Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The task immediately ahead for Jim McElwain and his Florida football team is to move on from Saturday's home loss to LSU and turn their focus to the incoming Texas A&M Aggies. The Gators will need to do so quickly and show a sense of urgency along the way.

More so (much so) than they did in the waining moments against the Tigers.

Remember?

UF trailed 17-16 when it took possession in a deep hole, from its own 4, with 4:01 to play.  A nice catch and run by true freshman tailback Malik Davis, good for 13 yards, got the Gators out from their backed-up spot. The clock showed 3:12 remaining.

But Florida managed just one play over the next 50 seconds and before it could get the next snap off, the Gators were hit with a false-start penalty. The last three plays, with quarterback Feleipe Franks and his unit needing 11 yards for a first down, went for eight, then an incompletion on third-and-3, followed by incompletion on fourth-and-3.

LSU took over and ran out the clock.

Beyond the obvious disappointment of the first home Southeastern Conference defeat under Coach Jim McElwain, the UF coaches and players were left to process an offensive performance that netted a mere 302 yards, including just 108 through the air on only 10 completions, the program's fewest passing yards in a game since managing just 93 in a loss at Alabama in 2014. As a result, the Gators (3-2, 3-1) are back in the triple-digit club, as far as NCAA statistical rankings, checking in at 102nd this week, as well as 11th in the SEC at 347.2 yards per game. They'll likely need to be better against A&M (4-2, 2-1) just to keep pace. While the Aggies might be a middling defensive bunch (382.0 ypg), the offense rates fifth in the SEC at 424.8 per game, including 23rd nationally in rushing at 224.8 per game.

"The expectation, I would say at this point, is to play at a faster pace," McElwain said during his weekly Monday turn with the media. "Not every play is going to be perfect, but we need to be perfect on those 'got to have it' downs. That leads back to the third-down piece, especially against good teams. So those are things that we need, and I expect, to get better, and yet we need to continue to grow with those guys and we need to have a plan to put them in position."

That means running more plays, a luxury the Gators did not afford themselves, thanks to that "third-down piece." UF was just 2-for-9 on what the staff calls the "money down," while allowing the Tigers to go six of 14.

LSU was the third opponent to run at least 10 more plays than the UF offense, and that last Gators possession left a lasting memory. Florida ran just 13 plays on three possessions (for just 37 yards) in the fourth quarter, when all it needed was a drive to a field goal to take the lead.

CHARTING THE GATORS
The Florida offense has out-possessed only one opponent this season and ran more
snaps that its foe in just two other games.

Team	Opponent Plays	UF Plays
vs Michigan (at Arlington, Texas)	75	53
Tennessee	72	57
@Kentucky	59	63
Vanderbilt	60	77
LSU	64	54

"I would say it's just getting the play into the game, getting from the sideline to Feleipe, so Feleipe can get it to us and relay it to everybody else. Got to get faster," sophomore wide receiver Freddie Swain said. "Once we get that faster, we get more plays called, we'll get the ball in the end zone."

Swain's take was echoed after the game by Franks, and again by other teammates Monday.

"The first thing we have to do is push the pace," junior offensive lineman Tyler Jordan said.

Hopefully, for the Gators, it'll be that simple.

The running game is doing its part. The Gators, with Davis and sophomore Lamical Perine taking turns, have shown they can move the ball on the ground, with consecutive rushing outputs of 194 yards (against LSU), 218 (Vanderbilt), 186 (at Kentucky) and 168 (Tennessee), respectively. That's a big jump from those 11 yards on 27 carries in the season opener against Michigan.

The passing game, however, is well behind, with the absence of Tyrie Cleveland (ankle) a glaring void against the Tigers. The Gators rank 11th in the league in passing and 95th nationally at 191.8 yards a game. Florida has thrown just two touchdowns (both vs. Tennessee) in three home games.  
 
The status of Cleveland, who leads the team with 15 catches and 326 yards and two touchdowns, remains uncertain. The Gators also could be without true freshman utility man Kadarius Toney (shoulder), who took six direct snaps for runs against LSU. His "wildcat" spot, if called on, would go to little-used receiver Dre Massey.

Safety Nick Washington (shoulder), defensive back Chauncey Gardner, Jr. (ankle), linebacker Jeremiah Moon  (ankle) and offensive guard Brett Heggie (concussion protocol) are also questionable for the game.

The Aggies opened the season in epic fashion — and not in a good way. They blew a 34-point second-half lead in losing 45-44 at UCLA before stringing together consecutive wins against Nichols, Louisiana-Lafayette, Arkansas in overtime, and South Carolina, before falling 27-19 at home Saturday against No. 1 Alabama.

The final score of that one-possession outcome is somewhat deceiving, as A&M got a touchdown with just 17 seconds to play, but it's worth noting the Crimson Tide had blasted their previous two SEC foes by a combined 125-3. The Aggies, who lead the SEC in sacks, only gave up 355 yards to a Bama offense that is averaging a league-best 483.0 per game.

On offense, dual-threat quarterback Kelly Mond, the Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy product who took over after Nick Starkel broke his leg in Week 2, has completed 56.8 percent of his passes for 1,045 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. The Aggies' top runners, led by Trayveon Williams (422 yards, 5 TD), all average over four yards per carry. Williams is good for 5.2 per attempt and Mond is capable of taking off along the lines of Kentucky's elusive Stephen Johnson.

"They're explosive. They just fought a hard fight with Alabama, so that tells you what type of team they are," sophomore linebacker David Reese said. "We know what we're up against."