‘It’s about executing’: Florida offense stalls for second consecutive week

With two top-ranked opponents on the horizon and last week’s disappointing loss to the Missouri Tigers still looming in the background, Florida needed to capitalize on its showdown with a struggling SEC opponent. 

But with the Gamecocks in town riding a three-game losing streak, the Gators were unable to get the job done at home. Florida found the end zone just twice in the 38-19 loss, its second-lowest point total of the season. The offense struggled to execute long-yardage plays and consistently test South Carolina’s defense. 

“Disappointing football today by us, no excuse for it,” Sumrall said. “Today's not anywhere near where we need to perform. So many things to clean up.”

Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of what went wrong for the Gators’ offense.

Quarterbacks

Headed into Oct. 10’s Homecoming game, plenty of attention was on the play of starting quarterback Aaron Philo. While he had a solid start to the season, completing just over 69% of his throws for 1,114 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions, his numbers dipped in SEC play. And against the Gamecocks, that trend continued. 

While Philo’s overall numbers of 21-for-28 passing for 227 yards, a touchdown and an interception don’t scream lackluster, a deeper dive into the junior quarterback’s performance raises a lot of red flags, evidenced by his 31.9 quarterback rating, which is by far his lowest mark of the season (his previous low was a 63.5 against Missouri).

Nine of Philo’s 21 completions came behind the line of scrimmage, per Pro Football Focus. On those throws, his average depth of target was -3.4 yards. More worrisome, however, were Philo’s numbers when he was pressured. He completed two of four passes for 15 yards and an interception. He was sacked three times on those plays despite having an average of nearly three seconds to throw, per PFF.

That aforementioned interception came in the second half. On a second-and-11 far within Florida territory, Philo looked for wide receiver Bailey Stockton, who was running a deep out route. But he didn’t see South Carolina cornerback Vicari Swain, who barely needed to flinch to secure the pick. 

“Sometimes you have to understand, ‘Hey, is it not there? Take what's there,’” Sumrall said. “It's about staying on schedule; it's about being efficient; it's about executing.”

Philo’s last throw of the day came in the fourth quarter with Florida already at a sizable disadvantage. On a fourth-and-3, he fired for TJ Abrams near the sideline, but his pass was nowhere near the mark. After that, he was replaced by Tramell Jones Jr., who went 6-for-8 passing for 40 yards and an interception that bounced off the hands of tight end Evan Chieca. He also threw an unofficial interception on a two-point try after UF’s late scoring drive. 

While there isn’t a QB controversy just yet, it’s clear that if Philo doesn’t improve, the team’s ceiling is severely capped.

Running backs

After last week’s abysmal performance on the ground, posting just 42 rushing yards against Missouri, the Gators’ run game showed some flashes. However, it wasn’t nearly as dominant as in the first four outings.

Through the first two frames, Philo led Florida’s rushing attack, posting 35 yards on the ground. However, Jadan Baugh eventually found enough footing to do some damage. He exploded for 26 yards in Florida’s first drive out of the half, and he finished with 15 carries for 59 yards and a touchdown. 

Except for last week at Missouri, this was Baugh’s lowest since he posted 46 yards against Miami last September. And for the second consecutive week, Baugh only forced one missed tackle. In the prior four weeks, he had forced 34 missed tackles.

“Quarterback, running back, both the guys in the backfield, a lot of what they're able to get done is predicated by what's going on in front of them,” Sumrall said. “We want those guys to feel like they don't have to hit the home run or the big play down in and down out.”

The Gators’ running back unit was also hit with an injury to Duke Clark in the first half. Clark shined against Ole Miss, posting 12 carries for 126 yards, but he was limited to just three carries for five yards Oct. 10 after emerging from the locker room in a boot after halftime. 

Florida finished the afternoon rushing for 120 yards, a number Baugh surpassed on his own in each of the Gators’ first four outings. 

Wide receivers and tight ends

The wide receiver room was clearly hurting from the absence of Vernell Brown III for the second straight week. Without him and with limited action from wideout Eric Singleton Jr., who fought through a lingering ankle injury, Philo struggled to facilitate a balanced attack. 

Bailey Stockton and Dallas Wilson got the bulk of the looks. Stockton was targeted a team-high 11 times, catching eight passes for 127 yards and the day’s sole passing touchdown. 

“I don't really care about that,” Stockton said. “I could have zero catches. I just want to win.”

Wilson trailed with eight receptions for 74 yards. Behind them, no other receiver posted more than two receptions or 14 yards. In a contest that should have allowed the wide receiver corps to flex its depth, Florida fell flat in the passing game. 

Stockton didn’t leap to pin the loss on the absence of key receivers, though.

“He's obviously a difference maker,” Stockton said of Brown. “You see what he can do, but I think it's all 11 of us. It's not just one guy. We need to go out there, and we just got to execute.” 

The wide receivers weren’t alone in the struggles; the tight ends were also rendered ineffective Oct. 10. Luke Harpring added two catches for seven yards, while Lacota Dippre added one catch for nine yards. Chieca was also responsible for one of the day’s turnovers, dropping a Jones pass into the hands of South Carolina’s Justin Okoronkwo. 

Florida finished the day with 267 passing yards, with Stockton and Wilson clearly doing all the heavy lifting on the receiving end. 

Offensive line

For the second week in a row, Florida’s offensive line was well out of whack.

After surrendering 11 pressures and seven hurries that resulted in two sacks against Missouri, the Gator offensive line allowed nine pressures, six hurries and three sacks.

Right tackle Emeka Ugorji was responsible for four pressures, two hurries and two sacks. Overall, PFF gave him a 2.1 pass-blocking grade (out of 100). Meanwhile, left tackle Bryce Lovett, who had a 28.5 pass-blocking grade last week (three hurries and pressures allowed), struggled once again. He once again surrendered three hurries and pressures en route to a 34.8 pass-blocking grade.

Struggles on both corners of the offensive line, paired with run-blocking woes from left guard Knijeah Harris (44.2 grade), allowed the South Carolina front to feast on Philo, Baugh and the other members of Florida’s backfield.

“For the majority of the day, their defensive front won the battle at the line of scrimmage over us in the run and the pass game,” Sumrall said. “When we wanted to get into obvious drop-back pass situations, it was bad too. And I think they've got good players, but we have to help our guys play better.”

Gamecocks defensive end Dylan Stewart, who returned to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension last week, was all over Ugorji in their one-on-one matchup. The projected first-round pick had five tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles, one of which was recovered by Shawn Murphy. Ultimately, the dynamic pass rusher finished with a 95.8 PFF grade, by far the highest mark of any player on either side of the ball Oct. 10.

“When we were dropping back to pass, the quarterback was not real comfortable because the rush, 6 [Stewart] and 40 [Anthony Addison, who had three pressures], those guys were living in our backfield in obvious pass situations,” Sumrall said.

Florida’s offensive line won’t get an easy matchup next week either. Texas’ defense is headlined by Colin Simmons, one of the nation’s most effective pass rushers. This season, the junior has nine and a half sacks, five and a half of which came against Tennessee on Sept. 26.

Contact Ava DiCecca at adicecca@alligator.org. Follow her on X at @avadicecca24.

Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @maxbernstein23.

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