Here's the catch: Demarcus Robinson impacting Gators without receptions
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Seven weeks earlier, wide receiver Demarcus Robinson bounced around The Swamp as he celebrated a record-setting night when he tied a 45-year-old Florida single-game mark of 15 receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns in a triple-overtime win against Kentucky.
And, yet the way Robinson hopped on and hugged teammate after teammate during Saturday's upset of Georgia, you'd have thought he was having another one of those highlight-reel performances -- which he was, in a subtle but devastatingly efficient way.
Final stats: zero catches, zero yards.
"But, they did target me once," Robinson said Monday with a big smile. "Twice, actually."
Two targets, indeed, of the six passes true freshman quarterback Treon Harris threw in UF's 38-20 trouncing of rival and ninth-ranked Georgia at EverBank Field. Both were failed third-down tosses in the first quarter, after which the Gators offense basically shut down its passing game and turned a couple of running backs loose in what became one of the most overpowering displays of physicality -- 418 yards rushing, UF's second-most ever against a Southeastern Conference opponent -- in the series' storied history.
Robinson, the sophomore from Fort Valley, Ga., helped lead the charge with an individual performance every bit as dominant -- relative to his position, that is -- as the one turned in by the Florida offensive line that put a stranglehold on the line of scrimmage.
His blocking was textbook stuff.
On Matt Jones' 44-yard touchdown run on the first possession of the second half, Robinson took out two Bulldogs downfield on the same play, allowing Jones to get to the sideline and barrel his way into the end zone. On Kelvin Taylor's 65-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Robinson shielded another Dawg about 20 yards downfield, allowing his roommate to take the play to the house.
"Blocking is part of the game," Robinson said. "Some games you get to catch passes, some games you have to block. Some games you have to do both. I'm just trying to do what's asked of me and help my team."
Everybody noticed.
"I don't even know if he had a reception in this game, but he still was out there and he was a playmaker," said senior center Max Garcia, named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week for his own performance in the trenches. He couldn't help but admire what Robinson and his fellow wideouts did downfield. "That's what it comes down to: guys being unselfish about being on this football team and sacrificing your body for the guy next to you."
Sacrificing some glory, also.
Face it, wideouts don't come to Florida to block downfield. They come with visions of the kind of game Robinson displayed against Kentucky back in September. Put it this way: Willie Jackson, Chris Doering, Reidel Anthony, Ike Hilliard or Jacquez Green never had a game like Robinson did when he equaled the mark set by All-American Carlos Alvarez back in 1969.
They never had one like Robinson's day versus Georgia, either.
Against the Bulldogs, though, the Gators just may have found the identity their offense has been looking for all season.
The ground game likely won't come that easily the rest of the season -- not with opponents figuring to stack the box against a team with a 10-to-1 run-to-pass ratio -- but they're far more likely to come in bunches if Robinson, Latroy Pittman, Ahmad Fulwood and whoever else is playing wideout picks off defensive backs when ballcarriers hit the second level.
At that point, technique has to meet desire. The former isn't particularly complicated. Blocking for wide receivers isn't about pile-driving or pancaking defenders. It's more about pestering them.
"Just occupy your man and get in his way," Robinson said. "Maybe push him a little bit."
More often than not, that means locating him and going to get him. That's where the desire comes in.
"The No. 1 thing is persistence because the angles change so much depending on where the defensive back is. It's very difficult to block someone in open space," UF coach Will Muschamp said. "We always tell defensive players, 'a tie is a loss on defense when you're being blocked.' So, offensively, as long as you're engaging the guy, you're winning."
The Gators led 14-7 less than three minutes into the third period when Jones, from the Georgia 44, took an inside handoff to the left, bounced the play outside and got the edge on the Dawgs' defense.
At the 31-yard line, Robinson engaged and shielded off cornerback Devin Bowman for a split second -- long enough for Jones to hit the sideline -- before moving on and instantly locking up safety Quincy Mauger two yards away...just long enough for Jones to steamroll by on his way to the end zone.
Here's how the CBS tandem of color analyst Gary Danielson and play-by-play man Verne Lundquist called the replay:
Danielson: "Watch Demarcus Robinson, right there, get two guys, OK? ... He gets his own guy first -- and then finishes on the safety."
Lundquist: "Oh my gosh!"
Danielson: "And there's a guy ... you expect those receivers who don't get a lot of balls thrown to them -- he gets one block, and then he gets another one -- usually you get those wide receivers that pout if they don't get the football. How 'bout that? From one of the great playmakers, I think, in football blocking for the Gators."
On Taylor's scoring burst, which began on the UF 35, he bounced the play to the right and hit the sideline, where Robinson sealed cornerback Damian Swann, if only for a moment, at the UGA 46. No one was going to catch Taylor from there.
On those two plays alone, Robinson's blocks were responsible for 97 rushing yards after his contact.
Jones finished with 25 carries for 192 yards, a career high, and two TDs. Taylor, Robinson's roomie, had 25 carries for a career-best 197 yards and two TDs.
"He's my best friend," Robinson said. "He was happy for me when I had a big game and I was happy for him after this one. We always talk about which of us is going to have a big game. I guess we both have had one now."
Robinson may have had a big night catching the ball way back in September, but ask his teammates and coaches -- he had another big game Saturday.
"I'm telling you, Demarcus Robinson was the happiest guy in our locker room after the game," Muschamp said. "That's how much he loves Kelvin Taylor and Matt Jones."
The feeling, no doubt, was mutual.
