The Guys Who Follow College Football’s Coaching Legends

We’ve all heard it a million times: “You don’t want to be the guy who follows a legend; you want to be the guy who follows the guy who follows the legend.”

It makes intuitive sense, and it certainly would seem true. Urban Meyer is the guy who followed the guy who followed the legend at Florida, and things have worked out quite well for him so far. Then again, Bill Callahan was the same at Nebraska, and the fans were ready to run him out of town two years before he finally got the axe.

To see how true this adage is, I’ve looked at some coaching legends and the guys who followed them. They are as follows, in chronological order from when the legend was hired:

OKLAHOMA

Legend: Bud Wilkinson, 1947-63, 145-29-4 (.826); 3 national and 14 conference titles

Follower: Gomer Jones, 1964-65, 9-11-1 (.452); 0 national or conference titles

Next: Jim Mackenzie, 1966, 6-4 (.600); 0 national or conference titles

This is somewhat of a bad example to start off with, since Mackenzie sadly passed away due to a heart attack after his first season.

Jones definitely had a difficult time following Wilkinson though, having not been able to break even in his two years. Wilkinson is the coach who led Oklahoma to its famed 47-game winning streak, and he failed to win the Big 8 title in only three of his 17 years.

AUBURN

Legend: Shug Jordan, 1951-75, 175-83-7 (.674), 1 national and 1 conference title

Follower: Doug Barfield, 1976-80, 29-25-1 (.536), 0 national or conference titles

Next: Pat Dye, 1981-92, 99-39-4 (.711), 0 national and 4 conference titles

Jordan held the job for 25 years and the stadium is named after him, but his .674 winning percentage is lower than any of the other legends on this list. Barfield followed him up with 5 forgettable seasons, with 8-3 being the best record he posted.

Dye had the most success in his tenure of the three, though he was forced out of his coaching and AD position when it was revealed that assistant coaches and boosters had paid a player. He still is fondly remembered, though, as the field at Jordan-Hare stadium was named after him in 2005.

OHIO STATE

Legend: Woody Hayes, 1951-78, 205-61-10 (.761), 5 national and 13 conference titles

Follower: Earle Bruce, 1979-87, 81-26-1 (.755), 0 national and 4 conference titles

Next: John Cooper, 1988-2000, 111-43-4 (.715), 0 national and 4 conference titles

Earle Bruce did an admirable job in following Woody Hayes after Hayes’ unexpected meltdown and firing. He did not see the same success however, though he nearly won the national title in his first year.

John Cooper is a goat in OSU annals, having posted a 2-10-1 record against Michigan and having presided over numerous academic and discipline problems.

TEXAS

Legend: Darrell Royal, 1957-76, 167-47-5 (.774), 3 national and 11 conference titles

Follower: Fred Akers, 1977-86, 86-31-2 (.731), 0 national and 2 conference titles

Next: David McWilliams, 1987-91, 31-26 (.544), 0 national and 1 conference title

Akers did a much better job than McWilliams did. Akers caught flak though for losing bowl games and in his final few years having bad records against Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

McWilliams’s 1990 SWC championship year looks like a fluke in light of the rest of his seasons, with the 7-5 record in his first year being the second-best record he had.

ALABAMA

Legend: Paul Bryant, 1958-82, 232-46-9 (.824), 6 national and 13 conference titles

Follower: Ray Perkins, 1983-86, 32-15-1 (.677), 0 national or conference titles

Next: Bill Curry, 1987-89, 26-10 (.722), 0 national and 1 conference title

Perkins left the New York Giants to coach at his alma mater, and he left four years later to take a rich contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. An incident where a former player that he had recruited claimed he was paid led to the school being placed on probation in 1995.

Curry was doing well in his three years, though he was 0-3 against Auburn. He didn’t like the contract offered to him in 1990, so he left to coach Kentucky.

GEORGIA

Legend: Vince Dooley, 1964-88, 201-77-10 (.715), 1 national and 6 conference titles

Follower: Ray Goff, 1989-95, 46-34-1 (.574), 0 national or conference titles

Next: Jim Donnan, 1996-2000, 40-19 (.678), 0 national or conference titles

Neither Goff nor Donnan panned out for the Bulldogs. They both failed to win even an SEC East title, and both were used as Florida’s whipping boy. Goff is perhaps most famous for being called “Ray Goof” by Steve Spurrier.

