BCS Title Game Preview, Part 1

Today is the first day of classes at UF. If something smells funny about that, it would be because the same institution that sold student tickets for tonight’s game in Arizona also expects students to be in class today. It doesn’t matter for me as I am a graduate student now, and the grad school sets its own calendar, but there is just a hint of hypocrisy about this. In any event, this will have to be in parts because of that and I don’t know how many parts there will be.

Overrated Media Stories

1. Jim Tressel is Conservative but Urban Meyer is Crazy!

In the past, Jim Tressel coached football like he was in the 1960s SEC. This year though, he’s had far too many good wide receivers not to spread the field. Ohio State’s spread is more conservative than Florida’s is, but it’s not like Tressel goes into run-out-the-clock mode with a lead in the second quarter. He knows the Florida defense is good, and I expect to see him call some tricks as a result.

2. Holy Cow! Percy Harvin vs. Ted Ginn!!!

Yes, both are dynamic talents, but it’s not like they’re going to be playing directly against each other. There are some similarities, but there are also some differences in the way that they are used, namely that Ginn is used as a return man and Harvin takes handoffs in the backfield. Ginn also is more elusive in traffic, whereas Harvin is more of a one-move-and-blow-by-you kind of guy. Are they important guys for their teams? Absolutely. However, the quarterback, linebacker, and secondary play for both teams is far more important than these two guys. They’re momentum swingers at best.

3. Florida Can’t Run the Ball

Um, yes it can. Florida averaged the same yardage per rush as Ohio State did, and averaged 160 yards rushing per game in a conference where “Stop the Run!” is the motto for 11 of the 12 teams (I’m not sure that Vanderbilt has a football motto). Ohio State has the more traditional run game, with a workhorse back and a burner for a change of pace. Florida has done it by a committee approach with a mix of running backs and receivers, with Tim Tebow for short-yardage situations. Tebow has shown in some instances that he can run for big gains, but he’s unlikely to have such plays called for him this game.

The biggest factor for Florida here is that DeShawn Wynn is healthy again. He showed he can carry the load against Tennessee, but the coaches have also shown that they can forget about him entirely, such as in the FSU game. If Florida plans on running the ball effectively against Ohio State, it will have to do it at least in part by using Wynn effectively. This reeks of potential redemption game for him.

That’s all for now, more to come later.

The Offense

Okay, enough of being a homer. Let’s face it - Florida is somewhat fortunate to be 7-1 with an offense that sometimes lacks cohesion, and absolutely lucky to be ranked 4th in the BCS under those circumstances. Every week it’s something different; sometimes the scheme is good but the execution is not there, other times the execution is pretty good but the scheme is puzzling at best. In the case of the Georgia game, both execution and scheme were bad.

In some ways, it seems like the coaches get stuck up on things that are good in theory rather than focusing on what goes on in the games. For instance, they are very big on getting players “touches.” I’ve always hated that term because it subtly implies that a player will excel simply by placing his hands on the ball. Just get this guy X number of touches per game, and things will be great. A case in point was the one play the coaches ran for Jarred Fayson on Saturday. He came in on one play and had a pass underthrown to him, as if the coaches suddenly thought “Oh no, we need to get Fayson a couple of touches this game,” and threw him in to catch a screen. He then disappeared for the rest of the game.

I prefer more of a basketball style approach - find the open man, and feed the hot hand. Just run good plays and let the fourth-year starter at quarterback decide who gets the ball. It’s like Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen are micromanaging the offense rather than letting it flow. There’s more to it than throwing either the occasion deep bomb to placate the fans and sideways screen passes. Georgia played a lot of zone, and as anyone who knows football well knows, you attack the zone with someone, usually the tight end, going over the middle. Andre Caldwell got his 40-yard touchdown doing just that. Why they didn’t “feed the hot hand” by going back over the middle in the 10 - 15 yard range is beyond me.

