There was a moment in Saturday’s game between No. 4 Ole Miss and No. 21 Florida where it felt like the Gators’ offense could do no wrong.
Heisman Trophy contender Jadan Baugh blew the game open with a pair of hard-nosed, first-half touchdowns. Then early in the third quarter, Duke Clark spelled Baugh and ripped off an incredible 45-yard touchdown run where he made the Rebels’ defense look silly.
The Gators’ dazzling 302-yard rushing performance put a punctuation mark on what was one of the brightest college football Saturdays in Gainesville in quite some time.
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Through four games and fresh off a top-five upset, the Gators’ offense has suddenly emerged as one of the more lethal units in college football under new offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and first-year head coach Jon Sumrall. Baugh and Clark are big reasons why.
Together, the pair complement each other well and have given Florida a new way to attack SEC defenses.
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Florida’s Jadan Baugh is a Certified Superstar
Baugh is no stranger to the limelight, but this season he’s elevated his play so much that he’s making a push for an early-season Heisman Trophy ceremony invite.
The junior running back is destroying opposing defenses with clinical efficiency. Through four games, Baugh has notched 0.34 EPA/play and 0.36 EPA/rush figures, while averaging 7.5 yards per rush, per Hudl IQ. The Gators’ offense is also successful on 61% of Baugh’s rushes, per Hudl IQ.
Baugh is doing a great job of being a positive influence on the Florida rushing attack and is skilled at churning out yards before contact. But perhaps the most impressive part of his game is what he’s doing after contact.
Through four games, Baugh is averaging more yards after contact per attempt (3.8 yards) than he is before contact per attempt (3.2 yards), per Hudl IQ. He’s rarely going down on first contact and is churning out hard yards when defensive linemen get penetration or linebackers meet him in the hole.
Baugh is only one-fourth of the way through the season, and already has 600 yards and 11 touchdowns to his name. If he stays healthy and keeps up this pace, it’s hard not to see Florida as a serious SEC and College Football Playoff threat.
Duke Clark is Making His Limited Touches Count
Baugh has been lights out and deserves a ton of credit for taking the lion’s share of the carries. But with a lighter workload and fresher legs, Clark is making all of his plays count.
Through four games, Clark has notched 0.48 EPA/play and 0.37 EPA/rush figures, while averaging 8.3 yards per rush, per Hudl IQ. He’s averaging a chunk rush play (a play of 15 or more yards) 17.2% of the time and is breaking tackles 48.5% of the time, per Hudl IQ.
Clark has 47 fewer touches than his running mate and only has two fewer chunk plays and one fewer explosive play compared to Baugh, per Hudl IQ.
That means Clark is not only punishing tired defenses, but he’s making an immediate impact when his name is called.
Florida Has One of the Best Running Back Duos in College Football
The Florida offense has a problem on its hands, but it’s a great problem to have. The Gators have two excellent running backs, and Faulkner needs to find creative ways to get both players involved and keep them engaged when possible.
Baugh doesn’t go down easy and is more than capable of taking the bulk of the carries. Clark is the change-of-pace back and a player who’s developed far beyond a second fiddle. Together, they’ve formed one of the best one-two running back duos in college football, and that should terrify the rest of the SEC moving forward.
