Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes Deciding Factors for Week One Matchup

what will be the deciding factors between the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes on Saturday we'll talk about that here on lockdown Gators you are locked on Gators your daily podcast on the Florida Gators part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday hello and welcome back to another episode of lockdown Gators part of the lockd on podcast Network your team every day thanks for making lockon Gator your first listen of the day every day we are available daily and free R of the podcast and on YouTube Happy Tuesday I'm Brandon Olson find me on Twitter wsor Brandon now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a thre week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV visit fanduel.com lockon to get started and I do have to talk about the deciding factors between this game because like I've said I think this game is going to be really close you can disagree all you want that's fine a lot of people will disagree some side will be wrong right but for me I think the biggest exciting factor for the Florida Gator is the offensive line when you look at the offensive line last season some of the worst offensive line play that we've seen at the University of Florida and we've seen a lot of bad offensive line play yikes uh there were obviously multiple reasons for that some of it was injuries some as in people getting forced into spots poor people playing while injured uh like Austin Barber is a namely one there that did not play well dealt with injuries for the overwhelming majority of the season last year but Richie learnard the fourth Micah mooka gone Damen George from tackle to guard maybe starting we'll see officially when the dep chart comes out which is usually on Wednesdays so should be tomorrow but tomorrow we will talk about the Florida Gator dep chart and who I think winds up where but Florida Gator last year gave up a lot of pressure right again I mean Damen George is back he gave up 29 pressures at tackle blocking a guard is easier pass blocking at guard is easier than tackle but still 29 was not a good number Austin Barber gave up 16 again spent a lot of the Season banged up and Jake Slaughter gave up nine pressures last season that's not bad there's another 30 from Richie and Micah but obvious they are not here this year and I've kind of gone on record and I've said hey I'm not entirely sold on Miami's defensive line uh and here's I'm not even saying that Miami's defensive line is going to be bad that's not at all what I'm saying when I say I'm not sold on them it's that there's production but they are at different schools I was Austin was productive at Marshall that's not a power four level right I think we can say it's reasonable to have some doubt about things like that Simian Barrow not a good pass rusher but whether or not that Miami defensive line is good it's a recently put together defensive line whether or not it's good great average or horrible Gator's offensive line needs to do their part right we saw far too often last year the offensive line let you down in the Run game I think this year especially or this week especially it's really important to keep yourself ahead of the sticks keep yourself in a situation where the run is at least a threat that's I'm not saying to run the ball all the time I'm just saying keep yourself in a situation where the run's a threat you can run play action without running the ball well that that's not even an opinion that's a fact everything will back it up even if you were not running the ball well play action passing more efficient than drop or more effective than dropback passing so you need to keep yourself in a spot where the run's at least a threat it'll help your play action game whether or not you actually hand it off or not so keeping yourself in that spot is important and running the ball particularly run blocking will play a big part in that you're going to need to pick up yardage on first down when you're probably going to run like that's a decent tendency of Billy Napier is to run the ball on first down got to put yourself in a plus situation at that point and of course we have to talk about pass protection um which we've talked about a good bit in recent weeks uh pass protection for the Florida Gators against Miami Hurricanes I think that even if we talk about Austin mesidor Simeon Barrow CJ Clark whoever you're talking about on that defensive line I excluded one name in particular uh whether you're talking about any of them whether they work out or not you still have to deal with Ruben Bane who Ruben Bane's a very good pass rusher we we've acknowledged this on the show by the way if you're one of those Miami fans where you're like you said Ruben Bane's a very good pass rusher he's Elite he's the best we've ever seen shut the hell up no one cares I'm still complimenting the player just because I'm not complimenting him as much as you think you just sound stupid um Ruben Bane very good pass stresser but the rest of that defensive line I need to see it I need to see it mesidor struggle to stay healthy which means it's it's been hard to really get a proper evaluation of him uh Tyler Baron has not been productive against Florida throughout the entirety of his career and it's like he played opposite Jame James Pierce last year and James Pierce is probably gonna be a top five pick so it's not like Tyler Baron has struggled as the top pass rusher on the team he hasn't been the top pass rusher on the team and he hasn't been productive when he's played Florida so I'm not going to just randomly believe he's going to like this is one of those spots