MICHIGAN

Legend: Bo Schembechler, 1969-89, 194-48-5 (.796), 0 national and 13 conference titles

Follower: Gary Moeller, 1990-94, 44-13-3 (.758), 0 national and 3 conference titles

Next: Lloyd Carr, 1995-07, 122-40 (.753), 1 national and 5 conference titles

Moeller is a controversial figure for Wolverines due to his messy departure following a drunken altercation at a restaurant. Some argue his best years were already behind him; some argue that he was trying to modernize the program and that Carr won his national title with Moeller’s players.

Carr is one of the few followed-the-guy-who-followed-the-legend guys who actually won a national title. His legacy will remain mixed due to his futility against Jim Tressel and the loss to Appalachian State.

BYU

Legend: LaVell Edwards, 1972-2000, 257-101-3 (.716), 1 national and 19 conference titles

Follower: Gary Crowton, 2001-04, 26-23 (.531), 0 national and 1 conference title

Next: Bronco Mendenhall, 2005-present, 28-10 (.737), 0 national and 2 conference titles

Crowton won the MWC his first year with Edwards’ players, but failed to reach .500 in his remaining three years. Mendenhall has put together consecutive 11-win seasons, winning the MWC title each year. His 2008 team is expected to contend for a BCS bowl.

NEBRASKA

Legend: Tom Osborne, 1973-97, 255-49-3 (.836), 3 national and 13 conference titles

Follower: Frank Solich, 1998-03, 58-19 (.753), 0 national and 1 conference title

Next: Bill Callahan, 2004-07, 27-22 (.551), 0 national or conference titles

Solich is probably the source of the modern “You don’t want to be the guy who follows a legend” movement, having been fired after a 9-win season. Callahan ended up being a disaster, and will probably be despised by Husker fans forever.

FLORIDA

Legend: Steve Spurrier, 1990-2001, 122-27-1 (.817), 1 national and 6 conference titles

Follower: Ron Zook, 2002-04, 23-14 (.622), 0 national and conference titles

Next: Urban Meyer, 2005-present, 31-8 (.795), 1 national and 1 conference title

Zook was doomed from the beginning, having been a fallback choice for the coaching position and having never been a head coach before. He won games he shouldn’t have, but lost games he shouldn’t have too. He also presided over an explosion of off-field issues, including Zook himself being involved in a fight at a frat house. Some Florida fans still defend him, but the overall sentiment is that his hiring was a mistake.

After doubts about his offense abounded in his first year, Meyer solidified his position in his second by winning a national title. Some fans are uncomfortable with his highly aggressive recruiting tactics, which have drawn scrutiny from other coaches and the NCAA, but otherwise Gators are more than happy with his job so far.

*   *   *

Following a legend, regardless of place in line, is not easy. Only Pat Dye clearly surpassed his legendary predecessor’s accomplishments, but his departure was not the stuff of legends.

None of the followers distinguished himself after leaving, though Earle Bruce had a nice run with Iowa State before coaching the Buckeyes. Ron Zook still has time to carve out his legacy at Illinois.

The book is still open for Mendenhall and Meyer, but both appear to be in good shape. Despite their records, most of the coaches in that coveted “guy who followed the guy who followed the legend” role didn’t fare much better than the guy who did follow the legend.

There is some truth to the adage, but in the end good coaches will succeed in good situations regardless of who came before.

Surfing Through the SEC Football Schedules

The Gainesville Sun’s Robbie Andreu put out his preliminary projections for the SEC, and it got me thinking. I am not ready to put out my projections yet, mainly because there are too many good teams in the conference just to throw an order together right now. Projecting the SEC finish will take a lot of research.

I did end up looking at each school’s schedule, mainly focusing on the non-conference games. If you haven’t yet done that, you’ll be glad to know that the SEC schedules this year are less cupcake-y than past years.

For the record, I am fine with schools raiding the bakery for fundraiser games a couple times a year, but I do expect BCS schools to play at least one BCS opponent. I also think playing I-AA teams is inexcusable except for the very best I-AA teams, like Appalachian State, which are better than the Utah States and FIUs of I-A anyway.

