GAINESVILLE -- For the second Sunday in a row, Florida practiced on a day that usually is reserved for rest.

Ball security was a prominent theme last week (UF fumbled five times against Ole Miss), but shoring up an offensive line that registered an embarrassing amount of penalties on Saturday against Arkansas will be a priority in the days before the Gators' home game against No. 4 LSU (4-0, 2-0 in SEC).

Florida's offensive line was flagged eight times for 65 yards Saturday. A similarly poor performance this week could be costly. No. 11 Florida (4-1, 2-1 in SEC) can expect to face one of its toughest tests of the season against an LSU defense ranked fifth in total defense in the Southeastern Conference.

''We are far from a finished product,'' UF coach Urban Meyer said.

``I really think all the penalties set us back.''

Because of injuries at left guard, Florida started third-string guard Carl Johnson on Saturday. It was the redshirt sophomore's first career start, but he proved more reliable than some of the veterans. Redshirt senior tackles Jason Watkins and Phil Trautwein both struggled for the second consecutive week. Each player was penalized for holding. Watkins also committed a personal foul in the first half, and Trautwein missed a block in the third quarter that left quarterback Tim Tebow exposed.

Most alarming, the mistakes did not come against a formidable defensive foe. Despite all of the errors, Florida managed 514 yards of total offense. The Gators will not have the luxury of winning sloppily against LSU. The defending national champion did not play Saturday and began preparing for the Gators last week.

Florida's offensive line struggles stood out in the second quarter. At one point, the line was flagged on three consecutive plays, pushing the offense back 35 yards from the original line of scrimmage. On the next series, the line was penalized twice, putting the offense in another hole -- this time first-and-30 from the Arkansas 36.

''I've never seen anything like that one drive,'' Meyer said. ``What was it, third down and 70? Penalty after penalty.

``And the only guy who was panicking was the head coach. Everybody else is coaching them and working with them. And we came out of this thing on the right side.''

The penalties were quickly forgotten, however, when Tebow and freshman running back Jeffrey Demps converted an option for a 36-yard touchdown.

Although the offensive line blunders were a hot topic after the game, Tebow looked past the mistakes and focused on the positive.

''I felt our offense was all on the same page,'' Tebow said. ``Our line did a great job on opening holes, and we didn't give up after all the penalties.''

The offense averaged 7.7 yards per play, scored all three times it reached the red zone and converted all three of its fourth-down opportunities. Florida also scored on rushing plays of 36, 75 and 48 yards, thanks in part to solid blocking by the line.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@