Demps and Rainey Give Gators Steady Dose Of Production In Opener
Sunday, September 4, 2011 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gators offensive coordinator Charlie Weis said he planned to use running backs Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey a lot in his pro-style offense.
Weis wasn't kidding.
Rainey and Demps scored all five of the Gators' touchdowns on Saturday night in Florida's 41-3 win against Florida Atlantic in the season opener.
Rainey became only the third player in the country since 1996 to score a touchdown rushing, receiving and on a return in the same game. Rainey's 14-yard touchdown reception from John Brantley in the first quarter gave UF a 10-0 lead.
Demps followed that with a 35-yard on the first play of the second quarter, and then Rainey added a 14-yard scoring run later in the quarter. In the second half, Rainey returned a blocked punt by Solomon Patton 22 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter and Demps added a 20-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter.
“Those running backs ran very hard,'' quarterback John Brantley said. “Having those two fast backs, you can always rely on them. They can make plays when the ball is in their hands.''
Between the two of them, Demps (105 rushing, 21 receiving) and Rainey (79 rushing, 67 receiving) combined for 272 of UF's 468 yards of total offense – or 58.1 percent.
The speedy duo's performance in the first game of the season provided the offense with a steady dose of production that FAU's defense was helpless in stopping.
Florida coach Will Muschamp was pleased with the way the offense performed overall other than three interceptions. Thanks to Demps and Rainey, they didn't matter.
“We got the ball into space and with the playmakers,'' Muschamp said. “We did a good job with that. Charlie Weis does a phenomenal job putting together and coaching our offense. We played pretty clean in the game.''
Saturday's game was the type of performance from Demps and Rainey that can alleviate some of the pressure on Brantley in the passing game. It was the type of game the duo didn't have a year ago for various reasons.
Demps was slowed and missed portions of the season due to a serious foot injury, and Rainey missed half the season due to off-the-field issues.
They both looked right at home on Saturday night, running circles around FAU's defense and providing Florida fans with most of the highlights from the Gators' 22nd consecutive season-opening win.
It was that way from the start of the game when Demps took the opening kickoff and raced 88 yards for an apparent touchdown. However, a holding call on Dee Finley negated Demps' return but didn't slow down the Demps-Rainey duo.
A stalwart on special teams throughout his career, Rainey's return of Patton's blocked punt was perhaps his favorite play of the game. It was the second consecutive game Patton has blocked a punt and the Gators returned it for a touchdown.
The same thing happened in the Outback Bowl against Penn State, with Lerentee McCray scoring on the return that time.
“I love special teams, especially the punt block,'' Rainey said Saturday. “We work on that every day, all day.''
As for his nifty spin move that brought fans out of their seats, Rainey deferred on how he is able to make such plays in open space.
“That's a God-given gift,'' he said. “I can't explain that. You've got to ask God. We were just doing our job,'' Rainey said.
Muschamp was impressed. But he has been with Rainey since he took over the program nine months ago.
“He's just a very talented young man,'' Muschamp said. “He's a young guy that comes to practice every day and is ready to compete.''
Meanwhile Rainey's backfield partner contemplated giving up football in the offseason and turning professional in track. However, Demps decided football was too important to him and he returned for his senior season determined to have a better season than his injury-plagued junior campaign.
Demps' quest – which included changing his jersey number from 2 to 28 – got off to a fast start.
“I just wanted to change it up and feel more like a running back, so that's why I went to 28,'' Demps said. “I definitely felt like a running back.
“That's exactly what we wanted to do. We wanted to come out fast, play hard and physical and try to set the tempo of the game. I think we did a great job of that.''
They also did it without a lot of variety. Most of the touches Demps and Rainey got were on handoffs and passes in the flat. Weis planned to keep it simple and evidently he did.
“We only did like six plays, that's it, the whole game.'' Rainey said.
While that number may be a low exaggeration, the plays they ran obviously worked.
“You're going to see a lot of rushing yards this year, that's all I can really say,'' Rainey said. “We want to run the ball.”
