TWO BITS: Herbstreit’s thoughts, Black’s tough

1 » A guest on the Joe Rose Show on 560 WQAM in South Florida, ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit discussed the Florida Gators offense and expressed some concerns about how it has looked since former offensive coordinator Dan Mullen went to take the head coaching job with Mississippi State. “I know the Florida offense was OK last year […] but when I watched Florida last year, if you had taken Tim Tebow’s creativity and determination and skill away from the offense, I really wonder how they would have scored a lot of points, because they didn’t have a lot of threats downfield,” he said. “I didn’t really see a lot of vertical passing. And I think now, without an athletic quarterback, they’re going to have to be able to complete some balls downfield to be able to open up all that underneath, quick stuff, where they want to get the ball into the hands of [Jeff] Demps and [Chris] Rainey and co[mpany].”

2 » Giving Gators senior safety Ahmad Black lofty praise as the “Manny Pacquiao of college football,” the Miami Herald’s Joseph Goodman notes that the bruiser is already one of the best at his position in the game, regardless of his smaller stature. Florida defensive coordinator Teryl Austin agrees. “That little guy is a good player,” Austin said. “Sometimes there are small guys who play small, but he’s not. He’s a small guy who plays big and that’s important.” Also drawing rave reviews from his teammates in the Gators’ secondary, Black has a team-high 12 tackles and one interception on Saturday against Miami (OH); he may be even more important this week against the South Florida Bulls as UF tries to corrall speedy quarterback B.J. Daniels.