Tim Tebow: Florida showed 'bright spots' vs. Utah, must return to 'biggest basics'

Florida fans went into Thursday night’s game against Utah hoping to start Billy Napier’s second year off strong. However, the Gators had a rough night on multiple fronts en route to a 24-11 road loss to open the season.

Florida struggled in a few ways, committing nine penalties along the way and allowing a 70-yard touchdown pass to open the game. For Gators great Tim Tebow, he saw some reasons for optimism, especially considering UF battled back against a Utah defense that appeared to let off the gas a bit.

But he also noted the Gators have to play cleaner football if they want to be successful this season.

“I think with execution, you saw some bright spots. I think probably the brightest spot was that they didn’t quit, and that’s something you can build around is a team that’s willing to go into hard places and continue to fight,” Tebow said Friday on The Paul Finebaum Show. “But I think the execution has to get better. I think the the fundamentals, the little things. … I think there was a four times they got in the red area and they came away with maybe one touchdown and field goal. And you can’t do that and win, especially on the road against good teams.

“When you have opportunities, third and fourth and one, you can shoot yourself in the foot. Utah, give them credit, they did some good things. But there was a lot of things that Florida did to hurt themselves in that game. And that’s something that is also very hard to live with.”

Ultimately, though, Tebow said Florida needs to put a bigger emphasis on the fundamentals. It seems simple, but it can also make or break a team. For example, the Gators received a five-yard penalty when two players were on the field wearing the same number.

By fixing those mistakes — as well as giving Mertz some more protection — Tim Tebow thinks Florida can bounce back from its rough opening night.

“I think if you if you go back to kind of the biggest basics of football that we talk about, right?” Tebow said. “It’s turnovers, it’s scoring in the red zone, it’s special teams. You lost all three of those. Third down is also massive, right? All of those. That’s just so important. So it’s playing efficient football. That’s going to help Florida play a lot more effective football is when they can be efficient in those key downs that really matter.

“But I do think there are some upsides. They played hard, they continued to fight though and I thought there were some things that you can definitely coach around with Graham, the way he was able to throw the ball at times. He’s got to get a lot more protection, though.”