- Jun 9, 2014
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It's in the form of complacency. Another good postmortem from Marty Cohen.
Cohen: How About Somebody Get Angry?
Another numbing home defeat left the Gators without much to say as the players tried to remain positive while never once mentioning they were mad about a second straight loss
Marty Cohen - 14 hours ago
(Photo: Matt Pendleton, 247Sports)
Just because some of us have been around here forever doesn’t mean we’re naïve enough to propose that things should go back to the way they were many moons ago. Doesn’t work that way. We realize that Florida football now bathes in a heavily controlled, antiseptic environment where heck, the players are given Gator golf shirts to put on prior to interviews to make sure the proper image is broadcast. When you come from that certain coaching tree, a sterile environment is the objective.
But there’s an unfortunate byproduct of this Stepford approach, where the portrayal of calm in the midst of chaos comes across as disingenuous, almost exasperating. What we’re dancing around about was the infuriating projection “of nothing to see here” serenity following Florida’s excruciating 19-17 setback to Texas A&M Saturday night in The Swamp.
Four Gator players met with us after the game – veterans Duke Dawson, Cece Jefferson and Martez Ivey along with young quarterback Feleipe Franks – and we were treated to a portrait of a team taut and together, that won’t splinter, that is determined to get back to work and clean up “the little things” before the Georgia ambush in two weeks.
In fact, five times in six minutes Franks said, “We’re going to be just fine,” as if he was trying to convince himself of that notion as well. Admittedly this is a tough chore after such a rough night, trying to put the immense disappointment into immediate words while taking care of your teammates and making sure not to step on any toes.
But in the aftermath of two stinging home defeats that have effectively torpedoed the season – the dreadful 17-16 loss to LSU coupled with the fresh 19-17 gut-punch to Texas A&M – there was one thing missing amid the calculated response – anger.
Is anybody mad about losing two games in The Swamp by a total of three points? Did anybody throw a chair in the locker room or destroy a water cooler? Is anybody pissed off enough about a season that has careened off the rails and is headed to oblivion?
We sure didn’t see anything remotely resembling genuine emotion. You think Jarrad Davis would have been OK with this, would have spoken wonderfully about the leaders in the room? Hell no, he would have been chewing nails. And that’s the way it’s supposed to be, the way we never see anymore.
Of course we are not privy to what transpires behind closed doors. Maybe there’s a huge four-figure bill sitting on Scott Stricklin’s desk for repairs to a decimated locker room. And certainly there are many things best kept inside the walls of the Gator compound – the outside world, fans included, is not entitled to every piece of the team pie.
But it sure would have been nice to see some vinegar, a visual that losses like the Gators suffered the past two Saturdays have actually generated some anger inside the operation. Sure head coach Jim McElwain offered a couple of terse postgame responses, but he feels the need to convey the sense that things are still OK, that he still “believes in this team,” and there is still “a lot of football ahead of us,” (which there’s not, just three SEC games remain).
Problem is the Gator Nation is angry over a 3-3 team that is just as close (if not closer) to being 1-5 than it is to being 5-1, and would like to feel that those on the frontline are seething as well over a half-season of mediocre play. The injuries and suspensions are legit factors but also serve as unacceptable excuses for a team that has yet to play a solid, 60-minute football game.
A pair of losses in the barely-feared Swamp has doused the fire for a season in which the stated hope was not only to get back to Atlanta for the third straight year but to “kick the door in” this time. That won’t happen, but maybe there’s a door somewhere within the Gator complex sporting a huge kicked-in hole. And maybe there are folks who are overtly angry.
We’ll never know . . .
Equally galling was listening to the payers refer to the “Iittle things” that are preventing this team from achieving success. Poppycock. It’s “big things.” Failing to convert third-and-1 THREE times is not a little thing. In fact, it was a key reason why the Gators lost again.
Still nursing a 17-16 lead with five minutes left, the Gators failed to pick up a third-and-1 from their own 36 (when they lined up in the shotgun/pistol formation and pitched it back to Malik Davis who had to actually pick up six yards to gain the necessary one yard to move the chains). Bad call, worse execution.
One failure begat another when punter Johnny Townsend then allowed ace A&M punt returner Christian Kirk to field a juicy, returnable punt and bring it back 43 yards to the Gator 39-yard line, setting up the Aggies’ winning field goal.
The inefficiency of the Gator special teams is flat-out ridiculous, and has been extremely costly in defeat. Coming into the contest, the Gators had given up 165 yards in punt returns, a preposterous figure – no other SEC team had given up more than 95, and four teams had yielded 13 or less. It was 58 more to the Aggies, including the critical 43-yarder to Kirk in the waning moments.
