A reminder of my prescription to beat Florida

–Just a reminder and some minor modifications on my prescription for success. Most of it depends on clock management, running the ball, and Steve Brown growing a pair.

From weeks ago…. most of it, at least.

“–This might take a while, but I’m going to piece together a few things, ideas, and suggestions, that I think will give the Cats a chance to beat the Gators. Feel free to jump in and opine, and I’ll snag em as I get them.

–I know that there’s no way this can happen. I know there has been this much agreement as to a number one team in AP history. I know the Gators have returning a fully stocked defense. I know this. Yet, I also know that some teams will play this team close. Likely, ONE team will beat this team. Teams will score touchdowns. Teams will move the ball. Teams WILL deny the Gators the endzone, sometimes. So how does a team like Kentucky do it?
Well, that’s what I’m here for.

–The biggest worry we have to take into consideration is gonna be the kicking game. From all indications, the kickoffs have been inconsistent in their depth. Combine that with Florida’s speed and you have the makings for a LONG day full of short series on defense. No coaching ideas I can offer here. You either can get the ball deep enough or high enough to get the stop or you can’t. My suggestion to the coaches would be to consider free kicking the ball. The punters seem to be able to get over 40 on most every kick, and you get the hang time. Chances are you can force a fair catch on the 30 to 35 yard line that would be better than letting them catch it on the run at the 15-20. Just a thought.

–So, let’s start where we likely will, no matter what. Defense. Opening thought. Team is full of energy. Snapping at the leash. You’ve got better DBs than they have receivers. Start the day with a blitz. Doesn’t have to be a sell out. And, I certainly wouldn’t advertise it. But send one side and Micah. Objective: Get into the backfield early. Even if they hand the ball to a back, get in there early. If they don’t; if Tim keeps the ball for a play action, then hallelujah. Hit HIM! Throw or no throw. Get the hit, and set the tone. Chop the throwing arm if you can get there early. Remember. You’re not trying to win the game in one play. You’re trying to make this guy thinking about himself, not the play, late in the game.

Addition: UK must attack upfield. We have to play our assignments on the wildcat, but Linebackers cannot be expected to scrape the line with the way UF blocks. Each tackler is going to have to get upfield into the gaps and tackle their man.

–Obviously, UF has a lot of weapons. And, they have their best play maker handling the ball. But, Tim Tebow is human. He can be caught up in a number of things. 1st: You have to attack HIM for the game. Not waste time with assignment here or there, or this or that. Yes, you need to honor the assignments you have, but when all esle fails go hit Tim Tebow. Have somebody, as often as you can, not spying on him, but running toward him. And I don’t mean the DT and DE who are pushing every play. I mean a LB. A safety. A corner. MLB. MLB again. Safety. You’re gonna have to mix coverages and you’re gonna have to play up and back with your spacing, but this will be effective. You run your DBs up to play press or to blitz, then you back them up and leave the safety in. The snap of the ball he lunges then falls back into a zone about 8 yards off the ball to the slot side. Instead, your MLB some hard on a blitz to the opposite side of the DT the safety lunged to and the press is on. Tim is good enough to beat you. Yes. He’s good enough to make tough throws. But, NOW, at least, YOU are deciding how long he has to do it, and what routes he’ll have time to see develop before he gets rid of it.

ADDITION: Florida does not have good wide outs. They are primarily down field blockers, and blockers for the option pitch. We should be able to man up on them.

–Offensively (which I’ll get to ) I’d all but guarantee screens will be a waste of time. Screens just aren’t that effective outside of high school. Florida’s defense is gonna be too experienced. I think UK will call a screen. Probably a couple, and I’ll go on record telling those coaches ahead of time that they will be terrible plays and that the Gators will smell everyone of them out and be all over them. Cut and paste it. The screen is great if you catch a blitz, or if the other team is slow. But Florida’s DT’s will smell it out and be in the middle of it.

–About the only way I’d call a screen is if I was running double screens and had a QB who could fake to the heavy screen and throw to the weak one. And even THEN that’s not a good call.

–Trick plays are for tricks. I don’t mind the occasionally punt fake, or field goal fake, but most everything else is just too chancy. If we’re in third and short (3yds or less) Florida will be bringing heat. And they will have some of the, if not THE, fastest linebackers we’ll see. They will be in the backfield and trickery will likely mean a fumble or sack.

–***Florida will be a game where the judicious use of the tight end will be key.*** Like I’ve described MANY times, there is little defense for having the TE come off the ball, go 5-7 yds, turn and sit. All the QB has to do is burn a shot right to the side opposite the defender and then they guy just has to catch it and fall.

