Although Florida gained only 29 yards of total offense in the first half, coach Will Muschamp and offensive coordinator Brent Pease saw areas of South Carolina’s defense the Gators could exploit.
As they do each halftime, Pease and Muschamp discussed the possible changes, separated the players into groups and then laid out the new game plan.
The result was nearly instant, as the Gators came out with a slew of offensive adjustments to start the second half, driving 59 yards in 10 plays to score a touchdown via a nifty double hand off on the opening drive.
No. 3 Florida outscored No. 9 South Carolina 23-5 in the second half on Saturday as the Gators pulled away in a 41-11 win.
“It is mostly adjustments,” quarterback Jeff Driskel said of the team’s second-half success. “We definitely put some drives together in the second half.”
Florida has thrived in the second half throughout 2012, outscoring opponents 121-28 during the final 30 minutes of games.
The Gators own a 978 to 281 edge on the ground during second halves, compared to just 505-400 during the first 30 minutes.
“It’s just going back to the drawing board and fixing little things,” cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy said.
Although the Gators entered the locker room on Saturday with a 21-3 halftime lead, the offensive effort left much to be desired.
Florida was outgained 103-29 in total offense in the first half, continuing a trend of being outgained in the first quarter of every game this season.
But the Gators were once again able to turn the contest around, and wide receiver Frankie Hammond Jr. credited the improvement to adjustments Pease made during halftime.
“(UF’s coaches) see our mistakes from the first half and just know how to capitalize on the things that they saw,” Hammond said. “(Pease) puts plays back in, takes plays out that weren’t working and we just roll from there.”
Driskel said the Gators knew the Gamecocks were going to pressure with their dynamic defensive ends, so Pease started to call more screen passes.
On second-and-15 during Florida’s second drive of the second half, Driskel found tight end Jordan Reed on a middle screen that went for 39 yards and put the Gators in position for another field goal.
“We hit a huge screen,” Driskel said. “That was a great call.”
Harrison also said the second-half success is owed to first-year strength and conditioning coach Jeff Dillman, whose summer workouts and Olympic lifts have led Florida to become a bigger, stronger team.
“Most teams will come out in the second half and they may be winded, they may be a little tired,” Harrison said. “But our offseason program, the way it was designed, coach Dillman and his staff, they did an amazing job making sure that we don’t even feel fatigue coming out of the locker room in the second half. That’s what’s been helping us. That’s been a big thing, part of our success this season.”
Muschamp has frequently passed praise onto Dillman this season, giving the strength coach a great deal of credit for second-half comebacks against Tennessee, Texas A&M and LSU.
“The training we put in from January up until now definitely has helped us a lot to finish out games and get us through,” Hammond said.