Again, this is not a “little thing” – crappy special teams play, besides being inexcusable, is a major deal on a mediocre team with a lousy offense. Special teams should be a hammer in Florida’s favor and sadly it’s more like a kid’s water gun leaking all over itself.
Inability to convert third-and-1, inability to cover punts (and not kick it straight to a dangerous return man in Kirk) – that’s how a team with a fragile offensive attack loses. Not to mention another slow start on offense (just one first-quarter touchdown, and 16 points overall, in six games) plus an equally languid third quarter in which the Gators were out-scored 7-0 (they’ve tallied just 20 third-quarter points this season as well). The second half was an offensive mess, notwithstanding the fluke 79-yard run by Franks. Other than that improvised scamper, the Gators gained 63 yards in 26 plays with three first downs after intermission.
The Aggies weren’t doing much either against a staunch Gator defense that stymied a potent offensive attack, but still couldn’t help the offense. Yes the Gators finally caused a turnover, snapping a span of more than 14 quarters dating back to the fourth quarter against Tennessee, but the Jaewon Taylor interception was tantamount to a 55-yard punt.
Instead, once again the Gators’ sputtering offense began all 15 possessions in its own territory, only three beyond its own 26. For those keeping score, in 70 possessions (not counting kneel-downs at the end of a half) this season, the Gators have started in opposition territory just four times and none in the last three games.
Simply put, that’s terrible work by the defense, a factor that sullies much of its strong effort. Units working hand-in-hand are a key to how many high-caliber teams experience success and it’s not happening for Florida. It’s no coincidence that Florida’s first touchdown came as a result of positive field position, a 55-yard march after UF began its first five possessions from its own 25, 15, 26, 23 and 25. This offense isn’t nearly good enough to drive 75 yards every possession.
These are some of the “little things” the players referenced Saturday night that of course, are hardly small in magnitude. In fact, for a team forever balancing on the edge, there are no “little things.” At the season’s midpoint, this Gator team has gone from aspirations of Atlanta to hoping it can qualify for a bowl game of any kind. It’s been frustrating and disappointing, to say the least. So maybe it’s time somebody showed us they were flippin’ mad about the whole deal.
https://florida.247sports.com/Article/Cohen-How-About-Somebody-Get-Angry-108962097
Cohen: How About Somebody Get Angry?
Another numbing home defeat left the Gators without much to say as the players tried to remain positive while never once mentioning they were mad about a second straight loss
Marty Cohen - 14 hours ago
(Photo: Matt Pendleton, 247Sports)
Just because some of us have been around here forever doesn’t mean we’re naïve enough to propose that things should go back to the way they were many moons ago. Doesn’t work that way. We realize that Florida football now bathes in a heavily controlled, antiseptic environment where heck, the players are given Gator golf shirts to put on prior to interviews to make sure the proper image is broadcast. When you come from that certain coaching tree, a sterile environment is the objective.
But there’s an unfortunate byproduct of this Stepford approach, where the portrayal of calm in the midst of chaos comes across as disingenuous, almost exasperating. What we’re dancing around about was the infuriating projection “of nothing to see here” serenity following Florida’s excruciating 19-17 setback to Texas A&M Saturday night in The Swamp.
Four Gator players met with us after the game – veterans Duke Dawson, Cece Jefferson and Martez Ivey along with young quarterback Feleipe Franks – and we were treated to a portrait of a team taut and together, that won’t splinter, that is determined to get back to work and clean up “the little things” before the Georgia ambush in two weeks.
In fact, five times in six minutes Franks said, “We’re going to be just fine,” as if he was trying to convince himself of that notion as well. Admittedly this is a tough chore after such a rough night, trying to put the immense disappointment into immediate words while taking care of your teammates and making sure not to step on any toes.
But in the aftermath of two stinging home defeats that have effectively torpedoed the season – the dreadful 17-16 loss to LSU coupled with the fresh 19-17 gut-punch to Texas A&M – there was one thing missing amid the calculated response – anger.
Is anybody mad about losing two games in The Swamp by a total of three points? Did anybody throw a chair in the locker room or destroy a water cooler? Is anybody pissed off enough about a season that has careened off the rails and is headed to oblivion?
We sure didn’t see anything remotely resembling genuine emotion. You think Jarrad Davis would have been OK with this, would have spoken wonderfully about the leaders in the room? Hell no, he would have been chewing nails. And that’s the way it’s supposed to be, the way we never see anymore.
