Well... I guess I'm ready to blend my noise in with the discussion you've already got going.
1. 99 Problems, and 'bout all of 'em are OL: For whatever reason, lack of size, strength, talent, buy in... our OL is continually awful, and our All-American Trey Smith has not been up to All-SEC level yet. This severely hampers Helton, who is not completely off the hook in his playcalling. However, I believe Will Friend is a very good OL coach, which means it is a matter of time, and not "if ever" regarding the OL. I said after the WV game that it would take a minimum of 3 years before this team looks anything like what we hope (8+ wins) and I still say that is accurate. Friend needs his dudes in here building, and he needs the dudes that are already here building. They absolutely do not have the stuff right now. Frankly speaking, outside of Trey Smith, I don't think anyone beyond current Freshmen will amount to much on this team. Play out of neccesity, because there is nothing else, but would not play on a team of OL like we are trying to build.
2. Helton's Hell: This leads me to point two. First of all, Helton probably has 70% limitation in his play calling based on what the OL is giving him. Shocking. Elite OC's still find a way to be somewhat productive even with OL deficincies. It is nearly to the point of working magic though. One thing is clear, Helton is not an elite OC 4 games into his first full-time gig. He's not even been good. The predictability of the offense is because he's squeezed into a 30% mould, and he is honestly struggling how to make it work. Best case scenario, is he grows from this. Worst case, is he continues forward hard headed, and we continue to run the ball 26 times on first down. A chef needs ingredients to cook, and an OC needs an OL to score. The chef can still get something on the table if you give him leftovers, but don't expect Michelin Star quality. Helton's cooking with leftovers.
3. Execution vs. Scheme: We have to look objectively at what is going wrong here. So much of these issues are arising from player mis-executions. Now, if you like to find fault with the coaches in every single thing, you would argue that they should have them better prepared, taught, etc. If you defend the coaches, you say "they aren't on the field". The truth is probably somewhat in the middle, but time after time, I see where things should work, but the players don't make it work. The Pope fumble on a brilliant call and routine extension towards the goal line, the onside kick that was perfectly executed, and somehow it looks like the Tennessee players don't realize they can destroy the Florida player there. Low snap fumble, blindside strip sack, INT... so much of this is execution.
Now when we look at scheme, we've already discussed the offense, and how the OL is limiting an OC who hasn't been able to do much to counter that. Defensively, this team played well. I want to draw attention to 4 Florida scoring plays:
A. 38 yard TD pass to Cleveland: Theo Jackson is in absolutely perfect position, but can't find the ball on his outside shoulder on a tightly thrown pass to the endzone. It was a brilliant pass, but the player is in position to defend that ball.
B. 65 yard TD pass to Swain: Great coverage by TN secondary flushes Franks out of the pocket. Inexplicably, the TN DB, Flowers or Jackson from memory drops coverage to come up into no man's land if Franks tucks it. Franks has not tucked it. He has it cocked and loaded, and hits a wide open Swain for a easy catch and run to the endzone.
C. 19 yard TD run to begin second half: Mentally, after the first half miscues, the Shamburger fumble took the soul of this team prior to this play. The effort was not there at all.
D. 65 yard Goal line defense TD: This was the bizarre call by Pruitt to line up in goal line defense, knowing if they got through, they would score. I really don't understand the thought process here. Maybe he knew the game was completely over, and wanted to see if they would man up for a single play... I don't know, but Florida scored. If Tennessee takes care of A, B, C, you probably never see D.
So with these plays, you have 3 mis-executions, and one schematic problem that would never be made if the game was within striking distance. Of course you can't cherry pick what to keep and lose in a game, but look at what these 4 errors cost.
187 yards = 48% of Florida's offensive production.
Florida was a dismal 3-11 on 3rd downs. That's good overall defense. This game is not on the coaches. The players allowed big plays and turned it over.
