Thoughts of the Day: July 13, 2022

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:

WHAT’S UP FRONT WILL BE IMPROVED IN 2022

It’s worth repeating the Gators’ rushing numbers from 2021: (1) The Gators ran for 244 yards (5.67 per carry) and four touchdowns on Alabama; and (2) the Gators ran for 161 yards (4.13 per carry) on Georgia, by far the most yards anyone ran on that elite defense. Sure, there were some rotten games like South Carolina (82 yards) and Missouri (93 yards) but both those games were after Dan Mullen checked out on his team and his team checked out on him.

Despite those two rotten games, the Gators still averaged 208.69 yards per game on the ground and 5.48 per carry. Additionally, the Gators gave up only 14 sacks in 13 games. The yards per carry and sacks allowed were best in the SEC and top five nationally for 2021.

That was with an undisciplined offensive line that shot itself in the foot with silly penalties far too often. Remember the Kentucky game when the Gators killed themselves with false starts and holding penalties in a 20-13 loss in which the defense allowed only one offensive touchdown? By midseason, the offense became far too predictable because Mullen, for reasons we may never know, took a trip and never left the farm. There were glaring inconsistencies in those final six games. The Mullen who called such brilliant games against Alabama and Tennessee just couldn’t seem to get it together after the loss to LSU. A lot of fingers pointed at the O-line, particularly after Mullen fired Hevesy after the Gators lost to South Carolina, but it wasn’t the fault of the linemen as much as it was Mullen and his O-line coach.

Fast forward to 2022. Mullen is gone as is John Hevesy, replaced by head coach Billy Napier and a two-headed approach to coaching the offensive line in Rob Sale, who spent last year coaching the O-line for the New York Giants, and Darnell Stapleton, a former Rimington Trophy finalist (2006), who started Super Bowl XLIII for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008.

Florida’s offensive line returns 55 career starts among the five returnees – LT Richard Gouraige (6-5, 308), LG Ethan White (6-4, 331), C Kingsley Eguakun (6-3, 301), LG/RG Josh Braun (6-6, 346) and RT Michael Tarquin (6-5, 295). That is a solid core that is joined by O’Cyrus Torrence (6-5, 347), who played for Napier, Sale and Stapleton at Louisiana where he made All-Sun Belt twice and freshman All-America in 2019.

If the season were to start today, the starting five would be Gouraige, White, Eguakun, Torrence and either Braun or Tarquin at right tackle. There is every good reason to believe that when the Gators open the season against Utah on September 3 that Braun or juco transfer Jordan Herman (6-8, 370) will be the right tackle. Adding depth are backup center Richie Leonard (6-2, 308) and redshirt freshman Kamryn Waites (6-8, 373), who transferred in along with Torrence when Napier accepted the Florida job.

That is eight offensive linemen. To make it through an SEC season, it takes 10 so Sale and Stapleton will have to add some depth in August. Still, this will be a better coached O-line and the new offensive scheme Napier is bringing in is very run-friendly so we should expect improvement.

A year ago, inconsistent play from starting quarterback Emory Jones contributed mightily to the Gators finishing with a losing record. Nothing makes an O-line look worse than a quarterback who holds the ball too long or gets rid of it too quickly in the passing game and misses too many opportunities to get the ball in the hands of capable running backs by taking the ball himself. That was Jones last year. If Anthony Richardson makes good decisions this year, we are likely to be amazed at just how much better than offensive line is. They weren’t that bad in 2021. They should be vastly better in 2022.

WEEK ONE, UTAH: SCOUTING THE UTES Preseason rankings: Lindy’s 7; Athlon 8; Phil Steele 6

Head coach: Kyle Whittingham (17 years, 144-70); Offensive coordinator: Andy Ludwig; Defensive coordinator: Morgan Scalley

Last year: 10-4, 9-1 Pac-12, Pac-12 champions; lost 48-45 to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl

Last year vs. non-Pac-12 Power 5 opponents: 0-1

Last year vs. ranked opponents: 2-3

Last 10 years vs. non-Pac-12 Power 5 opponents: 4-3

Last 10 years vs. ranked opponents: 8-23

Last year’s offense: 36.1 points; 431.5 total yards; 217.21 rushing yards (5.58 per carry); 214.3 passing yards (7.5 per attempt); 13 sacks allowed; 15 turnovers (8 interceptions, 7 fumbles)

Last year’s defense: 22.6 points; 344.1 total yards; 121.79 rushing yards (3.71 per carry); 222.3 passing yards (6.9 per attempt); 42 sacks; 16 turnovers forced (6 fumbles, 10 interceptions)

Top returning offensive players: QB Cameron Rising (2,493 passing yards, 20 TDPs, 5 INTs; 499 rushing yards, 6 TDs); RB Tavion Thomas (204-1,108 rushing yards, 5.43 per carry, 21 TDs); RB Micah Bernard (87-529 rushing, 6.08 per carry, 6 TDs; 26-251 receiving, 2 TDs); TE Brant Kuithe (50-611, 6 TDs); TE Dalton Kincaid (36-510, 8 TDs); WR Devaughn Vele (23-389, 1 TD); LT Braedon Daniels (6-4, 300); LG Keaton Bills (6-4, 313)