Of course we are not privy to what transpires behind closed doors. Maybe there’s a huge four-figure bill sitting on Scott Stricklin’s desk for repairs to a decimated locker room. And certainly there are many things best kept inside the walls of the Gator compound – the outside world, fans included, is not entitled to every piece of the team pie.
But it sure would have been nice to see some vinegar, a visual that losses like the Gators suffered the past two Saturdays have actually generated some anger inside the operation. Sure head coach Jim McElwain offered a couple of terse postgame responses, but he feels the need to convey the sense that things are still OK, that he still “believes in this team,” and there is still “a lot of football ahead of us,” (which there’s not, just three SEC games remain).
Problem is the Gator Nation is angry over a 3-3 team that is just as close (if not closer) to being 1-5 than it is to being 5-1, and would like to feel that those on the frontline are seething as well over a half-season of mediocre play. The injuries and suspensions are legit factors but also serve as unacceptable excuses for a team that has yet to play a solid, 60-minute football game.
A pair of losses in the barely-feared Swamp has doused the fire for a season in which the stated hope was not only to get back to Atlanta for the third straight year but to “kick the door in” this time. That won’t happen, but maybe there’s a door somewhere within the Gator complex sporting a huge kicked-in hole. And maybe there are folks who are overtly angry.
We’ll never know . . .
Equally galling was listening to the payers refer to the “Iittle things” that are preventing this team from achieving success. Poppycock. It’s “big things.” Failing to convert third-and-1 THREE times is not a little thing. In fact, it was a key reason why the Gators lost again.
Still nursing a 17-16 lead with five minutes left, the Gators failed to pick up a third-and-1 from their own 36 (when they lined up in the shotgun/pistol formation and pitched it back to Malik Davis who had to actually pick up six yards to gain the necessary one yard to move the chains). Bad call, worse execution.
One failure begat another when punter Johnny Townsend then allowed ace A&M punt returner Christian Kirk to field a juicy, returnable punt and bring it back 43 yards to the Gator 39-yard line, setting up the Aggies’ winning field goal.
The inefficiency of the Gator special teams is flat-out ridiculous, and has been extremely costly in defeat. Coming into the contest, the Gators had given up 165 yards in punt returns, a preposterous figure – no other SEC team had given up more than 95, and four teams had yielded 13 or less. It was 58 more to the Aggies, including the critical 43-yarder to Kirk in the waning moments.
Again, this is not a “little thing” – crappy special teams play, besides being inexcusable, is a major deal on a mediocre team with a lousy offense. Special teams should be a hammer in Florida’s favor and sadly it’s more like a kid’s water gun leaking all over itself.
Inability to convert third-and-1, inability to cover punts (and not kick it straight to a dangerous return man in Kirk) – that’s how a team with a fragile offensive attack loses. Not to mention another slow start on offense (just one first-quarter touchdown, and 16 points overall, in six games) plus an equally languid third quarter in which the Gators were out-scored 7-0 (they’ve tallied just 20 third-quarter points this season as well). The second half was an offensive mess, notwithstanding the fluke 79-yard run by Franks. Other than that improvised scamper, the Gators gained 63 yards in 26 plays with three first downs after intermission.
The Aggies weren’t doing much either against a staunch Gator defense that stymied a potent offensive attack, but still couldn’t help the offense. Yes the Gators finally caused a turnover, snapping a span of more than 14 quarters dating back to the fourth quarter against Tennessee, but the Jaewon Taylor interception was tantamount to a 55-yard punt.
Instead, once again the Gators’ sputtering offense began all 15 possessions in its own territory, only three beyond its own 26. For those keeping score, in 70 possessions (not counting kneel-downs at the end of a half) this season, the Gators have started in opposition territory just four times and none in the last three games.
Simply put, that’s terrible work by the defense, a factor that sullies much of its strong effort. Units working hand-in-hand are a key to how many high-caliber teams experience success and it’s not happening for Florida. It’s no coincidence that Florida’s first touchdown came as a result of positive field position, a 55-yard march after UF began its first five possessions from its own 25, 15, 26, 23 and 25. This offense isn’t nearly good enough to drive 75 yards every possession.
These are some of the “little things” the players referenced Saturday night that of course, are hardly small in magnitude. In fact, for a team forever balancing on the edge, there are no “little things.” At the season’s midpoint, this Gator team has gone from aspirations of Atlanta to hoping it can qualify for a bowl game of any kind. It’s been frustrating and disappointing, to say the least. So maybe it’s time somebody showed us they were flippin’ mad about the whole deal.
https://florida.247sports.com/Article/Cohen-How-About-Somebody-Get-Angry-108962097
