Gators hang with Tide, but can’t quite get over the hump in 31-29 loss

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When Alabama threw another swing pass, Florida missed another tackle, and Brian Robinson went in to put the Tide up 21-3, there was little hope that Florida could keep the game respectable, much less make a galliant comeback.

But there we were, watching the Gators storm back to within 2 points before a botched 2-point attempt and an inability to get Alabama off the field sent Gators fans home wondering “what if?”

What if Florida hadn’t allowed Alabama to jump out to an 18-point lead for the second straight game?

What if the Gators had been able to tackle in space, particularly in the first quarter?

And what if Florida had been able to deploy AR15 in any capacity early on to stem the momentum when Alabama came out hot?

It was an interesting feeling leaving the game. The Gators fell so far behind so quickly that the entire first half felt like a slog. By the time fans realized that Alabama couldn’t stop the Gators rushing attack, it was then just a question of whether there would be enough time for Florida to use that advantage fully.

But it was not to be. Yet again, Florida fans are talking about “what ifs” and moral victories rather than a seminal win for Dan Mullen. And that difference can be found in three distinct areas of the game.

Special Teams

The missed extra point is obvious. You just can’t have that happen in a big game like this. But the special teams issue I want to focus on is a different one: the dropped kickoff by Ja’Markis Weston.

Because Florida drove 99 yards and converted that into a touchdown, the error is easily forgotten. But I don’t think it should be.

In the second half, Florida had drives that took 4:40, 4:04 and 6:15. The Gators also only had one explosive play, after having five in the first half. Clearly Alabama was focused on making Florida sustain drives and while the Gators were able to, it was also clear that the drives were going to take time.

Ironically, the shortest of Florida’s second-half drives was the 99-yarder, but let’s say that the 24 yards there cost Florida a minute or potentially even two. It sure would have been nice to have that extra time at the end of the game when Alabama was trying to run the clock out.

The issue to me isn’t that Weston dropped the ball. The issue is that he didn’t seem to know that it was a problem that the ball was about to go out of bounds. That lack of attention to detail cost Florida time, cost Florida field position and eventually will cost Florida a game.

You can deal with physical errors. Those are going to happen. But mental errors are the things that prevent a team from moving from good to great.

Defensive Adjustments

In my preview of the game, I suggested that Todd Grantham should play a ton of dime and dare Alabama to run the ball. The reasoning was simple: Alabama had struggled to run the ball and Bryce Young had been worse throwing into coverage than against the blitz.

Grantham did not play dime. Most of the game, he had 3 linemen, 3 linebackers and then 5 defensive backs (nickel). But he did make some adjustments in the second quarter that eventually led to Florida’s success.

Alabama’s second play of the game was a forecast for almost the entire first quarter. The quick throws out to the flat were clearly part of their game plan. They did this for two reasons. First, they believed they could win one-on-one matchups in space with Florida’s DBs. But the second reason was that they believed they could hold Florida’s linebackers with the play action.

On this play, Florida has six men in the box compared to five offensive linemen for Alabama. Florida also has two deep safeties, one who will backpedal at the snap and the other who will come up to support the run. That means that Florida has two defensive backs to the strong side while Alabama has three blockers.

Watch as Bryce Young fakes the handoff then goes to throw the ball. Linebacker Mohamoud Diabate (#11, highlighted) has completely sold out for the run, forcing him to completely pivot to get back to the screen pass. By the time he gets back into the play, Alabama wide receiver Slade Bolden has gained 15 yards. In fact, the safety who backpedaled at the snap (Rashad Torrance, #22) is the one who makes the tackle.

That’s just too easy.

So how did Florida eventually get this under control? Well, this play is a good example.

Florida again has 6 men in the box on this play, but Alabama has a tight end in to block as well. This means that the Gators have more men in coverage were Alabama to try to get the ball out to the edge. This is daring the Tide to run the ball.

The problem is that Alabama could not run the ball against Florida. Jeremiah Moon (#7) did a great job of holding the edge and forcing the running back to the inside. And defensive line transfer Da’Quan Newkirk (#44, highlighted) is able to knock his man into the backfield, dropping the Alabama back for a loss.

Florida’s defense turned things around in the second quarter, and Alabama ran the ball 8 times for -4 yards. Even more importantly, while the Tide ran the ball 5 times in the first quarter compared to 16 passes, they ran the ball 8 times in the second quarter compared to 5 passes.

Florida’s defensive adjustments dared Alabama to run the ball and the Tide just couldn’t do it. This bodes well for the Florida defense moving forward and I do think you have to give Todd Grantham credit for making that adjustment right at the time he figured Alabama would start trying to run the ball to put the game away.

But this is also incredibly frustrating. Alabama averaged 3.9 yards per rush in a dominating win over Miami. That was a game where they should have been able to just coast to a victory and run the clock out but they weren’t very effective at doing it.

There’s a reason I suggested Florida should dare them to run. It forced Alabama to do the things they don’t excel at and take the ball out of the hands of the players who do excel. Florida made that adjustment, but it took the entire first quarter. By then Florida was already behind by 18 points.

Cashing in Explosives

Florida outgained Alabama 440 to 331. They averaged 6.2 yards per play compared to the Tide’s 5.3. So how was it that Florida came up two points short?

Almost the entire difference here comes from Alabama’s ability to cash in on explosive plays. The Tide only had three 20+ yard plays in the entire game. But each time they got one, they managed to turn it into 7 points.

