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SCOUT’S NOTEBOOK: KENTUCKY@FLORIDA

Concerns about a Florida offense that’s been slow off the trigger in the first quarter of games were quelled in Week 4, as the Gators jumped out to 14-0 lead over Kentucky within the first 12 minutes of the contest and never looked back.

Urban Meyer’s crew was markedly deeper and far more athletic than the Wildcats, who didn’t belong on the same field with their opponents in the 48-14 drubbing.

Burton burns ‘Cats six times

Freshman sensation Trey Burton was an unstoppable force for the Gators in the red zone. He delivered six scores, five of which came on runs from the Wildcat formation.

On his first foray into the end zone, Burton made a good read and followed the lead of center Maurice Pouncey on an 11-yard quarterback counter. Toward the end of the first quarter the Gators get Burton open by running a double slant to the left, freeing up the versatile speedster at the opposite side on an 11-yard swing pass from John Brantley. Kentucky safety Mychal Bailey tried to defend the pass catcher on the play, but didn’t have the foot speed to contend with Burton’s lateral quickness.

The freshman phenom was at it again in the third quarter, as he totally deceived the defense with a fake handoff and proceeded to run it in from 10 yards out on a quarterback keeper. Burton made it four by simply outrunning cornerback Anthony Mosely to the edge on a 9-yard run in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, he simply pushed his way to pay dirt behind Pouncey from three yards out. With 6:45 remaining, Burton faked the handoff and took off for the goal line on a bootleg. He managed to barely get the ball over the pylon on the 7-yard play.

Whether he lined up at quarterback, running back, receiver or tight end, Burton flashed the ability to stick his foot in the ground and throw defenders off balance with his blinding acceleration and short-area quickness.

He was exceptionally fluid when running quick screens and out routes during the game. Burton came up huge when he converted a 4^th-and-1 play in which he caught a quick pass in the flat, made the first man miss and gained enough for the first down.

Late in the game he actually rolled right and uncorked a long throw to wide receiver Omarius Hines, who tripped despite having a wide open path of real estate in front of him on the 42-yard hookup.

Burton makes up for Brantley’s deficiencies as a runner by running a lot of the goal-line plays that Tim Tebow used to execute to perfection.

Brantley is a work in progress

John Brantley has a lot of the traits coaches look for in a quarterback, including size, arm strength, quick feet in the pocket, good mechanics and a compact release. However, his inexperience was evident during certain stretches of the ball game despite the fact that he completed 24 of 35 pass attempts for 248 yards.

Early on, the 6’3” signal caller played with terrific poise and connected with wide receiver Andre Debose on a 14-yard completion by smoothly rolling out to his left. One play later Brantley launched a deep, catchable throw with a solid over-the-top delivery for wide receiver Frankie Hammond, who stumbled and failed to make the catch.

Throughout the first half Brantley displayed impressive touch on short stick routes and bubble screens, but wasn’t nearly as accurate on some intermediate to deep throws.

He put way too much mustard on a 1^st-and -10 strike to Deonte Thompson, who was well covered by Mosely. He then later rolled out to his left on a sprint action play and committed the cardinal sin of tossing the ball across his body toward the middle of the field.

There were also times when the youngster threw some balls wide of his targets even when he was provided with solid protection up front.

On his second quarter interception, Brantley looked for running back Emmanuel Moody over the middle, but he took too long to deliver the football. He compounded that error by trying to aim he ball to his receiver, who had multiple defenders around him, instead of zipping it in there with some velocity.

He was also guilty of trying to foolishly make something happen with no one open while he was in the process of getting plastered by defensive end Collins Ukwu. Luckily for Brantley, there was no one in the immediate area when he carelessly threw the ball into the field of play.

Brantley did show a bit of chemistry with his go-to receiver Deonte Thompson on a number of crossing routes, where the wide out effortlessly got out of his breaks and caught the ball away from his body. On a side note, Thompson has a reputation for dropping catchable balls, but based on his latest performance, the speed merchant looks as though he’s been doing some work to improve his hands.

Overall, Brantley had a lot of positive moments where he made accurate throws on the run and also stepped up in the pocket to deliver other solid completions. But his inconsistency is maddening.

Although he looked great in exploiting underneath coverage by hitting wide receiver Carl Moore on a 2^nd-and-12 play in the third quarter, one play later he badly overthrew Hines on a simple corner route.

