Regular Season Finale

The Florida gators finished up in grand style vs FSU, as they had their way with the boys from Tally, and looked like a National Championship contender. This was by far Florida’s most complete game of the season, on Offense and Defense. Silly penalties on Special teams including the negation of yet another Brandon James touchdown return, and Tim Tebow breaking his non-throwing hand were really the only two downers for the night. Not to worry, Florida still put another 3 touchdowns on FSU after the fracture to Tebow’s hand (most of which he himself was responsible for) and he’s only supposed to have a cast on for 2 weeks and be at 100% for the bowl game. The scarier part than the fact that most people had no idea he was injured is that Florida is ending this young season very strong with a 9-3 record and a chance to win 10 games. Last time that happened, they only went on to blow out the favorite and win a National Championship. Well, it’s a little early to talk about that now, but suffice to say, it’s great to see the improvement in these gators.

Grading them for the FSU Game:

Offense: A+ They made it look very easy

Defense: A At times, showed glimpses of that special team from 2 years ago. They bent but they never broke, and pitched a touchdown shutout for the game and a shutout for the second half.

Special teams: A- Quit taking away Brandon James touchdown returns with stupid penalties

OVERALL: A And signs of continuing to improve

Here’s hoping that Tim Tebow gets the recognition he deserves for the Heisman and that Florida some how eeks out a BCS bowl bid. Yes,, thes chances of either of these two things happeneing, much less both is miniscule, but in the land of hope, we can always hope.

As always, IT’S GREAT, TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!

Season Finale

It’s hard to believe that with Turkey Day just a day away, the end of the regular seasono for college football is in sight. Saturday, the boys from Gainesville have their annual showdown with archrival FSU, and this year’s installment is being played in the Swamp. No one game defines a season, but a big win against the Seminoles this week could go a long way towards the start of many good things to come. I would consider A 9-3 season to be outstanding, especially with all this youth, and a possible 10 win season becomes a reality. Florida is poised for a fantastic season next year, with the quantity of skill players returning and theoretically building on this years’ successes. But first, we must get through the Noles. This game usually has players elevating their games to the highest level. This game actually scares me a bit, not because I don’t think we can win, but this is always a very physical, hard hitting game, and I know that the style of play Bobbly advocates can have defenders looking to hurt our guys, particularly Tebow. So, we will undoubtedly have to have our best game of the season…Best week of protecting Tebow, Best execution of offense, Best Defensive Game, Best Special Teams game, and holding them to their worst game. Can we do it? heck yeah! Let’s give our seniors a great sendoff and BEAT FSU.

As always, it’s great, to be, a Florida Gator.

A Possible Breather?

Not that I am taking anything away from FAU, nor am I taking absolutely anything for granted, but after what has been a brutal Month and a half for Gator Football, marred with growing pains, homesickness, a rash of injuries to key players, Percy and the freaky migraines and Sinus infection, and just plain old BRUTAL SEC scheduling, I for one am very glad to have the boys from Gainesville in the Swamp playing against the owls of FAU. Don’t get me wrong, this is no time for underestimating the opponent and looking past them for FSU the following week. Nor is it a time to be paying attention to what’s going on with Tennessee of Georgia, as it pertains to the SEC Championship game. We need to take care of business. The SEC East is out of our hands, and now we need to concentrate on finishing out the season strong and hoping for a nice bowl game. Anything beyond that will just be icing on the cake. It’s nice to see the Gators have a complete game against South Carolina, marred only by the fact taht we had a bunch of turnovers. However, our outstanding play on Offense AND Defense wiped out the negatives of the turnovers (and we even caused a few South Carolina Turnovers as well) made this the most complete game we’ve played this season. I would have to say that it looks like our young team has turned a corner, have “gotten it” and should make for a really outstanding season next year. That’s not to say that we aren’t having a good season this year, especially given our youth. If we can win these last 2 games and finish 9-3 on the season, I would say that this was a very good year for a very young team. We lost to Auburn by 3 and LSU by 4. I think had Tebow been healthy for Georgia, things might have turned out differently, but then again, our defense was the real problem in that game. In any event, those things are in the past and next year I imagine that things will be a bit different. Hopefully this week the boys will enjoy being back home and put on a show for the fans. Then next week, we can take care of business and take care of the boys from Tally. But, no matter what, it’s always GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!

