If Saturday’s 2013 Orange & Blue Debut was any indication, the Florida Gators still have a long way to go to get their passing game on track for the start of the season.

Florida head coach Will Muschamp had plenty on his plate this spring as began to fill in holes created by the departure of 13 starters, but he and offensive coordinator Brent Pease have also been focused on ensuring that the Gators improve a passing offense that was ranked 114th in the nation a year ago.

During the 2012 campaign, Pease’s first year at Florida, the team averaged just 146.31 yards per game through the air. UF was only one of two programs in the country to average fewer than 150 passing yards and boast a winning record (Navy).

How poor was the Gators’ passing attack? Florida ranked 111th in total passing yards (1,902) and 110th in yards per reception (10.39). The Gators were also just one of two teams in the nation to rank in the bottom seven for passing offense and not boast a top-six rushing offense (Temple) to off-set the lack of yardage.

In other words, there is plenty of room for improvement.

Continue Reading » Room for improvement in Florida’s passing game

Tags: Andre Debose, Brent Pease, Demarcus Robinson, Jeff Driskel, Latroy Pittman, Loucheiz Purifoy, Matt Jones, Quinton Dunbar, Raphael Andrades, Will Muschamp

Over the last week-and-a-half of Florida Gators spring football practice, a number of players met with the media to discuss their individual play and the team as a whole. Below are some of the stories, notes and quotes that have fallen through the cracks.

READY AND ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE

A lot has been made over the last two weeks about injuries to the unit, but a huge boon for Florida’s offensive line is newly-eligible redshirt junior Max Garcia, a transfer from Maryland who sat out the entire 2012 season and has accepted a position switch from tackle to guard. Garcia was listed as the starting left guard on the Gators’ initial spring practice depth chart and has received nothing but positive views thus far in camp.

Garcia, who missed a few days of practice with a sore back, explained last week that Florida’s depth concerns on the offensive line are legitimate but the players are doing whatever they can to make it work.

“This spring is tough with the numbers that we have. The coaches are telling us we’ve been doing a great job, but at the end of the day, it’s going out there and doing what we need to do. With the O-line, we’re the backbone of the team, so we just got to keep pushing forward and getting the job done,” he said.

Garcia also spoke about why he decided to transfer to the Gators, noting that he is sure he made the right decision. “I’ve had a lot of support with the coaches and the players. That’s the main reason why I came down here, just because of the players that were here, the players I interacted with on my official visit. We got a good O-line, great chemistry, so the transition has been going really well,” he said.

Though he is now fully in the mix, Garcia had to sit out the entire 2012 season, watching the team from afar as it completed an unexpected turnaround under head coach Will Muschamp. He discuss how that affected him as a competitor.

“Honestly, when we were winning, it wasn’t really hard. With a great season, you’re just happy to be part of the team, happy to contribute. It was good getting recognized at the end of the year as the Scout Team Offensive Player of the Year. The hard work didn’t go unnoticed. The coaches did a good job just telling me I’ve been doing well. I was really excited. It wasn’t really a burden on me. I was just happy to be a part of the team.”

“It was tough on the away games sitting in front of the TV, wishing I could be out there trying to help the team. But for the most part we had a really successful season, so it wasn’t really that tough.”

Continue Reading » Florida offense: Quick hitters on Garcia, Jones, Brown, Ajagbe, Andrades and the offensive line

Tags: Andre Debose, baseball, Brian White, Demarcus Robinson, Gideon Ajagbe, Hunter Joyer, Joker Phillips, Kelvin Taylor, Kevin O'Sullivan, Latroy Pittman, Mack Brown, Matt Jones, Max Garcia, Quinton Dunbar, Raphael Andrades, Rhaheim Ledbetter, Skyler Mornhinweg, Solomon Patton, Tyler Murphy, Will Muschamp

Now a week into 2013 spring football practice, Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp met with the media on Tuesday to discuss some of the latest developments surrounding the team and provide updates on specific players.

INJURY UPDATES

Freshman linebacker Alex Anzalone, who got knocked out of spring practice on Saturday after colliding with sophomore tight end Kent Taylor, had surgery on his shoulder Sunday and will be out for the remainder of the spring. Muschamp said on Tuesday that Anzalone should return for fall practice after a four-month recovery.

“It was his labrum, right shoulder, I believe. It’s a freak deal. It was in a tackling drill and he got hit on it the wrong way. I’m disappointed for him, but he’s going to be a really good player, so we’re going to be fine,” he explained.

Muschamp also announced that sophomore defensive end Jonathan Bullard and redshirt junior cornerback Cody Riggs tweaked their hamstrings. Bullard is expected to return Monday while Riggs is technically listed “day-to-day.”

Additionally, redshirt senior right guard Jon Halapio, who will be limited throughout spring practice while recovering from a knee injury, was able to get on the Sunday but only for individual work. He is not yet ready for 11-on-11 drills but “looked good.”

