without some sugar daddies to bail them out, they may issue a call to alums and booster to hold a few thousand bake sales and car washes to ease the financial load.

So, the last thing FSU needed was what happened at Doak Campbell Stadium last night where the Seminoles and SMU were supposed to be the exclamation point of the first full weekend of college football. Labor Day! Football! Chief Osceola and Renegade. The flaming spear. What could possibly go wrong? By the time the clock struck midnight folks were probably asking did anything go right?

Fans showed up with bring back Jimbo Fisher signs, awkward because Jimbo was on the ACC Network set in the end zone at Doak Campbell. Doubly awkward because Mike Norvell is the coach and a win over a ranked SMU team could have cooled off some of the intense heat to fire him. Then the electricity went out causing a nearly two hour delay to start the game. By the time foot met football there was not enough electricity to run the scoreboard, the stadium clock or other electronics.

 Compounding matters, FSU lost a game it should have won. Reports are that somewhere up in heaven Murphy was smiling.