Part of micromanaging also is overthinking things. According to a quote from Meyer in today’s Alligator, it took DeShawn Wynn getting in Meyer’s face in the third quarter in order to get him carries. Urban said that did change his mind. Why he decided in the first place that a guy who ran for more than 100 yards on Tennessee was not fit for carries against Georgia raises plenty questions. Meyer spent some of his post game comments talking about how displeased he is with the drop back passing game since Chris Leak doesn’t get enough protection. I would think that using Wynn early to open up the pass would be a good way to buy Leak more time. I’m not advocating the Auburn game offense of Wynn up the middle nearly ever down, but Wynn is a better option between the tackles than Percy Harvin is (and yes, they did run Harvin up the middle in the first quarter). It’s about balance.

Now, part of the offensive struggles may have had to do with Leak and his not-concussion/headache/whatever it was that plagued him from late in the second quarter. Urban said Leak used three unnecessary timeouts after getting a particularly bad hit. It also seemed that some of the penalties could have come from miscommunications dealing with that. I don’t know, but I do know that the penalties need to stop. They kill momentum and disrupt the offensive game plan. Turning third-and-shorts into third-and-longs has been a specialty for the Gators this year, and they will not beat Auburn or Arkansas in the SEC title game if they get penalized as much in that game as they have all season.

One interesting thing I gathered from the morning and midday talk shows today is that there is somewhat of a Tim Tebow backlash starting up. I never thought I’d even get a hint of that this year, but it’s starting. I think his key fumble that led to a Georgia touchdown and his general ineffectiveness (aside from a couple of plays) has reminded people that he is fact a freshman and that he is not Superman. The St. Timothy image I talked about early in the season is fading. Some complain that using Tebow disrupts Leak’s rhythm and that the switching of quarterbacks leads to some of the false start penalties. They decide that for those reasons, Tebow may be better off left on the bench, almost that he’s more trouble than he’s worth now that defenses know that he’s going to run off-tackle left nearly every time.

I think that’s a fascinating development. Even the hits for this site from people searching for Tebow’s name have fallen off and nearly disappeared in the past three days. I think people are realizing that Tebow cannot yet run the offense, that trying to run two different offenses concurrently won’t always work, and that Chris Leak really is the best option for winning this year after all. Now, all it probably will take is a 30-yard run against Vanderbilt for the Tebow madness to start again, but for now there are at least a few fans who are deciding that picking Chris Leak as the quarterback and sticking with him is the best option for success.

It also may be that, just like with Leak and th booing nonsense earlier in the season, that they are not upset with Tebow as much as they are with the coaching staff. The coaches definitely deserve some criticism after that game since Georgia is clearly rebuilding this year and Florida can be an elite team when it wants to be. That game should not have been close. I wonder if the players slipped back into a Zook-era trademark move of relaxing when they get a big lead. Not only is the Meyer regime trying to get by with players recruited for a different scheme, it also has to deal with the culture of complacency that grew up in Ron Zook’s three years. Losses were bad and “not acceptable,” but there were never any consequences really, since they were “getting better and better every week.”

Do not get me wrong here, I am not blaming Ron Zook for anything. His direct influence doesn’t pass the limits of Champagne, Illinois these days. However, even Steve Spurrier in his last couple of years tended to whine a lot more than he did when he first started. I do question the mental toughness of Florida football, and that includes the fans too. We were all spoiled in the ’90s, and it seemed like Florida could do whatever it wanted to simply by showing up. The Tennessee loss in 2001 ended for good any thought of that since Spurrier owned Phil Fulmer, the SEC East was on the line, and Florida still lost.

This year, a lot of good fortune and bad turnovers by opponents in critical times has propelled Florida to where it is now. As I mentioned before, Florida has yet to put together a full game, but neither has any of UF’s opponents. Auburn’s second half was the best half of football played against the Gators, and if not for two uncharacteristic and costly turnovers by Chris Leak late, it still might not have been enough to beat the Gators. There is something about this team that is a double-edged sword - it keeps them from playing sharply, but also keeps the opponents from doing so either.