THREE-WAY PLAYER, YES, BUT DEFENSE COMES FIRST

Though junior cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy has been spending spring practice playing offense and special teams exclusively up to this point in time, Muschamp made it clear on Tuesday that he expects him to primarily be a presence on the defensive side of the ball but hopes his work on offense allows the Gators to be more multiple in the ways that offensive coordinator Brent Pease uses him during the season.

Continue Reading » 3/19: Three Gators injured, others progressing

Tags: Alex Anzalone, Andre Debose, Antonio Morrison, Austin Hardin, Brad Phillips, Brent Pease, Cody Riggs, D.J. Humphries, Darious Cummings, Gideon Ajagbe, Jeff Driskel, Jon Halapio, Jonathan Bullard, Jonotthan Harrison, Kelvin Taylor, Kent Taylor, Kyle Koehne, Latroy Pittman, Loucheiz Purifoy, Max Garcia, Quinteze Williams, Quinton Dunbar, Raphael Andrades, Trip Thurman, Tyler Moore, Will Muschamp

While Florida Gators basketball was participating in the 2013 SEC Tournament, the football team held a pair of open spring practices on Friday and Saturday that OGGOA was unable to cover at that time.

Below is a smattering of notes and opinions from the InsidetheGators.com staff, which was in attendance at the practice sessions and delivered six premium reports (as well as two free roundtable discussions) following the proceedings. Each tidbit below has been re-written by OGGOA, but the parts in quotation marks are the specified writer’s own words. Corresponding articles have been linked accordingly.

FREE: Friday Practice Roundtable | Saturday Practice Roundtable

It is important to note that Friday’s gathering was a shirts-and-shorts practice while Saturday’s was the team’s first in full pads this spring.

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

OFFENSE

» Sophomore right tackle Tyler Moore had a rough day overall and was beat off the edge consistently by some of Florida’s most talented rushers like sophomore Buck linebacker Dante Fowler, Jr. and senior defensive end Dominique Easley. [Bryan Holt, InsidetheGators.com]

» In addition to senior wide receiver Solomon Patton, who took nearly all of the Gators’ jet sweeps when he was healthy in 2012, four other pass catchers got a chance to run the ball on that play including sophomore Raphael Andrades, junior Loucheiz Purifoy and freshman Demarcus Robinson. [Bryan Holt, InsidetheGators.com]

» Good news for redshirt senior WR Andre Debose who “showed flashes of the player Florida fans have wanted him to be for four years. Debose is as fast as ever and showed the kind of ball skills that have been missing on a jump-ball catch over Brian Poole.” [Bryan Holt, InsidetheGators.com]

Continue Reading » Gators open spring practice notes and opinions

Tags: Alex Anzalone, Alex McCalister, Andre Debose, Antonio Morrison, Brian Poole, D.J. Humphries, Dante Fowler, Demarcus Robinson, Dominique Easley, Gideon Ajagbe, Hunter Joyer, Jeremy Brown, Joey Ivie, Kent Taylor, Loucheiz Purifoy, Marcus Roberson, Matt Jones, Raphael Andrades, Ronald Powell, Skyler Mornhinweg, Solomon Patton, Tyler Moore, Tyler Murphy, Will Muschamp

With the Florida Gators set to begin 2013 spring practice on Wednesday, head coach Will Muschamp and new offensive coordinator Brent Pease met with the media Tuesday to discuss a variety of topics concerning the team’s offense.

RELATED: Spring depth chart released | Muschamp, Durkin on defense, team

IMPROVING PRODUCTION AT QUARTERBACK

Junior Jeff Driskel returns as the entrenched starter at quarterback and has the full backing of both Muschamp and Pease going forward. Both coaches reiterated that they expect him to take a big step forward in 2013 now that he has a year of action under his belt and can spend the entire offseason continuing to educate himself with the offense and opposing defenses in order to become a better overall player.

» Muschamp on what Driskel has been doing in the offseason: “I think Jeff has really attacked the offseason from a mental standpoint as far as film is concerned, really studying what he can do to be a better quarterback. That’s part of the maturation process in becoming a better player is understandings what you go to do to be successful. […] I think the game continues to slow down for you. First year as a full-time starter, first year in a scheme in a system with new terminology and now you’re not splitting reps 50-50. He’s going to get all the turns and all the reps with the same people, which I think obviously will help us with some throwing game issues.

