Kinda harsh Tom Jones article...

[Lake Gator]

Reality sucks, donut?

Reality ain't done yet.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Reality ain't done yet.

29 games of reality have occurred.

You can hope for donkey to change his stripes all you want.

 

[GatorJB]

It's a long season. We'll see how accurate Jone's assessment is a few games down the road. For now, he can KMA.

Two questions for you: why do you think Jones' assessment is inaccurate?

And on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best) how would you rank the gators' coaching?

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/jones-a-play-for-the-ages-cant-mask-gators-stench/2337743

Jones: A play for the ages can't mask Gators' stench

"GAINESVILLE — The ending will never be forgotten. It will live in Gators lore. Forever.

A Hail Mary. On the game's final play. To beat rival Tennessee.

Oh my.

"You can't put into words what just happened," said Florida's Feleipe Franks, the quarterback who heaved the ball more than 65 yards in the air.

"Crazy, man," said Gators receiver Tyrie Cleveland, who caught the ball in the end zone to give Florida a stunning 26-20 victory over Tennessee on Saturday.

The play will go right up there with Tim Tebow's promise and Chris Chiozza's 3-pointer in the NCAA Tournament. Legendary stuff, the type of play they slap on posters and put in highlight films.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let's get to the real story.

The Gators stink.

Okay, maybe that's a little harsh. But they certainly aren't a good football team. They were darn lucky to win Saturday, and they had better get their act together if they are going to make any more noise this season, especially in a pretty good conference.

Not to throw a wrench into anyone's chomp, but the only thing that Florida's victory over Tennessee proved is that Tennessee is awful and its coach, Butch Jones, might want to start collecting moving boxes.

Seriously, Butch, how do you lose a game on that play?

The final few minutes offered plenty of excitement. But don't confuse drama for excellence. This was an awful game. SEC guru Paul Finebaum tweeted at halftime that these teams were setting football back 50 years.

These were two mediocre teams playing a lousy game, and the Gators won only because the other team was more inept than they were.

"Obviously, it was not pretty," Gators coach Jim McElwain said.

Not pretty, but not unusual. The Gators haven't been a good team, at least on offense, for more than a few minutes now.

Yes, the Gators are missing some very skilled players due to suspensions. And, well, maybe all the worrying and rescheduling and rust because of Hurricane Irma had a little to do with what we saw Saturday.

Then again, I'm not sure I'm buying those excuses.

It's not like McElwain's Gators have ever been explosive. You have to go back to the days of Urban Meyer to find a Gators team that could sprint up and down the field and light up scoreboards. That's what Florida football is supposed to be all about.

But these days, Florida football is more about trying not to mess up on offense and hoping the defense finds a way to win a game. Something just seems … off.

"(I'd like to see us) play with consistency," McElwain said. "Play with some energy. Play on the go. When they do that, they play pretty good. Sometimes in life, (you have to) not (be) afraid to be wrong. Rather, think what it is to be right. We just wait to shoot ourselves, and (we're) afraid to make a mistake and cut it loose."

Even when the Gators do something good offensively, they find a way to louse things up. Their best play Saturday — well, aside from the Hail Mary — was Malik Davis ripping off a 72-yard run before being stripped of the ball and fumbling out of the end zone inches before scoring.

You saw that play and thought, "Yep, that's about right."

Realize how the Gators won this game. The offense had the ball for fewer than 10 minutes in the second half. Their defense scored on an interception return. They couldn't move the ball against a defense that regularly gets shredded. Tennessee dropped a surefire touchdown on its final possession. The Vols missed three field goals.

And Florida STILL needed a Hail Mary.

After the game, McElwain tried to spin the way a coach is supposed to. Maybe, he said, this is the type of victory that can get a team rolling.

"We'll get there," McElwain said. "But I will say this. I like this football team."

Right now, he's one of the few who do.

The ending Saturday was a lot of fun. The rest of it, like his team, was a mess."

Haters gonna hate.

 

[TN G8tr]

Why hell, next it'll be Wayne Newton working at the Jacksonville Times Union.

 

[-THE DUDE-]

You couldn't sum up this program and that game any better than that

 

[Lake Gator]

Two questions for you: why do you think Jones' assessment is inaccurate?

And on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best) how would you rank the gators' coaching?

1. Jones says the Gators stink and Tennessee is awful. I disagree. Then he contradicts himself and says both are mediocre. Big difference but more accurate.

2. Lucky? Sometimes you make your own luck and sometimes your opponent helps you. Sure Malik Davis shoulda held the ball high and tight after sprinting 74 yards but it also was an incredible effort play on the part of the Tennessee defender. Sure Tennessee missed three field goals...field goals are not a guaranteed 3 points. Just ask Pineiro who surprised everyone by missing an important one against Michigan. Those misses and failed red zone attempts cracked open a door to victory and the Gators, to their flawed credit, found a way to slip through it.

3. Screw Paul Finebaum. Based upon my high blood pressure and adrenaline headache I found the game worth watching throughout, aggravating ineptitude and all.

4. Whether Tennessee shoulda been in a prevent defense or not on the final play is a matter for debate. I heard post game opinions from so called experts express differing opinions on both sides. Of course hindsighters are always accurate.

5. No one is so foolhardy to think this victory means excellence is just around the corner but it certainly lifted the spirits of the players and some positive carryover is possible. I look forward to such.

6. With respect to coaching staff, I rate it a 4 overall. But frankly, my view is that of a fan and laymen, not an X and O guru. Bottom line, just win games. Be they ugly, lucky, unnerving, nauseating, controversial...just win.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

There is really NOTHING mediocre about a 120th ranked offense/OC.

