GAINESVILLE, Fla. – There weren’t many offensive fireworks in Saturday’s Orange and Blue spring game at The Swamp, but from listening to first-year head coach Will Muschamp the past few weeks, he expects some next season from RB Chris Rainey and WR Quinton Dunbar.
Rainey and Dunbar had strong spring camps according to Muschamp, who often singled the two players out during his media sessions this spring.
Rainey is no stranger to Florida fans, serving as one of the team’s most dangerous offensive threats the past three years when off-the-field issues haven’t disrupted his career.
Rainey put up modest stats on Saturday, rushing five times for 26 yards and catching two passes for 10 yards. Overall, Rainey ended spring pleased in making a good first impression with the new coaching staff and is ready for his senior season.
“I’ll take the spring I had,’’ he said Saturday. “It was a good start for everybody on the team and we want to keep getting better. We know we have a good team and can get a lot better.’’
As for Dunbar, he has emerged as a potential play-maker following a breakout spring. He plans to work over the summer to make sure he doesn’t lose any ground in his bid to make an impact come fall.
“I came out, worked hard, competed everyday and I felt great,’’ Dunbar said. “I’m hoping to stretch the field, and I’m also hoping to just be a receiver in general.”
Dunbar had only two catches for 21 yards on Saturday, but Muschamp left no doubt about him climbing the depth chart.
“You can’t take away from the fact of what Quinton Dunbar’s done vertically down the field throughout the entire body of work of spring,’’ he said. “Dunbar has made more big plays than any of our receivers in practice. We’ve got to continue to develop more depth at that position and more reliable guys.’’
PASSING GRADE
Senior QB John Brantley started off Saturday’s game doing something UF fans always enjoy from the offense: he threw a bomb.
The pass was on target, but Dunbar was unable to make the catch and the Blue offense went three-and-out on its first series. That’s something Gator fans don’t want to see as much next season.
Brantley finished 4 of 14 for 45 yards to conclude his final spring camp with the Gators. Afterward, Muschamp placed a stamp of approval on the way Brantley performed and led the team this spring learning a new pro-style offense more suitable to his talents than Urban Meyer’s spread-option attack that Brantley struggled to adjust to last season.
“If we started the season today, John Brantley would be our starter,’’ Muschamp said. “He's close to 70-percent completion rate. We tally every throw. I'm very pleased with how he's managing our football team.
“He's picked up our offense. He does a great job at the line of scrimmage. We put a lot on the quarterback as far as running, pass-check protections, [in] the run game. I'm pleased with John.”
While Brantley will enter fall camp as the starter, he’ll face competition from Tyler Murphy and Jeff Driskel. Murphy had the best day among the QBs Saturday, completing 7 of 11 passes for 68 yards with a touchdown and interception.
Driskel, Florida’s most highly touted player in the 2011 recruiting class, was 3 of 8 for 29 yards splitting time for the Blue and Orange teams.
While the execution was missing at times, Brantley looked more confident in Charlie Weis’ new offense and is optimistic entering the offseason that next season will be better than last.
“We’re going to be OK,’’ he said. “We've had a good spring. We progressed very well. Charlie Weis has a great offense and everyone is getting real comfortable with it, and we're going to keep building off it. I'm more comfortable with it, we'll be fresh, and we only can get better from here on out.’’
INJURY REPORT
The Gators were missing several players on Saturday expected to be key contributors come fall.
WR Andre Debose, multi-purpose Trey Burton, OL Xavier Nixon, CB Janoris Jenkins, RB Mack Brown, RB Mike Gillislee, DT Jaye Howard and CB Jeremy Brown were among the most notably injured players.
All are expected to be ready when fall camp starts in August.
Burton and WR Javares McRoy were the only surprises on Saturday. Muschamp said Burton twisted an ankle on Wednesday.
“He probably could have played had it been a real game," Muschamp said.
A 2011 early enrollee from Lakeland, McRoy was out due to a lung condition and that the team’s medical personnel have been treating.
“It's not serious,’’ Muschamp said.
DT Dominique Easley dropped to the field late in the game and appeared injured. However, after spending a couple of minutes on the ground, Easley got back on his feet. The Gators hope Easley becomes a key player this season after limiting playing time as a freshman.
“Easley is fine,’’ Muschamp quipped when asked about his health. “Easley got tired, all right.”
CROWD PLEASER
One of the most memorable moments from Saturday’s game came early in the fourth quarter when QB Tyler Murphy hit RB Ben Sams for a 10-yard touchdown pass to give the Orange a 10-6 lead.
Murphy avoided a rusher to dump the ball to Sams, who then found open space thanks to a helmet-rattling block by TE Josh Postell. As LB Darrin Kitchens closed to make a tackle around the 10, Postell floored him with a blind-side block.
The play drew a loud response from the crowd and the Gators’ sideline. Sams made it to the end zone with the help of strong blocking downfield from WR Stephen Alli.
FACES IN THE CROWD
Seemed no matter where you turned Saturday, a prominent former Gator was back in town to watch Muschamp’s Orange and Blue debut.
Former Gators Mike Peterson and Fred Taylor spoke to the team while in town, and Ahmad Back, MVP of the Outback Bowl in January, was in the locker room joking around with his ex-teammates prior to kickoff.
Tim Tebow and Danny Wuerffel caught up with many former teammates on the sideline before their Heisman statues were unveiled at halftime. A partial list of former players at Saturday’s game included David Nelson, Carlos Dunlap, Gerard Warren, Brandon Hicks, Ricky Nattiel, Travis McGriff, Mike Pouncey and his brother Maurkice, who earned All-Rookie honors last season with the Steelers.
EXTRA POINTS
DB Malcolm Jones moved to running back on Saturday to help compensate for all the injuries to the Gators’ backfield. Jones, a sophomore from Fleming Island, had a productive day playing both the Orange and Blue. He finished with 18 carries for a team-high 63 yards … Walk-on Christian Provancha, a 6-foot-6 QB from Cocoa Beach, had the longest pass of the day on his game-winning 39-yard scoring strike to Robert Clark with 45 seconds left … Clark is now wearing No. 7 after wearing No. 81 last season … Senior K Caleb Sturgis had a successful return to the field, kicking field goals of 21, 43 and 33 yards. Sturgis was 3-for-3 in his first game since a back injury forced him to miss the final nine games last season … The loudest boo of the day came before kickoff when a plane flew over The Swamp towing a banner that read “31-7 Go Noles!” … Freshman Leon Orr has moved from the offensive line to defensive tackle. Orr had four tackles splitting time between the Blue and Orange teams … Redshirt WR Chris Dunkley is suspended for academic reasons heading into the summer … The announced crowd Saturday was 53,000 … After the game, the Gators gathered for a team barbecue to cap off Muschamp’s first spring.