A Young Team in Transition

I haven’t posted the last few weeks, not because there wasn’t much to say, but I’ve been insanely busy. So here’s a wrap of what has not been talked about:

1. UF at UK

This game was as good as the billing and honestly could have gone either way. The gators came in after a bye and took care of business. There was alot of offensive firepower from both teams, and ultimately UF was happy to take the win. Couple that with teh improbably Tennessee and South Carolina losses and suddenly Florida was in the driver’s seat and in control of their own destiny in the SEC East. The bad things were that we were truly exposed on defense, and Tebow’s shoulder took a beating.

2. UF vs UGA

This game was painful to watch. While we did OK on Offense, we didn’t do OK enough to get the win. We needed to score enough (read that as more than 42 points) to where a young defense’s mistakes didn’t cost us the game. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. Georgia carved up our defense like the pervervial thanksgiving feast, and Georgia’s 2 weeks of preparation were enough to make the difference. Couple that with the unsportsman-like nature of Mark Richt’s theatrics at the game, and it truly left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Now it’s going to take several miracles for the Gators to end up back in Atlanta.

3. UF vs Vandy

Now this had the makings of a game that could make or break a young team’s season. Vandy is on the rise, one game shy (as UF is) of becoming bowl eligible. Vandy has a very stout defense and a decent offense. The young Florida team with already 3 losses had to figure out a way to bounce back and realize there is still much left to play for. Well, bouce back they did, and in grand fashion. The Offense exploded, without dependiong on Tebow to run, the Defense was in a word, Outstanding, and a team on the verge of collapse may very well ahve come of age. of course there’s still a tough South Carolina Game ahead, but I’m happy to say we are almost done with teh SEC schedule.

Grading the gators this week:

Offense: A is for Awesome. With the exception of a couple of errant snaps, we seemed to be able to score at will.

Defense: A- They rose to the occasion, made the stops they needed to make, came up with some turnovers, and all seemed right in Gainesville. I probably would have given them a solid A had it not been for some bonehead penalties.

Special teams: B+ Brandon had some nice returns, but we seemed to have taken a little step back in terms of special teams stop. Let’s hope we can get these shored up before South Carolina.

Overall: A let’s not let this get to ouor head, but instead see this as an opportunity to continue to improve.

Growing Pains

If there were points scored for effort, heart, and lessons learned, I suspect there would be an overwhelming disparity of points and the outcome of Saturday’s game in Baton Rouge would have had a different outcome. Unfortunately, the only thing that matters are the numbers on the scoreboard after the final whistle. Saturday’s numbing loss leaves you with that “If only…” feeling, made only slightly better by the knowledge that the future looks very bright for the Gators.

I for one think we played an excellent game. Hell, after the devastating Auburn loss and the distractions of the week, I wasn’t sure what we’d see. What I did see was a team with alot of heart that played their souls out and left nothing behind. The game plan was perfect and we had them by the ropes for most of the game. The problem is, we are young. We know that this would be a season of mistakes and I believe with each one, we learn. Tebow’s INT and the fumble were just cases of those bounces that went to the home team, along with a couple spots and that play reversal. I don’t know that I would go so far as to say that LSU wanted the game more than us, but we just don’t have the experience to know that in some of these SEC games, you just have to give more even when you are drained and feel you have no more to give. The season is half over and we still have much to play for. I don’t think that there is blame to be assigned for this game. It just didn’t end the way we would have liked.

Grading the Gators:

Offense: B + : Some good plays and powering through the Number 1 team and Number 1 defense should not be overlooked. Tebow’s deflection/ interception and the fumble were the negatives. Awesome low number of penalties (2).

Defense/Special Teams: C + : Did some good things, just didn’t do enough to stop the momentum when the chance was there. Not enough special teams plays.

Overall: A Very Solid B and getting better.

We still have half of the season left and many things can happen. Though the National Championship is out of the question, the SEC is still an attainable goal. All we need is 1 Tennessee loss and runing the table on our remaining schedule, and we’re off to Atlanta and a possible BCS bowl.

The gators made me proud this weekend. There was no quit.

It’s great to be a Florida Gator.

