For the Florida Gators, a couple of feet and an extra push from two freshmen could be the difference from fading out of the SEC title picture and being a contender to the end.
After losing 31-30 to Ole Miss in late September, the Florida coaching staff went back to work. Freshman backs Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey were inserted into bigger roles and both went over 100 yards in a 38-7 win at Arkansas.
The Gators, 5-1 overall and 3-1 in SEC play going into Saturday's 12:30 p.m. game against Kentucky (5-2, 1-2), tinkered with the offensive line play before a 51-21 win against LSU - spreading the gaps between the guards, tackles and center by another foot or so.
Again, the results were stunning. Going into Saturday, the Gators have collected 543 yards on 79 rushes in the past two games - averaging just under seven yards a carry.
Florida has the second-leading rush offense in the SEC (193 yards per game), behind only Alabama (209.3).
Warns Demps: "I think if we keep grinding and toughing it out it will be kind of tough to stop us."
Who would have thought? The most dazzling air show in the SEC is taking a liking to pushing other people around. But it's working.
Going into the season, the Gators were supposed to be centered around 2007 Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow and receiver Percy Harvin. All along, UF coach Urban Meyer realized you can't win a championship with team focused on two players (witness last year's four losses).
Has Florida finally found what it needs?
"The pieces are there,"
Tebow said on Monday. "We just have to keep working and get everything right."
Rainey and Demps took advantage to injuries to players ahead of them to slide up the depth chart. Now they are two of the most feared backs in the SEC. Their incredible breakaway speed has changed the way the Gators attack.
"It gives you an opportunity to have some short runs, three or four yard runs, trusting in the future you are going to get that 50-yard breakout run,"
Tebow said. "You can have faith in it and keep going and going back to some of those inside zone plays we run."
While Demps and Rainey have made the last two Gator games look like track meets, the key may have been the guys up front. The entire team has noticed a change in attitude.
"Everybody kind of got a sense that they were extremely focused and doing a great job with sticking on their blocks and maintaining their blocks,"
Tebow said of the offensive line. "I think we had a lot of confidence in them and that's why were able to keep mixing up as far as running and passing (against LSU)."
The UF linemen have just one thing to say. Keep handing the ball to Demps and Rainey.
"We pride ourselves on running the ball and getting rushing yardage,"
senior tackle Jason Watkins said. "When we get the running game going that gets (the linemen) going even more. You get hyped up and it seems like it gives us motivation to keep playing harder and harder."
The decision to create wide splits between the linemen proved to be a huge help against LSU and Florida may continue that strategy.
"We're always trying to mix things up and we thought (LSU) had those big defensive linemen inside and our backs, we wanted to give them a little more space to run,"
Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said. "So we decided if we get a little bit bigger splits with the offensive line, it puts their big guys in bigger space so we can cover them up and our backs can hit the holes a little quicker."
As a result of better line play, great running by the fast young backs, something else has happened. It's forcing opponents to focus less on Harvin and Tebow. That was Meyer's hopes back in August, that balance make defenses become more honest.
"It's great,"
Harvin said. "Because now teams have to respect our running game. Demps and Rainey, they are kind of small, so linebackers sometimes can't see them when they come shooting out. If you give those guys a step, it's lights out."