–The Wildcat package will be neat, but I’m not sure how much. Against a deep and experienced fron seven, some times you just need to be able to reduce the variables, put helmet on helmet and just get three yards between the tackles. It’s not flashy, and it won’t make we the fans go oooohhh. But, it gets the ball moving, keeps the defense honest, and gives the defense some rest. Can’t do it every play, but we also can’t consistently scheme up wildcat option draw passes. And, yes, we do have the lineman and full back to get yardage up the middle. The one thing UK CANNOT DO (are you listening Randy) is run hope plays. We need to run consistent plays. If you are in 2nd and 7 and you can either run it up the gut for three yards, try a screen (and we all know how badly those can go), or run a post pattern, TAKE THE THREE YARD RUN. Get it to third and four. Extend the defense’s time on the field and give yourself options. Now you only need four yards, but you can go as deep as you want. You can expect a blitz and run a slant, a draw, or a screen (still, I think, not a good call against florida’s speed) You can hit the TE short. And, depending on field positions, if you’re say… inside their 45, you call a hope play and leave yourself the option of faking the punt because you ONLY need four yards, not 7.

ADDITION: I cannot wait to see the wildcat. I believe it will be very interesting in seeing how Florida reacts to their own medicine. I think they will quickly be able to adjust, with their experience, but I don’t think they realize how fast UK is. UK back field, with Smith, Cobb, and Lock is just as fast as the Gators. Truth. Tebow is what gives them the edge, because he’s a running 250lb tight end that can throw. We don’t have any QBs that can bullrush for four yards. I cannot help but be convinced that it is not coincidence that we have seen this program use it’s most deadly weapons effectively until this game. My gut tells me that Rich Brooks knows we can win this game, at commonwealth.

–A big weapon offensively for us, will be the big weapon we’ve all known about from Florida. You set up in a shotgun formation with either Hartline (who runs fairly well… um no. Change that. Never again.) Cobb, or Newton and spread the field. On the snap the QB just runs a QB draw and tries to get three or four yards without fumbling. This can be a cheap, easy, play, and the formation is such a problem. Run it with Cobb and you’ve got a real passer, who’s a better runner, with a speed back. Call this play out of no huddles and it drives defenses crazy.
ADDITION: Imagine Cobb in shotgun, tucking the ball and stepping up like a run, then springing back (as he is quick and agile enough to do, and looking down the sideline for Matthews. Florida will bite on this, and I can see it being a big play once or twice, if we establish the wildcat.)

–My next bit of advice is for Steve Brown.

–Umm.. blitz. Hit Tim Tebow early in the game. hit him late in the game. Hit him when it’s a draw play. hit him when it’s a trap. Okay,.. okay. Clearly we can’t hit the guy with no reason, but you get my point. I strongly encourage you, Steve, to look at some of the blitzes that Joe Lee Dunn used to come up with as Miss. St. Safeties, corners, every LB, one LB, Middle and weak LB, Zone blitz. LBs and no ends. You are going to have to call a game that PREVENTS Florida from being able to assume anything.

–As a defensive coach, You cannot play a veteran team by doing what they’ve seen time and time again. You have to create mismatches. You have to limit Tebow’s time to make reads. You have to shorten their passing game by making Tebow protect himself from hits.

ADDITION: I would still blitz, but I’d blitz as much now to get my backers in the backfield on the run, as I would to just hit Tebow. Maybe he’ll break out, but Tim Tebow is not a good passer, and they don’t have Spurrier era Wide outs. I think we can chance their passing attack and focus on the run. If we get florida to start passing the ball, our chances for winning improve dramatically.

–Here’s another HUGE tip from the guru. During pass rush situations, You need to train your defensive lineman to rush for two seconds. TWO SECONDS. In TWO SECONDS if your defensive lineman doesn’t have the advantage against the offense, if they aren’t in a seam heading for the QB, or if they are running straight into a double team, they need to back up, get their hands up and jump into passes. It’s a waste of energy for a d-lineman continue to struggle for another second and a half to two seconds just to have the play go by them, anyway.

–I know many coaches teach this. I KNOW it. But, I still see teams that are getting out there and not doing it.

My thoughts for offense aren’t too complicated. This is the one area where Florida DOES have the advantage. The ability to make plays is still a factor. So, here’s what I recommend. Don’t get too caught up in trying to outscore Florida.

The Gator offense is similar to a major league baseball pitcher on a good day. They start the day, get you into a rhythm of going three and out, trying to make desperation plays to keep up with them. The pitcher gets going. He’s usually throwing the ball fairly quickly, because he’s in his groove. When good pitchers do this, they start commanding the strike zone, getting ahead early, and that’s the beginning of the end.

So, how does UK stop this? In a similar fashion that major league hitters do. They step out of the box and call timeout. They stretch back and swing a couple of times. They take some time to readjust the gloves. They MAKE the pitcher go at the pace they want. This frustrates the guy. Might even make him throw a little chin music. That’s fine. The minute he starts doing stuff like that, he’s showing his aggravation. He’s showing he lost the focus. That’s what you wanted. And, that’s what UK needs to do.
UK needs to perform simple, aggressive plays that keep the Florida defense on the field. Even if you don’t score a touchdown, a couple of first downs and time off the clock will disrupt the offense, and slow the game down.
AND….

wanna know a little secret? Urban Meyer is an ego maniac. HE is the one he will get frustrated from this kind of play. He KNOWS everyone is watching and he KNOWs that his team’s fitness for a championship is being evaluated every game not by whether or not they win, but in how GOOD they look doing it. He would ABHOR a 21-17 third quarter score, even if he was winning.