Trouble in paradise

I for one was less than impressed with Florida’s uninspired play in the Loss against Auburn this past Saturday. It’s not that I expect Florida to win every game, especially with such a young class, but to lose in the Swamp, playing horribly on both sides of the ball in the first half, netting not even 1 first down in the first quarter was pathetic. Is it me or were we downright predicatable? We will not be able to win games with Tebow Running all the time. Lest we forget there are 21 other players in every series? I have heard so much crap on the boards this week about it’s the fans fault cuz they weren’t cheering, it’s the refs fault, it’s the play calling. Then I hear people ragging on individual players, that they suck and all that crap. Excuse me, but while there was plenty of blame to go around, let’s not forget that as a team we lost. We were outplayed, outfocused, and we simply didn’t want it badly enough. I’m not even going to grade us this week because we were lacking in all areas. More importantly though, being a Florida Gator isn’t just for times when things are going well, it’s also for times of adversity. We should be supportive, not devisive. Fair weather fans to any team just truly piss me off.

Now is the time to man up and see what this team is made of. We either learn from our mistakes and get better, or sink deeper into mediocrity. So how do we do that? One of our leaders has gone out and done some bonehead thing that he got arrested for. Forgetting how sensationalized the arrrest has been, and who knows what really happened, let’s just plain and simply say that in the very least, he made some poor choices, but regardless, he let the team down. We are getting ready to play the Number 1 team in the country, trying to rebound from a loss, and leadership just doesn’t seem to be a factor.

I had already assumed the LSU game to be a loss, and was hoping it was going to be our first loss. Well, I was wrong about it being our first…let’s hope that the gators can pull it together, and I am more than willing to be wrong again, and have them pull out a win in Baton Rouge.

Go GATORS!

It’s great, to be, a Florida Gator!

Grading the Gators, week 4

Well, it was an interesting week for the Florida gators. I guess you could say that the gators were successful for two reasons. 1. They won the game. 2. When a victory was in jeapardy, we did what we had to do. Let’s see how they did this week.

Offense: B -

The powerful Spread Option was stimied this week, as the Ole Miss Rebels had a game plan to eliminate the big play. We couldn’t score when set up with great field position after Brandon james’ excellent punt return to the 30. While Tebow had the numbers (2 passing TD’s, 2 rushing TD’s and most of the rushing yards), that in and of itself is a problem. He missed on several easy passes, and had to put the team on his shoulders to ensure a victory. Heaven forbid that all this pounding by Tebow should render him unable to play. Here’s hoping we get some help back on the offensive side of the ball.

Defense: C

The defense definitely took a step backwards this week. We were a bit tentative on teh line and again, NO PASS RUSH. Our secondary was EXPOSED and you can believe that future opponents (LSU, KENTUCKY) are salivating at the opportunity of the big play.

Special Teams: B -

James had a nice return, but also caused us a big problem inside the 1. We didn’t seem to have the great aggression that we’ve had in weeks past at getting to the ball carrier ont he return. We missed a field goal and an extra point.

Overall: B –

We must get better and do it in a hurry if we are to defend the SEC Championship.

Scary Really Scary

So, everyone had the Gators rolling all over Ole Miss (except for me), forgetting that:

1. This was the very first road game for a very young team
2. Our defense still needs alot of work
3. We have some key injuries
4. People studying film on the spread option may limit some of our possibilities
5. And the cardinal rule…Any team can beat any team on any given Saturday

Now that reality has sunk in, and Florida barely escaped Oxford with a 6 point victory (and yes, Tebow is good but having to do what he did for 8 games in the SEC is NOT a good thing), perhaps it’s time to get our heads out of the delusional cloud that we are invincible and start playing like the team that we can be.

Did anyone else think that David Nelson was totally confused for the game and wonder why he was out there at all? I suspect it had to do with Bubba Caldwell being out, but certainly we have better than him at this point. I heard that Riley Cooper had an injury, which was why he did not play. Regardless, the schedule continues and gets harder each week. We so far have been successful (read that as getting a win) with increasingly harder tests, and it doesn’t get any easier.

