There were miscues aplenty in the Gators’ season-opening win against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, but the most lasting image of UF’s struggles is the mishandled and errant snaps between center Mike Pouncey and quarterback John Brantley.
The pair worked on shotgun snaps before and after Sunday’s practice, and Pouncey has made three adjustments to try and avoid a repeat performance. He’ll use a towel to keep his hands dry, focus on keeping a stiff wrist and move his grip to the top of the football.
“I’m the leader of the offense,” said Pouncey, a team captain and member of the watch list for the Rimington Trophy, given to the nation’s best center. “When your leader is messing up, it makes everything look bad. It’s just not expected out of me, so I’ve been busting my tail.
“I haven’t been able to sleep all week since the game.”
Pouncey rolled three snaps past Brantley, resulting in one lost fumble and negative-60 yards. Brantley also dropped one chest-high snap for a loss of seven, had to pluck four from near his ankles and while one high snap led to a fumbled handoff.
Brantley, UF coach Urban Meyer and offensive coordinator Steve Addazio all said Pouncey hadn’t struggled in practices prior to Saturday, and Addazio was quick to come to Pouncey’s defense.
“Those things weren’t all Mike Pouncey, so let’s get that clear,” Addazio said. “He had a couple of [bad snaps], and he’s addressing it. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. You’re talking about one of the best offensive linemen in college football, if not the best, who has played that position for over a year.”
He added: “I’m not the least bit concerned about Mike Pouncey. Not even a little.”
Gators fall in AP poll: Florida’s 34-12 win sent it the wrong direction in the AP poll.
UF was ranked fourth in the preseason poll but fell to No. 8 this week, its lowest ranking in that poll since Oct. 5, 2008, when the Gators checked in at No. 11.
Alabama retained the top spot, and five other Southeastern Conference teams landed in the top-25: Arkansas (14th), LSU (19th), Auburn (21st), Georgia (22nd) and South Carolina (24th).
FSU moved up three spots to No. 17.
Patchan, Nixon still doubtful: Addazio said Tuesday he wasn’t sure whether tackles Matt Patchan (wrist) and Xavier Nixon (knee) would be healthy in time for this weekend’s tilt with South Florida.
Their absences — along with the suspension of Carl Johnson — led to shuffling on the offensive line, with Maurice Hurt moving from guard to tackle and tackle Marcus Gilbert switching from the right to left side.
