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The Good, the Bad, & the UGAly
Toney on fire, Jimbo no shows, & UGA was...ahem...ok

Nick Knudsen

The Good

Florida 38, South Carolina 24

Kyle Trask (268 yards and 4 TDs) and Kyle Pitts (4 receptions, 57 yards,  and 2 TDs) delivered another solid performance. Ready for some Kyle to Kyle at Kyle Field graphics this week?

Setting the tone early

After a brutal decade of offense, I don’t take anything for granted on that side of the ball, but I have a feeling I’ll have more opportunities to focus on the greatness of Kyle to Kyle in coming weeks. Today, let’s take a moment to appreciate what we’ve seen out of Kadarius Toney so far this season.

The senior wide receiver only has 15 touches in two games, but he has made the most of them.  Toney has run with incredible physicality for a guy his size. When you consider his injury history, his aggressive style of play is even more impressive. How many times has Toney gone down after the first point of contact in 2020?

I’d like to see a  deep shot or two to Toney next week in College Station to complete his transformation into this offense’s version of Tyreek Hill.

Opening drive showed flashes on the ground

In eight plays and 75 yards, the offense showed what they were capable of this season. 

OC Brian Johnson fed the ball to RB Dameon Pierce five times. Pierce used a patient running style to allow the blocking to develop before picking a hole and accelerating. Florida was more balanced against Carolina than Ole MIss, but it’s clear this is still a pass first team. 

In both of UF’s losses in 2019, the Gators only managed 146 yards on 40 carries (3.7 yards per rush) vs. LSU and essentially gave up on the run game against UGA (19 carries for 21 yards).

We already know Trask and the passing game are elite. Will the running game show up when it matters? Florida will reach the next level when they can run the ball consistently against top-tier competition, so it was encouraging to see a few solid runs by Pierce to open the game.

Defense improves, but needs to gel

Similar to the running game, I saw flashes from the defense.

Yeah, they gave up 24…almost 31…yeah, they’re still making mistakes. I understand the concern, but I’m not ready to press the panic button. Will Miles provided some great examples of where the Gators defense struggled in his postgame piece on Sunday.

Credit Carolina for a fantastic opening drive. The Gamecocks have a grad transfer at quarterback in Collin Hill who has experience with OC Mike Bobo’s system from their days at Colorado State.

There’s a comfort level between Hill and Bobo that only comes with time and experience. Carolina diced their way down the field and ended up finding the end zone after 12 plays and 75 yards. The drive took nearly seven minutes. The Cocks did the exact same thing in the opener against Tennessee. Clearly Hill and Bobo excel off of their opening scripts.

South Carolina’s other two trips to the end zone were set up by a short field thanks to a fumble and interception. Those drives covered 48 and 39 yards respectively.

In last week’s game at Ole Miss, the Gators were gashed at times. We didn’t see those types of errors against South Carolina. Hill, the best USC quarterback since Connor Shaw, only threw for slightly over 200 yards in 47 attempts. Though Kevin Harris ripped off 100 yards on 22 carries, the rest of the Carolina running game could only scrape together 17 yards. Not a bad statistical performance for the Gators.

I don’t believe this defense will grow into a full-on shutdown unit, but Florida doesn’t not need the defense to be elite. The offense will carry the Gators in 2020. There are no real deficiencies on the defense in terms of talent, it’s just a matter of consistency. If the defense can simply play with a little more  consistency, the offense will take care of the rest.

The Bad

No show Jimbo

Another chance for Texas A&M to make a statement under Jimbo Fisher. Another wasted opportunity. Fisher is now 3-8 vs. ranked teams and 0-3 vs. Alabama since his arrival in College Station as the Aggies drop their eighth straight against the Tide.

It’s fair to say expectations attached to Fisher’s $75 million contract are next to impossible to meet. However, is it unfair to expect some progress by year three?!?

What is Texas A&M’s identity under Fisher? Do they play great defense? Rely on a strong ground game? Put all of their eggs in the Kellen Mond basket and hope for best? There’s no real answer to any of these questions…and there should be by year three.

The SEC West is a brutal hellscape that is a far cry from the competition Fisher faced on a week to week basis at Florida State. No team has a good record against Alabama over the last decade. Fisher should not be expected to build a Bama in three years, but for $75 million, can we at least get a team that won’t make us hunt for other games to watch by halftime of a 3:30 PM ET CBS kickoff?

Air Raid grounded

Yessssssssssssssirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I like Sam Pittman, but did not see this coming. The Hogs are playin’ some ball!

A week after knocking off the defending national champs in Death Valley, K.J. Costello and the No. 16 Bulldogs dropped their SEC home opener to a team that had lost their last 20 SEC games.

Florida grad transfer QB Feleipe Franks and the offense only gained 275 total yards. The defense was stout, picking off Costello three times including a 69-yard pick six  on the opening drive of the game.

This is not atypical of a Leach led team. There will be some ups and downs under his watch in Starkville, but like I said in my Week 2 Picks piece, Mississippi State will be must see TV on a weekly basis.

The UGAly

Georgia looked…ahem…pretty good. Stetson Bennett was….ahem…more than serviceable.

Look, when Will and I came up with the idea to write a piece that tracked Florida and Georgia on a weekly basis, it wasn’t meant to be a forum used to pat UGA on the back.

But what can I say after that type of performance on Saturday night?

We can start by having a real chat about Auburn QB Bo Nix. This was guy who got a lot of love as freshman. There was a feeling  early last season that Nix would one day be an elite quarterback in the SEC, but I’m not so sure that day is coming. He had little to no impact against a UGA defense that only allowed 216 total yards.

The Tigers were blitzed out of the gate and had to abandon the run game by the second quarter, so in fairness to Nix, he didn’t receive a ton of support. But elite SEC quarterbacks can carry their team when needed and we saw that Nix is not that guy.

Since UGA played so well on the field, I guess I’ll have to go off the field for the UGAly this week.

A discouraging opener at Arkansas could have left Kirby Smart’s offense in flux. Instead, Stetson Bennett has stepped in admirably. Is he good enough to keep USC transfer J.T. Daniels on the bench?

Before Saturday, I would’ve said no, but now I’m not so sure.

Bennett looked poised and steady against Auburn. He was 17/28 for 240 and 1TD and, more importantly, did not turn the ball over. The Bulldogs unleashed a balanced attack which featured 20 touches for RB Zamir White, RB James Cook added 41 yards on the ground, and the breakout star was sophomore WR Kearis Jackson (9 receptions for 147 yards).

So give credit where credit is due. The Dawgs answered the bell after a weak opener and we now have some answers heading into back-to-back headliners against No. 14 Tennessee (3:30 PM ET CBS) and No. 2 Alabama (10/17, 8:00 PM ET CBS).

Bennett seems to be the answer for now, but I’m not convinced that will last. The Dawgs should be able to handle a Vols team that comes into the game with positive momentum. It would not surprise me to at least see a series or two for J.T. Daniels next week in preparation for the Tide.

Two weeks into the season and the SEC East is already a three team race. The Dawgs or Vols will make the first big move next week.

Let’s end on a high note:

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