On a day Florida’s offense was ordinary, the Gators were special on special teams
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On the most sweltering day in the history of The Swamp, Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks started the football game ice-cold.
Franks had as many unsportsmanlike conduct penalties (one) in the first quarter as the number of first downs he produced. Franks underthrew a wide-open Jordan Scarlett in the flat, made multiple misreads on zone runs, including where simply handing to Lamical Perine was a certain touchdown for Florida, and threw an interception on a seam route where a timely-delivered pass probably would have resulted in a Florida touchdown.
After two weeks of demonstrative progress, Franks opened Saturday’s game with his worst quarter of the season, much to the chagrin of the 80,000 fans who weathered the crushing September heat. All told, Franks and the Florida offense struggled mightily in the first half despite Florida’s opponent ranking in the bottom 10 in America in total defense entering the game.
You couldn’t blame the crowd for groaning.
They’d seen this movie before: a stolid offense and an inaccurate, out-of-rhythm quarterback unable to capitalize on consistently short fields and quality defense. Playing a Colorado State team with a talented quarterback and highly-competent play-caller in Mike Bobo, you couldn’t blame the Gators faithful if they felt, eventually, that this game the Gators desperately needed to win would slip away.
Instead, Florida won in convincing fashion, winning 48-10 and buoyed by a dominant performance from their special teams unit that refused to let the Gators fail.
It was fitting that Florida’s special teams would dominate a game many dubbed the “Buyout Bowl,” as the Rams visit to Gainesville came with a $2 million guarantee, all part of Florida’s negotiations only four years ago to hire Jim McElwain away from Colorado State.
McElwain failed at Florida in part because of his lack of attention or respect for the little things. He used to joke he didn’t know specialists’ names, and former Florida punter Johnny Townsend was just one of many who would openly lament the Gators refusal to practice blocking punts. Special teams were an inconvenience to McElwain, not a vital way to change football games with relentless effort and energy.
Dan Mullen arrived and vowed, along with special teams coordinator Greg Knox, to change that aspect of Florida’s culture. Special teams wouldn’t be a forgotten phase of Florida’s football team. They would be a critical one, a real-time study on the level of cultural buy-in.
Florida emphasized the unit throughout the spring and in fall-camp, and the Gators delivered a special performance that won the football game Saturday.
Florida’s special teams were directly responsible for 20 Florida points, and indirectly responsible for seven more after a long punt return set up Florida for its second touchdown drive of the second quarter, which staked the Gators to a 20-0 lead.
Florida had only blocked five kicks since the end of the 2012 season before Mullen and his longtime assistant Knox arrived in Gainesville.
The Gators blocked two kicks Saturday, upping their tally to four on the season through three games. The unit is taking pride in what they do and, as a result, they are giving the Gators a game-changing edge that injects a sideline and culture with needed energy.
“Special teams are such a critical part of the game,” Mullen told the media Saturday night. “We spend a lot of time on it. You see guys embracing how special teams can make difference and sway a game. The outcome of this game was really about special teams.”
It was, and it started almost immediately, when James Houston IV busted through a gap on Colorado State’s first punt and tackled Rams punter Ryan Stonehouse before he could get the punt off, setting the Gators up at the 11-yard line. Franks and the Gators would squander the red-zone opportunity and be forced to kick a field goal, but the stage was set for a tremendous special teams performance.
On too many Saturdays in recent memory, a sputtering Florida offense would have spelled doom. Instead, Florida’s special teams kept coming.
A 22-yard Freddie Swain punt return set up Florida’s second touchdown drive in Rams territory. Then, with the Gators up 20-0 in the second quarter despite only having four first downs on offense, freshman Amari Burney broke through a seam to block another Rams punt. Tyrie Cleveland promptly fell on the loose ball in the end zone, and suddenly, a football game too close for comfort was blown open.
That type of effort is a testament to Florida’s coaches, and a sign that Florida’s culture is changing inch by inch, according to Mullen.
“The special teams aspect of it, the big plays made, guys buy into that. They’re really starting to see how important it is. That’s a sign of the buy-in to our culture and what we’re constantly emphasizing. Here at Florida, we should always have dynamic special teams. We have through the years and it should continue.”
The special teams plays kept coming in the second half.
Early in the fourth quarter, with the Rams creeping back into the football game at 27-10 and the Gators offense again struggling to convert first downs, Freddie Swain put any idea of a second-straight Colorado State comeback against a SEC squad to bed with an electric 85-yard punt return for a touchdown.
.@Freddie_iball2 ➡ #Playmaker #GoGators pic.twitter.com/xwCo3wi39r
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 16, 2018
Swain, who became the first Gators player since Reidel Anthony in 1996 to catch a touchdown pass and return a punt for a touchdown Saturday, believes the staff’s message about special teams is a big part of Florida’s ongoing culture change under Mullen.
“Everything starts with special teams,” Swain said. “When we win special teams, we’re going to win the game.”
That was certainly the case Saturday afternoon.
On a day when Feleipe Franks only managed 8 completions and 119 yards passing, Florida dominated anyway because it made winning plays in all three phases of the game. On a day that Colorado State controlled the clock and ran 83 plays to the Gators’ 44, the Gators won in a rout because they made the little plays that impact winning.
Florida’s football team was ordinary most of the day, but the Gators’ forgotten unit was special. For a fan base looking for signs that the culture is changing under Dan Mullen, that made Saturday’s win special ,too.
Neil Blackmon covers SEC football and basketball for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
