After the Gators lost to Michigan, 33-17, in their season opener, Florida sits 122nd out of 126 teams in total offense, moving the ball only 192 yards against the Wolverines.
Despite the slow start, UF coach Jim McElwain said Monday he has no plans to take control of the play calling, leaving it in the hands of his offensive coordinator, Doug Nussmeier.
“We’re not doing that right now,” McElwain told reporters Monday when asked if he’d take the reigns from his coordinator of the past two seasons.
Nussmeier drew criticism from fans after a stagnant performance in AT&T Stadium on Saturday, a performance that included failing to feed the ball to playmakers like receiver Dre Massey and utility player Kadarius Toney on a consistent basis. That criticism wasn’t lost on McElwain.
“We need to make sure that the guys that need to touch it, touch it,” he said. “Those things need getting called.”
McElwain didn’t rule out taking over play calling down the line, but he made a point of defending Nussmeier, saying that it’s hard to have a productive offense when your team’s offensive line can’t adequately protect its quarterback. Overall, he made clear that he still has some confidence in his coordinator.
“I’ve seen what he can do. I’ve seen what he’s done,” McElwain said of Nussmeier. “He takes a lot of it personally, and sometimes in this business that’s the way it is.”
McElwain said it was just one game, and if anyone deserves the blame, it’s himself.
“Put the ire towards me, I mean, I’m the one responsible for it,” he said. “I plan on getting it fixed.”
Franks to start against Northern Colorado
McElwain took starting quarterback Feleipe Franks, a redshirt freshman, out of the game on Saturday in the third quarter following a lost fumble and replaced him with Notre Dame transfer Malik Zaire. But McElwain said Monday he still plans to run the offense around Franks on Saturday in Florida’s second game of the season, a home matchup against Northern Colorado.
“Yeah, we'll go back with Feleipe,” McElwain said. “That was kind of the plan, and I think both (Franks and Zaire) did some things, some things they'd like back.”
Franks’ first play, a 34-yard completion down the right sideline to Josh Hammond, ended up as the redshirt freshman’s best play of the day, and he came out of the game after completing 5-of-9 passes for 75 yards.
Zaire, billed as a dual-threat QB, completed 9-of-17 passes for 102 yards, but ended the game with -29 rushing yards after he was sacked five times.
“He was looking probably to get out of the pocket first before delivering the ball,” McElwain said. “It’s something he’s got to get better at.”
Suspended WR Robinson returns
Of Florida’s 10 players who were suspended for the season opener, McElwain could only confirm that one will be back against Northern Colorado: freshman receiver James Robinson.
Robinson was suspended for Florida’s season opener after he was caught with marijuana in a dorm room, according to a UPD citation.
“He’d be back this week. He had his suspension last week,” McElwain said Monday.
The other nine players?
“Still haven’t heard anything. We’ll see.”
The other nine players were reportedly suspended in connection to a misuse of school-issued funds.
Two of the players include Florida’s leading pass catcher in 2016, receiver Antonio Callaway, and Florida’s leading rusher in 2016, running back Jordan Scarlett.
Receiver Josh Hammond said after the game Saturday that Callaway’s absence was felt in the receiver corps.
“Antonio was definitely a big part of our team but we’re still fine,” Hammond said. “We were getting open, you know we just couldn’t complete them.”
You can follow Matt Brannon on Twitter @MattB_727, and contact them at mbrannon@alligator.org.
Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks is looking at the sideline for the next play during UF's 33-17 loss to Michigan on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