In the end, the Gator defense has been winning the games week in and week out. The front seven has been excellent in stopping the run outside of the Auburn game, and the secondary has getting a lot of big plays (once again, except for the Auburn game) while letting the smaller plays go. Reggie Nelson in particular has saved the secondary many times, at least when the coaches don’t have him playing 30 yards off of the line of scrimmage (just like in - get this - the Auburn game). Florida has the luxury of playing around with all sorts of things on offense since the defense has been so adept at keeping opponents out of the end zone. They haven’t been perfect, but they’ve been tremendous.

So what about this week? It’s just Vandy right? Well, Vanderbilt beat Georgia and has been very well-coached under Bobby Johnson. Using well-coached and Vanderbilt is not a common occurrence, so that should tell you something. Sure, Jay Cutler is gone, but there were plenty of other guys besides Cutler working to take Florida to double overtime in a game that Florida very well could have lost in regulation if not for a suspect celebration penalty on the Commodores. Florida has better size, speed, and talent all over the field, so the Gators should absolutely win.

As we know, though, Vandy doesn’t make things easy for anyone. They played Michigan to a closer final score than Notre Dame did. Florida should win, but it won’t be a cakewalk.

10:46 pm Saturday night

I’m a happy Gator tonight.

It was not the prettiest or the most satisfying win today, but anytime you can return from Jacksonville with a win, you take it. It was a clear, windy day with a slight chill in the air. By the end, just about all Florida fans were wearing jackets or sweatshirts of some kind. The final score, 21-14, did not really reflect how the game went. It’s hard for a score to reflect a game like that.

The Gators were in full control in the first half, finishing with a 14 point lead at halftime. It should have been a larger lead, but Florida kept killing its own drives with penalties, dropped passes, and other execution problems. Both teams played sloppily, which seems to be a hallmark of Gator games this year. Neither team in any of their games has been particularly sharp. I can’t remember the last time a season has been like that.

Anyway, Florida came out and got a touchdown right away to go up 21-0, and it seemed like the game had been put away. Florida’s side of the stadium was rocking, Georgia’s was demoralized, and it seemed an insurmountable lead with a shaky freshman quarterback trying to run the Bulldogs’ offense.

Then a funny thing happened. Florida couldn’t put drives together anymore. The secondary playing so far off of the receivers allowed Matt Stafford to get in a rhythm and comfort zone. Tim Tebow, to the utter shock and disbelief of Florida fans (most of whom refuse to admit that he is just a freshman) fumbled, and then it was a game again.

Fortunately, Florida’s defense tightened up, Florida got a couple of first downs (one only because of a Georgia facemask penalty), and then they were able to take a couple of knees and run the clock out. Shortly after it went final, the public address announcer (who, along with the scoreboard operator, had a really bad game) announced that Oregon State had held on to beat USC. It was a win for Florida, and any win is a good win, but it was not terribly satisfying.

For the second straight week, Florida did not score an offensive point in the second half. Today, the Chris Hetland missed two field goals in UF’s only scoring opportunities after halftime. Urban Meyer definitely adjusted the offense to get Percy Harvin, Andre Caldwell, and Tim Tebow in the game, and all three had mixed results. Caldwell played the best of the three though. The offense did become predictable in a way, and it showed in the second half. He went too far the other way with the offense, and they definitely underused DeShawn Wynn.

There’s give and take with everything, and it’s hard to complain too much when you leave with a win. The intensity for the game was lower than normal before the game, with Georgia fans not giving their team much of a chance. There were plenty of Bulldogs who left before or at halftime as there were small but noticeable amounts of teal in the red and black across the way. Once Georgia got some things going in the second half, they definitely woke up and started to believe until Florida polished off the game in the end.

This was not a typical Florida – Georgia game, but few things are ever normal at this game. The important thing is that UF survived and won, moving to 7-1 overall, 5-1 in the SEC, and to about 7th or 8th in the polls. This was especially important with Southern Cal losing. Florida still needs more help in the national title picture, but they still control the SEC. Now, it’s time to go up to Nashville and take care of Vandy. It won’t be a cakewalk though, as our vanquished opponents today could have told us.

