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There's a leak in the Florida offense

Sporting News, The, Sept 30, 2005 by Matt Hayes

They're all giddy on this sweltering Gainesville night. High-fivin', hand-slappin' and Gator-chompin' all the way down University Avenue. Big game, big win, big statement for the Florida Gators.

OK, everyone happy now? Good, because here comes reality: This team is in trouble.

I mean ugly, inefficient offense trouble. I mean--grab hold of your seats, Gator fans--two- or three-loss trouble. Hey, at least I didn't say Ron Zook trouble.

For months we have wondered how new coach Urban Meyer's team would respond in its first big game, how his new-wave spread option offense would perform when it started trading blows in the snot-knocking SEC. The Gators beat Tennessee; that's the good news.

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The bad news: Without a true dual-threat quarterback to run the spread option, this predictable, schemeable offense will have serious issues down the road. That means Chris Leak--Heisman Trophy candidate Chris Leak--is not the answer.

Let me explain. The foundation of the spread option offense is the option run, as Meyer admits. The play is basic: The quarterback, in the shotgun, reads the defensive end and either hands off to the tailback or runs the option with a trailing back or wide receiver.

The offense is about deception, and the base option play fuels the rest of the scheme because it sets up the passing game and keeps defenses from overpursuing.

Sounds simple, right? Until you realize Leak is a pocket passer who wants no part of running the option.

"He's still not comfortable with our run game," Meyer says.

When Meyer's offense was lighting up the Mountain West Conference last year, Utah quarterback Alex Smith was just as dangerous with his legs as his arm. Leak's legs are used for backpedaling from the rush. Leak is not a running threat except as a scrambler, which takes away half of the playbook and reduces the scheme to a shotgun formation with no tight end or fullback.

In other words, no pass protection and no lead blocker for the running game.

Look, if this is the spread option offense, I've got a thicker 'do than Jimmy Johnson.

That's why DeShawn Wynn, a bullish Maurice Clarett-type tailback, will find it harder and harder to run against defenses that know Leak is zero threat to run the option. That's why Leak will continue to get beat up when he throws--he was sacked five times against Tennessee and hit on countless other plays. And that's why defenses will crowd Florida's thin receiving unit (rising star Andre Caldwell is out for the season with a broken right leg) at the line to disrupt routes.

In the third quarter, Tennessee committed two turnovers inside its 40, and Florida responded with 10 plays for 20 yards and two field goals. Meyer says the offense is "adequate" right now, that the problems are correctable. Here's the first change: Play freshman quarterback Josh Portis more.

I'm not saying it's time to bench Leak; he clearly is a talented passer and a key member of the team. But for this offense to mature, to breathe, Portis has to play three or four series a game (or more) to run the spread option, develop the system's foundation and keep defenses from teeing off on Leak. The problem is not the line--which took the brunt of the heat from Meyer--and it's certainly not something as basic as improving fundamentals.

The staff thinks Portis is the future, that when it's his time, Meyer's offense will be as dangerous as it was under Smith at Utah. But there are concerns about Portis' accuracy and ball security in such a complex scheme.

So here's the game plan: Let Portis play at least a quarter this week against SEC lightweight Kentucky and get him used to playing on the road in a loud environment. Then work him into the offense in more important games down the road (Alabama, LSU, Georgia).

Either play him now or pay for it later.

"This offense isn't something that can happen overnight," Florida center Mike Degory says. "It's a season event."

Here comes reality, Gators. And trouble is in tow.

speed reads

That thrilling win over Clemson doesn't automatically take Miami coach Larry Coker off the endangered list, especially with former Canes coach Butch Davis--the guy who built the program Coker was entrusted with--waiting to coach again.

Well, lookee here: West Virginia, the team poised for a step back, is winning again. An early warning for would-be Big East king Louisville: Trips to Morgantown are not a pretty thing.

INSIDE DISH

There's a leak in the Florida offense

Sporting News, The, Sept 30, 2005 by Matt Hayes

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