Here’s a rundown of the SEC non-conference schedules, in alphabetical order:

ALABAMA

BCS Opponent: @ Clemson (Aug. 30)

Cupcakes: Tulane (Sept. 6), Western Kentucky (Sept. 13), Arkansas State (Nov. 1)

ARKANSAS

BCS Opponent: @ Texas (Sept. 13)

Respectable Non-BCS: Tulsa (Nov 1)

Cupcake: Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 6)

I-AA: Western Illinois (Aug. 30)

AUBURN

BCS Opponent: @ West Virginia (Oct. 23)

Respectable Non-BCS: Southern Miss (Sept. 6)

Cupcake: Louisiana-Monroe (Aug. 30)

I-AA: Tennessee-Martin (Nov. 8 )

FLORIDA

BCS Opponents: Miami (Sept. 6), @ FSU (Nov. 29)

Respectable Non-BCS: Hawaii (Aug. 30)

I-AA: The Citadel (Nov. 22)

GEORGIA

BCS Opponents: @ Arizona State (Sept. 20), Georgia Tech (Nov. 29)

Respectable Non-BCS: Central Michigan (Sept. 6)

I-AA: Georgia Southern (Aug. 30)

KENTUCKY

BCS Opponent: Louisville (Aug. 31)

Cupcakes: Middle Tennessee (Sept. 13), Western Kentucky (Sept. 27)

I-AA: Norfolk State (Sept. 6)

LSU

Respectable Non-BCS: Troy (Sept. 6)

Respectable I-AA: Appalachian State (Aug. 30)

Cupcakes: North Texas (Sept. 13), Tulane (Nov. 1)

OLE MISS

BCS Opponent: @ Wake Forest (Sept. 6)

Cupcakes: Memphis (Aug. 30), Louisiana-Monroe (Nov. 15)

I-AA: Samford (Sept. 13)

MISSISSIPPI STATE

BCS Opponent: @ Georgia Tech (Sept. 20)

Cupcakes: Louisiana Tech (Aug. 30), Middle Tennessee (Oct. 25)

I-AA: Southeastern Louisiana (Sept. 6)

SOUTH CAROLINA

BCS Opponents: NC State (Aug. 28), @ Clemson (Nov. 29)

Cupcake: UAB (Sept. 27)

I-AA: Wofford (Sept. 20)

TENNESSEE

BCS Opponent: @ UCLA (Sept. 1)

Cupcakes: UAB (Sept. 13), Northern Illinois (Oct. 4), Wyoming (Nov. 8 )

VANDERBILT

BCS Opponents: Duke (Oct. 25), @ Wake Forest (Nov. 29)

Cupcakes: Miami University (Aug. 28), Rice (Sept. 13)

* * *

Only LSU doesn’t have a BCS opponent. Alabama, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt do not have I-AA opponents. LSU should not lose anything for playing Appalachian State, though, especially because Mountaineer fans have already begun predicting a victory on Charlotte sports talk radio.

LSU’s slate is the only one I’d call “shameful” in the bunch, though I am not happy about all of the non-App State I-AA teams you see listed. However, until the NCAA reverses the rule and stops allowing wins over I-AA teams to count towards bowl eligibility, those games are sadly inevitable.

No One Drafted From Alabama? Really?

Mike Shula was the head coach at Alabama from 2003 to 2006. He had one good year, a 10-2 season in 2005, but was fired for the mediocrity of the other three. Most people around the country saw the hiring as a bad move, and the truth in that could not have been clearer this weekend.

Not one single player from Alabama was drafted. That fact boggles the mind, because it’s Alabama. The program is not what it once was, but the Tide being shut out on draft weekend is inconceivable. For comparison, Florida hasn’t been shut out of the draft since 1951, and only once since then (1977) has a Gator not been selected in one of the first seven rounds of a draft.

It really is.

The fourth and fifth year seniors on that 2005 team were recruited by Dennis Franchione in 2002 and 2001. The real leaders on that team weren’t Shula’s recruits. The fourth and fifth year seniors on this year’s team were Shula’s recruits, having come to campus in 2003 and 2004. I’m going to give those years a look to see how it’s possible that Bama could have no one drafted this year.

His first class in 2003 (numbering 19) had only one player drafted: DT Le’Ron McClain in the fourth round last year. Granted, Tyrone Prothro probably would have been drafted if not for the nasty string of injuries he went through. It is worth mentioning though that the injury that started it all was sustained in the fourth quarter of a blowout (in 2005 over Florida), and he should not have been playing that late in the game in the first place. Well done, Mike.

I’ll give him a pass in 2003 though, since Coach Fran left unexpectedly and classes during transitional years tend to be rough anyway. If you want a comparison, though, Florida’s 2002 class, despite Steve Spurrier leaving a month before signing day, had four of its 23 players drafted from it. I’ll now look at Alabama’s 2004 class.

Of the 27 recruits, nine are listed on Alabama’s spring football roster. Four were listed as potential draftees on ESPN. None were listed as potential draftees in 2007. That means of the 18 that are gone, 14 weren’t even serious candidates to be drafted. Those 18 players had an average star rating of 2.79 (according to Rivals), with just two 4-star prospects among them.

