We are half way through another college football season and have finally played enough true talent to really assess what type of team the 09 Gators are.
My observations of the Gators so far:
The Good
1. We are 6-0 and all of our goals are still attainable. The schedule lines up nicely the rest of the way and should put us on a path the Bama and the de facto National Championship in Atlanta.
2. We have a championship caliber defense. Joe Haden is a beast and I think he may emerge as a top draft prospect. He is still so raw but just makes plays. It is also nice to see Omar Hunter emerging on the DLine along with our other studs. We really are deep and talented and have one of the top coordinators in the game.
3. Aaron Hernandez. Is it just me or does this kid get better every week? I swear he is going to be a beast in the league. We line him up everywhere; he hits people, runs, and catches. If I am looking for a TE this is the guy I want.
4. The running game can dominate. Outside of the Arkansas game we have run over everyone in our path. The offensive line has been able to totally impose its will on opponents controlling the line and the clock in the process. Did anyone think we would lead the country in rushing?
5. We proved against Arkansas that we can win a tight game. Our receivers really stepped up too, it might not have looked like it all game but you don’t rack up all those receiving yards with a bunch of bums.
The Not so Good
1. Addazio has a long way to go. I don’t know if he is conservative or cocky. Either way his play calling is leaving a lot to be desired. For some reason we will come out and punch people in the mouth for 60 yards, get to the red zone and try to get cute. What is that about?
2. Pass blocking. For as good as our Oline has looked when we want to run the ball they have looked pretty weak when we try to pass. Some of it is scheme and some of it is Tebow but a lot of it is just these guys not getting out of their stance and picking up their block.
3. Tebow. I know half the fan base will agree with me and the other half will crush me but Tebow has regressed. The blame is not totally on him for this, the play calling is not putting him in the best position because our passing plays are so predictable. But, when I look at Tebow after all the talk of changing his motion and getting him ready for the NFL I do not see any improvement. His motion is the same and if anything his decision making is worse. Some of those sacks are on him, I don’t know if it is a lack of trust with his receivers or his Oline but he refuses to pull the trigger unless he has a man open by 10 yards. Watching him this year I do not see an NFL QB.
4. Turnovers. We have been playing with fire all season it seems but we have to start holding onto the ball. Especially in the red zone. I have lost count of how many drives have been wasted by a turn over inside the 20.
5. Verne Lundquist. Two weeks in a row of this guy was just too much for me to take. He makes the wrong call on just about every play, I am not even sure he is watching the game he is calling.
Around the country:
1. I have watched a lot of football this season and even though we have not looked dominant there is no one else who has looked better.
2. An undefeated Texas looks like our best match up for the BCSCG. It sure beats playing 1 loss USC in a home game or having to play a rematch against Bama.
3. No one has taken the lead in the Heisman race. We might be looking at another year where a Houston QB takes home the award on ridiculous stats.
4. Sam Bradford won’t say it but I bet he regrets coming back now. If he is smart he has surgery on his shoulder and comes back again next year to prove he can play on a repaired arm.
5. Charlie Weiss has once again solidified his job with exciting close losses. At least it is enough for the Domers to leave our coach alone.
I actually sat on this list for a while so I wasn’t too knee jerk following our rough game with Arky. The more I think about that game the luckier I feel we were, but that doesn’t mean the problems we had in that game were anomalies. Still, with all of our problems and not looking like a Champion yet we are #1 in the first BCS standings and we will get to prove it on the field. Getting out of the Arky game with a win was a blessing because in Meyer’s time at UF we have needed one of those disappointments each season to get going. This is the first time I feel we got it out of our system with a win. Hopefully, this tight win, ugly win will force the offensive coaching staff to make the necessary mid-season adjustments to get us rolling again. There is no room for error now with 4 straight SEC games remaining, we need to get the balance back on offense and get Spikes healthy.
After the Arkansas wake up call I am less nervous about getting caught sleeping against MSU and Mullen.
And to end on the most positive note we are still have 6 more Saturdays to go with a good chance at a 7th.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
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7 comments:
Great post. I agree on just about everything, especially your thoughts on Tebow and Lundquist. The latter is an embarassment and needs to get Barbaro-ed and the former is going to have a tough time transitioning into the league, hopefully he makes it. I know this much, as far as college football is concerned, even with his mechanical flaws there's no one else I'd rather have with the ball in his hands when we need 1 drive to win the game.
Go kick everyone left on the schedule in the mouth. Go Gators.
Im am really really interested in seeing what Dan Mullen has to show us this coming week. The ex-Gator magician must have something up his sleeve. Miss. St. is not a team to be overlooked....I hope Stevey A. is up to the task bc his play calling sucks ball hairs.
Go get your shit together
Go Gators
Steve Addazio is on my last fucking nerve. Not only has the play calling been terrible but some of his comments to the media are borderline ludicrous and dripping with denial.
I don’t buy into the notion that this Gator team was over-hyped during the preseason and could never live up to the expectations set by the rest of the world.
Offensively we look boring and predictable on every play. I put this all on Addazio.
The defense, up until the Arkansas game, looked up to par with every expectation. Maybe after we get Spikes some vagisil this week they will look better. But, what was the deal with our secondary this Saturday? What excuse did they have for those monster passing plays that looked way too easy? In the trenches, I counted one play where 5 players missed tackles. What the fuck is going on?
I don’t want to be on the practice field this week. There is going to be hell to pay.
Go wake up.
Go Gators.
Vagisil for Spikes!!!!! LMAO.
Go heal that groin.
Go Gators.
Quick to put blame on Adazzio. While I'm not ecstatic with the play calling, I have to believe that much of it has to do with circumstance. Our first 2 games were cake and we scored willingly like we should. Our offensive opened up against Kentucky, and then Tebow got hurt. That changed how the LSU game was called. Arkansas game would have been very different if Riley makes that first TD catch. Adazzio isn't to blame for all the fumbles and blown coverage.
Addazio can't be blamed for the offense's execution or lack thereof and tough circumstances have certainly held the offensive scheme back. However, he has to put out a scheme that challenges the defenses we play to make adjustments in the heat of the battle and on the line. With no deep ball threat, shitty defenses suddenly appear efficient.
I see both sides to the Addazio debate and am withholding judgment until we get a bigger sample size. We'll see what happens the rest of the way. Remember last year everybody was saying the same thing about Dan Mullen until the Arkansas game when we started blowing up.
Everybody collectively exhale...I am frustrated too...but lets give it a few more games. I did like that the passing game seemed to come back to life last week. Granted part of that is because we were down but generally speaking, I think we chucked the ball around pretty good. The issues last week were the turnovers and unexpectedly, the O-line.
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