Orange & Blue Game

Tuesday, 13 April 2010 14:12

As a new era in Florida football began, QB John Brantley announced his arrival with a 47-yard over-the-shoulder bomb to WR Deonte Thompson on the first play of Saturday’s Orange and Blue scrimmage game.

By Patrick Annesty

Brantley finished with 15 completions on 19 attempts against the first-team defense, passing for 201 yards and two touchdowns. His near 79 percent completion percentage set a spring game record. He was “sacked” four times, though in a spring game, a play is whistled dead at any contact on a quarterback. Additionally, four starting offensive linemen did not play for risk of injury.

The Blue team, the starters, won 27 - 24, led by Brantley and, later, Jordan Reed. Reed, who will challenge for playing time at tight end, may also take snaps from the Wildcat formation this season.

On a warm, cloudless afternoon, former Gators Chris Leak, Joe Haden and an announced 51,500 fans watched the re-tooled Florida offense go to work. After his opening reception, Thompson sat out the rest of the game, and redshirt senior WR Carl Moore stepped up, catching five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. WR Andre Debose, the highly touted recruit who sat out last season due to a torn hamstring, caught only two balls for 30 yards but showed flashes of the speed and quickness that caused some to compare him to former-Gator-turned-Vikings-star Percy Harvin when Debose enrolled last year.

The first-string running backs did not play Saturday, as Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps are currently in the middle of track season, where both are sprinters. Instead, Mike Gillislee ran most of the carries for the Blue team, finishing with 50 yards and one touchdown on 10 attempts and showing decisive cuts up field.

True freshman QB Trey Burton, listed at second-string, started for the Orange team. At times, his throwing motion seemed lethargic, especially after overthrowing a sideline route on his first pass, resulting in an interception. He still managed to finish with 12 completions on 18 attempts, adding a touchdown as well.

However, Burton’s greatest contribution this season will most likely come on the ground. In the second quarter he barreled down the field on a 76-yard run. While not the fastest runner, his physical style and ability to power through tackles should prove useful on those critical third-down-and-short situations this fall. He finished with 123 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

Overall, the new Gator offense looked strong, and more importantly, balanced. With Brantley’s pinpoint accuracy, the return of WR Debose and the addition of Burton to the already strong ground duo of Demps and Rainey, the Gators can produce through the ground or air this season.

“We’ve got a lot of weapons right now, so we feel good about it,” offensive coordinator Steve Addazio told the Associated Press after the game.

On the other side of the ball, the spring game offered little conclusive evidence of the ability of the Gator defense to live up to last year’s performance. Older starters sat out of the scrimmage, and many of the big name defensive recruits have yet to arrive in Gainesville. Neither DE Ronald Powell nor DT Sharrif Floyd has enrolled yet. Both are ranked the No. 1 prospects at their position by recruiting analysts. Freshman Matt Elam, the nation’s top-ranked safety who the Gators wooed away from Florida State, finished the game with three solo tackles. Freshman CB Joshua Shaw added six tackles, and redshirt junior DT Jaye Howard had four tackles, two for a combined loss of 12 yards.

In what some are calling a rebuilding year for the Gators, the upcoming schedule will provide plenty of tests for this new team. Though Florida’s recruiting class is largely considered the best in the nation, opponents Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida State all secured recruiting classes ranked in the top 25 nationally.

The Gators will have a tough climb back to the top of the Southeastern Conference. The biggest test will come on Oct. 2, when Florida travels to Tuscaloosa to take on defending national champion Alabama, the first time the two teams will meet in the regular season since 2006. In the past two years, the teams faced off in the conference championship. Both years, the winner went on to claim the national title.

Florida opens its 2010 season against Miami of Ohio on Sept. 4 in Gainesville.