What a win over the Coon Asses! Particularly sweet given the sh!t talk that has been spewing from Baton Rouge of late. Better yet, we didn't lose one in the second half by virtue of too conservative and erratic play calling/sequencing (which have not left us BTW). The D is due a big hats off. They weren't perfect today, bent a lot, but didn't break, and the goal line stand was a thing of beauty. And they did it with several starters out, as if you didn't know that! Offensively, we were erratic, but actually made a big time play and found our running game against a pretty good D. Still several head-scratchers from the coaches IMO, but we survived them.
I personally went through a wide span of emotions during the game, alternating my cheers with streams of profanity. Don't get me wrong, the win, as I stated earlier, was great and much needed. But a lot of the same problems from several coaching standpoints remain. The difference may have been the level of mental preparation and consistent play, physically and emotionally, by the players. Thus, my comments will be broken into two parts...what I liked and appreciated and what I didn't (which could probably subtitled same old sh!t from the coaches and a couple of players). So here goes:
- Scarlett just keeps getting better. The guy has the best legs and leg drive I've seen from a Gator back in a while. To repeat myself, he's Mr. YAC. He seems to get at least two or three yards when it looks like he's going to be stopped. Loved how he just demolished Beckwith. He looked especially strong in the second half. Keep giving him the rock.
- The OL had something to do with Scarlett's big day. They were able, as Jesse said, to get a consistent push in the run game. Pass Pro was a little shakey, but they probably did their best on the 98 yarder to Cleveland. Thought the new center and the other youngsters acquitted themselves pretty well. Ivey played pretty well I think and made a highlight play when he wrapped and sealed the ILB on one of Scarlett's big gains. Glad to see this group progressing.
- Young LB's played pretty well despite some gaffs. Early on, they were slow to read some keys (e.g. Kylan was a count or two slow reading the back in the flats on a screen and got sealed by the OT; with some experience he'll scrape past that block untouched and blow the play up) and pressed the LOS on the play action, which allowed the TE to easily get open behind where they should have been in coverage. But that's youth for you. They made enough plays to be a part of the winning D. The kid from Michigan has a chance to be a good one I think.
- Appleby was fairly steady if unspectacular with a few exceptions, the biggest obviously being the strike to Cleveland. He made a big error on the pitch to Perine that could have cost us, but the D bailed us out. Hate to say it, but I don't think we win that one if the other guy was under center, so I do think we've upgraded the position somewhat.
- Kicking game was good and I think coverages were better. Maybe Nord reads Gator Chatter :). Punter was a big part of the victory with his kicks that flipped the field when our offense was sputtering. And Eddy made some kicks, albeit more short than dramatic, that we had to have.
- Just when I told c2 Jr that Perine seemed to be fading a little in the last couple of games, he has a highlight reel run, dragging half the Coon Ass D with him!
- Loved the energy and consistent play by the team. It's been a missing ingredient. Hope it's here to stay, especially with Jimbo and the Criminoles on the horizon. Bama's another matter for two weeks. It's important that we play with the same effort and consistency of that and energy against a heated rival.
Now for part two:
- The play calls/sequences are still at best erratic. First down is a throwing down way too much for us to fool the opponents. Of course, there was one big exception today and I tip my hat for the timing. Many will recall Mark Richt as the F$U OC consistently throwing from his own end zone with quite a bit of success. It also tended to loosen up the rush D. Still, we had little rhythm in the first half. The big play and the run game was great in the second, though I'm still wondering why we take Scarlett out on third and two (I think it was) to score and try the pitch to Perine. He would have probably scored if the pitch wasn't low and behind him, but my thinking is first, why even try it and second, you might look like a genius if it works, but you look like a dumb ass that's out thought himself if it doesn't. Might have been in the playbook, but wasn't executed like it had been well-practiced. It was a staple in Spurrier's time and we ran it and inserted it to perfection. Not so much today.
- You might disagree, but I don't know why in the hell Mac called time out during the goal line stand. I believe LSU would have called their own and it could have been costly if they scored and we needed it when trying to get in scoring position with a short clock. We knew (or should have) what their goal line plays, formations, and tendencies were and should have been able to adjust as necessary. If they'd have Japped it up from the huddle break, then take a TO. Just didn't make good sense to me at the time and I almost felt like Mac might have felt like we were going to give up the score and wanted to conserve some time. If so, bad message to send.
- Praised the OL, but Sharpe was anything but what his name implies on several plays, particularly in Pass Pro. But he's been getting beaten pretty consistently by the other team's DE, so I shouldn't be surprised.
- Penalties seemed down (haven't checked the stat line), but the delay that put us in a and-long situation wasn't good. Gotta have a better presence in that situation.
- Appleby seemed to lock onto one receiver on some occasions. There were a few passes that if he'd better read his progressions, we might have had a few more completions. Of course, protection was shakey and it's easy to get tunnel vision when you're on the move.
- Mac better buy Collins a steak after this one. His group saved the day.
On the good side, we beat a good team that we had to beat and Mac got one more signature win. I think he has two now. The bad thing is that winning might make the coaches believe their plan has finally been validated, and maybe it has
. But I'm inclined to think that if we stay erratic with the play calls and play not to lose in the second half against the good and better teams, there will be more UT experiences in the future. We overcame it today because the D didn't give up or out and they dialed up that fantastic goal line series. Scarlett and the OL in the second half made it work. Remember that we only had 60 yards of total offense in the first half and we couldn't stop LSU on third down. Whether this is a trend or outlier will be better known after next week. But enough of my critical ass for now. Let's savor a big, big win and get ready for the Noles. Go Gators!
*Sorry about the error in the title! I'll fix it when I figure out how :(