» Muschamp on what Driskel can specifically improve on: “As a player and as a competitor, knowing Jeff and talking to Jeff, he wants to go back and improve everything. But I think you take things in segments. ‘I need to improve here; I need to improve there.’ Within saying that, year two in the system, the game slows down a little bit. A better understanding of protection, a better understanding of where the ball needs to go, where you’re protected and where you’re not protected. I think those are the things that, as much as anything, that are going to help him to understand that. The passing game concepts versus middle field versus split safety, where to take the ball. I think all of those things, again, that’s easy to talk about but when it’s happening in front of 90,000 people against some of the people we play against, it’s a fast, fast game. Those are things, to me, as far as just the mental intensity of where we need to go with the football in situations. That will slow down for him in his second year. And he’s also not splitting reps. And he’ll be working with the first-team receivers all the time. I think you couple that with a lot of things and I think Brent does a really great job developing the quarterback position and recognizing things he needs to improve on.”

Continue Reading » Muschamp, Pease discuss Florida Gators offense

Tags: Andre Debose, Brent Pease, Chaz Green, Clay Burton, Colin Thompson, D.J. Humphries, Gideon Ajagbe, Hunter Joyer, Jeff Driskel, Jessamen Dunker, Jon Halapio, Kelvin Taylor, Latroy Pittman, Loucheiz Purifoy, Mack Brown, Matt Jones, Max Garcia, Max Staver, Quinteze Williams, Quinton Dunbar, Raphael Andrades, Rhaheim Ledbetter, Skyler Mornhinweg, Solomon Patton, Trey Burton, Trip Thurman, Tyler Moore, Tyler Murphy, Will Muschamp

Readers may be excited to take a first look at the Florida Gators 2013 spring practice depth chart (see below). Don’t be. As he explained in each of his first two springs with the program, head coach Will Muschamp repeated Wednesday that he does not put a lot of stock in the spring’s first depth chart. In fact, back in 2011, he said it is “not worth the paper it is printed on.” In other words, the depth chart below is just a starting-off point for 2013 and plenty can change between now and the start of the season. Nevertheless, below is the depth chart as it was presented on March 12.

“Obviously we gave you a depth chart. I know it’s just the most critical thing that’s going to happen in the next 12 months of your year,” Muschamp said Tuesday.

RELATED: Muschamp, Pease on offense | Muschamp, Durkin on defense, team

Florida omitted players who are injured and not participating at all in spring practice. A list of those players can be found at the end of this post.

OFFENSE

QB: 6 Jeff Driskel, 10 Tyler Murphy, 17 Skyler Mornhinweg
RB: 24 Matt Jones, 33 Mack Brown, 21 Kelvin Taylor
FB: 43 Hunter Joyer, 29 Rhaheim Ledbetter* OR 25 Gideon Ajagbe*
WR (X): 1 Quinton Dunbar, 4 Andre Debose, 11 Demarcus Robinson
WR (Z): 15 Loucheiz Purifoy*, 88 Solomon Patton^, Raphael Andrades
F Position: 8 Trey Burton, 13 Latroy Pittman, 30 Mike McNeely
TE: 88 Clay Burton, 87 Tevin Westbrook, 18 Kent Taylor, 84 Colin Thompson

LT: 70 D.J. Humphries, 63 Trip Thurman
LG: 76 Max Garcia, 64 Kyle Koehne
C: 72 Jonotthan Harrison, 64 Kyle Koehne
RG: 67 Jon Halapio^, 64 Kyle Koehne
RT: 73 Tyler Moore, 98 Quinteze Williams*

Continue Reading » Florida Gators 2013 spring practice depth chart

Tags: Alex Anzalone, Alex McCalister, Andre Debose, Antonio Morrison, Austin Hardin, Brad Phillips, Brian Poole, Bryan Cox, Chaz Green, Clay Burton, Cody Riggs, Colin Thompson, D.J. Humphries, Damien Jacobs, Daniel McMillian, Dante Fowler, Darious Cummings, Darren Kitchens, Demarcus Robinson, Dominique Easley, Drew Ferris, Gideon Ajagbe, Hunter Joyer, Ian Silberman, Jabari Gorman, Jaylen Watkins, Jeff Driskel, Jeremi Powell, Jeremy Brown, Joey Ivie, Jon Halapio, Jonathan Bullard, Jonotthan Harrison, Kelvin Taylor, Kent Taylor, Kyle Christy, Kyle Crofoot, Kyle Koehne, Latroy Pittman, Leon Orr, Loucheiz Purifoy, Mack Brown, Marcus Maye, Marcus Roberson, Matt Jones, Matt Rolin, Max Garcia, Michael Taylor, Mike McNeely, Neiron Ball, Quinteze Williams, Quinton Dunbar, Raphael Andrades, Rhaheim Ledbetter, Ronald Powell, Skyler Mornhinweg, Solomon Patton, Tevin Westbrook, Todd Fennell, Trey Burton, Trip Thurman, Tyler Moore, Tyler Murphy, Valdez Showers, Will Muschamp

Spring practice for the Florida Gators football program begins on Wednesday, March 13 and lasts for 15 practices concluding with the 2013 Orange & Blue Debut spring game on Saturday, April 6 at 1 p.m. Below is the first of OGGOA‘s new two-part series that takes a look at the team on a position-by-position basis.