Top returning defensive players: CB Clark Phillips III (62 tackles, 2 INT); S Cole Bishop (55 tackles, 3 sacks, 5 pass breakups); DE Van Fillinger (41 tackles, 5.5 sacks); DT Junior Tafuna (33 tackles, 4.5 sacks); LB Karene Reed (45 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT)

There is no deception in what Utah wants to do. They line up one back, two tight ends and two wide with an O-line that averages 6-5, 308 and ram the ball down opponents’ throats. When opponents go one-high and load the box, they throw it over the top, particularly down the middle of the field to tight ends Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid. The Utes run the ball 57.5 percent of the time. In terms of yardage, it’s one of the most balanced offenses in the country. It’s the scheme of Andy Ludwig, who coordinated the worst offenses in the SEC during his years (2015-18) working for Derek Mason at Vanderbilt. He has better people to work with at Utah. In quarterback Cameron Rising, Ludwig has the perfect game manager. Rising is nimble enough in the pocket that he rarely gets sacked and he is a serious threat once he breaks contain. Against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, Rising ran 11 times for 103 yards, mostly in scramble situations. It’s not a high risk passing game and there really isn’t a legitimate deep threat among the outside receivers. Running back Tavion Thomas is a 238-pound battering ram who isn’t going to wow you with speed and moves. He’s a downhill guy who runs over people. In 204 carries last year he was only stopped for -22 yards in losses. The change of pace guy is Micah Bernard, who is also their third and plus yardage guy because he’s an excellent receiver.

Defensively, the Utes go with a 4-2-5 scheme that relies heavily on zone blitzes. The Utes run a lot of cover three. The idea is to stuff the run and force opponents to throw on third and long against enormous pressure that comes from all angles. They aren’t afraid to put corner Clark Phillips III out on an island. He is probably the best on-on-one cover guy in the Pac-12. Safety Cole Bishop gets a lot of pressure on delayed blitzes up the middle. The Utes are excited to have former Gator Mohamoud Diabate (89 tackles for UF last year) playing the strong side where he is the replacement for Devin Lloyd, who had eight sacks and 22 tackles for loss while making first team All-America last year. The Utes get a lot of pressure on the left side of the D-line from Van Fillinger and Junior Tafuna, who combined for 10 sacks last year.

Everyone has high expectations for the Utes this season. This is not a team that beats itself with silly penalties and turnovers. They know their identity and for the most part, they stick with it. Whittingham, who was Urban Meyer’s defensive coordinator before Meyer left Utah for the Florida job in 2005, is more conservative than Meyer ever was offensively. Whittingham wants the offense to grind and control the clock to keep his defense off the field as much as possible. As spread offenses have become more pass happy, Whittingham has used the power running game as part of his defensive philosophy. Opponents can’t light up the scoreboard if they can’t get their offense on the field.

Utah has only ventured east of the Mississippi River once in the last 10 years and that was to face a Michigan team that finished with a 5-7 record. The Florida game will be Utah’s toughest season opener since the 2004 team faced 20th-ranked Texas A&M in Salt Lake City.

UF BASKETBALL NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE WILL BE CHALLENGING

There aren’t many cupcakes on the non-conference basketball schedule for first year head coach Todd Golden. Florida’s 13-game non-conference schedule includes road trips to Florida State and Kansas State (SEC/Big 12 Challenge) as well as three games in Portland as part of the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament. In addition to UF, the tournament field includes Duke, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Portland State, Purdue West Virginia and Xavier. The highlight of the non-conference home schedule is a December 7 matchup with UConn at the O-Dome.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: A few days ago, right after Southern Cal and UCLA were announced announced as members of the Big Ten starting in 2024, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta told The Athletic’s Scott Docherman, “At this point, the Big Ten is not seeking members.”

Key words: At this point.

Having added a logistical nightmare to the conference in the form of two teams from Los Angeles, it seems likely that the Big Ten is going to feel the need to add some west coast schools so that every road trip for UCLA and Southern Cal isn’t such a grind. Oregon benefactor and Nike founder/multi-billionaire Phil Knight is willing to spend untold millions to get Oregon in the Big Ten and it is thought that Washington and Oregon are joined at the hip. Adding Stanford and California along with Oregon and Washington would give the Big Ten six schools that have a history of competing and the high academic profile that snooty Big Ten commissioners demand.

They are all on hold while the Big Ten waits for Notre Dame to announce its intentions and for the 10 remaining schools of the Pac-12 to go through the motions of a TV contract that seems more unlikely by the day. Figure Notre Dame says thankee but no thankee to its chance to join the Big Ten, choosing instead to remain independent, and for the Big Ten to pillage what’s left of the Pac-12 by adding Washington, Oregon, Cal and Stanford.

Meanwhile, the SEC doesn’t have to make a move even if the Big Ten does. The league has a strong 16-team presence when Texas and Oklahoma join and there is continuity to the league’s geographical footprint.

The other league sitting pretty in all this chaos is the Big 12, which adds Houston, UCF, Cincinnati and BYU in 2023. The Big 12 is in a strong enough position that it doesn’t have to worry that a wounded Pac-12 will come raiding four or six of its members. When the Pac-12 implodes – and it will – the Big 12 will have a nice TV package from ESPN waiting for Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.

Meanwhile, the ACC will be dying on the vine. Don’t you know Miami and Florida State are kicking themselves for not joining the SEC when they had the chance? Don’t you know Clemson and North Carolina are squirming?

This is rich. It’s better than watching the re-runs of SOAP.