FOOTBALL

Sunday Blog: Toney's different role

Pat Dooley
Gator Sports
Florida receiver Justin Shorter (89) reaches out to try and grab a ball that popped loose on the play and then is caught by Kadarius Toney (1) during Saturday's game against Arkansas at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

The Sunday Blog comes at you after a great birthday that included my favorite wings (Sandy's Place), a new sand wedge and a lot of golf and football. 

1. Lost in the quarterback battle of Saturday night and the chants of "Trask for Heisman" was the game that Kadarius Toney had. What was especially impressive is that — for the second straight game — the defense took the bubble screens and handoffs away from him. And still, Toney had a major impact on the game with seven catches for 57 yards. Toney is what this offense is in that whatever you take away, Florida has been able to find other ways to put up gaudy numbers.

2. I was curious how Florida's numbers through six games stack up with Steve Spurrier's best teams and — not surprisingly — this team is still not quite at the level that Gator fans enjoyed during that run. 

Points per game — 45.8 this season, 46.6 in 1996.

Passing yards per game — 371.7, 405.2 in 2001 (I know, Rex Grossman got robbed of the Heisman).

Total yards per game — 511.7, 534.4 in 1995.

Makes you remember just how awesome it was to be a Florida fan during that time.

3. And we also know how fleeting success can be. For example, I give you Michigan, Penn State and Florida State. All three lost Saturday to bring their records to a numbing 3-13 combined. Go back to the final poll of the 2016 season and all three were ranked in the top 10. Things can change pretty quickly. Florida fans know that all too well.

4. There wasn't a lot of movement in my Associated Press poll, a little shuffling of a couple of teams and dropping SMU for Tulsa. In some ways, it's almost impossible to get a firm grip on where teams should be ranked because of so many postponements and teams like Miami playing down double-digit players because of COVID-19. Miami may be the most difficult team to figure out because the teams it has beaten have a combined record of 24-30. The ACC has some really bad teams and some really mediocre teams and then the top three in Notre Dame, Clemson and Miami.