Florida’s opening 14-play drive against Tennessee broken down

Florida opened the Tennessee game with by far its longest drive of the year. The Gators marched down the field in 14 plays, their only drive of double-digit play count so far in 2017.

Here is how and why that drive ended up being as long as it was.

Play 1: Quick pass to Josh Hammond for 8 yards

Jim McElwain has talked about having a “get it to” list, referring to a lineup of offensive players who the coaches need to make sure get some touches. A pass like this is how you get it to a guy like Hammond.

Florida spread out the field to make sure there was some space, and Feleipe Franks immediately fired a bullet to get it to Hammond before the space collapsed. It also was not a bad way to get some good yards on first down to avoid 3rd-and-long later on.

Play 2: Incomplete deep pass to Tyrie Cleveland

Rather than do the expected and run on 2nd-and-3, the Gators go with a play action shot down the field. Franks appears to be a bit jittery here, much more so when he looked a lot calmer against Michigan in the opener.

Cleveland wanted a flag, and had the ball been catchable instead of a long overthrow, he probably would’ve gotten one.

Play 3: Toss sweep to Lamical Perine for 3 yards

Georgia Tech gained a lot of yardage against Tennessee on outside rushes, and outside sweep runs were basically the only thing that worked for Indiana State against the Vols. Florida didn’t use them much, though it did here.

If T.J. McCoy noticed the linebacker sooner while advancing to the second level, this could’ve picked up another three or four yards.

Play 4: Mark Thompson run for 2 yards

This run could’ve gone for more if the receiver at the top attempted to block the defensive back who made the tackle. That receiver is Kadarius Toney, who was a high school quarterback and who played some quarterback in the spring before switching to receiver full-time this fall.

It’s fun to watch Toney with the ball in his hands, but keep your blocking expectations for him low while he learns the position.

Play 5: Screen to Brandon Powell for 22 yards

Powell is another get it to guy given his high end speed.

The quick passes and screens worked on this drive because the targets were out in space. This one in particular worked because of good blocking by Jawaan Taylor getting out in front. He had a rough game against Michigan but played much better against the Vols.

Play 6: Thompson run for 7 yards

This isn’t particularly well blocked; Thompson just runs through tacklers to get tough yardage. It’s the sort of hard running we almost always see from Jordan Scarlett and too seldom see from Thompson.

Play 7: Malik Davis run for no gain

Both guards release to the second level and whiff on their blocks. Brett Heggie’s guy makes the tackle, but Fred Johnson’s guy occupies space that Davis could’ve used to cut to the outside.

Play 8: Perine run for 8 yards

Tennessee plugged the middle well enough, but it didn’t have much setting the right edge. Perine used his strength to bull his way through the lone DB over there and pick up good yardage.

Play 9: Franks pass batted down at the line

Franks dropped back and wanted to hit Hammond up the right sideline, but a defensive lineman who was lurking jumped up and knocked it down. The defender wasn’t engaged in a block, so there’s no one to ding on the offensive line on this one.

This might’ve even saved Florida a bad play, as Hammond doesn’t look particularly open.

Play 10: Quick throw to Hammond for 9 yards

The Vols gave Hammond too much space on this one and the Gators made them pay. Powell worked as a nice decoy, but Hammond’s guy was just way too far away.

Play 11: Franks QB sneak for 1 yard

This was the rugby scrum conversion. There’s no real need for visual. Franks took the snap and three guys pushed him from behind across the line for the conversion.

Play 12: Quick slant to Cleveland for 10 yards

After a delay of game and false start, it’s 1st-and-20. Those two penalties are a big reason why the drive finally stalled and ended in a field goal.

Tennessee showed blitz from the right side, so Franks hit Cleveland on a quick slant to the left side. It’s a textbook way of dealing with pressure, and a good throw and catch picked up some nice yardage. This is how you punish a defense for getting aggressive.

Play 13: Incomplete swing pass to Thompson

This is the one that got away on this drive. Franks had to float it to get it over the leaping defender, but it went too far for Thompson to get to it. With three downfield blockers and only two defenders, this might’ve been the touchdown play.

Play 14: Middle throw to Hammond for five yards

Tennessee blitzed again. Heggie should’ve given up on double teaming the defensive tackle to get the delayed blitzer. He didn’t, though, forcing Franks to have to get rid of it.

The only guys open at the time were Hammond, who was well short of the first down line, and Thompson, running an extremely half-hearted slant at the bottom of your screen. I assume it went to Hammond because he was earlier in the progression, though Thompson’s slow jog suggests he was never supposed to be a real option anyway.

Overall

So what did we learn?

Florida used some quick passes and screens to punish Tennessee for being aggressive up the middle and lenient on the edges. The offense gained 49 of the drive’s 75 yards (65%) on those fast passes, including the three longest gains (22-yard screen to Powell, ten-yard slant to Cleveland, nine-yard hitch to Hammond).

In general, McElwain and Doug Nussmeier have wanted UF to be a team that runs to set up the pass. On this drive, though, the pass worked well and did more to set up the run than the other way around.

Given the offensive line’s struggles in Week 1, it made sense to hit the edges and get guys in space early on. I haven’t studied the rest of the game in detail yet to see how much better the line did against UT. It certainly did play better, as it would’ve been hard to be worse, but I can’t say yet whether Florida should seriously consider converting itself to being a team that primarily uses quick passes to set up the rest of the offense.

The touchdown drive in the fourth quarter used a quick slant to Cleveland and a pair of screens to Powell as three of its seven plays. There is definitely something there, and I expect Florida to see what more it can do with those kinds of plays.