Thoughts of the Day: September 8, 2022

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:

EGUAKUN, O-LINE LOVED IT WHEN NAPIER PUT THE GAME ON THEIR BACKS

With six minutes remaining to be played in the Utah game, the Gators had the ball on their own 25, trailing the then 7th-ranked Utes, 26-22. At that point, Billy Napier essentially put the game in the hands of the offensive line. Over the next 4:57, the Gators drove the ball 75 yards in 14 plays for the winning score as Florida won the season opener, 29-26. Anthony Richardson threw two passes. He was in the pocket to throw a third on fourth down at the Utah 26 when the Utes brought the house on a blitz that forced Richardson to scramble nine yards for a critical first down.

With the exception of those three snaps, it was ground and pound. The O-line lined up intent on knocking the Utes off the ball. It wasn’t like the Gators were fooling anyone. Utah knew what was coming. Once the Gators got past midfield, probably all 90,779 in the stadium knew it, too.

Florida center Kingsley Eguakun, who played every offensive snap in the game, was more than pleased that Napier and the coaching staff let the big guys up front do their part to decide the game.

“I’m going to be honest,” Eguakun said Wednesday night after practice. “That’s how we feel it needs to go in our [offensive line] room. In our room, we personally feel like it’s on our back. We’re good because we got veterans in the room. We’ve got guys who’ve played ball and know what’s going on. We got monsters. When I say that, I really mean that. We got dogs in that room.

“So, we’re really comfortable when Coach does things like that because at the end of the day, we still got Ant (Anthony Richardson) back there. It's on all of us for real, but when he puts it on us, that makes me more comfortable than it being in someone else’s hands.”

Florida pounded out 283 rushing yards against the Utes, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. Saturday night against 20th-ranked Kentucky, the 12th-ranked Gators will be going against a run defense that allowed 111 yards on 32 carries against Miami (OH).

Eguakun on Dan Mullen picking the Gators fourth in the SEC East

After acknowledging everyone in the locker room was aware that former UF coach Dan Mullen predicted the Gators would finish fourth in the SEC East, Eguakun said, “We joked about it the day it came out but at the end of the day, when you go play and win games, it doesn’t matter what anyone has to say.”

Napier on football: It’s a game about people “There’s a human element to this game. I think we like to say that football is a game about people, strategy and competition and if you ever put strategy or competition at the top of that list, you’re not going to get the return you want. You have to keep people at the core of what you do. If you think you’re going to outsmart everybody, you’re wrong. If you think you’re going to outwork everybody, you’re wrong. It’s the right combination of those three and you’ve got to keep people at the core of what you do.”

Week two depth chart for Kentucky (starter in bold face)

Offense

WR: Xzavier Henderson; Daejon Reynolds or Marcus Burke

WR: Justin Shorter; Ja’Quavion Fraziars WR: Ricky Pearsall; Trent Whittemore; Ja’Markis Weston

LT: Richard Gouraige; Kamryn Waites LG: Ethan White; Richie Leonard IV

C: Kingsley Eguakun; Jake Slaughter

RG: O’Cyrus Torrence; Josh Braun

RT: Michael Tarquin; Austin Barber

TE: Dante Zanders; Keon Zipperer

QB: Anthony Richardson; Jalen Kitna or Kyle Engel RB: Nay’Quan Wright; Montrell Johnson Jr. or Trevor Etienne; Lorenzo Lingard

Defense DE: Princely Umanmielen; Justus Boone DT: Jalen Lee; Desmond Watson; Jaelin Humphries; Jamari Lyons

DE: Gervon Dexter Sr.; Tyreak Sapp; Chris McClellan

JACK: Brenton Cox Jr.; Antaun Powell-Ryland Jr.; Lloyd Summerall III or David Reese