This week Auburn comes to town. Auburn, the only team to beat us last year, featuring the Riverboat Gambler, Tommy Tuberville as the coach, certainly will have something to say about those who are labelling Auburn as having a down year. That same mentality, if taken on by the Florida players, could surely lead to an upset in Urban Meyer’s unblemished Swamp record. Our defense took some steps backwards last week at Ole Miss, things that have to be corrected if we are to have a successful SEC campaign. It’s time to man up, buckle down and realize we still are facing the heart of the SEC schedule…Auburn, LSU, Kentucky, Georgia, and yes, South Carolina. Even Vandy can’t be taken lightly. We must improve weekly, and can’t take too many more steps backward. If we take care of business, the sky is the limit. GO GATORS!

It’s great, to be, a Florida Gator!

letdown outta town?

Imagine you are 18, 19 or 20 years of age. You are a starting player on one of the hottest teams in America, the team defending it’s title after winning the BCS national Championship. Most of the starters from that championship team are gone and you now have the opportunity to fill their shoes. You’ve just played in the biggest game of your career (thus far) and you’ve been a part of a blowout against one of your biggest rivals. You’re feeling pretty good about yourself, and the headlines are helping you to feel better. You’re a big man on campus and you’re feeling pretty invincible. Life is good in Gainesville.

Just a minute. You’ve played in exactly 3 games (bare minimum you have 9 to go), you’ve played 1 SEC game (you have a minimum of 7 to go) and you feel invincible? That’s the biggest thing Urban meyer is going to have to deal with in Gainesville this week.

Every year as Fall comes around and schools field football teams, each week becomes a test, a learning experience, and hopefully improving as the season goes on. This is even more the case in a team dominated by underclassmen. Our first 2 teams were a kind of “getting to know you” to see how well these new players can be coached and how to adapt to change. A bigger test was this past weekend with our first SEC game. Suffice to say, we’re “passed” them all, and one might even say this week’s was with flying colors.

So, this week, some more tests await.

1. This is the first time we play away from the comforts of the swamp. I, for one, am glad we didn’t cut our teeth in KNoxville. While I’m sure Ole Miss noise isn’t anywhere near the power of the Swamp, we are dealing with young players, most of which have played in front of so many people.
2. This is a test of dealing with success. We’ve heard some accolades and we think we’re “all that”. Hopefully we put that win behind, and concentrate on what’s to come.
3. This is a test the power of a letdown. Hopefully practice this week won’t be that of “overlooking” a so-called lesser team.

This is just a little reality check. Yes, we are pretty good right now. But there are much bigger tests coming down the pike (LSU, GA, UK, SC). Let’s just study for this one, and the next and the next, so that hopefully we make it thru the class and onto the Final Exam…whatever that may be.

As always, It’s great, to be, a Florida Gator.

Swamped!

WOW what a game. What was predicted as a UF/UT shootout turned into a UF blowout. Florida did some really nice things all the way around. Let’s see how I’d rate them.

Offense: A

Considering this was the first real test, the first SEC game, this was very encouraging to see. Not that our offense was having issues (except perhaps the meltdown last week against Troy in the second half), but it’s nice to see the Offense step it up. Tebow found the playmakers and the playmakers stepped up to the plate, although some might say the Tennessee defense was weak. If that indeed was the case, at least as a team we recognized the weaknesses and used them to our advantage, rather than shooting ourselves in the foot.

Defense: B

The defense definitely took a big step forward. They held Tennessee to 37 yards rushing and made stops when it had to. We got our first defensive toouchdown and an interception, and I would have to say that we were “in it” all game long. We still need alot of work in the pass defense side of things, and that won’t be helped by a couple of injuries on defense.

Special Teams: B or B + (depending on the time of day)

OK, so it sounds like I’m being a little picky. Brandon James runs a punt back for a touchdown to start a barrage of points, and I’m just giving them a B? Well, he also was responsible for a muff that pinned us at the one, and we allowed a long return on us as well. Don’t get me wrong, Special teams were good, they just need to get better. We’ve got LSU, Kentucky (yes I did say UK), Georgia and South Carolina with strong defenses so we’re going to need to take advantage of EVERY opportunity we have to be able to win the East.

Overall: A -

When I factor everything in to consideration, I would say we did a very good job overall. The SEC has just begun, and we must get better. Her’s hoping this is the first of great things to come!

It’s great, to be, a Florida Gator!