Tough men search

The Florida Gators made enough plays on offense and defense in Saturday's scrimmage to please coach Urban Meyer. But one vital element continues to be missing.

Toughness.

"I don't think we're a tough team. We're just not," Meyer said. "You can paint it whatever you want to paint it, but we're not a tough football team. But it's March. We've got a ways to go."

Players taking plays off certainly would be considered a sign of a lack of toughness. Meyer used junior defensive tackle Ray McDonald and his reputation for taking plays off to illustrate the point after the scrimmage.

"We had a guy like that at Utah, where everybody said he's got great potential, but he doesn't go real hard all the time," Meyer said. "That's all I've heard about Ray and (fellow defensive tackle) Marcus (Thomas). We're going to change that or they're not going to play.

"Ray can decide to continue not to go real hard and go transfer to somewhere else where that's acceptable. But it's not acceptable here and he's starting to learn that."

Based on his day Saturday, McDonald apparently plans to stick around.

McDonald has a slightly sprained ankle and originally planned to sit out the scrimmage. But he decided to play and ended up drawing praise from Meyer.

"Ray McDonald kind of stood out," Meyer said. "He's a guy that they told me before the scrimmage couldn't go because of a little injury, but he fought through it. He's a guy I thought stood out."

Meyer also singled out two other defensive players - cornerback Dee Webb and senior safety Jarvis Herring.

"They (defensive coordinators Charlie Strong and Greg Mattison) said Dee Webb played well," Meyer said. "And Jarvis Herring has had a great spring. He could be an all-conference type player for us."

On the other side of the ball, Saturday's stars were quarterbacks Chris Leak and Gavin Dickey, wide receiver Chad Jackson and tailback DeShawn Wynn.

Leak appeared comfortable running the offense - and the option. He threw a 65-yard touchdown strike to Jackson during the regular phase of the scrimmage, then hooked up with Jackson for a 15-yard TD and had a 26-yard run on an option during the situational phase.

"It's going to be a great learning experience for everybody," said Leak, who completed six of 11 passes for 98 yards in the regular phase of the scrimmage.

Dickey, who has been splitting time between football and the UF baseball team, also had an excellent day, throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Baker and completing five of seven passes for 96 yards. He had a 34-yard completion to Kenneth Tookes, a 30-yarder to Jackson and also had a 27-yard run.

"The thing you're going to see is if you have athletic quarterbacks it creates some problems that most offenses can't give defenses," Meyer said. "The threat of the option, the threat of a guy scrambling, the threat of a guy out of the pocket is for real and that's what we need in this offense.

"Chris, Gavin Dickey ... they all did a nice job. (Dickey) is probably one of those kids that grew up with a ball in his hands just throwing in the backyard. He just comes out and plays. I like Gavin Dickey."

Meyer, however, said Dickey is behind the other quarterbacks in terms of grasping the offense because he's playing two sports.

"He's trying to balance two difficult issues right now," Meyer said. "He's playing for a great baseball program and for a great football program. It's different if you're playing for a bad program on either side. Then it really doesn't matter.

"Maybe Chris is ahead of him because of time spent. This is not a 20-hour-a-week offense, this is a 35-hour-a-week offense and he's not giving us 35 hours, so he's behind."

Another player who was behind Saturday was Jackson. Behind the secondary, that is. The junior was running free and making plays. He had the two touchdown receptions and caught three passes for 105 yards in the regular phase of the scrimmage.

And Jackson is making a tough transition, moving to an inside receiver slot after being on the outside the past two seasons.

"The offense is perfect for me. It's wide open," Jackson said. "I don't like playing inside. It's something I've got to get used to. I'm used to being on the outside. Now, I'm inside playing against linebackers and defensive linemen, blocking down on those guys. I have to get used to it. I can do it.

"Everybody is getting used to the offense. It's brand new for us. But everyone is coming together."

Middle linebacker Brandon Siler said Meyer's spread-option attack is difficult to defend.

"It frustrates me," he said. "It really restricts how much the linebackers can get in there. It should create a lot of problems (for opposing defenses). It's creating a lot of problems for us.

"It's fast, up tempo. It makes you think a lot, but then you have to move fast. It makes you sit back on your heels a little bit because you never know what they're going to do."

UF's man-to-man, attacking defense also caused some problems for the offense Saturday. The defense produced several sacks and had pressure on the quarterbacks most of the day.

Overall, Meyer seemed happy with the first scrimmage.

"Chris Leak goes (65 yards to Jackson for a TD), that's making a play," Meyer said. "I saw DeShawn Wynn slamming in there on third-and-short, that's making a play. I saw some defensive guys step up and make plays when they had to.

"I'll let you know more after the film, but I was pleased. That was a good day today."