LIVE: Notes and Observations As No. 13 Florida Gators Kickoff 2021 Season Vs. FAU
Updated: Sep 4, 2021
GAINESVILLE, FL—The No. 13 Florida Gators are back on the field to kick off the 2021 season. Saturday night's kickoff at 7:30pm is against Florida Atlantic University and former FSU head coach Willie Taggart.
Before kickoff, catch up on this week's edition of GatorBait Magazine, complete with previews, rosters and more. Find it here!
Kickoff is set for 7:30pm EST on SEC Network. Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic are on the call.
Stay tuned to this story for notes and observations. It will be updated periodically.
Gator Walk
The Gators weren't able to take part in the pre-game Gator Walk ritual during the 2020 season, due to COVID-19 concerns. So it's no surprised that even before a smaller game, fans still turned out to welcome the boys to the stadium, as well as welcome back the tradition.
Pre-Game Field Notes
The line on the game is currently Florida -23.5.
Former Gator Sharrif Floyd is on the field, visiting with coaches and players ahead of the game.
In warmups, lots of fades to Justin Shorter in the endzone. Expect him to be a big target in the redzone.
New guys Daquan Newkirk and Antonio Shelton both named starters on the interior defensive line. Full starters below for defense:
BUCK Brenton Cox
DE Jeremiah Moon
DE Zach Carter
DL Daquan Newkirk
DL Antonio Valentino
S Trey Dean
C Kaiir Elam
MLB Ventrell Miller
LB Mohamoud Diabate
STAR Tre'Vez Johnson
S Rashad Torrence
C Avery Helm
Full starters on offense:
Tackle, Richard Gouraige
Guard, Ethan White
Center, Kingsley Eguakun
Guard, Stewart Reese
Tackle, Jean Delance
WR, Jacob Copeland
WR, Justin Shorter
WR, Trent Whittemore
TE, Kemore Gamble
RB, Malik Davis
RB, Dameon Pierce
QB, Emory Jones
Andrew Chatfield, who put his name in the transfer portal a couple of weeks ago, is on the field warming up. Players can still practice and even play with their school while waiting to transfer. The school does not have to honor their scholarship while they wait. Athletes can also elect to pull their name out of the portal and stay with a school.
Zach Carter, Malik Davis and Ventrell Miller are captains for today's game.
In Game Observations
FAU wins the toss and defers. Gators on opening drive faced a quick third down, but were able to move the chains thanks to a perfect pitch and catch from Emory Jones to Jacob Copeland for 15 yards.
On the very next play, Malik Davis—who was named a starter alongside Dameon Pierce—broke off a 31-yard gain up the right sideline.
After a couple more quick decisions from Jones (and an offense that set the tempo to FAST), the Gators were on the goal line. Dameon Pierce punched it in from there for the Gators first touchdown of the 2021 season.
That first offensive drive for the Gators started exactly how imagine/fans could hope for. Couple of early jitters, then a quick Emory pass to Copeland for nice snap, a few incredible runs by multiple running backs, good decisions from Jones, blazing fast & a score.
Trey Dean was originally shaken up on a play and went into the medical tent, but returned to play.
Zach Carter with a twitch before the ball was even snapped that said he was coming. He did and blew up FAU's backfield to cause a sack fumble. He can be the game changer this defense needs.
Halftime Observations
Gators offense on paper is playing a great game. Has almost doubled up FAU's total yardage—264 to 134—and is showing a run game that was missing in recent years, picking up 188 yards on the ground courtesy of four different running backs, as well as both QB's (Jones and Anthony Richardson). They've also made four trips to the redzone. But have only gotten points on two of the four trips. Both redzone fails were on Jones. The first time, he threw an interception in an area where only a FAU player was stationed. The second time, on 4th and goal from the 4-yard line, he called his own number for a QB power that went nowhere. Even Dan Mullen looked perplexed.
On Monday, GatorBait asked Dan Mullen how much leeway Jones would have to make his own calls. Here's what he said: “He has a lot. We'll have a bunch of different things. We’ll have some package plays that are checked together. We’ll have some automatics that he can kill to. I think he knows he has the ability (to audible) if he sees something that he likes or that's different that we weren't planning for. A lot of times you get into a game, especially one that you don't have much film to go watch, you know you have to be very flexible during the course of the game. He’s a guy that I have the confidence in that, if he sees something, he can check to it and go take what he sees.”
The Gators defense has played their standard style of bend, don't break. But the difference—at least thus far—from last season is that they've also limited explosive plays. They've kept the Owls out of the redzone the entire first half and picked up two sacks for a loss of 14 yards. Carter and Brenton Cox have been a terror up front, helping the coverage on the backend tremendously. Still, there are too many easy throws to the flat for N'Kosi Perry and the Owls. The secondary will have to play up more in the second half to cut down on those easy pick-ups.
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