Wake up, Mike. It’s time for good football.

The nine remaining players are a mixed bag. Antoine Caldwell became a permanent captain, an honor that got his name misspelled in cement but is still prestigious at the school. John Parker Wilson has played a lot of games, but “infuriating” doesn’t come close to describing his inconsistency. Beyond them, only DL Lorenzo Washington (3 sacks) and TE Nick Walker (2 TD receptions) made any significant plays last season.

It’s just astonishing that Alabama could have had such a bad class. Even that 2002 Florida class had a decent number of players considered draftable in 2006 and 2007. With all of the financial and tradition-based advantages the school has, it makes no sense for Alabama not to have anyone drafted in a particular year. Since Derrick Harvey and Andre Caldwell could have left last year, Florida almost had no one drafted this year. However, that would have been caused by extreme amounts of early entries not two consecutive bad recruiting classes.

In 2008 Appalachian State, Bentley, Coastal Carolina, Delaware, Eastern Kentucky, Furman, Gardner-Webb, Grand Valley State, Hampton, Idaho, Jackson State, McNeese State, Middle Tennessee State, Montana, Mount Union, North Dakota State, Northwest Missouri State, San Diego, Washburn, Weber State, and Winston Salem State all had at least one player drafted. Alabama did not.

Wow.

Coach Contracts: Nick Saban

This is the first in a series on coach contracts. You can find them thanks to the USA Today. Today’s subject is Nick Saban’s contract with Alabama.

Image CC by Flickr user jimmyjosh.

Either the University of Alabama is particularly paranoid (entirely possible), doesn’t really trust Nick L. Saban (also possible), or both (most likely candidate). Saban was required to initial every page of his contract, including the final page where he signed it, something only Les Miles at LSU was also required to do. In addition, there are constant references throughout that he should not do things to embarrass the university, which is probably a result of the Mike Price fiasco.

In fact, after the standard introductory legalese the contract begins with expectations regarding his behavior and a statement requiring him to be “a loyal employee of the University.” Every other contract goes immediately into financial terms, but not Alabama’s. It starts right off requiring him to be a good citizen and a loyal employee.

And that’s another thing. In these contracts, the person being hired is generally referred to as “Coach” throughout rather than using the guy’s name. This is probably so it’s easier to recycle the contract with minimal editing after they kick the lout to the curb for not winning championships every year. There are three exceptions to this in the conference: Mark Richt is “Richt,” Phil Fulmer is “Coach Fulmer,” and Nick Saban is “Employee.” I suppose it’s because Alabama has a bylaw somewhere restricting the use of the word “Coach” to the Bear and only the Bear.

The only capital “C” Coach the University of Alabama has ever had. Image CC by Flickr user jimmywayne22.

Saban gets a number of perks, though it’s interesting where the university draws the line. It will pay for him to have a country club membership, but not any food he buys while there. It must give him two cars to use, but it is not required to give him athletic shoes or clothing. He gets up to 25 hours flight time on a private jet (something no other coach I’ve seen gets), but those hours don’t roll over from year to year.

Overall it’s 32 pages long, tied for longest in the conference (not counting addenda to other coaches’ contracts) with Urban Meyer’s deal at Florida. The majority of it seems standard in comparison to other contracts, though the sections on what allows the university to terminate the contract and the ensuing damages are longer than in most other agreements.

Selected Quotes:

“Employee accepts the employment and agrees to act at all times in a manner consistent with good sportsmanship and with the high moral, ethical, and academic standards of the University. Employee shall exercise due care that all personnel and students under Employee’s supervision or subject to Employee’s control or authority shall comport themselves in like manner.”

It must not be difficult to meet these requirements at the University of Alabama, with its rich tradition of bending and breaking NCAA rules. I wonder if all of the player arrests this off season mean he’s in breach of his contract?

“Employee agrees to be a loyal employee of the University.”

Again, this is the first thing the contract says after going through the legal definitions. Got trust issues, do we?

“If Employee is awarded the Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant Coach of the Year Award by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association… $50,000.”

This is from the details of his bonus for winning coach of the year from any one of 4 organizations. Meyer and Steve Spurrier also have various national coach of the year award-related bonuses, but only Saban gets dough specifically for winning the Bear Bryant award. Huge shocker there.

The Hat before Les Miles was the Hat. It will forever loom large over the Alabama program, and perhaps its commemoration will earn its current coach a cool $50,000. Image CC by Flickr user diamondduste.

