travisduncan
Gator Fan
New coaching staff, new season, but the pressure is still on John Brantley. The senior quarterback had at least two tipped balls Saturday and completed just 4-of-14 passes for 45 yards.
Brantley will be the starter next fall if the decision was made today. And from the sound of it, barring injury, he'll be leading the Gator offense September 3rd against Florida Atlantic.
Gator Nation as a majority in the two days since Saturday's game do not believe Brantley has improved much over last season.
That won't change until he wins a game next fall or otherwise the Gators win despite less than stellar play at the quarterback position.
Beyond the glimmer of hope that Weis can accentuate the senior's accuracy, improve his timing, and help him limit mistakes, some might want to see what redshirt freshman Tyler Murphy can do when the games matter.
But Brantley has the support of both Will Muschamp and Charlie Weis.
The two coaches (especially Weis we know from his style at Notre Dame) aren't the type to really let what is said online or even presented to them in press conferences affect how they manage a football team. Weis went through the gauntlet of criticism in South Bend, billboards included, but never broke stride in how he coached his team on the field.
Brantley's going to be the guy even if Gator Nation looses sleep from now until September.
It would appear the offensive players are behind Brantley as well. But it's hard to know exactly how guys like Quinton Dunbar and other skill position players on the offensive feel about Brantley as opposed to a guy Murphy. You don't find those things out until a couple of bad losses.
Murphy had a nice afternoon, finishing with 7 of 11 passing for 68 yards, including a touchdown with 9:47 left in the game to sophomore running back Ben Sams.
Murphy can make plays on the fly, while his down the field passing, or the "vertical game" which Muschamp calls it is lacking for Murphy.
Jeff Driskel doesn't look to be a guy who could challenge Brantley at this point. The true freshman completed 2-of-6 passes on Saturday.
True freshman dual-threat QB Jacoby Brissett, will join the Gators later this summer and is a wild card at this point.
"I thought [Brantley] had a really good spring," Muschamp said Sunday.
"If we started the season today he would be our starter. He's experienced. He's got talent. We had the first deep ball coming out of the gate on the first play. The ball should have been caught."
"He's close to 70-percent completion percentage for the spring."
"I'm very pleased on how he's managing our football team. He's picking up our offense. He does a great job at the line of scrimmage. We put a lot on the quarterback as far as running pass checks, protections, run game, taking it to the right side or the other. So I'm pleased with John."
One way to interpret Muschamp's comments is that what they want Brantley to do is not lose the game. Get the ball into the hands of Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey, Trey Burton, or Quinton Dunbar among others and let them make plays.
Muschamp's plan going into the game was to have a "functional" scrimmage, not blow anyone away, or unveil the complete offensive or defensive schemes. In essence, not show everything they have in terms of schemes and plays. There may be more in store in terms of what Brantley can do in this offense.
"Our philosophy as a coaching staff is 'let's evaluate our players and put them in situations where they can be successful, and let's identify our playmakers."
"We've identified our playmakers. We've ranked our Top 22 guys on both sides of the ball."
Muschamp says that because of NCAA rules, the coaching staff can have very limited contact with the players and that it is time for players to step up into leadership roles, and to make sure 7-on-7 drills are "structured". All the more reason while Brantley was named the starter Saturday.
The offensive line is perhaps a bigger concern than Brantley's play.
They did a nice job on sweeps, with some help from wideouts and tight ends, and the running game looked good. But pass blocking will be an issue.
Muschamp says there has been some "spotty work" up front. He believes the SEC is a "line of scrimmage" league and that's where the Gators need to improve.
Other Notes:
-Sophomore running back Malcolm Jones ran for a game-best 35 yards on eight carries. -Sophomore wide receiver Robert Clark was the game’s leading receiver with one catch
for 31 yards and a score.
-Freshman Kyle Christy tied Nick Fleming’s 2003 Spring Game record for longest punt
with a 55-yard punt in the first quarter.
-Redshirt freshman defensive end Chris Martin registered the first sack of the game by
sacking Murphy for an eight-yard loss in the first quarter.
-Redshirt freshman Lynden Trail recorded the second sack of the contest by sacking
Murphy in the second quarter for another eight-yard loss.
