In speaking about Saturday’s narrow 31-29 loss to Alabama, coach Dan Mullen emphasized the importance of the “little things.”
During these big games where the margin for error is so small, he noted that the outcome is decided by these seemingly insignificant elements and pointed to a number of examples throughout the contest.
But as the more masochistic Gator fans complete their painstaking re-watch of Saturday’s game and wonder what could have been, they’ll be drawn to one glaring, baffling, and ultimately decisive moment — Florida’s botched two-point attempt.
The Gators’ offense, which had functioned with robotic efficiency since coming out of the locker room, looked completely out of sync on their most important snap of the afternoon. Quarterback Emory Jones held onto the football at the mesh point for too long on the option, leading running back Malik Davis into a glut of Alabama defenders on a play that got nowhere near the endzone.
This apparent confusion was confirmed by Mullen following the game, who suggested that the play was designed as a run-pass option.
“There was two,” Mullen said about his team’s missed assignments on the two-point conversion. “We had a guy line up wrong and then a guy go the wrong way.”
Florida entered the two-point conversion with two timeouts after burning one before a 4th and goal stand six minutes earlier. While this timeout was effective, — Alabama committed a false start on the following play and settled for a field goal — Jones said that the team was hesitant about spending an additional timeout ahead of the conversion try.
Jones also offered additional insight from the field about what went wrong on the conversion.
“It was a miscommunication on the whole play,” he said. “I mean, we had the back lined up on the wrong side, and we didn’t really want to use a timeout at that time. It didn’t go our way right there.”
Mullen’s play call also reflects the transformed focus of the UF offense. The Gators earned 245 yards on the ground Saturday, — UF has ran for the majority of its yards in each of the team’s first three games — marking a remarkable shift from last season’s pass first offense.
And on the most important call of the game, even though it was ultimately snuffed out, Florida embraced its newfound faith in the run game.
“Since we started in January with this team, we know the run game was going to be a big part of our offensive scheme,” Jones said. “We just try to keep working at that and I try to do my part.”