The quarterback’s miscues won’t really hurt him against teams like Kentucky, but may prove costly against the big boys of the SEC.

Pouncey clears the way

Mike Pouncey’s move to the center position hasn’t been a smooth transition. In fact, his problems snapping the ball have been an issue all season. The senior lineman went on to author another faulty exchange with his quarterback at the end of the first quarter, which sent Brantley diving for the pigskin.

However, that was the only blemish on Pouncey’s ledger last Saturday, as he started off in fine fashion by using his incredible lateral agility to spring Burton open on his first touchdown.

Although he momentarily left the game to have his ankle looked at in the second quarter, Pouncey came back with a vengeance in the second half by turning his man and holding him in place on a Jeff Demps 18-yard burst up the middle on a 2^nd-and-10 play in the third quarter.

On the ensuing play the road grater once again led the way, moving his man off the ball with Demps following him for a 4-yard gain between the tackles.

On a 17-yard run by Emmanuel Moody, Pouncey wrestled his man down to the ground with his quick hand movement, which created a big hole for the ball carrier.

While the oft-injured Moody provided some good, hard running up the middle and Demps dazzled with his breathtaking speed, Pouncey was the real rainmaker in the ground game.

His ability to move his hands and feet in concert while obliterating defenders with his brute strength was too much for the Wildcats to deal with.

Left tackle Marcus Gilbert was no slouch either, as he did yeoman’s work in consistently walling defensive ends throughout the game. The fifth-year senior offers a great deal of length, strength and versatility to play on either side of the line.

Opposing lineman Shane McCord and others couldn’t manage to gain inside position on Gilbert, who maintained tremendous balance and locked up his adversaries.

Right tackle Xavier Nixon also chipped in by combining with Pouncey to furiously push his way through the defense, allowing Burton to score his fifth touchdown.

Secondary shines under the bright lights

Strong safety Ahmad Black was an omnipresent terror who came up big on multiple occasions and wound up with six tackles. The 5’9” defensive back sprang into action on a 3^rd-and-6 pass to La’Rod King at the start of the second quarter by reading the play and closing in on the receiver with perfect timing to prevent the reception behind the first down marker.

Black’s instincts and quickness came into play on the following Wildcat drive, as Derrick Locke broke away from the defense on the left perimeter. The heady safety swooped in and made a shoestring tackle that saved a likely touchdown run.

Black has the knack for being at the right place at the right time and may be the best tackler on the team.

While fellow safety Will Hill had a quiet showing, cornerback Janoris Jenkins proved to be as tough as nails and consistently displayed his great athletic skills. Much like Black, Jenkins is a very capable in run support, as evidenced by the way he strung out Locke on an outside run, forcing the senior back out of bounds during the early stages of the third quarter.

Jenkins was Johnny-on-the-spot once again when he dumped Locke on a screen play for no gain. Sensing that quarterback Mike Hartline had nowhere else to throw the ball under heavy pressure, Jenkins came hard at the pass catcher.

The outstanding junior went on to show off top notch coverage technique late in the game while defending the 6’5” Chris Matthews in the corner of the end zone. He bodied up his man, kept his head turned, went up for the ball…and almost came away with a pick.

As a return man, Jenkins took a third quarter punt back 43 yards by running from right to left and setting up a wall of blockers in front of him. He not only demonstrated good instincts on the play, but also used his speed and cutting ability to put his offense in excellent field position.

Cornerback Jeremy Brown was also in on his share of plays, but none was bigger than his second quarter interception that he returned 53 yards for a touchdown. The sophomore put his anticipatory skills to good use by breaking on a pass that took too long to get out of Hartline’s hands.

In all fairness, some of the blame should be attributed to the intended target (Matthews), who squatted on the route too early, which tipped off the defensive back.

Brown was at it once more on the following series when he read yet another route and jumped out to deflect the pass. The cover man certainly looked as though he had done his homework on his opponent.

Third corner Cody Riggs was quite aggressive. The 5’9”, 166-pounder is too small to be in the same class as Black or Jenkins as a tackler, but he was the first one to the receiver on a 2^nd-and-5 pass play midway through the second quarter. He held on and waited for his teammates to help him bring down his opponent on the 3-yard pickup.