Florida had 6 explosives, twice having two explosives on the same drive. Once that turned into a touchdown (the 30-yard throw to Zipperer followed up by the 26-yard run for Malik Davis to pull Florida to 21-9). The other drive with two explosives (the opening drive) stalled and the Gators settled for a field goal.

The Gators also had a drive with an explosive resulting in zero points, with a 26-yard pass to Rick Wells going by the wayside before the end of the first half.

In total, the Gators 6 explosives turned into 17 points, while the Tide’s 3 explosives turned into 21. That’s the ball game right there.

The other thing that jumps out when I look at the stats is that Alabama was clearly a better passing team coming into the game and finished the game with 35 passes to 28 runs. Florida was clearly a better running team coming into the game and finished with 43 rushes to 28 passes.

But if you look at the first quarter, the Gators had 7 pass attempts and only 8 rush attempts. The seventh pass attempt was the interception that set up Alabama deep in Florida territory to take a 21-3 lead. From that point on, Florida ran the ball 63 percent of the time.

Dan Mullen did some really nice things to open up Kemore Gamble on the opening drive. It was something Alabama certainly hadn’t seen on tape because Florida hadn’t shown it all year. Far be it from me to criticize Mullen, as he clearly knows what he’s doing. But there’s no doubt that he went away from Florida’s strength when he decided to throw the ball to open up the game.

Commentary on Officials

Yes, the officials missed a bunch of calls. But I think we need to be fair to the officials as well.

The pass interference against Kaiir Elam that extended the second Alabama drive looked like pass interference to me from my vantage point. I’m biased because I watched Elam maul a USF receiver last week and throw the receiver so far off his route that the throw turned into an interception.

Regardless, the interference didn’t give Alabama points, it just gave them a first down. When that happens, I think you chalk that up to an official’s mistake and have to move on.

But there was one penalty that I do think should get Florida fans’ ire.

That’s the one that looked like offensive pass interference on John Metchie when he ran into Trey Dean and opened up Jahleel Billingsley for Alabama’s second touchdown.

Look, I get that this is a tough call. I get that Dean was probably already beat by Billingsley when Metchie ran into him. But this isn’t a “rub”. It didn’t redirect Dean. It knocked him to the turf. Just look at the definition of OPI.

“Offensive pass interference is contact by a Team A player beyond the neutral zone that interferes with a Team B player during a legal forward pass play in which the forward pass crosses the neutral zone. It is the responsibility of the offensive player to avoid the opponents.” (emphasis added)

You have to make that call if you’re the official. It is Metchie’s responsibility to avoid Dean. If the official makes the call, Alabama is all of a sudden facing a second-and-long at the edge of field goal range. Instead, the Tide had a 14-3 lead and knocked the Gators – and the crowd – off their game.

Takeaway

Florida has played Alabama twice in the last year and has lost by a combined 8 points. But they’ve also trailed by 18 points in both contests.

My uncle used to tell me that he didn’t believe in comebacks because you did something to get into that situation in the first place. I think that’s apropos here.

If this were a one-time thing, I’d be inclined to say that Florida got hosed by the officials or that this is substantial evidence that the Gators are closing the gap with the Tide. But this is now a pattern that is not only replicating itself with Alabama, but with Georgia too.

It was a heck of a comeback. I’m incredibly proud of – and impressed by – the effort that the team put forth. But I’m also disappointed at both the offensive and defensive game plans to start this one. I think they ignored the strengths of both teams and put the Gators in a position where they had to play catch-up.

Yes, the Gators came within a 2-point conversion of tying it up. But even that conversion attempt apparently had people lined up incorrectly and looked discombobulated. That’s really the story of the game. Florida just made self-inflicted mistakes that prevented them from ever being able to take the upper hand.

I started this article with a bunch of “what if” questions because that’s what you’re left with when you’ve lost to Alabama for the eighth straight time. What if the Gators had been able to weather the early onslaught better? What if the Gators had been able to tackle better in space? And what if Anthony Richardson had been able to play?

Well, only the third question really should be a question. The other two were avoidable.

Family and the Swamp

I get to stay with my folks when I come down to Gainesville to catch a game. My brother came up from his place and we got to go together. Family is a big reason that I started coming back to Gainesville for football games after I graduated.

But I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on the other family that this website and Gator football has provided for me.

I spent the better part of the afternoon at the Harmonic Woods tailgate. Those folks have always been incredibly welcoming to me and really the entire Gator community. We all obviously care about the Gators but I get the sense that if I were in a bar fight, they’d be right beside me in the trenches.

And while I was at the tailgate, a bunch of people who I’ve met only on Twitter came by to say how much they enjoy this website or Gators Breakdown or Stand Up & Holler. That means a lot to me. I put a lot of effort into this, but the payoff is that I get to be a part of something bigger than myself.

Then I got to spend the game with Alan Levine, who I met through Twitter and interviewed about the COVID-19 vaccine a few weeks ago. The level of hospitality that he and his friends showed was truly humbling for both my brother and myself. And the seats were just awesome.

So thank you to all of you out there. Every time you read an article, click on an advertisement, support me on Patreon, watch a YouTube clip or interact with me on game day, just know that you’re helping me. Because while I’m hoping to build something bigger here at Read and Reaction, I also want to build into something that is already really substantial for all of us.

The Gator family.

P.S. THWG