Florida - Auburn Preview

I’m been procrastinating as long as I could, but it’s time to write this.

One the one hand, a lot of things are lining up for Auburn. It is a night home game for them, and they had College GameDay there this morning which always gets the fans fired up. They are coming off a loss to Arkansas, and good teams (like Auburn is) rarely lose two games in a row. In addition, Florida traditionally has never played well at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn is essentially playing for its season here, since with a loss it’d be unlikely for them to get to a BCS game and they’d need Arkansas to lose three conference games to go to Atlanta. Plus, Arkansas beat them with size and brute strength, and that’s not how Florida generally wins games.

Florida, on the other hand, has a lot going for it. UF has won eight in a row, and has already won a big night game in Knoxville in front of probably a louder crowd, and quite possibly against a better team. Chris Leak is as steady as they come, and he’s won games in Baton Rouge, Knoxville, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee before. The Gators are coming off of a big win against LSU, and the two quarterback system is really gelling into something special. The defense has bent in every which way, but it hasn’t broken and now with a full week of practice with Marcus Thomas back on the defensive line will only make them better. The offense also gets DeShawn Wynn back and Percy Harvin should be about 100%.
Now the bad. Auburn has been listless the past two games, nearly losing to South Carolina and getting demolished by the Pigs. Brandon Cox is really beat up, and Kenny Irons has been merely average in big games this year. If UF punter Eric Wilbur does as well as he did against LSU, then Auburn will be faced with long fields and the proposition of going 70 to 80 yards on the Florida defense. The Tigers’ defense has had serious issues stopping the run lately, and now they face a healthy Wynn and they’ll also have to deal with Harvin and Tim Tebow busting out of the backfield for potentially big plays.
Florida’s biggest problem, besides history saying that they’ll struggle at Auburn, is what Urban Meyer calls the Florida Nonsense. It’s all of the buzz and the press about the team. There were dozens of stories about Tebow’s touchdowns, how Florida might run the table, how they are in the national title race, and how they might not be in the top two when the BCS standings come out. Well, Florida definitely will not be in the top two if it listens and starts getting a big head. The Gators are at their highest ranking since anyone on the team came to this school. Also, Florida has yet to put a full game together with bad penalties, sloppy play, untimely turnovers, and unfortunate timeouts marring their play.

I will not be surprised whichever team wins. I am going to pick Florida though, and not just because I’m a homer. The offense has been getting better, and with a healthy Harvin it will get even better. Remember after UCF when people were comparing him to Reggie Bush? He’s not Reggie Bush, but he’s a big play threat every time he touches the ball. Wynn is not as fast at the Arkansas backs, but if he is healthy and ready to go he could punish the Tigers’ defense. Auburn also does not have the corners to cover all of Florida’s receivers. It’s hard to describe just how much of an advantage UF has when comparing receivers.

Auburn having lackluster wideouts also mitigates the Gators’ biggest weakness on defense - the secondary. Reggie Nelson and Ryan Smith have been great and good, but they still give up too many passing yards. Basically though, if you stop Kenny Irons you stop Auburn and Florida’s front seven (plus Tony Joiner blitzing most likely) will get to both Irons and Cox in the backfield.

I expect this will be somewhere between the Tenenssee game and the LSU game. I don’t think it will take a 4th quarter comeback, but the Gators won’t put it away early in the second half either. Still, I’m feeling something in the 24 - 16 range. We shall see.

One last thing - I’ve referred to Auburn as the WarPlainsTigers because they have three nicknames: the Tigers, the War Eagle(s?), and the Plainsmen. Alabama fans give all sorts of reasons why, but they have issues themselves somehow making the Crimson Tide into an elephant. The Plainsmen is the vestigial one of the three, rarely coming up as far as I can tell. Auburn fans yell “War Eagle!” to each other instead of something like “Go Gators!” and they have an eagle fly to the 50 before every game. Finally, the Tigers are what they generally go by to everyone else. I don’t get it exactly, but I’m sure there’s convoluted stories behind them all.

