Keys To The Game

Frame from Florida Gators/UAA video.

By Eddie Gilley, Gator Bait Media

#1 – Jaden Baugh! Jaden Baugh needs to make an appearance in the form of Superman and not Clark Kent! He needs to run like his life depends on it. His poor performances may be costing him money. I know the offensive line is an issue but his decisions to dance instead of charging the hole have been on full display in the last few games. The guy who was being hailed as the best back in the country and a Heisman contender needs to show up on Saturday if the Gators are going to have a chance to win in the Bluegrass state.

#2 – The Offensive Line! The OL needs to play better than they have played the last two weeks. They need to create some movement in the positive direction for the run game. They also need to keep the defensive linemen from living in the backfield on passing plays. This may be helped by Aaron Philo being able to identify pressures from the defense better than Tramell Jones Jr. did on Saturday. The center and QB need to be on the same page when they are calling blocking schemes, or the result will be like we saw on Saturday. No time to look downfield. No ability to generate a passing game at all. The OL that moved the Rebels needs to move the Wildcats on Saturday for a change for a Gator upset.

#3 – Eric Singleton! #2 needs to have an impact game. He needs to be the dynamic playmaker that was promised at the start of the season. Injuries have slowed him down and maybe more severe than we have been told. However, he needs to find a way to help take the pressure off Baugh and Stockton. Faulkner needs to find ways to get the ball in his hands in space. Maybe that is with more jet sweeps or deeper routes, but if the offense is going to get started this week in Lexington, Singleton must be a big part of it.

#4 – Aaron Philo! Philo will get the start after being on the bench last week. He needs to return to the solid decision maker that he was early in the season and not be the guy who got too amped up against Georgia. You can understand why playing against his home state university might have had that affect on him. Now he can just go back to playing the game the way Buster Faulkner wants his QB to do it. Boring, pedestrian, game manager, solid or however you want to define it. The QB doesn’t have to win the game, but he can’t give it away either!

#5 – The Defense! The defense needs to show up like it has in the second half of the last two games. Stingy, gritty, and effective. They must avoid those long drives like OU was able to sustain in the second half, but other than that, they played well enough to win. The area that needs improvement is the takeaways. That will be tough against a Wildcat offense that doesn’t give it up often. If the Gators can somehow find a way to get one or two and give the offense a short field a couple of times, the Gators just might leave a cold Kentucky airport with a victory.

Kentucky has two wins by one point in the SEC over LSU and South Carolina. Had those two plays gone the other way, they would be 3-4 in the conference with wins over the bottom of the league. They have been beaten by the four teams in the top half of the league in that case. Florida and Kentucky are very similar in stats apart from those two wins in OT by a single point. The team that can play the cleanest game will probably come away with a victory. Time will tell if the Gators can return to the form that allowed them to win in Austin or not!