Gators Notebook: Stephens Making Plays, Joseph Blossoms, More Tidbits

Tight end Moral Stephens is tied for the team lead with three touchdown catches. (Photo: Jay Metz/UAA Communications)

Gators Notebook: Stephens Making Plays, Joseph Blossoms, More Tidbits

Tuesday, October 9, 2018 | Football

By: Ethan Hughes, FloridaGators.com Intern

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Fifth-year senior tight end Moral Stephens had seven career receptions for 155 yards and no touchdowns prior to this season.

Stephens' numbers through the first six games of 2018: six catches, 76 yards and three touchdowns. All three of his scores have given the Gators the lead.

On Monday, Florida head coach Dan Mullen said that when he took over the program, he saw a talented player who had been underdeveloped in the weight room.

"I looked at his numbers, his testing numbers in the weight room and I'm like, 'What have you done for the last couple of years?' " Mullen said. "He benched about the same as I did, and I run now. I don't lift as much anymore. It's just not right."

Stephens worked hard in the Gators' revamped strength and conditioning program, and that has translated to the field, Mullen said.

"It's a tragedy that we don't have him for longer where he can get a real offseason to let his body develop," he said. "He might have a future even beyond this year if he decides to work at it. I think he's just scratching the surface for what his development could have been."

While redshirt sophomore quarterback Feleipe Franks was at Wakulla High School, they played against Stephens' Taylor County team every year. Franks was impressed with Stephens, who played wide receiver then.

"I've been watching throughout high school, and then being able to play with him since he's been here, just seeing him develop this year as opposed to the last two years, he's just getting better every single day," Franks said. "He's one of those guys that is super crisp in route running, a super route-runner. We have a lot of those on our team, but he's one of them."

Stephens is tied with Van Jefferson and Freddie Swain for the team lead in touchdown catches. He caught a 3-yard touchdown from Franks in Saturday's 27-19 win over LSU.

Added junior receiver Josh Hammond: "He's never been the guy to beg for the ball or anything like that. He's just always did his job and always stayed humble and continued to work, continued to work, continued to work. Coach Mullen has put him in a great position to be successful, and it's finally showing his work he is putting in is paying off. Just happy for him just seeing he's making the plays he wants to make."

STILL SEARCHING FOR CONSISTENCY

While UF's offense has seemingly improved with each week, Mullen is still looking for more consistency.

His team put up 47 points against Tennessee, but explosive plays and turnovers forced by the defense routinely set them up with outstanding field position. Against Mississippi State, Florida was only able to muster one touchdown, and it came on a trick play. A bulk of the Gators' offensive production against LSU on Saturday came on three possessions.

Mullen wants to see his offense routinely move the ball up and down the field and avoid self-inflicted errors. Even if the drives don't result in points, flipping the field is a must in lower-scoring, close games.

He also wants to see more consistency within drives. He pointed out Franks' 49-yard completion to Hammond on the opening play of the second half against LSU and his interception on the next play as an example.

"I think we're getting better at it, better consistency within the offense with our execution of what we're trying to do and what we're trying to accomplish," Mullen said.

In perhaps Mullen's most interesting comments on Monday, he said that he needs to be more consistent as a play-caller as well.

"The next three possessions [after the interception], we seemed to be back-to-the-wall, and I got conservative, and that's a real bad combination for the offense," he said.

"For the offense, you're already backed way up near your own goal line and now I got conservative with my play-calling. We got three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out, and now you sit there and yell, 'Boy, that's terrible.' I thought it was a lack of consistency, too, but it's a lack of consistency on my part as much as our execution of the guys on the field. We're always striving.

"I want to score every time we have the ball, and I don't want us to give up a yard."

JOSEPH PLAYING UNDER CONTROL

Junior linebacker Vosean Joseph has always had the physical tools. He's strong, fast and athletic.

He plays extremely hard on every down, looking to make a big play. Sometimes, that has been his downfall.

When Joseph struggles, it's often because he leaves his gap in pursuit of the ball carrier. Rather than trusting the defensive play call and doing his job, he tries to make the highlight play. When that happens, the result is usually a big play for the other team.

58252 — Linebacker Vosean Joseph sacked LSU quarterback Joe Burrow twice on Saturday to earn SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors. (Photo: Paige Santiago/UAA Communications)

He's shown the ability to play within the framework of the defense at times but never consistently. However, he took a big step toward consistency against LSU. Joseph posted a team-high and career-best 14 tackles, a career-high two sacks and a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss.

One play in particular showcased Joseph's newfound discipline. In the third quarter, LSU ran a jet sweep to the right side of the field with receiver Derrick Dillon. UF safety Jeawon Taylor and defensive end Jachai Polite had the edge contained, causing Dillon to try to cut back over the middle. In the past, Joseph might've over-pursued and left the middle of the field vacated. This time, however, he stayed home and made the tackle for no gain. The Tigers ended up settling for a field goal.

"I think what you're starting to see is a guy that understands, 'Hey, don't lose how hard I play, don't lose the speed I play with or the reckless abandon I play with out there on the field. But, I also have to understand I need to be in the right place at the right time and execute as well because if I just run around out of control, you'll see big play after big play after big play hitting us,' " Mullen said. "So, I think as he matures and understands it's about executing the scheme defensively, you're going to see him continue to improve as a player because he does have that athleticism and then that aggressiveness … you look for in a linebacker."

HOLDING THE ROPE

After the win over LSU, Mullen said in his postgame press conference that he was proud of his team for not letting go of the rope.

Confused?

One of the Gators' offseason workouts with Nick Savage, the team's director of strength and conditioning, required them to run up and down stadium steps while holding a rope with some of their teammates. Aside from the physical aspect of this workout, it was designed to instill a sense of camaraderie and teamwork in the players. You could be the fastest guy on the team, but you can only go as fast as the slowest guy holding the rope with you.

Now, Mullen is hearkening back to those grueling workouts as inspiration for his team in the fourth quarter. "Don't let go of the rope" has become a rallying cry for not giving in and fighting through fatigue and pain in the fourth quarter.

"I think those [workouts] have a lot to do with our success because when you get into those games, you need something to look back on," he said. "And the fact you can look back on and say, 'Hey, I trained so hard and put myself through so much in that offseason training with so much intensity. I did it for this moment, not when you're up big, I did it for when we are down in the fourth quarter, and we have to find a way to make a play to win the game. I have that to look back upon and I can take with me moving forward.' "

Mullen said the team's buy-in started in the offseason and has continued to grow.

Added Hammond: "When those games get tight and it is back-and-forth, back-and-forth, we know that we have each other's back and we are still ready to play football, even if it goes into overtime. We are ready for it. Just the preparation we put in all summer and on campus has prepared us for these moments."