How Will the Florida Gators Handle This Distraction?
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”
Paraphrase those words from Rick Blaine in one of the classic scenes of the movie “Casablanca” to fit into the predicament the Florida Gators find themselves in and we could say, “Of all the college football programs in all the towns in all the world, Covid-19 walks into mine.”
Covid-19 has struck in Gainesville and the result is the Gators will not be playing LSU this weekend.
In some respects, the timing is perfect for a postponement because Florida’s defense needs a week off in the worst way. If the first three weeks of the season have told us anything it is however sound the scheme may be – and years of success tell us it’s a good one – either the players somehow or another just aren’t getting the job done or things have become far too predictable. There are so many veterans in their third year playing for defensive coordinator Todd Grantham so how could so many of them miss so many tackles while others do their best impersonations of lost balls in the tall grass? Even if the best schemes can be exploited when what you do with them has become too predictable.
So maybe there is a need to make some tweaks to the scheme or perhaps some tweaks to the players Grantham is sending out with the specific purpose of getting stops. Maybe there is a need for Grantham to study the film and figure out what opponents are seeing when he lines the Gators up, especially on third down.
Changes have to be made defensively, if for no other reason to put the ball in Kyle Trask’s hands more often. If the defense can just get a few stops, think of what that prolific offense could do. More snaps for Trask means more touchdown passes to the all but unstoppable Kyle Pitts, who seems a shoo-in for the Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end. More snaps mean more opportunities for Kadarius Toney to do his ever so fabulous make you look silly routine once he has a football in his hands. What Toney has done so far is just scratching the surface of what he can do to destroy a defense. More snaps mean more points. The Gators are whipping out 42.3 points per game already. More chances to score means the Gators could score at a very scary level. The last time they averaged more than 40 points a game was 2008, which just so happens to be the last time the Gators won the SEC and national championships.
So while the Covid-19 outbreak on the team is serious stuff when talking about the health and welfare of the 105 or so scholarship and non-scholarship players involved in the Florida football program, it’s also serious stuff in that it is providing Grantham a chance to go frame by frame of the film of three previous games to figure out just what the heck has gone wrong. Grantham’s a smart guy and there are plenty of good minds in the defensive room. Extra days give them a chance to get a handle on making whatever changes are necessary. Status quo isn’t going to work, not by a long shot.
There is a flip side to the perfect timing theory, however. Had the game gone on as planned, LSU was probably going to be without fourth-year junior quarterback Myles Brennan, who was still wobbly as of Wednesday from one of those knock you into next week hits in the Tigers’ unexpected loss to Missouri. Brennan’s numbers in the first three games were impressive – 1,112 passing yards and 11 TDPs – but with him out, LSU was going to have to go with one (or both) of true freshmen Max Johnson or T.J. Finley, neither of whom has thrown a pass or run the ball in a game. No matter how unhinged Florida’s defense has seemed the thought of going against a true freshman operating behind an offensive line that ranks 53rd nationally in sacks allowed (9 in three games for 55 yards in losses) has a certain appeal.
The Gators won’t play again until October 24 when Missouri comes to town. After that there will be a regularly scheduled open date (October 31) prior to the Georgia game in Jacksonville on November 7. The first priority between now and the Missouri game is to get healthy all 19 kids who tested positive for Covid-19 as well as getting the outbreak within the football program well under control. Fortunately, Florida has one of the better medical staffs in the entire country to get a handle on things.
The second priority will be to figure out what has to be done for the defense prior to the Missouri game. When the season began Missouri was thought to be an SEC bottom feeder that might struggle to win even one game. Surprisingly, the Tigers have done a lot of growing in their first three games, showing an offense that is capable of moving the chains and putting points on the scoreboard. Just ask LSU, which has been put into a scramble mode by the Missouri upstarts.
Once past Missouri, there will be whatever tweaks are necessary prior to Georgia. While this virus has thrown a wrench into the season with the postponement of the LSU game it is not the end of the world. When the season began it was expected the road to a championship would go through Jacksonville and Georgia so nothing has really changed. Although the Gators have a loss, they can still capture the SEC East Division title by going 7-0 if they get to play that many games due to potential outbreaks in both Gainesville and elsewhere between now and December 12. Other than the unexpected change scheduling and the extra week off to recover from the virus, everything else is still the same.
Critical to a 7-0 season-ending run will be Dan Mullen’s ability to keep the Gators fully focused. We tend to forget these are 18-22 year old kids who have more than just football to think about. They have classes to attend or take care of online. They have parents and friends whom they worry about since the virus has spread to every corner of the globe and doesn’t discriminate among potential victims. If the kids are dazed and confused by all that’s going on around them, it’s understandable but that is where coaching and leadership come into play. This is where Mullen and his staff will earn their salaries for 2020.
Championship teams are ones that acquire good habits, put them into a routine and maintain them throughout the course of a season. Sometimes that requires an in-season rebooting to make things right. The Gators suffered a loss to Texas A&M a week ago so the LSU game could have provided an emotional positive with a bounceback win. Now they have to wait for another chance to get out on the field to redeem themselves. And while the Gators have to go through all the virus protocols and all the disruptions to their usual routines, they have to understand that the championship goals they had prior to the start of the season are still within their grasp.
Perhaps this break in routine will give Mullen a chance to retool the team’s attitude. That worked well in 2008. Remember the Ole Miss game and Tim Tebow’s promise afterward? That Florida team went from a we’re really good attitude to one of you can’t beat us as long as we stay 100 percent focused. Getting the team fully focused along with decisions to overhaul the defense completely or simply make a few tweaks here and there to both scheme and personnel could be just what the doctor ordered.
Covid-19 has arrived and there is nothing the Gators can do about it except deal with it. They can’t control the virus but they certainly can control attitudes, focus and determination. The Gators can take the attitude that of all the football programs in all the world the virus disrupted things here in Gainesville, or they can take the attitude that this is simply an obstacle that has to be overcome. A speed bump along the way if you will.
If the Gators make the right choices and along the way Grantham and staff can patch the holes in the sieve that has been the defense the first three games, a championship is still a possibility. There is still plenty of work to be done, but everything is achievable.
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