He later jumped out in front of Matthews on a throw Hartline totally bird-dogged to the intended receiver.

On man-to-man coverage with the much bigger Matthews, Riggs stayed with the wide out stride for stride along the sideline on a long pass that appeared to be caught slightly out of bounds, but was ruled a catch.

LBs a mixed bag

A.J. Jones is an aggressive outside linebacker who moves well in space. But while he came up with a tipped ball on the first drive of the game, he was also seen getting knocked off his feet by the smaller Randall Cobb when pursuing a Kentucky pass catcher on a crossing route.

Similarly, outside linebacker Jelani Jenkins was totally knocked out by fullback Moncell Allen on a run play where Locke gained five yards. Jenkins was definitely standing too tall in that instance.

Later in the game, Jenkins lacked the necessary foot speed to prevent Locke from turning the corner on him. The freshman defender redeemed himself soon after by taking a better angle on Locke and forcing him out of bounds on a two-yard gain in the third quarter.

Jenkins was very active and led the Gators with eight tackles on the evening.

Middle linebacker Jon Bostic showed that fighting off blocks against the run isn’t the only thing he’s good at; he also dropped back into coverage in the second quarter and stepped in front of Cobb to intercept a Hartline pass. Bostic was quick to recognize that the quarterback was clearly staring down his target.

Defensive line chips in

Defensive tackle Jay Howard was quick off the ball on a number of first quarter plays and dominated his blockers by penetrating the gaps.

Howard’s fluid and decisive movements allowed him to get to the edge on a stretch play, as he hunted down Locke for a minimal gain in the first quarter.

Justin Trattou is also pretty mobile and downright relentless at defensive tackle, but he sometimes had trouble getting off his blocks versus Kentucky. He also failed to maintain gap integrity in the second quarter by going too wide on Locke on one of his carries.

End Duke Lemmens pressured Hartline into an errant throw, which was picked off by Bostic, but the lineman did little else on the day.

Freshman Sharif Floyd was mighty impressive in limited action. The promising defensive tackle powered his way off a block and ran down Locke for a two-yard loss in the second quarter.

At the end of the game, the 301-pound lineman got on his horse in pursuit of the ball carrier and prevented him from hitting his cutback lane. Floyd’s lateral movement on that play was remarkable.

Locke, Cobb, Matthews do their part

Derrick Locke carried the load for the Wildcats by rushing for 108 yards on 23 carries. The senior back has the speed to get around the corner, along with a second gear once he gets to the second and third levels.

For all his speed, though, Locke reminded me a lot of former Iowa Hawkeye Tavian Banks in that he was terrific at breaking runs to the outside, but showed a reluctance to jam it in between the tackles.

The reality: Locke is much better suited as a third-down scatback who can catch some balls on screens at the next level.

He’s pretty effective in space and has also demonstrated that he can hit his cutback lanes, but he’s far from being a complete runner.

Despite being 190 pounds, though, Locke was plenty tough on an outside run for seven yards in which he lost one defender with his foot speed and collided with an oncoming defensive back, who turned him out of bounds.

Former quarterback turned receiver Randall Cobb lined up at wide receiver, running back and took snaps in the Wildcat formation.

Although he didn’t make any game-breaking plays as a ball carrier, he made several tough catches over the middle and kept the chains moving.

On one of his seven receptions, Cobb gained a step on Janoris Jenkins and turned it into a 14-yard gain on a slant route at the 8:50 mark of the third quarter. His short-area burst and toughness across the middle are what make him a terrific slot man that can someday flourish in the same role in the NFL.

He has neither the size nor straight line speed to be the kind of wide out who consistently lines up on the outside.

Cobb also completed two passes in the game. One of them went for an 11-yard touchdown on a fake field goal, while the other was a real wobbler that the receiver caught because the defender didn’t have his head turned.

The 6’5” Chris Matthews made the longest play of the game for the Wildcats, hauling in a 42-yard pass down the right sideline.

He later blew past Cody Riggs with his long strides and came down with a 27-yard touchdown reception, where he exhibited the focus and body control to track the ball in the air on the over-the-shoulder catch in the corner of the end zone.

Where the big receiver is lacking is in his inability to properly sell his routes at all times. He must learn how to break out of patterns at certain spots in order to be on the same page as his quarterback.