PART TWO: Defense & Special Teams

OFFENSIVE TACKLES
Returning starters (1/2): Redshirt junior Chaz Green
Fresh faces: Redshirt sophomore Tyler Moore

Out goes Xavier Nixon, in comes sophomore D.J. Humphries. After starting three games as a true freshman, Humphries – a former five-star prospect – appears to be all but a shoe-in for the left tackle job. However, both he and Green (who started 10 games at right tackle) have plenty of competition ahead of them. Moore started as a true freshman at Nebraska, sat out the 2012 season while attending a community college and is therefore eligible to play right away. He will be pushing Humphries and Green all spring is certainly talented enough to win either or both starting jobs. Chances are he will wind up either winning the right tackle role while Green continues to recover from ankle surgery or play well enough where he spells both players throughout games.

OFFENSIVE GUARDS
Returning starters (1/2): Redshirt senior Jon Halapio
Fresh faces: Redshirt junior Max Garcia

With James Wilson finally graduating, the starting left guard job is wide open and offensive line coach Tim Davis has a number of ways in which he can fill the position. Redshirt junior Ian Silberman is the only player on the roster who actually started at guard in 2012 but versatile redshirt senior Kyle Koehne (three starts at right tackle) is also quite experienced in SEC play. Garcia, who started 12 games at tackle for Maryland, has been moved inside and was even listed as the first-string left guard on the initial spring practice depth chart. Redshirt freshman Jessamen Dunker (if reinstated to the team) is a possibility at left guard as well. Halapio (28-straight starts) has a stranglehold on the right guard job.

Continue Reading » Gators 2013 Spring Football Preview: Offense

Tags: Andre Debose, Chaz Green, Clay Burton, Colin Thompson, D.J. Humphries, Demarcus Robinson, Gideon Ajagbe, Hunter Joyer, Jeff Driskel, Jessamen Dunker, Jon Halapio, Jonotthan Harrison, Kelvin Taylor, Kent Taylor, Kyle Koehne, Latroy Pittman, Loucheiz Purifoy, Mack Brown, Matt Jones, Max Garcia, Quinton Dunbar, Raphael Andrades, Rhaheim Ledbetter, Tevin Westbrook, Trey Burton, Tyler Moore

1 » At the conclusion of his National Signing Day press conference on Wednesday, Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp told the Orlando Sentinel that sophomore cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy will move to wide receiver during spring practice. Purifoy, who played sparingly at receiver during the 2012 season, is an athletic and versatile performer who was also Florida’s standout player on special teams last year. Whether or not his move to wide receiver is permanent remains to be seen, but Purifoy told the paper’s Edgar Thompson in early January that he enjoyed the time he was spending on offense during practice and games. “I feel like I’m in high school again,” he said. “I love it.” Muschamp and the Gators coaching staff have moved a number of players back-and-forth between offense and defense over the last two offseasons in order to improve position flexibility throughout the roster.

He also noted on Wednesday that UF has tried mightily to bridge the hole in its wide receiving corps and did that in part by signing five pass catchers. “When you say fill needs, you talk in terms of depth and talent. Those are the two things you’ve got to be able to address. I think we’ve taken a step forward in both situations. We’ve improved our depth, and I think we’ve improved our talent level. We’ve got some guys that can come in and compete,” Muschamp said. It will be interesting to see whether or not Purifoy sticks on offense or goes back to defense by the time summer practice begins.

2 » As National Signing Day wrapped up, news broke of Florida having an outstanding offer in the hands of in-state a three-star offensive lineman who was originally planning to continue his career as a basketball player at Division II Eckerd College. That player is Trevon Young (Bradenton, FL), someone who the Gators see as a potential playmaker at tight end given his size size (6’6″, 260 lbs.) and soft hands. Brown is currently debating between sticking with his first love (basketball) in a situation that is unlikely to result in him being a professional athlete down the line or playing his second-favorite sport at the highest level possible in college.

Curt Bradley, Young’s football coach at Branden River High School, told InsidetheGators.com on Wednesday that the player is legitimately conflicted with his decision. “It isn’t a matter of the school, it’s the sport he chooses,” Bradley said, further implying that he would easily choose UF over an offer from South Florida if Young decides to play football. A decision may be coming as soon as Thursday.

Read two more BITS from National Signing Day…after the break!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Purifoy, Young, closing, quarterbacks

Tags: Dante Fowler, Jalen Ramsey, James Clark, Jeff Driskel, Loucheiz Purifoy, Matt Rolin, Max Staver, National Signing Day, Raphael Andrades, Trevon Young, Tyler Murphy, Will Muschamp