where you can go oh that was at his last school that was whatever yeah but it was against this school when their offensive line was historically bad and he still wasn't good I'm not banking on him being productive all of a sudden CJ Clark's a relatively unproductive pass rusher we could talk about production here in terms of snaps count but most of Miami's defensive line has not had proven production in 2023 or against the Florida Gator so I need to see it Ruben Bane absolutely agree he's going to be a really good pass rusher the rest of them though I just need to see it again not saying that they're bad just saying have seen nothing that's going to make me go oh they're definitely going to be good and I think that when it comes to dealing with pass protection like I said Florida Gator's offensive line last year was bad I need to see it from them too I know if you're a Miami fan and you're new here I'm not saying oh Florida Gator's offensive Line's going to be good this year I'm saying I need to see it from them so that's why I've been saying you know whether or not Miami's defensive line is good or bad or average I still didn't see the Florida Gator offensive line play well I think that when you talk about Ruben Bane for example who again proven pass rusher last year for Miami when we talk about that I think that you put Hayden Hansen in there Hayden Hansen's 6 foot seven and a and three quars it's 265 pounds I believe big dude right he's been your past blocking tight end one of the best blocking tight ends in the entire country last year which I also that's another thing Miami fans just when they go yeah Miami's Titans how 200 yards combined last last year I don't care about a freshman like no uh Hayden Hansen one of the most productive pass blocking tight ends or or blocking tight ends in the country really effective as a pass blocker he was a big reason or he was a big help last year on the right side specifically uh halfway through the season we started seeing him line up in between offensive linemen and blocking there when we're talking about oh Miami's best rushing threat is Ruben Bane an edge rusher who has almost exclusively played on the edge he played I think thick snaps last year in the interior of the defensive line so he's played almost exclusively on the edge you go well he's a really good Edge rusher we're gonna have a tackle on him with a tight end uh so I would expect that to be the approach instead of the running backs I think you I think a better approach for Florida's pass protection is head end into pass block running back maybe a block and release maybe they go hey watch Francisco mauigoa he's probably going to be their their leading Blitzer as an off ball player watch him if he's blitzing then you're pass Pro if he's not then you're leaking out into into a a flat or whatever it is maybe angle I don't know but I think that's your plan when you're talking about neutralizing the Miami pass rush that in theory is going to be pretty good that's how you have to approach it Giants offensive or Gator offensive line is going to be um very critical I I said Giants offensive line because I covered the Giants for Sports Illustrated as well and both offensive lines were really bad bad last year so a lot of parallels there but uh Florida again in theory addressed a lot of the issues on the offensive line but we have to see it in practice and not just in theory and in practice I just mean in execution um and until then jury's out for me on the offensive line for Florida and the defensive line for Miami we will talk about the next thing that I think will decide this game against the Miami Hurricanes next on lock on Gators I don't know about you I get tired after lunch basically every single day uh even when I eat a light lunch it's just like oh you can my body just goes oh you consume something let's go to bed uh so I need to juice up a little bit you know in fact research by the way shows that more than 70% of us hit the wall after lunch let a 5 Hour Energy Shot help you leap over the wall or run through that thing instead of just crashing into it Wy coyotes style uh which I don't blame you if it happens to you I really don't it's tough but with zero sugar which is relevant for me carb guy and a convenient portable size it's the perfect pickme up for getting stuff done and the 5H Hour Energy website has a ton of flavors watermelon tropical burst Berry my my favorite is grape I like grape anything so that's my favorite there if you go to 5our energy.com that's the number 5our energy.com and get some 5our energy product today you can use our promo code of lock on CFB to receive 20% off your order go to 5our energy.com today thanks for Mak lock down Gator your first listen of the day every day we are available daily and free rev in the podcast and on YouTube and the next deciding factor for the Florida Gators in this game on Saturday I think you have to look at the gator defensive backs again we don't have an official depth chart yet but my guess would be that the depth chart looks like Corner outside corner Jason Marshall Jr Devon Moore safeties Jordan Castell ASA Turner star nickel Sharie dunon for Florida that means you've got a new starter one of your safety spots a new starter at the nickel and a new starter at one of your outside corner spots I I understand Deon Moore has started a game before let's be real here it's first time as a starter this season or this season is his first time as a true St starter uh so new starters at those three spots Miami has Miami has three receivers on their roster that last year had 800 receiving yards granted one of those receivers did not do that at Miami and I need to get that point off because