Andreu's Answers: Week 11
Before every Florida game, UF football beat writer Robbie Andreu highlights five burning questions and then provides the answers after some postgame reflection.
Let's move on to week 11:
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1. Will senior wide receiver Andre Caldwell overtake Carlos Alvarez as UF's all-time receptions leader? He needs nine to pass Alvarez, who holds the record with 172?
With Alvarez watching from the UF sideline, Caldwell blew past his record with a career performance — 13 catches for 164 yards as he became the focal point of the offense with Percy Harvin missing his second consecutive game. Caldwell had a chance to tie or break Alvarez's single-game reception record of 15, but he dropped one pass and had a big pass reception called back by a penalty in the second half. Alvarez presented Caldwell with a game ball in the postgame locker room.
2. Is this the game where No. 2 quarterback Cameron Newton will get his first extensive playing time?
The play of UF's pass defense was so shaky that Cameron Newton took only a few snaps in the first half. He did not replace starter Tim Tebow until early in the fourth quarter (11:11 remaining). He made some nice runs, including a 24-yard TD dash, but he did not have much of a chance to show what he can do in the passing game. He threw only four passes, completing one for eight yards. He saw some playing time, but it probably wasn't as much as the Gators had hoped coming into the game. With FAU keeping the game close through the first half, UF had no choice but to stick with Tim Tebow until the lead felt safe.
3. Can UF's improving defense hold FAU below its season average of 278.6 passing yards a game?
The secondary got off to a pretty good start, but then suffered a meltdown in the second quarter, giving up a touchdown pass and big passing plays that led to three other scores in the quarter. At the half, quarterback Rusty Smith had already passed for 247 yards, so it was obvious the Owls were going to get their yards, and more, through the air. FAU ended up with 309 yards passing, and once again the shaky UF secondary was exposed by a passing quarterback.
4. Do the Owls have enough offense (and defense) to keep the game in doubt going into the third quarter?
They had more than enough on both sides of the ball. With only 1:13 left in the first half, Smith sneaked over from 1-yard out to bring the Owls to within eight, 28-20, and the Florida Field crowd was growing nervous and frustrated. Had Tim Tebow not connected with tight end Cornelius Ingram for a 26-yard TD pass with only nine seconds left in the half, this game could have stayed scary well into the second half.
5. Will a Florida tailback (not a wide receiver lining up at tailback) have a 100-yard rushing day?
After getting stuffed by the FAU front early in the game, the Gators pretty much abandoned the run and aired things out with Tim Tebow and the passing game. Starting tailback Kestahn Moore scored two touchdowns, but he had only five carries for 24 yards. With No. 2 tailback Brandon James suspended from the game, Markus Manson, who moved back to tailback from cornerback earlier in the week, broke a 23-yard run in the fourth quarter. But he had only two other carries for one yard, as the two tailbacks combined for only eight carries and 48 yards. UF's leading rusher was Cameron Newton, who ran 24 yards for a TD and ended up with 46 yards on the ground. Tim Tebow was the second-leading rusher with 31 yards and a touchdown. Once again, the tailback position did not produce a whole lot.
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