Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Woody (via iPhone)
On Feb 15, 2011, at 3:09 PM, Shane Ford <goufgat...@bellsouth.net> wrote: > Oh, man! After reading this, I have 2 comments. > > 1). THANK GOD that Foley didn't promote from within to replace Meyer. > > 2). I'm actually getting stoked for this upcoming season just over the > possibilities. I was originally feeling like it would at least be the Spring > game before I even wanted to look at a football. Now, I cant wait!!! > > GO GATORS!!! > > 53 Days till the O&B Spring Game!!!! > > Shane Ford > Sent from my iPhone > Go Gators! & Skol Vikes! > > On Feb 15, 2011, at 1:02 PM, "Adam Cumming" <gatorb...@att.net> wrote: > >> Originally Published: February 15, 2011 Brantley's passing skills and >> Charlie Weis' offense could lead a Gators turnaround By KC Joyner ESPN >> Insider Archive Kim Klement/US Presswire John Brantley has the passing >> skills to have a breakout season in 2011 under Charlie Weis. One of the >> secrets to Steve Spurrier's success during his days as the Florida Gators >> head coach was that he spent as much time coaching up the receiving corps as >> he did the quarterbacks. Spurrier understood that while having a field >> general with superb accuracy, toughness and the ability to read defenses was >> extremely valuable, all of those skills could effectively be rendered >> useless if the pass-catchers weren't where they were supposed to be when >> they were supposed to be there. (This is a rarely discussed aspect in the >> discussion of why some Florida quarterbacks did less in the NFL than >> expected.) The Ol' Ball Coach may no longer be patrolling the sidelines in >> Gainesville, but his methodology regarding pass-catchers is one of many >> changes that new Florida offensive coordinator Charlie Weis can implement to >> help senior quarterback John Brantley become one of the best passers in >> college football this season. After reading that last sentence, many readers >> may feel the need to do a double take. Brantley as one of the best passers >> in college football? The same Brantley whose 116.4 passer rating ranked him >> 97th among all FBS quarterbacks in that category last season? The guy who >> threw more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (9) and nearly >> transferred to another school this offseason? It may sound incredible, but >> the game tape and metrics review of three of the Gators' toughest contests >> last season (at the Tennessee Volunteers, at home against the LSU Tigers and >> at the Alabama Crimson Tide, all teams that placed in the top 31 in the FBS >> in passer rating allowed) show that Brantley had very little to do with the >> terrible state of the Florida offense last season. His composite passer >> rating in those contests was an abysmal 112.2, but Brantley actually played >> quite well in those games. Really. Start with his performance on >> medium-depth passes (those thrown 11-19 yards downfield). Brantley had 19 >> completions or defensive pass interference penalties in 24 attempts for 347 >> yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. That equates to 14.5 yards per >> attempt (YPA) and a ridiculously high 214.4 passer rating. Those are simply >> phenomenal numbers on their own, but considering that they came on >> medium-depth throws (some of the hardest completions to make) and against >> three tough pass defenses they are even more incredible. Those weren't the >> only statistics in which Brantley impressed. He had only two bad decisions >> in 82 dropbacks, for a bad decision rate of 2.5 percent. (A bad decision >> being defined as when a quarterback makes a mistake with the ball that leads >> either to a turnover or a near turnover.) That means he made an error of >> this nature only once every 40 passes. That is a Peyton Manning-like rate. >> Of course, statements like this lead to two obvious questions: 1. If >> Brantley wasn't the cause of the problems for the passing game, then what >> were the causes? 2. Can Weis fix them? The first cause was dropped passes. >> Gators pass-catchers let seven on-target throws slip through their hands in >> those games. Drops are always going to happen, but a drop rate of 8.5 >> percent is simply unacceptable from an overall perspective, and is doubly >> unacceptable when considering that all of those drops were on catchable >> passes. Another prospective area of improvement will be on tipped passes. >> Brantley had eight passes tipped in those games. Two of them led to >> interceptions and two others were nearly picked off. Some of the progress in >> this area will be on Brantley's shoulders, as he will need to do a better >> job of finding passing lanes on the line of scrimmage. But a lot of the >> advancement here can be achieved via better pass-blocking. It is often >> believed that effective pass-blocking only consists of an offensive lineman >> being able to absorb hit after hit without letting the defender get past >> him, but in reality, good pass-blocking has an aggressive element. A rush >> end or linebacker may want to get his hands in the air to tip a pass, but if >> he is having to fight being hit in the chest he will be more apt to keep his >> arms out of the passing lanes. That isn't the only place in which improved >> protection can help Brantley reach his potential. For example, in the >> aforementioned three-game sample, the Gators gave up five sacks. Two of the >> sacks were of the one-on-one variety, meaning that a defender got past a >> blocker in a one-on-one matchup and tackled the quarterback in the pocket >> within three seconds of the snap. Those are the types of sacks that disrupt >> a pass play before it has had enough time to develop, so immediate >> improvement here will be critical. Defending against those kinds of sacks >> may require a talent upgrade (although the Gators' recent recruiting success >> would suggest that, in theory, they have plenty of talent throughout the >> roster to step in if necessary). But two of the other sacks came as a result >> of an unblocked blitzer and a third was the after effect of an unblocked >> blitz (another defender got the sack after the blitzer missed the tackle). >> Those types of sacks are a matter of either poor play calling by the coach >> and/ or poor blitz pickup calls by the players and they can be prevented >> without having to do any upgrading of talent along the offensive line. >> Getting receivers to run crisper routes will be high on Weis' priority list. >> In the Tennessee game alone, Gators wideouts had one play in which two >> receivers ended up in the same area (a definite no-no) and another in which >> a receiver didn't look for a pass, even though he was wide open. Errors such >> as that one are something that should be easily correctable with effective >> coaching. Weis has done that sort of thing before (witness Matt Cassel's >> turnaround, coupled with Dwayne Bowe's breakout performance, with the Kansas >> City Chiefs this past season). In addition, it seems logical to assume that >> the switch to Weis' pro-style attack will better cater to Brantley's >> strengths as a downfield, pocket passer than Urban Meyer and Steve Addazio's >> spread offense and three-QB rotation was last season. If Weis can >> effectively coach up the receiving corps and offensive line and get his QB >> in a Cassel-or Jimmy Clausen-like comfort zone to take advantage of his >> considerable downfield-passing skills, Brantley could be able to engineer a >> serious turnaround in the Swamp this season >> >> Sent from myTouch 4G >> >> -- >> GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! >> 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions >> 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions >> 2008 National Football Champions | >> Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), >> Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
