LA ESQUINA

Let's start this issue of La Esquina by looking at some of last week's questions and predictions about the Tennessee game going in:

➤Can Riley Cooper keep up his exalted level of play against real competition? NO. He had a big drop in the redzone and only had 3 catches for 25 yards. When is this guy going to start making plays when it counts? I know he's white and all but come on Coop!

➤ Will Deonte's hamstring hold-up? NO. As I suspected, Urban was understating the injury. Deonte did not even dress for the game. I actually don't mind if he sits this week also. Thus he would have the bye week next week to rest up and get ready before LSU in Death Valley (if he's not ready by then we could be in real trouble).

➤ Will Moody play much? NO. And I still don't understand this. Guy got three carries for 33 yards...that's 11 yards a pop for all you Math Wiz's out there. Get him in the game coach!

➤ Does Timmy take off and make big plays with his feet? YES. Boy did he ever, 24 carries for a gain of 105 if you don't count the sacks against him. That 3rd and 3 play when he tiptoed down the sideline after running across the field for about 70 yards and finally dove to pick up the 4th down was vintage Timmy. Here is the obvious statement of the week to Urban...DON'T RUN TIMMY 24 TIMES A GAME! We have running backs, damn good ones at that. Close your eyes for one second and think about what would happen if Timmy got hurt....now open them, clean the urine and feces off of the side of your leg, wipe the cold sweat off of your forehead and go on about your day.

➤ I also wrote about the Tennessee defense being very good and took some heat from the faithful readers for lowballing the amount of points we would score. Well we all know how that turned out. We scored a measly 23, much less than the 35 predicted. They were good and Eric Berry was unbelievable. That guy reminds me of Mr. Smith from the matrix...he was everywhere. Thankfully we have Neo.

While sitting in the student section and watching my beloved Gators in that glorious sanctuary we call the swamp I had one recurring thought ...why aren't we throwing the ball? We have the Heisman winning QB, UF receivers (granted they are not Percy and Louis Murphy but still mostly 4/5 star recruits). It's not like we were impotent offensively, we were moving the ball and quite handedly actually (you can thank the tractors we have up front for that, starting with the Pounceys). The issue was the play calling. I was really frustrated with Addazzio and Meyer for how they called that game. However, as the week moved along and interviews passed and articles were written the message from our camp was, "well, they weren't trying to win the game, we didn't want to take any chances down the field for fear of getting picked off...especially with the receivers hurt." And you know what, part of me buys that...if they want to make it easy on us lets get the W and move on. However, part of me thinks that we might beat an offensively retarded Tennessee team that way, but we won't win a national championship that way. If you think about last year and what it was on offense that we had which really put us over the top...it was BIG PLAYS! Big Plays down the field, Big Plays on special teams, Big Plays on the ground. I didn't see any of that on saturday and that's concerning. The failure to even attempt a vertical passing game to keep the UT secondary honest was really disheartening.

So now the question becomes, is this the type of team we're going to be all year? What's the identity of this team going to be when it's all said and done? Could it be like the 2006 championship team that was spotty offensively but had a great defense and eeked out games until finally blowing out Ohio State in Arizona? Or is it more akin to last year's team that started out slow offensively (see 2008 UM and UT games) but then hit it's stride in a big way? Is it some hybrid thereof? Are we really just a one-dimentional running team? Who knows, only time will tell. I am not panicking and I don't think you should either but I am keenly interested in how this will all unfold. I have no doubt that our defense will stay stout but we really need to find a way to get some big plays on offense. And let me follow that up by saying that the only way you are guaranteed not to have any big plays is if you don't attempt any...do you hear me Adazzio/Urban? You have a guy throwing the ball who has been in the top 5 in passing efficiency in the country in each of the last two years...he didn't forget how to throw the ball. Stop calling the game like a 65 year old lady crossing the street.

**TANGENT ALERT** Two highlights of the weekend were: (1) JOAKIM NOAH making a pitstop at our tailgate to summarily slam a beer as everyone cheered uncontrollably and took pictures. The guy doesn't give a fu*k. He acts exactly as I would if I were young, rich and famous. Love him. (2) MEETING THE TEBOWS during the gator walk. Tebow's dad a.k.a. "the most religious man in the world" was actually refreshingly cool. He shook my hand and said "Hi, I am Bob Tebow" and I said, "well done sir." Also happened to take a swipe at Timmy on the shoulder as he stopped by on his way through the gator walk to hug his parents. DUDE IS HUGE! I couldn't believe it in person. The density of his shoulders will forever be imbibed in my orange and blue brain.