Coach Contracts

I just discovered a wealth of fascinating information: the USA Today has every publicly available Div. I-A coaching contract compiled for easy reference. Perhaps I’m woefully late to this wagon train, but as I just about never read anything by the USA Today I think I can be excused for that. Now, these things are generally unreadable legalese, but there’s some great stuff in these and I’m going to go through some and pull out the interesting tidbits so you don’t have to. Hey, sometimes you gotta reach for content in the offseason.

I’m going to begin with the SEC, and if there’s any demand beyond that I’ll do more. Bobby Johnson’s contract with Vanderbilt is unavailable since Vandy is a private school. For some reason the Mississippi schools didn’t release their coaches’ contracts either despite them being public institutions; it’s strange because Southern Miss did release Jeff Bower’s old deal, so it’s not some quirk in Mississippi state law that prevents those contracts from being public. Also, nothing has been updated after this winter’s coaching carousel, so for example Arkansas still just has Nutt’s old deal rather than Petrino’s contract.

I’m going to do them in alphabetical order, so when the first one goes up this evening it’s going to involve two controversy magnets: Alabama and Nick Saban.

Saturday Wrapup

Without a Gator game, I found that I didn’t pay as close attention to football today as I thought I would. I guess even I fell victim to the big-game fatigue that the team seemed to in the second half of last week’s game at Auburn. I’m not saying it was nice to have a week off, since I will always prefer to have a Gator game than not to have one, but not having the stress of playing an elite team was nice for a change. So, here’s a few quick hits on the games I thought were interesting today.

–Nebraska really needed to beat Texas today. This was their perfect chance: the weather conditions could best be described as “ghastly,” it was Colt McCoy’s first game outside the state of Texas, the crowd was unbelievably hyped up, and it was their chance to make a big statement, much like Alabama against Florida last year. You just can’t fumble the ball that late in the game. It would have been nice to see Texas fall since the Longhorns’ schedule is pretty weak from here on out.

As a side note, after the game was over, the crowd chanted “Go Big Red!” in appreciation of the team’s effort. Now, I know that most Gator fans (myself included) hate Nebraska for the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, but I think a lot of Gator fans could learn a good lesson from that example.

–Georgia is in serious trouble. A week after losing their homecoming game to Vandy, the Dawgs nearly blew it against Mississippi State at home as well. I suppose now would be a bad time to tell UGA fans that Urban Meyer-coached teams usually play their best coming out of bye weeks and that Meyer has never lost a game played in the state of Florida…

–South Carolina took care of business against Vandy by a more convincing margin than I thought they would. Of course, Vandy trailed by only 4 until six minutes to go in the third quarter before SC scored to widen the margin. The Gamecocks then put another touchdown up in the fourth quarter to make it look more impressive. That’s a typical Vandy game as any. The final score looks pretty good, but you never felt confortable until that last touchdown in the fourth quarter to know that you’ve put it away.

–Notre Dame just is not impressing this year. The Irish won’t lose to UNC or any of the three service academies (unless Air Force brings the same game it did at Tennessee), but they should lose to USC, who was idle today. Incidentally, USC has a great chance to lose to…

–Cal, who nearly got embarassed by Washington today. It’s be one thing if Isaiah Stanback was healthy, but he definitely was out. Ty Willingham has done a great job with UW, which makes you wonder what happened at Notre Dame. Maybe the Fighting Irish fans never really accepted him and pushed him out too early, or maybe the Pac 10 can make any above average coach look like a legend. Heck, it makes Pete Carroll look like a genius, and he was a blithering idiot in the NFL with the Patriots.

–Now that everyone has cooled off on Garrett Wolfe, maybe it’s time for Boise State’s Ian Johnson to be the minor conference guy in the Heisman chatter. He leads the nation with 18 rushing touchdowns, and he’s the best offensive player on a team that’s almost a lock to finish undefeated. He’s projected right now to have more than 1700 yards at the end of the season, so that counts for something too, right? Then again, Darren Sproles rushed for 1900+ yards his senior year at Kansas State and destroyed Oklahoma himself in the Big XII title game, but didn’t even come within striking distance of winning the stiff-armed statue.

–Clemson dispatched Georgia Tech 31-7. Yawn. Was that really worth skipping Texas - Nebraska for, College GameDay? Or were you picking games by weather reports? Also, it seems every week there is an even bigger Borat sign where ever they go. Are people really that amused by a guy talking in a fake accent who ignores all social conventions? Because if they are, then why did The Laidies Man bomb? Not that I liked that movie (it was awful), but I’m just asking.

