LA ESQUINA

It has been a long time since the last issue (pre-Alabama) and there is a lot to talk about. The entire Gator Nation has been turned on its head since that glorious beat down of FSU on November 28th. It is difficult to fathom all that has happened in one month’s time. From the Dunlap DUI to the Alabama debacle which led to the Tebow crying incident along with Urban’s aggravated health issues and ultimately, his departure and sudden return to the Gator Nation. It’s exhausting just writing about it. Having lived it, I am sure most of you will agree that the term “rollercoaster ride” doesn’t do it justice. It was more like extreme bungee jumping. In the range of outcomes following the FSU win at the Swamp what has actually transpired since is, if not the worst case scenario, pretty damn close. Our beloved program is at a crossroads, can we keep the freight train rolling or has that Alabama loss truly derailed Florida football? Let us tackle these issues one by one.

ALABAMA

Let me just start out by saying that I had 5th row seats to the game so my vantage point was very different than in most games and I picked-up on things that I normally wouldn’t have seen and probably missed some other things that I am normally on top of. I also still haven’t been able to re-watch the entire game, but it is in my DVR and I expect to work up the courage to do so soon. Definitely before our trip to Tuscaloosa next year, which should be circled on all of your calendars (October 2, 2010). The excitement surrounding the game and the overall pre-game atmosphere were unparalleled. People were gladly paying over $500 for a ticket. The beers and shots were flowing at the tailgate, I can vouch for that. The in-game atmosphere also did not disappoint. The stadium was divided but it seemed to me like we were outnumbered. For whatever reason, their fans also seemed a lot more synchronized with their chants, etc. All of this generally resulted in a not so Gator friendly stadium. Then again, I am sure my account would have been different if we actually had more to cheer about.

Alabama came out and hit us in the mouth and we never recovered. The Alabama possessions tell everything you need to know about this game: FG, TD, Punt, FG, TD, Halftime, TD, TD, Punt, Ran the Clock Out. Our all-world defense that was allowing less than 10 points a game all year only stopped them on two (2) drives the entire game and forced zero turnovers. Think about that for a second…truly unbelievable…it’s incomprehensible really. There are two reasons for this in my opinion, (1) Carlos Dunlap’s absence had much more of an impact than anticipated, and (2) we were outcoached. That and the fact that according to the referees Alabama only committed one penalty while we were getting flagged every other play. But in all honesty that wouldn’t have made a difference. They just flat out beat our ass.

Back to the effect of Dunlap, I have to admit I thought we would throw somebody else in there and be fine…maybe have a little drop off but not an epic drop off. The impact of Dunlap’s absence on our ability to stop the Alabama running game was both surprising and highly evident. This is an area where Dunlap has really improved over the years. He is one of the strongest players on the team and his ability to run down ball carriers from behind I think is highly understated. We missed him dearly in run support. Of course, we obviously missed his ability to get to the quarterback as well. Over the past two years nobody in the SEC has more sacks so this was to be expected, but I didn’t anticipate such a big drop off. The only one getting any pass rush was Cunningham and he wasn’t getting to McElroy nearly enough. Trattou and everybody else we threw out there opposite Cunningham got stoned by the Alabama offensive line. Defensive End is a huge area of concern going into next year, especially if Dunlap leaves early for the NFL. This lack of a pass rush obviously forced us to blitz and right when Charlie Strong came in with one of his patented corner blitzes BOOM…Saban has the perfect play call against us…a screen pass to the eventual Heisman Trophy winner with the Red Sea parting that goes for a huge gain. That was a back breaker. That play was coming right down my sideline and I have to say, Will Hill really hesitated in trying to make that tackle…that kid needs to play more fearless and just needs to start to get after people a little harder. He is too good to be playing so poorly (then again, maybe he is just not that good). I also feel that Cunningham got blocked in the back on that play and it really sprung Ingram. That’s neither here nor there though, the point is that we were out schemed. Their play calling kept us off-balance the entire game, starting from the first series in which they unexpectedly came out throwing the ball. Then in the second half they surgically ran the ball down our throat. It seemed like every run was good for 4-5 yards. It was as shocking to see as it was disappointing. Where was Brandon Spikes? He picked a bad time to have one of his worst games ever as a Gator. Our entire line got pushed around. I just can’t get my head around how a defense that was so dominant all year was itself dominated by an offense that had looked so pedestrian all year.

There has been a lot of speculation about that one question and after pouring through much fodder and “insider information” the explanation that makes the most sense to me is the following: we were overconfident. We had beaten them last year (without Percy Harvin nonetheless) and their film was also unimpressive according to some of the players after the game. Remember, Alabama only scored 12 points (4 FGs) against Tennessee. That along with the toll of massive expectations that was weighing heavily on this team all year seemed to finally catch-up to the Gators. We laid an egg in the biggest game of the year.