Back to business, can I get an APB for:

(1) Our Pass Rush: Where is it? Cunningham had the flu but what's Dunlap's excuse? I thought we had the best bookends in the game but the production is simply not there. Although to be fair Tennessee didn't throw the ball much, understandably so as Crompton is one of the worst QBs I have ever seen. But still, when they did there was no pass rush.

(2) Moody: I keep harping on this but please please please get the man the ball. When he walked by me during gatorwalk I thought to myself, damn this dude looks just like Heinz Ward.

(3) Competent Receivers: Where are you guys? I know it's not all your fault (see comments above about conservative play calling) but even in the rare cases where your number's been called this year there's been way too many drops and I haven't seen anybody do anything after the catch nor anything against comparable competition.

(4) Will Hill: Where are you thrill? We'll give you a pass seeing as how you became a father yesterday and thus must have been somewhat preoccupied (true story, keep your teenage out of wedlock baby daddy comments to yourself) but it's time to make a big impact on the program Will.

(5) Brandon Spikes: I know this is blasphemy but the General has been a non-factor. He got hurt and barely played in the second half and that's not really on him I guess but after watching the tape again he got blatantly run over by Montarious (best name ever) Hardesty a couple of times. I don't care if you are on one leg out there Brandon...that's unacceptable. No excuses, give me production if you're on the field.

(6) Gamebreakers: Where are you? No Percy No Murphy...we need somebody capable of going to the house. Best candidates are Demps and Rainey. Maybe we should split them out wide with the receivers on occasion and get them both on the field together more. It's not like the other receivers are doing much as it is. This category is not exclusive to offensive players. How about a pick six, a punt block, or a fake punt?

**FLU ALERT** What the EFFE is going on with this thing? Cunningham, Demps, Hernandez and now Joe Haden and Major Wright are apparently bitten by the flu bug. Couldn't it have been Jonathan Phillips (our now back-up kicker) or maybe a walk-on? Apparently Urban is on high alert and has the medical staff working around the clock here to take every possible precaution. Thankfully we have a buy week after Kentucky to rest up for LSU, so we should be full blast for the cajun mongols in the bayou.

I am done with the negative Nancy portion of La Esquina. It's just that expectations are so high for this team we are left to nitpick every little ounce of this season. How many teams would love to be undefeated, ranked #1 in the country and to have won five (5) games in a row against a historical powerhouse program and rival like Tennessee. Also, I don't want to hear the Volunteers Coach's name ever again (we will never use it again here at La Esquina, going forward we will refer to him as "THE GUY WHO MARRIED LAYLA"). If you'd heard this guy after the game you would swear they won and the truth is, I NEVER ONCE FELT LIKE WE WERE IN DANGER OF LOSING THAT GAME, NOT FOR A MINUTE. We were completely dominant on the line of scrimmage (save for the aforementioned pass rush). They had the one touchdown drive after the rare Tebow turnover as we were about to go in to make the game 30-6, but that's it. They didn't run with much success otherwise considering the disproportionate amount of running plays they called. Conversely, we were knocking them off the ball on offense...our line created huge wholes and our running backs are looking great...all of them, across the board. Even more reason to take some of the load off of Timmy. I also expect that throughout the course of the season other playmakers will emerge. Remember back in 2000-2001 when we similarly had apparently "big" issues at receiver and this little nobody called Jabar Gaffney emerged. I do and it was GLOOOOORIOUS. One of these redshirt freshman (Frankie Hammond, TJ or Omarious) will come up or Deonte will grow into a superstar or Riley will finally show up in big games...something has to give. This is F-L-O-R-I-D-A after all. And I've said this before but lets wait until his flu passes and I believe we'll see Hernandez dominate. He didn't look like himself last week, got caught from behind on one play and went down too easily. That's not the Rico Suave I know. So lets all just stay patient and stay tuned...I am still VERY VERY optimistic about this team.

As far as Kentucky goes...it's Kentucky and flu or no flu we are pissed and ready to rock. Gators 42-14.