A Few News Items

According to the Gainesville Sun, both Percy Harvin and DeShawn Wynn should be ready to go tomorrow. Florida has been very fortunate with injuries this year in that they have not been serious or season-ending injuries like what hit Ray McDonald and Andre Caldwell last year. All of those injuries came in the preseason, which gave the coaches time to plan for life without them. Keeping clear of the injury bug is something that all elite teams in particular years do, so that’s encouraging.

I also heard some interesting things on the local radio programs today. In the past 59 games in the Florida - Auburn series, the teams are 29-29-1, with the home teams having a considerable advantage. In fact, it took until 1973 for UF to get its first win ever at Auburn. This is not going to be some kind of cakewalk tomorrow. Dave Revsine also brings up the fact that Auburn has beaten a top-five team at home six times in its history, and three of those six times were Florida. Yahoo! Sports does mention that Florida has won 8 of 9 against Auburn, but the loss was in 2001 at Jordan-Hare.

One of the remarkable things about this team is about how balanced it is. Not too many people stand out statistically because so many guys are playing productive ball. Foxsports.com has a reprinted midseason report from CollegeFootballNews.com listing accolades for the first half of the season, and while it predicts UF to win the SEC title game (curiously, it says over Auburn, which means they must think the Tigers win this weekend), no Gators made the best players list. Even more puzzling is SI.com’s midseason All-Americans which has only Reggie Nelson from the Gators on the first team (which makes sense) but has only Marcus Thomas on the second team, andhe’s been suspended three of Florida’s six games.

The most satisfying to see though was ESPN’s midseason hot/not report, as the first pairing was Florida being hot and FSU being not. The most important thing year in and year out is how the Gators do in the SEC, but beating the Noles is something that never does get old, you know? For all the crap I have heard from Seminole fans since 2001 (the only year I’ve ever heard them be humble about a game since they were having a down year and were completely terrified of Rex Grossman), it’s nice to see them put in their place some. I hope when Bobby’s done they promote Jeff. I really do.

I am however, intentionally not linking to Mike Freeman’s latest disaster of a column. He basically says that Urban Meyer is undercutting Chris Leak’s Heisman chances by doing “gimmick” plays with Tim Tebow. If you need analysis as to why that’s wrong, I’d like to invite you to return to WarChant.com or your Miami fan message boards or what other Florida-hating corner of the net that you slunk out of to end up here. I think now that Freeman is writing for a website and not a newspaper, he’s taking the John Dvorak approach of writing highly inflammatory things in lieu of reality to drive page hits. The sad thing is that it’s a strategy that works. Freeman probably picks on Florida because after spending a year in Jacksonville he knows how passionate and downright irrational Gator fans can get. Plus, a lot of the rest of the country hates Florida because of many Gator fans’ arrogance. I hope everyone can just agree not to feed the troll anymore and just ignore whatever else he might spew out between now and the end of the season.

A Couple Quick Things

Posting has been a bit sparse this week again thanks to having 3 final exams. All of my classes are modular, so they go half a semester, then a week off, then another half a semester. Module 1 just ended, so I had to study some non-football related things a lot this week.

Fortunately, the team really has been speaking for itself. I really don’t know how much more I can add right now. Of course, there’s plenty of people talking about the Gators now, and I’m going to get into that later today after work.

DeShawn Wynn was supposed to return to practice yesterday, so I’d imagine I’ll find out how that went on Brady Ackerman’s show this morning. He’ll be important, but Auburn’s real weakness is speed backs. Because of that, I expect to see more Percy Harvin (if his ankle is better than it was last week) and Jarred Fayson lining up with Chris Leak in the backfield. It also could be a big day for Kestahn Moore in that sense.