On the offensive side of the ball I feel that the coaches panicked. Here is the most telling statistic, our non-Tebow running figures were as follows: B. James 1 carry, Jeff Demps 1 carry, Chris Rainey 2 carries and Emanuel Moody 0 carries. How do the running backs of the top rushing team in the SEC only get 4 carries in the championship game? All year all we do is run, run, run and then we get behind and all of the sudden we throw the playbook to the wind and start throwing the ball all over the place? I will say that I thought that Timmy was throwing the ball real well (save for the one interception which I will discuss in more detail below). It was the most comfortable I have seen him in the pocket all year, the pass blocking was there as were most of Timmy’s throws. What was also there were numerous drops, from the usual suspects like Deonte to the usually sure handed Nelson and Hernandez.

Back to that interception, we were driving the ball, we had some momentum and were moving up and down the field and then, as was the case all year, we made a huge mistake in the red zone. Hernandez was wide open; all Timmy had to do was lob it. But Arenas, being the great playmaking all-American corner that he is, dropped off his man and snuck in underneath Hernandez’s route, Timmy never saw him. I was right in front of that play, it was extremely deflating. It really did feel like somebody had stabbed me in the stomach when he threw that pick. It just absolutely made me want to throw up. That play and the 4th down drop by Nelson the next time we were in the red zone eliminated all chances of a comeback. It is funny how most games really do come down to a handful of plays. In this one, the Tebow Pick, the Nelson drop, the Ingram screen play along with the missed tackle by Janoris on the short throw to Maze all stick out. In the end though, you have to give credit to Saban and Alabama, they seemed to want it more and also were the better prepared team. Although in my heart, I still feel like we were the better team. Maybe that is a silly thing to say considering the outcome of the game, but that is how I feel.

Being at the game I was able to really gauge the team’s body language and for the most part, we were kind of flat. Now I don’t know if that’s because we got smacked early and never really got going (i.e. if Spikes would have had an early hit like he had on Knowshon Moreno early in the game would that have changed the vibe?) or because we just didn’t have it and nothing was capable of changing that. The latter is hard to believe considering the magnitude of the game. Two exceptions that stood out were Spikes, who was walking around in between TV timeouts talking to himself like a lunatic and throwing his hands up (although as discussed earlier, it didn’t show in his play) and of course Tebow, who was sobbing uncontrollably near the end of the game. I will never forget looking up at the video screen in the stadium and seeing that close-up of Tebow crying, as if it wasn’t bad enough we were getting our ass kicked. The whole place erupted on the Alabama side. It was really embarrassing for us and caught me off-guard. My first reaction was, “what the hell are you doing Tim, tighten up and get it together.” But then, I had a chance to step back as the days have passed and realized that there is plenty of precedent for this. Even the baddest of the U thugs, Alonzo Highsmith cried after they lost that game to Penn State in the 80s. It happens, and it happened to Tim and it happened because he really, really, really cares about the University of Florida. So in the end, although I am still somewhat embarrassed by it and I would have rather he not done it, I understand it and on some level, appreciate him even more for it. What was complete BS though was the assclown in charge of the video screen at the stadium deciding to zoom in and show that shot…that is border line criminal, no need to embarrass a warrior like Tebow in that manner. It was just uncalled for. If I saw him on the street I would stomp him, American History X curbside style.

Even though this game has been over for nearly a month now, its impact is still being felt through the program. The events following the loss have shaken the Gator nation and its de facto father, Urban Meyer, to the core. We really have to ask ourselves if this game will be thought of in the years to come as a defining inflection point for the University of Florida. Much like that Jarvis Moss block against South Carolina which resulted in a chance to play for Urban’s first national championship and set off an almost unprecedented string of success…but the exact opposite.

URBAN MEYER

Well, there a million different ways to interpret what has happened over the last week or so with Urban and everybody has their spin on it so I thought I would offer mine. On the whole, this is a bad thing. Having said that, the leave of absence approach is much better than an outright Urban resignation. Are Lane Kiffin, Nick Saban and virtually every other top tier coach who recruits against us coming in their pants about what has happened? Yes. Does the entire staff have a lot of work to do in terms of damage control with recruits? Yes. Will we be ok? Over the short term, clearly, we are still a team stacked with superior athletes top to bottom. Over the long-term, I am not so sure. It really comes down to what happens from here on out. Starting with our staff’s ability to maintain the pledges of our top recruits.

I want to examine this Urban situation a little deeper though because I am still trying to get my head around it. What do we know? Clearly we know that the man is a workaholic. We know that he does not take losing well (and that might be the understatement of the century). We know that he has had severe chest pains over the last few years. We know that such chest pains became increasingly more frequent following the Alabama loss. We know that he has a benign cyst in his brain that flares up under stress. We know that on Christmas day with his family he wanted to give it all up. We know that he changed his mind and now wants to take a leave of absence, allowing the possibility for a return as the head coach at UF.

