First and foremost, Franks. He’s noticeably bigger than last year yet looks more nimble on his feet. Part of the reason I didn’t have high expectations for him for this game is Mullen’s comments throughout fall practice. They were typically along the line of, “The guys are coming along but have work to do.” I took that to mean they were doing ok but had a long way to go. Seems more like Mullen simply has very high standards. That’s a good thing. It wasn’t the yards or TDs that impressed me about Franks. It was the fundamentals. Stepping into the ball. Finding the open guy. Touch! (Something he showed very little of last year.) On numerous passes. Hitting guys in stride. Throwing the ball down on the slant route in the end zone. Rifling one in on another where only the WR could get to it. He also looked damn fine running the ball. He’s a big dude. He can get tough yards when needed.

The OL provided great pass protection when the first team was in there. (Not nearly as good when the backups came in, which imo greatly hampered Trask and Jones. They didn’t have anywhere near the time to throw that Franks did.) We should be able to dominate teams like CSU on the OL and we did in the passing game. Not so much in the running game. Didn’t seem like a lot of holes being blown open. Scarlett didn’t impress with 6 carries for 24 yards, but we were clearly focused on the passing game. Davis had one nice run, as did Perine (only 2 carries). Pierce, though, definitely showed us something special. No way is he redshirted. He has size and can dance.

It was nice to see the TEs get into the mix. Krull especially looks like a good pickup and will contribute. Almost has the build of a WR.

The defense played with great enthusiasm. Loved seeing them celebrate tackles together. The attitude looks completely different, even more so than our top defenses of 2015 and 2016. They look and act like a team. No showboating. Wrapping up rather than going for the big hit. LOTS of guys making tackles. We weren’t reliant on one LB or safety to make big plays. To me Polite distanced himself. What a player. He’s going to be fun to watch this season.

Special teams were a nice surprise. It was great seeing starters out there making plays. Two blocked kicks!

Most of all, Mullen had the team ready to play. We looked completely different than what we’d gotten accustomed to. Few penalties. An offense that looked coordinated. A QB that knew where to go with the ball and then delivering good passes. Bottom line is we looked well coached in all phases of the game. We haven’t in the past several years, not even against terrible teams, and especially on offense. Mullen seems intent on bringing excitement back to UF football. About friggin’ time! That’s the way to attract dynamic recruits!

Kentucky is a big step up from CSU. This isn’t the 3-9 Kentucky team of old. We should beat them, but they aren’t a pushover. I’m glad we have them in the Swamp and that it’s a night game. It’s always tough for opponents to play there at night. We’ll learn more about the toughness of this team after next Saturday.

Going forward, we’re not significantly more talented than much of our competition. (UGA is loaded compared to us.) We’re likely going to have quite a few tough games. Nevertheless, we finally LOOK competitive. Defenses aren’t just going to be able to crowd the line and stop us. We’ll probably lose a heartbreaker or two, but we’re gonna have a lot more fun this year. The big hope, then, is that it will lead to some stellar recruits.