LB: Ventrell Miller; Scooby Williams; Derek Wingo

LB: Amari Burney; Shemar James; Diwun Black STAR: Tre’Vez Johnson; Jadarrius Perkins; Kamar Wilcoxson CB: Jason Marshall Jr.; Devin Moore; Jordan Young

S: Rashad Torrence II; Kamari Wilson; Corey Collier Jr. S: Trey Dean III; Donovan McMillon; Miguel Mitchell

CB: Avery Helm; Jalen Kimber; Ethan Pouncey

Special Teams KO: Adam Mihalek or Trey Smack

PK: Adam Mihalek or Trey Smack

P: Jeremy Crawshaw; Jacob Watkins

HOLDER: Jeremy Crawshaw; Jacob Watkins

LS: Rocco Underwood; Chase Whitfield

KOR: Ja’Markis Weston; Trevor Etienne; Nay’Quan Wright or Xzavier Henderson

PR: Xzavier Henderson; Jason Marshall Jr. or Trevor Etienne

Injured: TE Arlis Boardingham; CB Jaydon Hill; QB Jack Miller III; OL David Conner; LS Marco Ortiz

SEC football

#1 Alabama (1-0): Tight end Cam Latu, out since August with an injury, was pronounced 100 percent and good to go for Saturday’s game with Texas by Nick Saban.

#16 Arkansas (1-0): The Razorbacks know they have to improve their pass defense when they take on South Carolina and transfer quarterback Spencer Rattler. Last week in the win over Cincinnati, the Razorbacks gave up 325 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Auburn (1-0): Wide receiver JJ Evans, a former 4-star recruit who hasn’t seen the field in two seasons, has entered the transfer portal.

#2 Georgia (1-0): There will be no quarterback controversy with Stetson Bennett the unquestioned starter, but will the backups – former 4-star Carson Beck and former 5-star Brock Vandagriff – tire of waiting around? Kirby Smart says his message to the QBs is the same as every other player: “They have to make decisions on what’s best for them.”

#20 Kentucky (1-0): SEC Network analyst Roman Harper says, “Florida is going to win this game, and I think they’re going to win it pretty handily, too. It’s going to look dominant. I’m not trending toward a blowout, but it is in The Sawmp and they do play better, they do play differently. Use me as ammo, if you need it, I’m feeding it to you right now, Kentucky Wildcats, but if you want to win this game, you’ve got to stop Florida up front. Kentucky looked a little softer. I hate using the word softer, but they were not as physical running the football.”

LSU (0-1): On the SEC Coaches Teleconference Brian Kelly said “everything is up for evaluation” this week as the Tigers deal with numerous injuries on the defensive side of the ball and try to come up with a decent combination for an offensive line that stunk against FSU.

Mississippi State (1-0): When the Bulldogs face off with Arizona in Tucson Saturday, Mike Leach will be going against quarterback Jayden de Laura. “I recruited him and signed him at Washington State so I think a lot of him,” Leach said Wednesday. “He’s a good player.”

Missouri (1-0): Mizzou allowed only eight rushing yards in game one against Louisiana Tech. This week the Tigers will be challenged to stop Kansas State’s Deuce Vaughn, who ran for 126 yards and a TD in K-State’s season opening win over South Dakota.

#22 Ole Miss (1-0): Lane Kiffin will start Luke Altmeyer at QB this week after giving Jaxson Dart the start in the season opener. “Obviously, I’m not going to say it’s the best thing,” Kiffin said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference Wednesday, “but we’ve got to find the best guy.”

South Carolina (1-0): Former Gator Chris Doering, now an SEC Network analyst, says South Carolina’s O-line has to play better than it did in week one for the Gamecocks to beat Arkansas on the road. “Until I see it I’m going to be really skeptical about what that line’s going to be able to do.”

#24 Tennessee (1-0): A year ago, Hendon Hooker was the backup to Joe Milton when the Vols faced Pitt in Neyland Stadium. This year the roles are reversed for UT’s road trip to Pitt. Hooker, who threw for 188 yards and two TDs coming off the bench last year, started the 2022 season 18-25 for 221 yards and two TDs against Ball State.