Also, tonight is Midnight Madness to kick off the basketball season, and of course I’m going to be there. There’s a volleyball game at 8 and then the basketball stuff begins at 10, so we won’t get a chance to see the new floor, though I expect that it will be painted the same as it has been in recent years. I won’t be at the volleyball since I’ll watching a couple friends perform “Carmina Burana” at the Phillips Center at 7:30, but I’m definitely there for the roundball at 10. What a great story they were last year, and they all came back too. I can’t wait.

Also, remember that basketball games are a great recruiting tool for football (and I mean beyond Cornelius Ingram). I met Ron Zook at a basketball game my freshman year, and he was there with about 30 recruits. The O’Dome was rocking, and we beat Tennessee by about 30 that night. Good times.

Polls and Room for Improvement

I was somewhat surprised to see Florida 2nd in the AP poll. I know that a lot of people, sportswriters especially, saw the LSU game as a “prove it” game for Florida. The Gators came out on top with a 23-10 win and proved that they belong in the national title discussion. I still think Ohio State is the only team you can reasonably pick for number one because of how the Buckeyes dominated Texas and Iowa both. They’re the only sure thing. After that, it gets blurry.

Florida probably should be number two since they are undefeated and have beaten Alabama, LSU, and a Tennessee team that is looking better and better by the week. The fact that the UT game was in Knoxville and a fourth quarter comeback win makes it look even better. Other contenders include USC, whose only victories of note are Arkansas, who really isn’t that great despite the Auburn win in a look-ahead game for the Tigers, and Nebraska, who was undone by ultra-conservative coaching. Plus, the Trojans looked very beatable against the Washington schools. Michigan gets all of its prestige this year from one win, the Notre Dame blowout. Granted, that’s a great win, but after that the Wolverines have played only middle-of-the-road Big 10 teams like Wisconsin and Minnesota. West Virginia has looked good, but hasn’t played a ranked team.

ESPN.com (who also has UF at #2) says that Florida could be number one if it wins at Auburn. I’m not so sure about that since, though Florida will have had the toughest schedule by far, they aren’t dominating like OSU has been. The Gators’ pass defense fell from 64 to 70 nationally after the game. Granted interceptions don’t count in that, but if JaMarcus Russell makes better decisions and doesn’t throw so many INTs, may LSU wins that game. SI.com praises Florida, saying it is a team on the rise and that Tim Tebow is one of its three Big Men on Campus for the week, but then promptly picks Auburn to win 17-14 (all in the same article!).

Coach Meyer of course downplayed the importance of the rankings, and really, he should. With Florida’s schedule, as long as the Gators win out, there’s no way they could end up out of the top two. He also needs to keep the team focused because after a scare at South Carolina and a collapse against Arkansas, Auburn will be playing to save its season this Saturday. If Auburn loses this one, it’ll take three losses by the Pigs (out of South Carolina, Tennessee, Miss State, and LSU) for Auburn to go to Atlanta. All but MSU at least potentially could be losses, but I wouldn’t count on it during one of Houston Nutt’s classic I-gotta-save-my-job years.

Then again, LSU was pretty much playing for its season and Florida still won by two touchdowns. The game is at Auburn though, which gives the Tigers an advantage. Florida did win at Tennessee though, and Neyland Stadium gets more riled up than Jordan-Hare ever does. As you can see, there’s a million different ways to look at this game. While SC and Arkansas exposed a lot of flaws in Auburn’s defense, the WarPlainsTigers are not going to roll over and die just because the Mighty Gators roll into town and tell them to. No one will be intimidated this weekend on either side of the ball.

Tommy Tuberville is too good of a coach to let Auburn pull an LSU this weekend. At least, I think he is. He’s only been untouchably good once, and that was when he had Cadillac Williams, Ronnie Brown, and Jason Campbell all as seniors. Before that year, the school was ready to fire him for Bob Petrino. He also had the bad karma of complaining about possibly being shut out of the national title game working against him. Now, they have to win or they’re out of both the SEC West and BCS bowl chase.

