With the uncertainty at quarterback, the Gators will need production from their running back-by-committee backfield.
By: Alex Peterman, Writing Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Armed with open tension on the field and pure zeal from the crowd, Mark Thompson burst through the North Texas secondary and hurdled the last defender to complete a 20-yard scoring run.
It's the type of pound-the-rock, hardball style of play that has come to epitomize the Florida rushing attack thus far in the young 2016 football season.
And when Jordan Scarlett drove the ball in from the 1-yard line for the Gators' final score of the game, he was the fourth running back to accomplish the feat in the game.
The final from Saturday night's meeting with North Texas read 32-0, with touchdowns from all four of the Gators' backs –- a result of the team's run-by-committee system that features four very different styles of play.
Given the developments against the Mean Green, the Gators are going to need them all.
"They told us back in the spring we were going to run it this way," said Jordan Cronkrite, who tallied UF's first touchdown of the night on a 6-yard run. "We've stuck with it so far, and it's worked well for us."
The competition in the backfield has been heavy since March; ongoing, right up until the season started. Never a clear-cut starter.
The solution? Play all of them.
Jordan Cronkrite, Lamical Perine and Jordan Scarlett (left to right) comprise 75 percent of UF's four-headed running attack. (Photo: Adler Garfield/For UAA Communications)
"It keeps your head in the game because there is no set depth chart," Cronkrite said. "They can call your name anytime."
Senior nose tackle Joey Ivie aptly described the committee as a "four-headed monster," noting how it routinely makes the defense's job much easier now that he's seen them in game action.
Against North Texas, all four backs averaged over 5.0 yards per carry, with all but Cronkrite getting double-digit touches. All together, they rushed 43 times for 255 yards.
That type of production, while nice to have in a home rout, will be crucial going into next week's marquee Southeastern Conference matchup against Tennessee, a game for which redshirt senior Austin Appleby likely will make his first career start for the Gators after Luke Del Rio went down with a knee injury in the third quarter.
And while UF coach Jim McElwain asserts that the playbook will remain wide open, there has to be a certain level of comfort knowing that the offense can lean on its diversified ground attack.
"Everything that we want to do as an offense comes off of our run game," Appleby said. "I think we've been leaning on it for the last three weeks. That's our bread and butter, what we want to do. We want to pound the rock and be a physical offense up front and set up things over the top. We're going to continue to do that."
Taking what they've been able to do the last three weeks and looking forward as the schedule toughens, the running backs were quick to compliment each other.
Cronkrite pointed toward the running game being used to open up the pass attack for Appleby. He also focused on the fact that spreading out carries allows all four backs to stay healthy and – just as important – fresh for each time they take the field.
Having a committee of running backs with different styles also serves to give the Gators a great deal of control over the pace of the game. At 6-foot-2, 237 pounds, Thompson is more of a bruiser, and he's demonstrated a great deal of success in between the tackles, while also showing some speed and finesse against the Mean Green.
The other three all go 5-11, though they all arm the Gators with considerably different strengths. Whereas Cronkrite and Scarlett are interchangeably used on inside and outside rushes, Lamical Perine is explosive in the short passing game, illustrated by his 29-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter.
"It's exciting because when someone does well, it gets everyone else rallied, it gets everyone else pumped up," Thompson said. "Whenever someone goes in, we're confident in who the ballcarrier is, whether he's running the ball, blocking, or catching."
Before the season started, this group of position players was fighting for a lead spot in the rotation, battling every day of camp for playing time that would eventually equate to touches when the fall season began.
Now they're all on even ground, playing for one another as much as for themselves. Maybe more. But that doesn't mean there isn't still a friendly rivalry between the four of them.
"It's still competitive everyday out in practice," Thompson said. "And that competitiveness helps us win games on Saturday."
With Tennessee on the horizon, it's paramount all four are at their best.
