According to all metrics, Florida’s offensive line has been bad this year, particularly in the run game.
Pass protection has been okay, at least thus far. But Kyle Trask has fumbled the last two games while being sacked and Feleipe Franks lost one against Kentucky as well before being injured.
But if you were to point to the one area where Florida is going to have to improve heading into this stretch against Auburn, LSU, South Carolina and Georgia, it would be the running game.
But to solve a problem, the first thing you have to do is define the problem. It’s easy to look at one play – or even a series of plays – and just assume that replacing a player will do the trick.
Indeed, Mullen said as much during his postgame conference after the team again struggled to run the ball against Towson.
“Everybody learns in a different way, OK. And guys have got to learn what’s the best way they learn, what’s the best way they can improve at processing information as they get going. They got to do it. And if they don’t, then they’re not going to get better and then we got to find somebody that can.” – Dan Mullen
Clearly Mullen is getting fed up, and changes may be on the horizon.
Why is the offensive line struggling?
Unfortunately for Florida, it’s a bit more complicated than just switching out one guy.
That’s because the offensive line struggles aren’t just one player. Indeed, when you look at the film, there are two things that you see.
The first is the issue that Mullen spoke of: missed assignments.
It’s easy to blame right tackle Jean Delance (#56) for this one. It does look like he may be responsible for the defensive lineman shooting the gap. Without knowing the scheme the Gators are running, it’s impossible to know whether it was his responsibility or that of right guard Christopher Bleich (#67).
But lost in Perine being blown up in the backfield is that this play wasn’t going to be a touchdown even if Delance had stoned the defensive lineman. Lead blocker Keon Zipperer (#9) doesn’t hit the main hole and instead fans out to block a safety. Tight ends Kemore Gamble (#88) and Dante Lang (#81) either et pushed backwards or shed by a linebacker.
And this is a common theme thus far in 2019. You might be able to get away with one missed assignment. Getting away with two just makes things impossible for a running back.
On this play, tight end Lucas Krull (#7) and right tackle Jean Delance (#56) engage the defensive end, but Delance is unable to come off of that block to pick up the linebacker shooting the gap. That forces Perine to cut to his left, where another Towson linebacker had beaten center Nick Buchanan (#66).
Whenever you have two linebackers in the backfield making a tackle on a running play, you know there have been multiple issues on the line.
And if it was just Delance stuggling, you could understand Mullen talking about taking him out. But it’s not just Delance.
And it’s not just missed assignments. The second thing you notice on film is that Florida’s offensive line is getting beat physically in one-on-one matchups.
On this play, left tackle Stone Forsythe (#72) gets to the linebacker and then just basically bounces off of him. Towson linebacker Robert Heyward (#50) is listed at 6’0” and 235 pounds. Forsythe is listed at 6’7”, 327.
If an offensive lineman gets beaten by a linebacker’s quickness, that’s something you can understand. To see the lack of physicality on this play doesn’t bode well moving forward.
I cited Forsythe’s size above, but he’s not the only guy showing a lack of physicality at the point of attack.
On this play, right guard Christopher Bleich (#67) gets to the linebacker and makes even less contact than Forsythe did. He looked to be in the right position, but then linebacker Christian Dixon (#55) runs right by him.
On this play, Richard Gouraige (#76) had been brought in for Bleich and Brett Heggie was moved to right guard. Towson has a 5 men in the box against 6 blockers (Trask occupies one of the defensive ends with the read-option so he’s technically a blocker).
This is a look that Florida should be able to run against consistently. Instead, outside linebacker Malik Tyne (#31) splits Gouraige and Forsythe and frees up Dixon (#55) to make the tackle after Perine has to cut back inside.
I’ve heard the calls for giving more carries to Dameon Pierce and Pierce certainly had better statistics in this game. But what exactly is Perine supposed to do on the last two plays?
How to fix it?
So how do Dan Mullen and John Hevesy go about fixing things?
Well, the first answer is that at some level you have to rep these sorts of things over and over until these guys get more consistent.
On this play, Bleich (#67) makes a nice combo block initially then gets to a linebacker. Heggie (#61), pulling right from his position at left guard, is able to come around and seal the other linebacker. The result is a 10-yard run for Perine.
What this proves is that these players are able to execute the scheme. They just aren’t doing it consistently.
But if they’re not going to execute the scheme consistently, then the scheme needs to change.
There was some of that in the game against Towson, particularly in the second half.