I need the Miami fans that go we had three 800 yard receivers returning I need you to know how stupid you are if that's something you say okay need you to know how stupid you are if you gowell we have three 800 yard receivers returning no you don't you have two 800 yard receivers returning and one joining your team he did not have 800 yards at Miami where he was the wide receiver one at houst you see how that makes it sound stupid production he did elsewhere he comes over and you're like oh yeah he's a returning 800 yard receiver be real here all right but Xavier Restrepo very productive out of the slot last year obviously he lined up in the outside as well but better as a slot receiver last year you've got jacobe George is back probably going to be pretty productive this year as well he's one that I was like well kind of thought he might go to the NFL uh after last season chose not to but Xavier Restrepo jacobe George are back Sam Brown has been added to the team apparently Elijah oroo is the greatest tight end that's ever lived according to Miami fans um yeah I would expect Miami to take at least a few shots deep throughout the game I and I think they should right I mean last year Miami threw the ball deep about 10 to 15% of their total passing plays were were deep shots probably expect to see a similarish rate to that this year uh maybe maybe more you have more obviously more faith in cam Ward but however he could also just take the underneath throws if they're there he has actually been historically more of a conservative guy that we think about with big arm he's actually been conservative when it comes to taking those deep shots but I think this year we could see probably something shake up and change there maybe it's because the better off offensive line maybe it's CU better pass catchers but also I would say hey the Florida Gator secondary is unproven at quite a few spots last year they were susceptible to giving up big plays Miami should take those shots and for Florida that's what makes your DBS such a big deciding factor here obviously your pass rush has to get home but there could be plays where Miami goes hey we're going to have a tight end and a running back in pass bro we're going to have seven blocking for us three guys running routes and our QB and we're going to get a deep shot off here and for for and I'm telling you now I'm expecting that to be the first play of the game a deep shot like that no doubt in my mind honestly I'm like Miami seemed first off Florida gave up a bomb first play last year and you know you got cam Ward this great offensive line good weapons why not take that shot right against a SE against a a secondary that last year was susceptible to giving up big plays makes perfect sense but again for Florida your DBS they're tall they're fast like that that's been one thing that Florida's done consistently under Billy Napier bring in big fast athletic overall DBS with long arms like like the the physical tools you're there just about actually teaching them to play Corner hopefully with Will Harris added to the coaching staff that will happen I'm pretty confident in will Harris's ability to develop I mean my my stance overall has been he was at Washington for a few years where they produced multiple first round picks in the secondary granted Jimmy Lake was their defense was their head coach or DC and he's historically one of the best defensive back coaches around so the way that I look at Will Harris is either he was doing a lot of the work that got guys draft in the first round or he was watching that guy do that work that was developing these guys at first round picks uh so the way that I look at it he was hands on there so the way that I look at it is he's got that experience he's been there he's done that now do it here you've got great athletes you can truly put together a great secondary with a bit of coaching it can happen and I mean they're getting tested right out the gate right out the gate we've talked about it last week it was maybe the week before uh where Florida last year on a per play basis was was pretty decent defensively it's just that when it came to giving up big plays they were one of the worst in the country that's what it was it wasn't you know that oh every play was picking up eight 10 yards no it's that you'd have a few good plays and then just a backbreaking explosive play limit that secondary needs to be better this year uh it's Gotta got to be a deciding factor in this game where it's an AR offense good weapons good offensive line so QB is probably going to have time to throw which isn't even an indictment of your defensive line um I think if you generate pressure then it's like okay maybe you do have a pretty damn good dline but if you don't generate a ton of pressure I'm not shocked about that Miami is expected to have a really good offensive line we will talk about the final deciding factor next on lock on Gators hey lockon Gators fans I want to take a moment to give you a heads up on a brand new mobile game that I think you're going to love as much as I do ultimate College Football H see in this amazing game and simulation you get to step into the shoes of a head coach and lead your college football program to Glory I'll tell you what screw the ad copy okay uh we're gonna I'm gonna tell you a story here took over Mississippi State right and I was like you know what we're gonna run an air raid gonna run a Zone Blitz scheme I got fired right before recording I was like you know what let me finish one more season I got the little exclamation mark hey if you don't improve you're going to get fired I got fired um not great for us at Mississippi State but ultimate College head coach is