Florida’s win over Florida Atlantic in its season opener on Saturday night wasn’t the sharpest showing, but the result was a chalky 35-14 win. The Gators ran the ball all night against the Owls, which is a welcome change after two years of the run game being an afterthought. Further, the defense looks to be improved, although it was up against an FAU offense that was one of the FBS’ worst a year ago.
The questions almost entirely begin and end with the quarterback position. Both Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson were big impact players on the ground, combining for more than 200 rushing yards. But Jones struggled through the air, and while Richardson wasn’t much better, he did manage to spark the offense a bit late in the game.
Mullen shot down the idea of a quarterback controversy after the game, but the fact remains that Florida will need to take care of the ball moving forward better than it did in this one.
ESPN was also left with some questions about the Gators, though it still listed them as the No. 10 team in its updated power rankings. Here’s what Alex Scarborough said about UF.
The debut of Emory Jones as the Gators’ starting quarterback was something of a mixed bag. Sure, Florida beat FAU handily, 35-4. And, yeah, Jones ran for 74 yards on 10 carries, which isn’t bad. But he wasn’t exactly lighting it up throwing the football, completing 17 of 27 passes for 113 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. While the Gators don’t need Jones to be Kyle Trask — the running game is solid and the defense appears to be improved — they do need him to cut down on the turnovers and do better than 4 yards per pass attempt.
The Gators will have another chance next week to work on some things against a struggling South Florida team. Though that game will be on the road, it could be a less challenging opponent than the Owls were.
After that, though, it’s the big one. Alabama comes to town, and the Crimson Tide already appears to be in midseason form after thrashing Miami 44-13 in their season opener. Florida can’t afford to still be figuring out its offensive identity by that point.
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