This is an inside zone play. Perhaps the most famous team to run it is the Denver Broncos, particularly with Terrell Davis. But one of the staples of the play is that the running back is always looking for cut back lanes.
Pierce is able to find one of those lanes. Forsythe is just barely able to get off of his combo block to get in the way of the oncoming linebacker and the result is Pierce is able to turn this into a big gain.
This is the same play in the other direction. But this time, there is an open lane that doesn’t require Pierce to cut back and instead he’s able to get the edge. The key block here is Gouraige (#76) on the linebacker. He absolutely stones him and from there Pierce is free to get to the edge. It’s also worth noting that the tight end on this play was Kemore Gamble (#88), not Krull or Pitts.
If they don’t want to change the scheme too much and can’t rely on the line to consistently execute, then the best thing to do is to utilize the QB.
On this play, Trask probably should have kept the ball. It’s a tough read, as the defensive end is in the backfield quickly. But pulling this from Pierce likely means Trask converts a first down pretty easily.
Of course, there are complications with that. First, it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that Trask really wants to do. Combine that with the fact that he is throwing the ball so well and Mullen likely wants to keep him healthy, and it’s understandable that he would hand the ball off.
Enter Emory Jones.
The first thing to notice on this play is that Malik Davis (#20) is a lead blocker who takes on the linebacker in the hole. Because Jones is the runner, Florida has a numbers advantage and Jones is able to break free for a big gain.
Of course, having Jones in the game comes with a penalty, as Trask clearly appears to be the more polished passer.
This was the thing that helped Feleipe Franks hold on to the job until his injury. While Trask has proven to be a slightly better passer thus far and Jones is clearly a superior runner, Franks did enough of both to keep the defense honest. But now Mullen can’t put one on the field without sacrificing the other.
Of course, Mullen has been in this conundrum before.
In 2005, the Florida offense was really sputtering. Following a 21-17 loss to LSU, Florida installed some wrinkles into its offense during the bye week before taking on Georgia.
Most Gators fans know the story about walk-on Billy Latsko. Latsko was inserted as a blocker to help jump-start the Gators running game. Florida went 4-1 from that point on and was able to defeat Georgia that day.
On this play, Latsko (#42) lines up outside the tackle but then curls back inside to take on the linebacker. That frees up running back DeShawn Wynn (#21) for a big run.
The thing about this change is that it was made because Chris Leak was the quarterback, and nobody is going to mistake Leak for a dual-threat QB. Instead, Mullen and Meyer made adjustments to help the QB who was his best throwing option, but to help his offensive line and jump start the running game.
Takeaway
The problem with the Latsko story is evident when you take a deeper look at the stats.
In its first seven games of the year (pre-Latsko), Florida averaged 3.89 yards per rush attempt. In its last five games, the Gators averaged 3.85 yards per rush attempt.
I’m skeptical that this is the solution it was touted to be after the Georgia game. Certainly, Meyer and Mullen were able to get more out of the running game than people were expecting against Georgia. But I suspect that any number of schematic changes that Georgia hadn’t been able to prepare for would have produced results as well.
So that leaves repping a few plays over and over until they are perfect. And I’d like to see the Gators spend more time with the inside zone run. That play gives the offensive line a little bit more time for the play to develop and thus, more time to engage with the linebackers.
Florida also showed some short screens out of formations under center, which is a good way of showing opponents that they can’t just crash the line of scrimmage whenever you get into an I-formation.
But I actually remain optimistic about the long-term prospects of this line to pick up these kinds of schematic changes.
One thing I saw when I watched the tape was struggles in pass protection came on stunts and Florida’s line struggled to pick it up. Those are also the kinds of things that were happening to the Gators offensive line early in 2018 as well. Last year, those things improved significantly by the game against LSU….in game 6.
The reality is that the improvement fans seek takes time. And that’s really what Florida’s offensive line needs: experience and time.
You’d obviously like to have seen some significant progress in the first five games of the season. But here’s the reality: with Kyle Trask throwing the ball the way he is, Florida doesn’t need an elite running game. It only needs to be balanced enough that it opens up some holes in the secondary.
So while lots of people believe Mullen may abandon the run against Auburn, I’m much more skeptical. Instead, I think Mullen may double-down and try to hit the Tigers with a few plays they haven’t seen thus far to open up the secondary for some deep shots.
The line is still going to miss some assignments. But if they hold their blocks just a little bit longer and are more physical at the point of attack, we’ll walk away from the game thinking they’ve made real progress.