-One basketball note, Vernon Macklin was impressive in the Portsmith Invitational this past weekend, scoring 57 points in three days and showing his nice touch shooting.
Brantley will be the starter next fall if the decision was made today. And from the sound of it, barring injury, he'll be leading the Gator offense September 3rd against Florida Atlantic.
Gator Nation as a majority in the two days since Saturday's game do not believe Brantley has improved much over last season.
That won't change until he wins a game next fall or otherwise the Gators win despite less than stellar play at the quarterback position.
Beyond the glimmer of hope that Weis can accentuate the senior's accuracy, improve his timing, and help him limit mistakes, some might want to see what redshirt freshman Tyler Murphy can do when the games matter.
But Brantley has the support of both Will Muschamp and Charlie Weis.
The two coaches (especially Weis we know from his style at Notre Dame) aren't the type to really let what is said online or even presented to them in press conferences affect how they manage a football team. Weis went through the gauntlet of criticism in South Bend, billboards included, but never broke stride in how he coached his team on the field.
Brantley's going to be the guy even if Gator Nation looses sleep from now until September.
It would appear the offensive players are behind Brantley as well. But it's hard to know exactly how guys like Quinton Dunbar and other skill position players on the offensive feel about Brantley as opposed to a guy Murphy. You don't find those things out until a couple of bad losses.
Murphy had a nice afternoon, finishing with 7 of 11 passing for 68 yards, including a touchdown with 9:47 left in the game to sophomore running back Ben Sams.
Murphy can make plays on the fly, while his down the field passing, or the "vertical game" which Muschamp calls it is lacking for Murphy.
Jeff Driskel doesn't look to be a guy who could challenge Brantley at this point. The true freshman completed 2-of-6 passes on Saturday.
True freshman dual-threat QB Jacoby Brissett, will join the Gators later this summer and is a wild card at this point.
"I thought [Brantley] had a really good spring," Muschamp said Sunday.
"If we started the season today he would be our starter. He's experienced. He's got talent. We had the first deep ball coming out of the gate on the first play. The ball should have been caught."
"He's close to 70-percent completion percentage for the spring."
"I'm very pleased on how he's managing our football team. He's picking up our offense. He does a great job at the line of scrimmage. We put a lot on the quarterback as far as running pass checks, protections, run game, taking it to the right side or the other. So I'm pleased with John."
One way to interpret Muschamp's comments is that what they want Brantley to do is not lose the game. Get the ball into the hands of Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey, Trey Burton, or Quinton Dunbar among others and let them make plays.
Muschamp's plan going into the game was to have a "functional" scrimmage, not blow anyone away, or unveil the complete offensive or defensive schemes. In essence, not show everything they have in terms of schemes and plays. There may be more in store in terms of what Brantley can do in this offense.
"Our philosophy as a coaching staff is 'let's evaluate our players and put them in situations where they can be successful, and let's identify our playmakers."
"We've identified our playmakers. We've ranked our Top 22 guys on both sides of the ball."
Muschamp says that because of NCAA rules, the coaching staff can have very limited contact with the players and that it is time for players to step up into leadership roles, and to make sure 7-on-7 drills are "structured". All the more reason while Brantley was named the starter Saturday.
The offensive line is perhaps a bigger concern than Brantley's play.
They did a nice job on sweeps, with some help from wideouts and tight ends, and the running game looked good. But pass blocking will be an issue.
Muschamp says there has been some "spotty work" up front. He believes the SEC is a "line of scrimmage" league and that's where the Gators need to improve.
Other Notes:
-Sophomore running back Malcolm Jones ran for a game-best 35 yards on eight carries. -Sophomore wide receiver Robert Clark was the game’s leading receiver with one catch
for 31 yards and a score.
-Freshman Kyle Christy tied Nick Fleming’s 2003 Spring Game record for longest punt
with a 55-yard punt in the first quarter.
-Redshirt freshman defensive end Chris Martin registered the first sack of the game by
sacking Murphy for an eight-yard loss in the first quarter.
-Redshirt freshman Lynden Trail recorded the second sack of the contest by sacking
Murphy in the second quarter for another eight-yard loss.
-One basketball note, Vernon Macklin was impressive in the Portsmith Invitational this past weekend, scoring 57 points in three days and showing his nice touch shooting.