–Tennessee, despite being the better team by far, nearly blew it against Bama. Sometimes, there really is nothing new under the sun. Today also featured the first touchdown in the series since 2004.

–Miami came thisclose to losing to Duke today. Nothing could have topped that. Yes, Miami was without 13 players who were suspended, but the 2001 Miami team probably could have taken its scout team and beat Duke by two touchdowns. This is one of the great what-could-have-been games, and also fitting punishment to Miami for it’s lenient punishment to its players for last week. People keep calling that a joke, but there’s nothing funny about it.

–Finally, BC beat FSU despite the Seminoles wearing their all-new black uniforms, which looked pretty good as far as FSU uniforms go. Florida has had alternate black uniforms for basketball for years, and the bookstore has been selling black football jerseys that inexplicably have no blue on them at all. In any event, FSU is 4-3 and 2-3 in the ACC. Ten years ago, those would sound preposterous, but anything’s possible at this point as long as Jeff Bowden is running the offense. FSU’s leading rusher for the game? Drew Weatherford, with 10 yards.

Alabama Game Wrapup

Updates will be sporadic this week as it’s incredibly busy. I’ve got work, internship interviews, group projects due, group presentations, and meetings, and that’s not even counting Gator Growl. Yes, it’s still fun being a student.

This win over Bama was not the most fun win in the world, but once the team finally got going they were fine. Florida is 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference for the first time since 2001. Florida now has won 12 straight at home, and Urban Meyer is still undefeated in games played in the state of Florida. This team is on a roll.

This game was the official celebration of the 100th anniversary of Gator Football. There were lots of videos before the game, and the ceremony for the “Ring of Honor” was nice. UF picked the best players of the past four decades, and chose Steve Spurrier, Jack Youngblood, Emmitt Smith, and Danny Wuerffel. It’s hard to argue with any of those choices. It was nice to see Steve make it, since he said he wasn’t sure that he would, and it was disappointing that Emmitt decided that “Dancing with the Stars” was more important than attending.

My brother wondered about who would get it for the current decade. It’s barely half over so it’s too early to call, but Rex Grossman and Chris Leak probably are the early favorites, but as they say, there’s a lot of football still to be played. It could be Tim Tebow, it could be Percy Harvin, or it could be some freshman from next year.

As far as the game goes, it was an interesting study in opportunities and momentum. Each team had its chances to blow the game wide open, and fortunately Florida was the team to do it. I really think if Bama had Tyrone Prothro, they would have won again. The UF defense did a good job of bend-but-don’t-break (giving up 323 yards and 20 first downs but only 6 points) but if there was one more good receiver to keep track of, especially one of Prothro’s caliber, it’d have been over in the first half again. Florida was on the ropes with Bama in the red zone after its fumble recovery touchdown, but the fact that the defense help the Tide to just 3 points was a huge point in the game.

The next big point was Florida’s second quarter touchdown drive, and specifically Chris Leak’s long run. For whatever reason, be it that Bama played man defense when they normally play zone or Meyer shuffling too many players around as Heath Cline believes, Florida’s offense was awful until that drive. Maybe the run did open up the pass, or maybe they just decided that “out-toughing” an opponent does not necessarily mean running it up the middle for no gain.

In any event, Leak’s run was a huge moment for the team. The crowd was buzzing when Tebow entered the game despite Leak throwing for two straight first downs. He had his plays and came out, then Leak had his turn to shine. That run changed the way the crowd acted. After that run, there was no more chatter automatically starting when Tebow entered the game. There was no more going nuts over Tebow running for three yards. It wasn’t just the run, but the way he showed emotion afterward that really changed things. For a player who Cline has sometimes called a “quarterbot,” showing that excitement was big. Tim Tebow’s completion to Jemalle Cornelius would have been nearly as big, except he didn’t follow it up with anything. He’s thrown just 12 passes in five games.

After that drive, I felt a lot better and stopped worrying about whether we’d win or not. I knew once they got the pass going and stopped trying to blast Wynn up the middle they’d be fine. Florida’s biggest advantage is speed and elusiveness, not bruising tailbacks and a dominant offensive line. Don’t get me wrong, having a 100-yard rusher is as important in this offense as any this side of Mike Leach, but it is daring defenses to stop Dallas Baker, Andre Caldwell, Jemalle Cornelius, and Percy Harvin all at once is where Florida will have its most success.

