GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida put together its best run of practices yet, leaving first-year head coach Jim McElwain very pleased coming out of Sunday's two-a-day.

The Gators moved the ball well offensively, leading McElwain to praise them profusely for really the first time in fall camp.

"I don't know that the defense would have said it was a great day," McElwain said. "At the same time, I thought that there was some real spark there.

"I’ve got to say, yesterday’s two-a-day was as good a back-to-back practices as I’ve ever seen. The energy, the attention to detail, the guys coming out prepared. Had a great night practice in full pads."

Both quarterbacks earned praise from McElwain for their performances, which McElwain said "probably had something to do with" the defense's so-so outing.

"Treon (Harris) did a great job in the red area, and we added an extra different pace to practice," McElwain said. "I thought he handled that really well as we moved forward.

"Will (Grier) had a really good two-minute (drill) in the morning and thought that his team move-the-field was really good. As we got to the exotic period, both guys handled that pretty good. And in the sudden change, which is something we're really working on, from a defensive standpoint as well, I thought they did a really good job there."

The offense has been a big focal point in camp, with McElwain repeatedly stressing that his team has to build some confidence. They have decent enough talent to move the ball against a very good defense in spurts, but they haven't been consistent enough.

McElwain's seen some change there recently, and both quarterbacks are looking to sustain the surge going into the third week of camp.

"We've just got to keep that energy, keep that excitement about the game like we had yesterday, keep that rolling moving forward and we'll continue to get better and build confidence," Grier said. "But it's definitely coming. At all positions we're starting to click, starting to get better."

Florida had issues with most parts of its passing game early in fall camp, and McElwain had been frustrated the team hadn't been able to catch easier passes and routes on air more consistently.

The quarterbacks and receivers have seemingly gotten the message. The deep ball still needs work, but the Gators are starting to figure out how to connect more routinely.

"For the most part, we're starting to make some free throws and make some open layups," McElwain said. "Probably not great on 3-pointers yet, but right now at least we're stroking the ball pretty decent."

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