Still though, it feels very good to get validated with national rankings. Gator Growl got everything amped up, between the highlight clips set to music from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (which is highly effective) to Urban Meyer’s best speech to fans yet. Then, the ESPN College GameDay guys showed up for the first time in three years and were rewarded with the loudest crowd in GameDay history (no joke, and well done to all in attendance). Finally, the Gators went out and won a game by 13 that most national pundits picked them to lose. It was one of the best Gator football weekends in years.

*  *  *

Now that the excitement has worn off to some degree, it’s time to take a good look at the team. The offensive line has improved drastically in its pass coverage over the year. The running game still seems to be limited to DeShawn Wynn and Tim Tebow. The secondary keeps giving up lots of yards but somehow ends up with timely interceptions over and over. I said this above, but it bears repeating: Florida’s vaunted defense is 70th in the country in passing yards surrendered per game.

That’s the most exciting thing from this weekend: Florida looked that good but still has a lot of room for improvement. If DeShawn Wynn won’t be at 100%, someone else is going to need to step up. Getting a healthy Percy Harvin will help tremendously too. His first catch of the LSU game illustrated why perfectly: he took a nondescript and well-covered screen pass and turned it into a 14 yard gain. Chris Leak is going to need to stop throwing it away so much when a receiver is open and also stop underthrowing Andre Caldwell on his deep post routes (he did just that twice against UCF too). The coaches are also going to need to get more decisive on the rotating QB thing, since Florida has been wasting about two timeouts a game solely because of the play clock running low due to them deciding to switch quarterbacks with 15 seconds to go.

Having Marcus Thomas back was a huge help too, as he played a lot more and a lot better than most people, myself most of all, had expected. The line got some pressure on Russell but didn’t come away with as many sacks as it should have. Now, I heard today that Auburn has a smallish offensive line, so that presents a prime opportunity to cause some havoc this weekend. Having Thomas there the whole week at practice should help too.

Special teams is one area that is looking pretty solid. The coverage was excellent on the whole, and Riley Cooper’s hit on Early Doucet to cause the fumble that ended up a safety was amazing for a freshman wide receiver. Brandon James is fine on returns when he actually gets to return it. Eric Wilbur had a fantastic game against LSU, making a huge difference in the field position game. Florida will be in great shape if he can keep it up on the Plains. Chris Hetland, meanwhile, still can’t make a field goal and Meyer said he might look into letting Eric Nappy try some. Hetland apparently has been hitting them well in practice, so he hasn’t for sure lost the job. The fact that they got the extra point problems solved means things are going in the right direction, and Florida has been fortunate this year that the lack of field goals hasn’t come back to bite them.

The biggest thing to look out for is an emotional let down after this past weekend. Auburn is still a very, very good team, and they’ll be plenty motivated at home. They’ll come out fired up and probably score quickly, like everyone but UCF has done to UF this year. I expect it to be more like the Tennessee game than LSU. It’ll be hard-nosed, defensive SEC football, and as long as Meyer isn’t so fixated on “out-toughing” Auburn to the point of rushing Wynn up the middle for no gain 14 times, Florida should be fine. We shall see.

Gator Growl + LSU Preview

I need to do my LSU preview now because I will not be writing it while sitting on my couch watching GameDay; rather, I will be attending GameDay! It’s about time they got back down here, and really to an SEC game in general. If Florida wins, it should be two Gator games in a row since the Florida - Auburn game would be a matchup of two top-five teams. The key word is “should.” I don’t care if it makes the same conference or team two weeks in a row, they are supposed to be at the best game every week, and if there’s only one game between top-five teams…

Anyway, Gator Growl was pretty good. The student-made stuff was about on par with past years. The best part of it as always is when they get a Gator to go incognito to a road game and interview the fans while pretending to be a fan of that team. This year they did it at the Tennessee game, and Vols never disappoint. One of the better exchanges:

Interviewer Guy: So, if you could describe Phil Fulmer in one word, what would it be?

Tennessee Fan: Fat.