That is not to say that loading the field with receivers will work this weekend. Putting five-receiver sets on the field against LSU is a death wish for Chris Leak. LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pellini is already famous for his blitzes, and they definitely will bring the house if Leak is left alone in the backfield. Four-receiver sets are probably dangerous as well if the running back is not there for blocking. Alabama is good, but they’re also unranked for a reason. LSU is a much better team, and probably the most talented team the Gators will face this year.

This game will be an especially big test for Florida’s defense. Without Marcus Thomas in the middle, the defensive line is clearly not as good. The coaches have been blitzing linebackers to compensate, but that’s leaving the middle of the field open for crossing patterns and slants. Well-timed seam routes to the tight end would destroy this defense. Reggie Nelson has been playing great, but it takes more than just him. JaMarcus Russell has been great this year against shaky secondaries, and as big as he is, he won’t go down easy if Florida can get to him. If Gator fans thought it was frustrating watching the pass defense the past two games, they’re going to blow a gasket after watching Russell and Dwayne Bowe have a field day on Saturday.

Am I saying it’s hopeless? No. Harvin sat out this game but should be ready to go for LSU. DeShawn Wynn has only a sprain, but it’s still uncertain if he’ll go. Thomas will not be playing. If Harvin is close to 100%, then Florida should be fine on offense. I can say it’s more likely to be a shootout than the 7-3 result in LSU’s game at Auburn. It is true that LSU is first in total defense and Florida is 13th, but LSU had padded its stats on lesser teams and the unimaginative Auburn offense, and Florida’s pass defense is 64th nationally. Really.

Well, this kind of became an LSU preview type thing, which is fine since I have no idea when this week I’ll get a chance to write again. In the end, the win over Bama was good because we got some revenge for last year and it showed how well the coaches are doing this year at making adjustments on the fly. It was not a completely satisfying win, but we’re not going to get overly satisfying wins any time soon. The SEC is just too good for that. There is no gaping chasm between the elite and the rest as with the Big 10 or Pac 10.

It’s a costly win if it keeps DeShawn out for Saturday. LSU is not a chump, and it’s going to be a dogfight of the first degree. I can’t wait.

*  *  *

As an aside, that was another atrocious game by the referees. There was another helping of really late flags and questionable calls against both teams. At least they evened out. Chris Hetland’s field goal was close, but it was good. I was in the South endzone where it happened, and I can tell you that it was good. However, even though it went over the back judge’s post, he deferred to the other post’s official who didn’t have a good angle and had no way of knowing if it was good. Unbelievable.

This is really getting old, and these terrible officials will cost someone an important game. I don’t know if it will go Florida’s way or not (and given SEC officials’ history, it will not), or even if it won’t happen during a Gator game, but it’s coming. Even if it’s to give Alabama the game over Tennessee in a scenario where the Gators go to Atlanta if the Vols lose, it’ll still be a shame. I’d take that of course, but it’ll still be a shame. These teams deserve better. It’s already the toughest conference in the country, and with opponents being so good teams should not have to overcome inept officiating as well.

Alabama - Florida Preview

This is an intriguing game. Florida has the revenge factor going for them, and they have clearly the better team. Alabama is talking this year like they’re just as good as last year, even though they are definitely not. Alabama thinks it can throw all over the field with John Parker Wilson, and to some extent that will be true. Florida’s secondary is very vulnerable, and if the coaches keep calling linebacker blitzes like they did last week then they’ll have no help.

Alabama won’t be able to run though. They haven’t had any running game this year with Kenneth Darby looking nothing like himself, and Florida has as good a rush defense as anyone in the country. Mike Shula prefers to run the ball, control the clock, shorten the game. He won’t get to do that today and he’ll have to rely on Wilson to carry the offense.

Wilson has done a pretty good job of doing that for a freshman. However, Alabama really hasn’t played anyone. They’ve played Hawaii, Vandy, Louisiana-Monroe, and a shaky Arkansas team. Not exactly murderer’s row. He has not faced a real SEC defense, and has not played in a tough road environment. It will be hard for his to stay composed in front of a ramped up Florida Field crowd. After three somewhat nondescript home games, in that they were blowouts and not particularly interesting in second half, Florida fans are ready to explode in a solid win against a good opponent.

Florida is celebrating the 100th Anniversary today. The team is wearing its 1966 throwback uniforms, which are infinitely then those stupid orange sleeve jerseys from last year. Florida has every reason to be up for this game. Alabama will be overmatched on offense, and their suddenly-cocky defense (who just lost, by the way guys) haven’t seen an offense with as many weapons as Florida has. If the Gators jump out to an early lead, it could get ugly.

