Below are excerpts from their comments following last Saturday’s 62-3 win over Charleston Southern and looking ahead to the game against Troy on Sept. 12.
Head Coach Urban Meyer -
On Florida’s running game:
“Everything is personnel-based. Good recruiting. These young men are high-character people who take things seriously. They all pull for each other. The only thing they said to each other was, ‘Great win,’ and had big smiles on their faces. Emmanuel Moody went in during the third quarter. Coach [Kenny] Carter has done a tremendous job, but it’s also a testament to who these young men are.”
On the chemistry between Tim Tebow and Riley Cooper:
“It is very undervalued. Tim has great chemistry with a lot of guys. Riley is going through a phase in his life right now where he realizes it’s last call. We’ve had some guys come speak to the team about that. Some guys think they always have next game, next year. Riley has 11 shots left. He’s playing like it, and he’s practicing like it. We’ve got two practices a week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so he has maybe 23 or 24 practices left. Even more than chemistry is the guys taking a more serious approach to football.”
On why he likes the up-tempo style:
“I think Tim [Tebow] is good at it. I think it’s all personnel-based, and I made the comment that it’s just in the beginning phases because basically we ran one set. We’ve got the ability with a guy like Aaron Hernandez, you can be in a multitude of sets and add [Jeff] Demps and [Chris] Rainey-type bodies. I just liked it because Tim is very good at it, and I think that our offensive line handles it very well because they realize we’re in a advantage getting them to the line of scrimmage real fast. Those two runs by Demps we’re perfect examples. They were out of the shoot like that (snaps fingers), because either lineman issues on defense or fatigue issues. [That] is something that I think that should be, our conditioning the way that Coach Mick [Mickey Marotti] gets our guys conditioned, that should be a strength.”
On offensive play calling:“We were very vanilla on offense, other than tempo. I mean, bizarre vanilla, painfully vanilla. But tempo, we have to practice it, and we don’t mind. It’s out there and it’s fine, and we had to practice it. But if you looked at our sets, there were three sets over the whole night. You guys have been covering us for a while and know that it’s usually 12 to 15 different sets. So, painfully vanilla.”
On communication worked during the game with new members on the coaching staff:
“The issue would be the guy on the sideline [Steve Addazio]. He’s coaching five guys, and he’s also calling the offense. I thought Steve was one of the few individuals that I would trust to do that. I think he’s that good and that focused. We’ve been together, and it’s not a new offense. It’s the same offense. It’s got his stamp on. It’s got his personality on it. I thought that Scot Loeffler and Brian White did an excellent job with it. Scot especially during our two minute drill was the manager of that situation, and I thought he did a really nice job. I was more worried about the mechanics of the conversation, and we can improve, but I thought it went very well.”
Senior Quarterback Tim TebowOn playing limited time vs. Charleston Southern:
“I feel good. I didn’t take too many hits on Saturday. It’s nice. I think it was the coaches’ goal not to have me get hit much. It’s good to stay away from contact, stay fresh, and get ready for games in the future.”
On the hurry-up offense:
“It’s a fast-paced, no huddle offense. I think it worked well. It’s tough for a defense to get used to, especially when they don’t know it’s coming. It’s something we’ve practiced, feel comfortable with and like to play. It gives us a different style to go play in. Going up hitting them in the mouth feels good. It’s worked well whenever we used it in a game. You have to be really well-conditioned because it is so fast tempo, especially the linemen and the receivers out wide who are running back and forth and getting back on the ball. I think our guys are getting used to it and we’re growing more comfortable with it. We have different calls for it, but ‘Bonsai’ could be one of them. Bonsai is not the play, but it’s to get them going.”
On if he learns about the progression of players once they are in a game situation:
“A little bit. I think you find that out in two a days, in fall camp, and the first few games you’re going to be finding it out, especially the timing with the guys you go to in certain situations. That’s just natural to have as you go through a season. Look at a guy like David Nelson last year. He went from having very little contribution to catching touchdown passes to win a national championship. That just shows the difference a year can make.”
On wide receiver Riley Cooper:
“I think he is an elite receiver in college football. He’s definitely an underrated player. He’s very athletic, very tough. He can catch deep balls, hitches, but he also blocks and cracks back at people. He is tough and is the kind of guy you want to bring into tough games with you. He is the type of guy who will go and give everything he has, and that’s a guy you want during the game.”