It also featured a fan boasting about drinking his homemade moonshine. Sometimes, reality really is the way you’d script it. The two comedians were also very good. Gabriel Iglesias was the undercard, and he was very funny. Jim Gaffigan was the headliner, and he was hilarious. I did hear at least one person say they liked Iglesias better, and that makes sense since his delivery is more animated and better suited for an event like Gator Growl. It was better than Wayne Brady last year who, though he was good, tried to do improv comedy in a stadium, and stadiums (stadia?) really are not the right place for that.

I did not attend the parade since I’ve done seven years’ worth of parades between high school and college band, and I wanted to take a break from parades, so I did. The opening of Growl had the two singers of Gainesville’s own Sister Hazel performing a wonderful national anthem, not that unlike the Grateful Dead’s performance for a San Francisco Giants playoff game that Bill Simmons recently linked to. The University Gospel Choir then did a beautiful and soulful “God Bless America,” followed by the two guys and the choir teaming up for a positively fantastic rendition of “Think” by Aretha Franklin. Say what you want about Sister Hazel’s songs, those guys can sing and the gospel choir is always amazing.

* * *

Okay, so on to the LSU game preview. I have been going back and forth about this game all week. On the one hand, LSU has the best defense based on statistics in the country. On the other, the only one of their opponents with a pulse is Auburn, and the WarPlainsTigers are not exactly known for having an inventive offense. On the one hand, Florida’s passing defense is 64th nationally. On the other, it has worked the bend-but-don’t-break formula to perfection, plus Marcus Thomas is back so the Gators should get at least some pressure on JaMarcus Russell.

This would appear to be a game of opposing forces: LSU has the SEC’s best defense and Florida the conference’s best offense. That’s somewhat misleading in a way, since Florida’s defense and LSU’s offense are not that far behind their counterparts. LSU has plenty of weapons, and its big receivers are going to have a field day on Florida’s smallish cornerbacks. Tony Joiner and Reggie Nelson are going to need to play the games of their lives in order for Florida to win. I think they can do it, but we’ll just have to see. Florida will have the run covered since LSU can’t run the ball anyway.

Meanwhile on offense, the Gators are going to need every last one of their weapons for this. LSU has a monster defensive line, so the offensive line will need to step up or else Chris Leak will have to roll out of the pocket every time he wants to throw the ball. DeShawn Wynn being hurt well, hurts, but Kestahn Moore looked good last week and Urban Meyer has finally been publicly praising Markus Manson again. It will be rough going for Tim Tebow rushing the ball unless he can complete some passes. LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pellini loves to blitz, so UF must punish him for it with quick slants and screens that allow the receivers a chance to knife through the holes in the defense opened up by the blitz.

If Percy Harvin really is around 90%, he’ll be a huge factor. He’s exactly the kind of guy that UF needs for this game. He is fast and elusive, and since one or more linebackers will be blitzing, if he can make his man miss then he’s off to the races. Dallas Baker also needs to get the ball more this weekend. He’s big and has good hands, and that’s a huge plus. This might even be a breakout game for Cornelius Ingram since the kinds of routes he runs from the tight end/slot where he usually lines up are the ones that are left open by blitzes.

This is going to be a dogfight from beginning to end. Florida very well could fall behind early again, but as we saw last year, LSU will commit turnovers. The difference is that last year’s team couldn’t capitalize on them, whereas this year’s team has been better in that regard. Florida also has been making excellent adjustments in-game and at the half to dominate the second halves of games. It’ll need to keep that up this weekend.

I’ve gone back and forth as to whether I think this will be a low-scoring, field position battle kind of game, or a more high-scoring shootout thanks to the two talented offenses. I’m going to go in the middle and say 20-13 Florida, but I could be way off here. I have to think that the crowd will be making a difference after Urban brought up the fact that an LSU player said that his team doesn’t fear the Swamp and thinks it’s not as good as Tiger Stadium. Plus, Florida has the momentum: 5-0 this year, 12 game home winning streak, 16-game homecoming winning streak, and a coach who has yet to lose a game played in the state of Florida.

Let the Gator Growl.

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.