Florida’s little mistakes result in big losses

Even at full strength, the Florida Gators would not have been favored to defeat Alabama or LSU in the fifth and sixth weeks of the season, though a victory in either contest was certainly a possibility. However, Florida continuing their downfall after those games – losing three of their next four to Auburn, Georgia and South Carolina – has been both unforeseen and frustrating for the coaches, players and fan base.

After being beaten down by two of the best teams in the country to the tune of 28 and 30 points, respectively, the Gators stood up, dusted themselves off and became much more competitive on both sides of the ball.

Their next three losses were by a combined 20 points, and Florida had opportunities to beat Georgia and South Carolina late in those respective games.

Yet no matter how much better they played, the Gators continued making mistakes that shot them in the foot and put them behind the eight ball.

“We just got to get better. We had chances to win these last couple of games and didn’t finish. Little things are killing us right now. One person making a mistake here and there, those mistakes add up,” junior linebacker Jon Bostic said. “Coach is calling the plays and giving us the opportunities to win. We got to go out there and execute.”

[EXPAND Click to expand and read the remainder of this post.]Whether the offense gets off the field too quickly because a false start turns a 3rd and short into a 3rd and long or the defense jumps offsides on a crucial 3rd down and is stuck out there, Florida appears to hurt themselves more often than not.

“Florida beat Florida, not South Carolina beat Florida,” sophomore defensive end Sharrif Floyd said Monday about last Saturday’s contest. “Our mistakes hurt us in the long run; too many of them cost us the game. It was a lack of mental focus. We just got to understand it’s a 60-minute game and that’s how long we got to play for.”

Sharing in that philosophy is junior safety Josh Evans, who believes the Gators would be much better if they can clean up some of those mistakes.

“It’s us that hurt ourselves sometimes. It’s not the team is that much better than us. It’s little stuff we can fix,” he said. “If we can eliminate the mental errors, we should be pretty good. It’ll take time. People got to get together and take stuff on seriously.”

Florida’s players showed up for Monday’s team meeting 15 minutes early and discussed both the mistakes they are making as well as their inconsistencies on the field.

If the Gators are not committing penalties, they’re being inefficient in the red zone (one touchdown in seven such opportunities in their last three losses) or fumbling the ball in their own territory while putting together a drive.

Some of those issues can certainly be fixed with time, which is on Florida’s side considering how young the team will be heading into next season.

“We’re a young team and we got a lot of maturing to do,” redshirt sophomore tight end Jordan Reed noted. “That’s one of our main problems right now. Once we get that done, I think we’ll be really good,”

Maturity will not matter though if the Gators cannot put everything together with the game on the line. Florida’s had leads in each of their last two losses – to Georgia by four and South Carolina by five – but could not hang on for the victories, letting them slip through their collective fingers.

“[The mistakes that occur] when the game is close at the end are really tough on you,” redshirt senior quarterback John Brantley recalled. “You know you’ve done enough to put you in a position to win but there is always that one or two plays that cost you the game. That’s hard to swallow.”

What may be more difficult for the Gators to digest is their first six-loss season since 1987, which is exactly what Florida will have if they defeat Furman on Saturday and lose to Florida State a week later. Mental focus and maturity will be the keys if UF hopes to come out of the regular season with a winning record.[/EXPAND]