I don’t think Percy Harvin will have much of an impact as he’s still getting over his injury, and I think Bama’s run defense is good enough to mitigate Tim Tebow for the most part. He’s not fooling anyone anymore. DeShawn Wynn will be very important. If he gets 100 yards again, there’s no way Florida loses. Chris Leak will end up driving the offense though, since I don’t think Wynn will get more than 70 today. It’ll be the passing game making the most headway.

As it is, I don’t think it will be a close game, but I don’t think it will be in much doubt. Alabama may have some leads if Florida turns it over, but UF will pull away. I’ll say it ends up something in the 27 - 10 range.

Swamp Rules

Many people have commented that the Swamp seems to be slipping this year. Besides the boos, people are horrible this year about getting to the stadium on time and leaving way too early. It’s like we’ve been invaded by orange and blue-clad Dodger fans. Pat Dooley even brought that up today.

Now, the only home games we’ve had so far have been blowouts (or an ugly, sloppy blowout in the case of Kentucky) so that explains why people have been leaving early. A lot of alumni probably left Kentucky early as well because of long drives home after a late game, and that’s understandable. All the students leaving early is not acceptable.

In fact, there even has been a Facebook group started called “Florida Football Etiquette.” The rules are aimed at students, but most could apply to anyone. Since Facebook is locked to members only, here’s the list verbatim (so pardon the grammar, capitalization, etc):

1. Thou shalt not ‘BOO’ anyone on our team
2. Thou shalt not bring out our keys (Bad Bad Karma…)
3. Thou shalt not start the wave when our offense is on the field (it may look cool but it’s cool enough to distract our offense… so stop - and when we’re on defense you should be screaming)
4. Thou shalt not stay silent when opposing team is on offense (Screaming starts in the huddle NOT when the whistle is blown and can end after the snap)
5. Thou shalt not sit during the actual game (excluding the exceptions, half time, time outs, extremely painful feet, play or penalty reviews etc)
6. Thou shalt not leave without singing the Alma mater and the Orange and Blue fight song at the end of a winning game.
7. Thou shalt not underestimate any SEC opponent (see: Vandy 2005)
8. Thou shalt cheer for tebow AND participate in Leak for Heisman chants.
9. Thou shalt not chant “Tebow” after our senior qb with a passing efficiency of 174 has a bad play
10. Thou shalt… If you’re a jacka** (or told you’re a jacka**) when drunk, then don’t drink heavily before the game cuz you’ll ruin it for others, jack a**!
11. Thou shalt not scalp student section tickets to fans of the visiting team.

I would also add:

12. Thou shall not start chanting things while the band is on the field for pregame, even if you can’t hear them chiming the hour.

I know that it’s fun to chant “Let’s Go Gators!” to get the team fired up, but when the team is still in the locker room and the band is playing something, it’s not appropriate.

So, if you’re going to the game this Saturday, show up at least 20 minutes early so you can watch the pregame show. It really is cool, and it will get you properly fired up for the game. Right after they’re done, they have Mr. Two Bits come out to lead the entire stadium in his signature cheer. Then, there’s the awesome video they play right before the team runs out. It’s all a fantastic experience, and I can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t want to be there for it.

If you’re going to the game, get there at least 20 minutes early and follow these guidelines for being a fan. If you’re not going, send a link to this to someone you know who is. I’m not trying to drive traffic for the site (do you see any ads?) but rather to make sure the Swamp is at its best.

There’s a lot of Bama fans making noise this week about their stadium environment being better than ours. That’s utter nonsense, and we need to show them why. The game starts when the band marches in for pregame, and ends after everyone has sung the Alma Mater and “Orange and Blue.” Got it?

Heckling Alabama

If you haven’t seen the site Every Day Should Be Saturday, then you’re really missing out. This week is full of making mockery of Alabama, and it’s pretty good. Beyond that, it’s still a funny site about college football, and one of the highest-quality football blogs out there.

I’m not really in the business of reposting other people’s content, but a quote that they found is just too good. We already know that Kenneth Darby has been sucking it up this year, and now some of the players want to see more passing: “We can throw it on anybody if we want to,” receiver Keith Brown said. “Make the play call.”

That’s the Mike Shula offense for you. It’s about the most unimaginative offense this side of Tecmo Bowl (not Tecmo Super Bowl, the one before that). Which makes last year’s loss all the more embarrassing. Which would make this year’s revenge that much more sweet.