Tebow and Harvin
Any discussion of Florida’s offense, rushing or passing, begins with these guys.
Tim Tebow’s rushing numbers are down since he’s carrying the ball about five fewer times a game than he did last year. The coaches have made a concerted effort to get him to do less freelancing, and that has been the case so far.
Even so, he has had a few long runs on scrambles when no one is open. He will do most designed runs on read option plays, and he’s still the short yardage back.
Percy Harvin has played only one game this season where he was fully healthy: the Ole Miss game, where he racked up 82 yards on 10 carries. First he was recovering from his offseason heel surgery, and then he sprained his ankle at Arkansas.
He put on some strength in the offseason, moving up to around 205 pounds from about 185 last year, and that has allowed him to fight through defenses and break tackles.
It will be difficult for Tebow to get much on the read option plays thanks to LSU’s great defensive line. His ability to scramble will largely be determined by how LSU uses their linebackers. If they’re blitzing and Tebow gets away, he could have some nice gains.
Harvin will get as many carries as his ankle will allow him to. He will likely be effective because, well, he’s always effective. There’s a reason he averages an absurd number of yards per touch: The guy is good. He won’t run wild like he did against the Rebels, but he’ll get his yards.
Rainey and Demps
Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps are a couple of small backs who are lightning quick.
Rainey is a shifty type. He can spin and juke his way to large gains on nearly every play if he can find a hole. The offensive staff has used him in some puzzling ways though. Three times in the past two games they’ve sent him up the middle on 3rd-and-1, and all three times it has not worked.
Demps is a track star, as many know, the holder of the national high school record in the 100 meters. He doesn’t do the fancy things that Rainey does—he hits the hole and speeds away. Demps is always all by himself at the end of his big plays because he almost always runs vertically. In terms of straight line speed, no one can catch him.
These two have a chance to be real difference makers. The trick will be getting them into space, because they will not find success between the tackles thanks to their small stature. Even on their long runs against Arkansas, they first bounced out to the outside rather than going through a hole in the middle.
If Florida can find a way to get them in running lanes, they’ll play a huge part against LSU.
Moore
Kestahn Moore is the only power back on the roster available. Emmanuel Moody is out with a sprained ankle, and Mon Williams is still experimenting at linebacker full time. If the Gators want tough running from someone other than a quarterback, Moore’s the man for the job.
Given his past history with fumbling, especially against LSU, it’s doubtful we’ll see him carry the ball too many times. However, he is the best guy on the roster at protecting the quarterback, so we could see him more as a blocker than a runner.
Overall
LSU sports the No. 8-ranked rushing defense in the country, but it also has the No. 44-ranked pass defense. Florida has established itself as a "use the run to set up the pass" team, but that may need to be reversed given the Tiger D’s performance so far.
Regardless, if Florida can’t run the ball, it won’t win the game. These are the guys who will be called upon to make it happen.
Done by request from the assignment desk.
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about 1 month ago
Let me guess: Rainey and Demps will get stuffed on a few runs up the middle, and Meyer won't give them any more than a few carries--despite all the talk about getting them carries in space.
He'll go back to his comfort zone with Percy and Tebow, and Percy, because he can never make it through a full week of practice, gets worn out by the end of the game and is running on fumes for the last quarter.
What does "Done by request from the assignment desk" mean?
from about 1 month ago
Some from the Bleacher Report assignment desk requested I do it. It's a bit redundant of what I wrote yesterday, so I threw that on there to explain why I wrote it.
Rainey and Demps combined for 17 carries last week despite getting stuffed some early, so I don't know that we'll see that script exactly. The return of Moore probably won't affect the running game much. Harvin will play, but his ankle may not be 100% so I don't know how much pounding up the middle he'll do.
Depending on how the passing game is doing, we'll probably see a similar script play calling-wise to what we saw against Arkansas.
about 1 month ago
Hmm...game against Arkansas was never in doubt, so giving the track stars a few carries was not going to hurt.
The LSU game will be tight for sure, and I just don't think Meyer trusts them enough. I wouldn't be surprised if they got 5-7 or fewer carries combined. Last week, Rainey's 75 yarder was with 5 minutes left, and Demps second TD, the 48 yarder was with 1 minute left. Both took place when the game was all but over.
8 of their 17 carries came in the 4th quarter. That's nearly half of the carries. All when the game was decided, meaning Rainey had under 30 yards and Demps under 50 through 3 quarters.
In the end, I just think it comes down to the trust factor, and Meyer can be very limited in players he trusts during crunch time.
Again, just my 2 cents.
about 1 month ago
LSU has been impressive against the run but they haven't faced world beaters either. when the best rushing attack they faced is probably the one looking for a new off coord right now, there's a lot left to learn about this team. i'm not sold on their LB's especially with beckwith being injured.
i think saturday night will give us a much better look at these two teams and where they're going. like i said, i think LSU can be a top 10 team but i fear they will be exposed as "not quite ready for top 5 status" this weekend. i hope i'm wrong.
from about 1 month ago
but i wasn't.
about 1 month ago
Yeah, the whole trust thing:
Never mind.
from about 1 month ago
haha gator-bait!to much speed
about 1 month ago
David - this article title is so appropriate for a review of the actual game. 265 yards!
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