completely free has no ads and is 100% playable offline use promo code locked on CFB all caps inside the game store and receive a free boost to your program to to download the game visit ultimatecleanmusic thanks for Mak lock down Gator your first listen of the day every day we are available daily and free revist the podcast and on YouTube and like I've said multiple times before and I will continue to say until I'm proven wrong which I don't think I'll be proven wrong uh this week at least the swamp uh it's going to play a key part in the Florida Gators versus Miami Hurricanes game this week and I was talking with someone earlier and we were on the phone we like you know what typically historically quarterbacks play worse in the first game of the season historically quarterbacks play worse in the first game of the season they do because they generate more chemistry as the season goes on things like that right so historically quarterbacks perform worse in the first game of the season historically quarterbacks struggle and perform worse at the swamp okay two big factors right historically cam Ward plays considerably worse on the road than he does at home you can look it up if you want almost uh 8% completion percentage worse yards per attempt are down yards per completion are down so even when he does complete passes down uh more interceptions less touchdowns he's historically worse significantly worse rating every metric you look at he's worse on the road than he is at home compare that with again quarterbacks typically struggle earlier quarterbacks typically struggle in Gainesville they're less productive they're less efficient they're less effective I'm just saying you pair those together and it's tough just that historically quarterbacks are worse there and he's worse on the road throughout his career and I understand Shannon Dawson was like oh he's played in big games on the road before kind of but he hasn't played in as big a game on the road before he hasn't played in the swamp before it's hard enough to win in the swamp and I know there's Miami fans in the Twitter spaces and online that are like oh yeah it's real hard to win at the swamp Arkansas won there last year the only two losses that Florida had in the swamp last year were to Arkansas and Florida State who beat you guys as well who went 13 and0 and yeah they had a backup quarterback Florida had Max Brown playing who's now at Charlotte okay uh so yeah I I don't take that as oh yeah it's hard it's it's it's easy to win in the swamp no it isn't dummy it's never been easy to win in swamp especially to start the year Florida won what 32 33 straight home openers come on now like like let's let's be a little honest here Florida's historically great at home and even when they've been not good in recent years they've still been good at home swamp always shows up cam Ward historically throughout his career worse on the road quarterbacks in general historically in recent years especially have struggled in the swamp compared to when they play at their home or even when they play at other places on the road they play worse in the swamp so it's not just yeah quarterbacks are typically worse on the road it's that they may be worse on the road but they are even worse in the swamp Okay and now there's a new thing with communication here right the helmet communication the play call goes through the helmet to the quarterback they get to communicate that to the line get things going yeah do you know how hard it's going to be for cam Ward to hear the helmet call properly when the crowd's just rocking pre- snap like the crowd knows that now there's helmet communication the crowd knows hey we've got to be loud the entire time crowd knows that crowd's going to be loud that will probably cause an issue if Cam needs to make an audible you're going to have to do things silently right you have to offensive line communication little bit easier being right next to each other still might be a little tough for Center to tackle communication there Center to tight end communication there still might struggle there especially because youve got a new center in his first game for Miami in the swamp going to be a bit tough there uh granted he's played in in big game atmospheres before he's played in in loud stadiums before um granted you know Miami had a new center last year by the way last year early in the season offensive line was probably at it at its worst where offensive lines typically get better as the year goes on so makes sense right it's all about chemistry all about communication that's probably going to be thrown off you could work with a silent count sure those typically still tend to have some sort of communication issue delay of game whatever may be false start there's going to be factors there of the swamp that's why Florida has historically been very good at home even when they've been bad period they've been very good at home I know Miami fans can say whatever they want but T to go into the swamp and win a football game that's all I'm saying especially with a new quarterback new center things trying to gel little little rough there going to be honest with you and also there's communication on the back end secondary communicating to each other lot of space gets covered there communication needs to be right can't be playing the game of telephone crowd could be loud at times right you'll find out 93,000 people GNA be there this weekend you'll find out thanks for Mak lockon Gators your first listen of the day every day we are available daily and free rev the podcast and on YouTube for lockon Gators I'm Brandon also don't forget to follow me on Twitter at wns Brandon and I will see you all next time