Here is what we don’t know. We don’t know how severe his illness is. We don’t know exactly what his illness is. We don’t know if he needs to have heart surgery. We don’t know how this leave of absence arrangement is going to work. Is Urban going to be completely out of sight for a few months, or more? Will he pop up once a week at practice during the Spring? Is Addazio going to have complete carte blanche while Urban is gone? And most importantly, we don’t know when Urban is coming back. Even worse, we don’t know for certain that he is coming back. We also don’t know if Urban can really change and become more of a delegator to relieve some of that stress. This man is a micromanager. He is on top of EVERYTHING going on with the program. Every little detail from staying on top of kids to go to class, to disciplinary issues, to recruiting, to game planning etc. Can he change his approach to coaching, an approach that has catapulted him to the top of the profession in a very short time? And, can he do this while still continuing to win games/championships? He better figure something out, otherwise we are in a lot of trouble.

First things first though, the man needs to get healthy. We all need to stop being selfish and understand that he has already given a lot and that if he walked away from the program today for good we should all be grateful and should wish him the best. Now, putting that aside. He has put the program in a vulnerable and precarious position. The timing of the announcement (in the heart of recruiting season) leaves a lot to be desired. He essentially had a breakdown in front of a national audience. On the other hand though, we did get a lot of publicity over the past few days and you know what they say, all publicity is good publicity (Lane Kiffin knows a little bit about that).

My initial takeaways from that press conference were, wow this guy really cares and is trying to do the right thing by his family as well as the program. However, those two things are very much in conflict because usually one has to give and historically it has been his familial life and health that has taken a back seat to coaching. But you can completely sense the love, camaraderie and deep sense of caring between Urban, Jeremy Foley (our athletic director), Tebow and Stamper. By the way, has anyone else noticed that Stamper has completely taken over as the defensive spokesman for Spikes? The disappearance of Spikes as a vocal leader in this regard is kind of odd but I digress. Anyways, I thought the press conference put on national display what a true family and community feel the UF football program has. After some further reflection though, this does not mean that other coaches aren’t going to viciously attack our recruits and fill their heads with all kinds of questions and doubts. They will say that Urban will not be around 4 years and likely won’t come back at all. They will say that the program and Urban personally are both very unstable and ask why would a top recruit, who can go anywhere, not go to a place with stability that can also compete for championships (like Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Tennessee)? Some of that will surely resonate and we might lose some and maybe many recruits. So what is really important is what we do from here on out. People (both recruits and their parents) want stability. And when the issue is where your own kids will spend the next 4-5 years of their lives, as a parent I would think that you especially want to know who (i.e. what coach) you are entrusting their well being to. Not knowing what’s going to happen or how things are going to work has got to be very unsettling for a player as well as a parent. We need to figure out a specific and detailed plan of action and we need to have a solid outline ready to go when speaking to recruits and parents, and we needed to have this in place yesterday.

I know this will be difficult because it is evident from the press conference that Urban doesn’t know how much time he will need. But for the sake of the program, we need to provide concrete information. I hate to say this but even if to some extent we are selling them a bill of goods I think that’s what we need to do. I am not saying lie to the kids and parents but err on the side of providing well intended specifics. And if down the line some things change here and there that’s ok and we can cross that bridge when we get to it. But this general sense of uncertainty and instability needs to be quickly supplanted with details and a firm plan of action. One bad recruiting class can set the program back for a decade, that is a fact. The truth is we have a brand (Florida Football) that in many ways should sell itself. But that is not to say that other coaches aren’t filling 17-18 year olds’ heads with a lot of puffery. You know what would be a good start in terms of turning things around and building some momentum, beating Cincinnati.

CINCINNATI

Here’s what we know about these guys. They have a great offense and can light it up. A great tall, slinging quarterback who likes to fire the ball around (Tony Pike) and a top NFL level receiver (Mardi Gilyard). This guy had 80 catches for 1,150 yards and 11 touchdowns this year. That is almost double the production of Riley Cooper. Although, he wasn’t playing against SEC defenses. I am very conflicted about this game. On the one hand, we have better athletes and it’s Tebow’s (and possibly Meyer’s) final game – meaning we should blow them out of the water. On the other hand, with all the crap surrounding the program over the last couple of weeks who knows where these kids’ heads are at. You also have the looming NFL shadow hanging over some of our top prospects who are on the cusp of becoming millionaires. I just don’t feel confident about predicting what’s going to happen. I do think that this will be a somewhat high scoring affair. Our offense should be able to move the ball on their Big East defense. Similarly, they have a lot of firepower and I can envision one or two breakdowns in the secondary on our end. Bottom line, it’s not going to be a 13-10 game. But, if our guys have the pride and deep rooted sense of the moment that I think they do, we will show up and keep this behemoth of a program chugging along…at least for the time being.

There is not much we can do except trust in our coaching staff and in athletic director Jeremy Foley, who by the way represented himself and the university very well at Urban’s press conference. That and stay tuned.

Go get healthy Urban,
Go right the ship,
Go lock-up the recruits,
Go get Alabama next year,
Go Gators!