#6 Texas A&M (1-0): Regarding Saturday opponent Appalachian State of the Sun Belt Conference, Jimbo Fisher said, “I look at them as a true Power Five team and a team that can compete in any conference in America” … According to the Bryan Eagle newspaper, since the NIL rule went into effect in 2021, Aggie football players have earned $3,367,517.52

Vanderbilt (2-0): HBC Clark Lea should be quite familiar with what Wake Forest will be trying to do offensively Saturday. Lea worked with Wake HBC Dave Clawson at both Bowling Green and Wake Forest. He also worked with current WF offensive coordinator Warren Ruggerio when the two were on the Bowling Green staff together.

Our SEC orphans in the Big 12

#7 Oklahoma (1-0): The Sooners had nine tackles for loss and six sacks in their season-opening win over UTEP last week.

Texas (1-0): For Texas to have a shot at beating #1 Alabama, running back Bijan Robinson (10-71 for 1 TD last week against Louisiana-Monroe) is going to have to have a big game. Robinson ran for 1,127 yards and 11 touchdowns in 10 games last season.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Here we are in the second full week of college football and we still haven’t had our first head coach go down for the count. That could change this week if Nebraska and Georgia Tech rise to crashing defeat, which is entirely possible.

Countdown to Firing Day, Week Two

On Life Support

Scott Frost, Nebraska: When it was 7-7 at halftime against North Dakota last week he was teetering on the verge of a Sunday dismissal. Georgia Southern comes to Lincoln this week, a game that the Fighting Frosts dare not lose or else the HBC will be jettisoned.

Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech: If Georgia Tech loses or is pushed to the limit by the Fighting Kerwin Bells of Western Carolina, Collins could be packing his office on Monday. He’s 9-27 at the North Avenue Trade School.

Scot Loeffler, Bowling Green: He won’t get fired until season’s end, unless, of course, he shocks the world by going 6-6.

Bryan Harsin, Auburn: He will be 2-0 after beating San Jose State this weekend but Penn State looms and then comes the SEC West and Georgia.

Jake Spavital, Texas State: He’s 0-1 this season and 9-28 since becoming the head coach. If he survives past the September 17 blowout loss to Baylor it will be a miracle.

Mike Bloomgren, Rice: Stanford’s been on a downhill slide since he left there as the OC in 2017. Rice is 11-32 with Bloomgren as the head coach. It’s a matter of when not if he gets fired. Maybe David Shaw will hire him again at Stanford.

Endangered Species List

Herm Edwards, Arizona State: The admin threw everyone except Herm under the bus for the NCAA issues. The Pac-12 looks so weak he could actually survive.

Willie Taggart, Florida Atlantic: He’s 1-1 right now, but if Southeastern Louisiana gives the Owls a tussle and then they get boatraced by UCF on September 17 the buzzards will start circling.

Seth Littrell, North Texas: Three straight losing seasons have the North Texas boosters asking “we’re paying $1.8 million for what?” He really needs 7-8 wins to make the boosters happy.

Steve Sarkisian, Texas: The alums won’t be happy after the Horns lose to Alabama (badly) this weekend, but Sark’s future in Austin depends on a decent Big 12 record and keeping the commitment of Arch Manning.

Dino Babers, Syracuse: He should be 2-0 after UConn this weekend. Four more wins and he survives.

Neal Brown, West Virginia: This is his fourth year and he’s 17-19. He really needs to do something better than 6-6 or 7-5 but it’s a difficult schedule.

Ken Niumatalolo, Navy: Two straight losing seasons and now a season-opening loss to D1AA Delaware plus a schedule that isn’t conducive to a winning record. The situation is dicey.

Scott Satterfield, Louisville: If he gets clocked by UCF at the Bounce House this weekend he will be On Life Support.