Top-ranked Gators looking for more balanced offense against struggling Razorbacks

Florida trying to find balance against Arkansas

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s offense has been fairly lopsided this season.

The top-ranked Gators have nearly twice as many runs (223) as passes (114) and have looked more like a throwback than a trendsetter in the Southeastern Conference.

All the reasons, excuses and theories for it could fill a playbook.

But the bottom line is coach Urban Meyer wants to be more balanced and believes Tim Tebow will have to throw to win games this season.

It might even happen Saturday when the Gators (5-0, 3-0 SEC) host Arkansas (3-2, 1-2).

The Razorbacks rank last in the conference in total defense, allowing nearly 399 yards a game, and have been downright dreadful against the pass. They have surrendered more than 250 yards a game through the air, which ranks 100th in the nation.

Could this be Florida’s get-well game?

“I’m anxious to get this thing throwing around a little bit,” Meyer said. “I think we’re pretty close. I like where we’re at.”

The Razorbacks, who are 1-7 in the series, expect Florida to air it out.

“You always have to be a little bit afraid of a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. “They’re setting a trap for you a little bit.”

The Gators have been conservative, somewhat predictable and maybe even a little boring in their first five games. They haven’t looked nearly as flashy as last year’s national championship team that beat opponents in a variety of ways. But this year’s version has been effective.

Florida ranks second in the nation in rushing — with Tebow, Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody carrying the load — and has minimized turnovers and played the field-position game to perfection. But there are other reasons Meyer has stayed on the ground:

—Early leads. The Gators have outscored opponents 58-6 in the first quarter, enjoying fast starts and taking big leads in just about every game. When those leads stretch into the second half, the Gators have been content to milk the clock and not risk costly turnovers.

—Receiver woes. Although Meyer insists the receiving corps is solid, there have been dropped passes, wrong routes and more than a fair share of injuries and illnesses. Carl Moore (back) and Andre Debose (hamstring) are likely out for the year. Deonte Thompson (hamstring) missed two games. Riley Cooper and tight end Aaron Hernandez were slowed by flu. And no one has filled the void left by the loss of last year’s leading receivers, Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy.

—Defense. Florida leads the nation in total defense and scoring defense, giving up about 203 yards a game and allowing just 32 points this season. So the Gators understand their offense doesn’t have to score a bunch to win.

“This team is a little different than in the past,” Tebow said. “We know it’s OK if we drive the ball down (and punt) and put our defense in good position. Not many teams are going to drive 90 yards against our defense. We want to play great defense, have zero turnovers, score in the red zone and win the kicking game. That’s our plan to win. If we do that, we’re going to win a lot of games.

“That doesn’t say we need to make a lot of big plays and be flashy. We just have to manage. A big part of my job is to manage, put the offense in good situations, get first downs and be very conservative with turnovers. We’ll be putting our team in a position to win.”

Maybe so, but Meyer insists his team will have to be able to throw to ball to win the SEC and possibly the national title this season.

And now that Tebow has shown he’s fine following his concussion and Thompson is back to full speed, Meyer said the urge is there to open things up.

“I feel like we need to,” he said. “Then you look at possession time and say, ‘Oh, we had the ball for 36 minutes.’ We are one of the top rushing teams in America right now. We’ve got good players. We have had issues in the past, but that’s because we didn’t have these three backs we have right now or the (offensive line) combination up front.

“I do feel like we’re going to have to (open up the offense). I want to. But I would rather win games and do it the right way, so we’ll see how it goes.”

It was about this time last season that Florida got its offense rolling. The Gators averaged more than 50 points in October and November, sparking their title run.

Could it happen again?

“It’s all tied together,” Meyer said. “Protection is tied into the throwing game. Our receivers are getting better. Our protection has to continue to get better. The receivers feel a lot of heat around here, which is part of playing receiver at Florida.

“But when you throw the football, you better be sound all the way across the board. We’re getting close.”