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Freshman Antonio Callaway key to Florida’s offensive consistency
By Dave Holcomb
Published:
On again … off again … The Florida offense turns off and on more often than a refrigerator light at a convenient store.
Luckily, it hasn’t cost the Gators in the win column yet. In its only loss, Florida gained 326 yards and scored 28 points. But eventually, it could as it nearly did against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
The Gators have already clinched the SEC East, but Florida cannot afford to lose another game to have a shot at the College Football Playoff.
The Gators have several areas to clean up on offense.
First, it is important to note that Florida’s inconsistency on offense might be a bit overblown. Two of the three teams the Gators had trouble moving the ball against — Missouri and Vanderbilt — have two of the top defenses in the SEC. The third team, Kentucky, was the opponent for freshman QB Will Grier’s first start.
Still, there are three glaring similarities between those three games in which the Gators offense averaged just 14.6 points and 280 yards as opposed to the 30.3 points and 371.5 yards they averaged in their other four conference games.
First, freshman wide receiver Antonio Callaway had little impact. He had just one catch in each of those contests and no touchdowns.
In the other four conference games, Callaway had three 100-yard receiving days. In total, he reeled in 352 receiving yards and three TD passes. Quarterback Treon Harris needs to get Callaway the ball in every remaining game.
The other two issues are third-down conversions and turnovers. Both have caused the Florida offense to struggle.
Against Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt, Florida posted a 28.6-percent conversion rate on third down and a minus-1 turnover differential. In its other four conference games, Florida has a 38.1-percent conversion rate on third down and a plus-9 turnover differential.
Clearly, the Gators haven’t been good on third down, even when the offense is scoring points. But a conversion rate below 30 percent is terrible.
With four turnovers, Florida’s offense couldn’t find its rhythm against Vanderbilt. But the defense needs to help out.
The Florida defense produced five turnovers against Georgia and four versus Ole Miss. Florida scored 65 points in those two games combined with the takeaways setting up the offense in great field position.
Dave covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
