GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the aftermath of the Gators' explosive offensive performance in the season opener, the applause drifted well past the 51 points and school-record 642 yards against a Southeastern Conference opponent.
Florida's 51-35 win over Ole Miss sparked conversation about quarterback
Kyle Trask and his Heisman credentials, revved up the attention on tight end
Kyle Pitts, and in a Twitter video by
SEC Network analyst Jordan Rodgers – the former Vanderbilt quarterback and brother of Packers star Aaron Rodgers – directed the spotlight on the play-calling acumen of head coach
Dan Mullen and his staff.
As others detailed the exploits of Florida's Kyle Konnection and firecracker attack on the Rebels, Mullen took a more pragmatic approach.
"We didn't come out to peak in Week 1,'' he said. "I expect the offense to get better."
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The likelihood of Trask throwing six touchdowns, Pitts catching four, and the Gators racking up nearly 2,000 feet of offense each week are slim, even in this COVID-19 era of college football where early in the season the offenses are clearly ahead of the defenses for a change. Still, there's ample evidence that this Gators offense could be the program's most explosive in a while.
Coincidentally, the third-ranked Gators host South Carolina on Saturday in their home opener. Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp, in his fourth season, was UF's head coach from 2011-14. During Muschamp's tenure and well into that of Jim McElwain, the man who replaced him, Florida's identity as a program shifted to defense. That identity has begun to shift back to offense under Mullen, who is 22-5 since taking over the program.
UF's win at Ole Miss marked the eighth 500-yard game of offense since Mullen returned. In 88 games from 2011-17 – the Muschamp and McElwain eras – the Gators had just eight such performances.
As for the 2020 Gators, despite losing four senior receivers from last season's team and leading rusher
Lamical Perine, the cupboard is hardly bare on offense.
"It's a very scary offense,'' said fourth-year junior receiver
Trevon Grimes, who hauled in three catches for 64 yards and a touchdown at Ole Miss. "It's kind of like you have to pick your poison. Who do you want to try and double-cover? You can't guard everybody on the field at the same time and I think we showed that this last Saturday.
"And there's more to come."
At Ole Miss, Florida passed for 446 yards and rushed for 196. Trask was 30 of 42 for 416 yards. Pitts caught eight passes for 170 yards. Receiver
Kadarius Toney snapped off a 50-yard run and caught five passes for 59 yards and a touchdown. Running backs
Dameon Pierce (54 yards) and
Malik Davis (49) combined for more than 100 yards rushing on 16 attempts. Receivers
Jacob Copeland and
Trent Whittemore each had three catches and newcomer
Justin Shorter caught a pair of passes in his Gators debut.
Add it all up, and the Gators eclipsed the previous school record for yards against an SEC opponent set in 2001 against Mississippi State when
Steve Spurrier was calling the plays and quarterback Rex Grossman was slinging the rock in the Fun 'n' Gun.
The Gators know that Pitts, the junior tight end from Pennsylvania, is going to be a primary target of opposing defenses all season. Trask said if teams are able to limit Pitts' effectiveness, he has plenty of other options.
"We have a lot of playmakers on this team, and if they want to double- or triple-team one player, then that means we have a mismatch somewhere else on the field,'' Trask said. "We're just doing our best to score every time we have the ball. That's our goal every single time we step onto the field as an offense."
Not to be overlooked is the performance of the offensive line in the opener. Despite the loss of projected starting center
Ethan White to knee surgery, the Gators didn't miss a beat in the trenches, surrendering just one sack and opening holes in the running game.
Senior
Brett Heggie moved from guard to center, a position he has played in his career, with
Richard Gouraige and graduate transfer
Stewart Reese starting at guard, and
Jean Delance and
Stone Forsythe at tackle. Heggie was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.
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Center Brett Heggie helps receiver Trevon Grimes up during Saturday's win at Ole Miss. (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)
The O-Line's performance and communication in a quieter-than-normal road venue pleased Mullen.
"Obviously having a veteran quarterback helps, a veteran offensive line certainly helps as you have to make in-game adjustments,'' Mullen said. "But overall, I thought the offensive line played well."
The challenge is expected to be stiffer for Florida's offense on Saturday against South Carolina. The Gamecocks are coming off a loss to Tennessee, but anytime Muschamp is on the other sideline defense is a priority.
In six career games against Muschamp either as a head coach or offensive coordinator, Mullen is 4-2 and his teams have averaged 25.2 points, 384.8 yards and 6 yards per play. The Gators defeated South Carolina 35-31 in the Swamp two years ago – the
Feleipe Franks "shush" game – and 38-27 in the rain a season ago in Columbia.
As the applause fades for the Gators' Week 1 performance and attention turns to Week 2, Mullen will take all the explosive plays he can get. The Gators had nine at Ole Miss, four runs of 10 or more yards and five catches of 20 or more yards.
But before explosiveness comes execution.
"Do we have components [to be explosive?] Yes, because we have explosive players in the offense,'' he said. "It gives you the opportunity to have a much more explosive offense. So, I think it certainly has the potential to be from week to week.
"But, like I said, I also think defenses – unlike normal years, where kind of the offenses pick up as the year goes on, I think it's going to go the opposite way and defenses will start catching up quicker. You'll see the bigger stats earlier in the year offensively."
Of course, he won't mind if his offense bucks the expected trend.
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