ADDITION: Take note of the gator players during the UT game, and Meyer’s reaction afterward. Even up till Tuesday of this week, he was grumbling over the fact that UT took them out of their play style. I tell you, he’s an ego maniac worse than Spurrier. WE run the ball, we get some first downs, He’ll start eating his nails. UK runs it with Connor 4 or 5 times and focus on hitting them from Tight end to tackle, and we’ll get first downs, stay in third and shorts (which hinder blitzing) and we WILL win this football game.

–This UK team has potential. No, they will not be able to stare down there schedule and pick out the tough games that they SHOULD WIN. But…

Let me see if I can give the Wildcat Faithful the best way to look at this.

–Florida is as good as any Florida has been, when they’ve been good. They’re not better than the best teams that Spurrier had. Look at those teams and be fair. A lot of NFL players. This team is still good, and right up there. That’s what everyone in the media sees. The problem is that ignore that THIS UK PROGRAM IS NOT THAT ONE THEY USED TO PLAY. This Florida could beat those UK teams by 70 points,… just like they did then. This Gator team cannot beat this UK team by 70 points unless we just let them. And this team has WON THREE BOWL GAMES. Had THREE winning seasons. Is putting guys into the NFL. This UK team has players who have beaten… not just played with… not just came close to… but BEATEN the SEC and National Champion.

This UK team is the team getting better and deeper EVERY YEAR. They are not regressing. And they certainly have not peaked. These coaches are still hungry. They have a mission. It’s not out of reach, anymore.

–Let’s be clear fans. Let’s not doubt this team until they give us reason. If I could emphasize ONE point, it would be this. We need to realize that UK playing the Gators is NOT like UK playing EKU. The talent difference is not that vast and broad. Certainly in Florida’s favor, but not by some damn near divisionally sized difference. No. UK playing Florida is more like Miami Redhawks playing UK.

(Minor Change: Miami was really, really bad. Really bad. If I had know their talent had fallen off that much, I would have declared the game much more like UK playing Miss. St.)

Yeah, we should win. But, we aren’t going to their house, with a starving fan base in an SEC sized arena. This is doable, if not likely. Florida sees Alabama. They see Georgia. They LSU. They see UT (to beat on) They see what they think are peers. They do not see the UK team coming. They don’t. The MEDIA will even tell you what to look for. They’re pre-selling it.

–Florida has UT at home. The Vols and the Gators. In the Swamp. Lane Kiffin and all the bad blood. The smack. The egos. Then they go on the road to play #11 LSU. LSU. ANOTHER championship coach. ANOTHER HUGE EGO…..

Those of you who’ve looked ahead may have noticed something. There’s a game in between those two monsters. A little visit to UK. Now you tell me. Where is the practice priority going to lie? What films do you think the coaches are REALLY going to be watching? What highlights do you think the players are going to be looking at? Think they’ll be looking for UK Louisville highlights? Think they’ll be flipping over UK Miami?

I see the world overlooking this game.”

The majority of that was written weeks ago, and I think it’s been damn near Karnak like.
–UK: run more than pass. USE THE CLOCK. Understand that each play is only a battle, not the entire war. Be happy with 2nd and seven. Run it again and get 2 to 4 yards or throw to the tight end or a hook route. Eat clock. Use the tight end three plus times. Run between the tackles. Stay in third and 5 or less. UK has a great kick return team. We should get good field position. Turnovers never need be emphasized. It’s hyperbole. Florida will do what they did against UT. They TOO will commit 9 to the box. Fine. Play action and give Matthews a reason to play here. Start this guys career with a highlight day torching UF when he’s in single coverage.

On defense, Get up the field. Don’t try to play laterally, they’ll be through the line if you do. Use 9 in the box most of the day, and disguise it by floating your safeties a bit. Blitz, and mix up the blitz.
I’d probably put Micah on Tebow as a permanent spy.
In fact, I might drop him an additional yard off the line to encourage him to run at the line of scrimmage.

Expect Florida and Meyer to get impatient to score. Trust Lindley, Burden, and Warford. Let them know you trust them. They can do it.

Tell your DE’s to get upfield and KEEP contain. Don’t get trapped at the line while they string out an option and leave the DB on an island. If you’re blitzing appropriately, as I’ve described, **STEVE BROWN**, then you will still get good pressure and will meet runner at the LOS.

LAST THING for the defense. Strip the ball every chance you get. Florida has shown a propensity to fumble the ball. They are so used to and eager to burst out that they aren’t used to being in traffic. They do not protect the football well. Strips by safeties and corners could yield BIG results.