GAINESVILLE — Florida quarterback Aaron Philo has been far from perfect, but he hasn’t been the problem during consecutive double-digit losses.
By offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner’s count, Philo had three bad plays — including two critical turnovers — during the Gators’ 38-19 homecoming collapse against South Carolina last Saturday in the Swamp.
Otherwise, Philo was on target after struggling in a 28-point loss at Missouri.
“I know that sounds crazy because you can’t turn your ball over and that changes everything,” Faulkner said Tuesday. “But he really played within himself other than a couple plays. He was throwing the ball on time. He was taking what the defense gives him.
“He looked more comfortable, and was seeing it a lot better than really he was the week before.”
The Gators (4-2, 2-2 SEC) now enter this Saturday’s visit to No. 7 Texas (4-1, 1-1 SEC) looking to reignite an offense that fired on all cylinders during Florida’s first four games.
“That’s a good group in there. We’ve gotten out of whack,” Faulkner said. “We gotta find a way to get that back, and that starts with me, our staff, getting our guys going.
“But I have full confidence that we’re going to be able to get this thing rolling back in the right direction.”
Florida’s inability to keep pace with Missouri and South Carolina after running away from the previous four opponents has made Philo an easy target for criticism.
The Gators’ quarterback accounted for nine touchdowns, committed two turnovers and completed 73.4% of his passes as Florida averaged 53.5 points in September.
Florida quarterback Aaron Philo (12) is sacked by Missouri defensive tackle Sterling Webb (90) during the Gators’ 45-17 loss Oct. 3 in Columbia, Missouri. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
During the two losses, he threw for two touchdowns, ran for a third and completed 67.7% of his throws for an attack averaging 18 points.
Florida’s sudden struggles, however, extend well beyond Philo.
Missouri provided a blueprint for future opponents after the Tigers overran the Gators’ suspect offensive line, bottled up star tailback Jadan Baugh and limited down-field passes with explosive sophomore Vernell Brown III sidelined with a knee injury and senior speedster Eric Singleton still slowed by a high-ankle sprain.
Faulkner said Singleton practiced fully Tuesday for the first time since he suffered the injury during Florida’s Sept. 5 season-opening win against Florida Atlantic.
“Hadn’t practiced … really just played in the games,” Faulkner said. “Getting some continuity there is going to hopefully ignite us, because he is an explosive guy. Really all offenses, or good offenses, you got to be explosive.”
Florida had nine 20-yard pass completions in wins over Auburn and Ole Miss, but seven against Missouri and South Carolina, with two of those during the final drive in mop-up time at Mizzou.
More telling is the Gators generated just six runs of at least 10 yards during back-to-back losses after ripping off 13 of them during two SEC wins.
Defenses have aggressively focused on stopping the run while putting Baugh Heisman’s candidacy on hold. The SEC’s leading rusher with 600 yards and 11 touchdowns through four games, Baugh has 72 yards on 27 carries and one touchdown in two losses.
With Baugh unable to find room to room and backup Duke Clark injured against South Carolina, Philo has been forced to shoulder more of the load. He averaged 32 pass attempts the past two weeks compared with 22.5 against Auburn and Ole Miss.
A pair of losses featuring just four touchdowns in 24 possessions have prompted calls to turn to backup Tramell Jones Jr., who led Florida to late touchdowns against Missouri and South Carolina.
Faulkner’s relationship with Philo, which dates to his sophomore year of high school in Georgia and continued through the quarterback’s past two seasons at Georgia Tech, also has come under scrutiny.
For now, Faulkner’s plan is to return to what worked so well just a few weeks ago.
“We just got to have better execution — that’s where it starts,” Faulkner said. “We got to do a good job of putting them in a position to succeed. We gotta do what we’re good at.
“We were the aggressor early on; we got to get back that.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
Up next
What: UF (4-2, 2-2 SEC) at Texas (4-1, 1-1)
When: 12 p.m., Saturday
Where: Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin
TV: ABC
Favorite: Texas by 8.5 points