 

[Lake Gator]

There is really NOTHING mediocre about a 120th ranked offense/OC.

1 win, 1 loss is exactly mediocre.

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

When you really look at that 4th though...66 yds came on the very last play that Franks and Cleveland made in the sand. The other scoring drive was 44 yards. I'm not seeing this magical 4th that everyone else "wants" to see.

You conveniently left out the 74 yard run. Granted, UT's guy made a hell of a play to force the fumble at the end, but you can't act like we didn't finally break through with that play. Davis just needs more carries now.

 

[playzwtrux]

@Lake Gator, you get the Biggest Pumper of the Board Award, Congratulations!!!!!

 

[ChiefGator]

As much as I hate to say it, this is straight truth. As much as I love we beat Tennessee the way we did, they suck so bad. If we were any good, we beat them by at least 3 TD's. The OL still is hot garbage, they can't pass block consistently and they can't run block to save their lives. As a result the offense is garbage. Nuss is also calling the plays which is a dagger itself. We seem to have another good defense, although they gave up some big runs late although they were gassed..... point being, unless the offense improves and quick this team will lose 4-5 games this year, and will lose in Lexington next week. Hope I'm wrong.

Without the two big fumbles we might have beat them by that three tds anyway.

 

[Lake Gator]

@Lake Gator, you get the Biggest Pumper of the Board Award, Congratulations!!!!!

Thank you. If I wasn't a glass-2/3-full type of guy, I'd shoot myself. Prefer optimism to drugs and alcohol.

Am I to assume you play with dump trux?

 

[TheDouglas78]

"(I'd like to see us) play with consistency," McElwain said. "Play with some energy. Play on the go. When they do that, they play pretty good. Sometimes in life, (you have to) not (be) afraid to be wrong. Rather, think what it is to be right. We just wait to shoot ourselves, and (we're) afraid to make a mistake and cut it loose."

Of the whole article this line stood out to me the most. The players are afraid to make a mistake... why would that be? You pulled a quarterback after his first fumble lost while trying to make a play for your inept OC while he was have a decent game. Everytime someone fumble trying to cause something good to happen they are pulled. How long did it take for Perine or Davis to get back in the game after they fumbled making something positive happen for this football team. But Thompson is back in the game after a linebacker goes right past him on the blitz to kill our QB....

He is saying not to be afraid, when he is the son-of-a-btch that punishes them for taking chances to make something happen.

 

[T REX]

You conveniently left out the 74 yard run. Granted, UT's guy made a hell of a play to force the fumble at the end, but you can't act like we didn't finally break through with that play. Davis just needs more carries now.

I was referring to scoring drives but outside of the last play Franks through for around 150+ yds in the game. The 168 yds rushing is an improvement.

Great win but UT is a crap team. They won't be ranked at the end of the year and probably shouldn't have been ranked just now. The SEC East is living off the past and not much else.

This reminds me of a win during that Muschump year that was fools gold. The year where we didn't count the loss to Louisville.

 

[Uncle Rob]

Two questions for you: why do you think Jones' assessment is inaccurate?

And on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best) how would you rank the gators' coaching?

7. Declining the motion penalty and clock management was bad. The first half offense was conservative but they did control time of possession with long drives. Second half they took some shots that didn't pan out but that's the way it goes sometimes. Time of possession in the second half is on turnovers and the defense. Turnovers came on first down, first down, and second down. We lost 102 yards of rushing on the 2 fumbles. Defense ended a long Tennessee drive with a pick 6 and then is right back on the field. Then they couldn't tackle and get Tennessee off the field.

 

[Marine1]

Our RB's ran for 184. Major improvement. Even if you take out the 74 yarder (which is stupid because it happened) we still averaged 5 yds per carry. 22 for 110.

 

[T REX]

7. Declining the motion penalty and clock management was bad. The first half offense was conservative but they did control time of possession with long drives. Second half they took some shots that didn't pan out but that's the way it goes sometimes. Time of possession in the second half is on turnovers and the defense. Turnovers came on first down, first down, and second down. We lost 102 yards of rushing on the 2 fumbles. Defense ended a long Tennessee drive with a pick 6 and then is right back on the field. Then they couldn't tackle and get Tennessee off the field.

You gave our coaches a 7?

BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Are there any other pumpers that think our staff deserves a 7/10 for coaching? Hell, they didn't even call the last play right.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

You gave our coaches a 7?

BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Are there any other pumpers that think our staff deserves a 7/10 for coaching? Hell, they didn't even call the last play right.

A 5 would be very generous.

 

[GatorJB]

1. Jones says the Gators stink and Tennessee is awful. I disagree. Then he contradicts himself and says both are mediocre. Big difference but more accurate.

2. Lucky? Sometimes you make your own luck and sometimes your opponent helps you. Sure Malik Davis shoulda held the ball high and tight after sprinting 74 yards but it also was an incredible effort play on the part of the Tennessee defender. Sure Tennessee missed three field goals...field goals are not a guaranteed 3 points. Just ask Pineiro who surprised everyone by missing an important one against Michigan. Those misses and failed red zone attempts cracked open a door to victory and the Gators, to their flawed credit, found a way to slip through it.

3. Screw Paul Finebaum. Based upon my high blood pressure and adrenaline headache I found the game worth watching throughout, aggravating ineptitude and all.

4. Whether Tennessee shoulda been in a prevent defense or not on the final play is a matter for debate. I heard post game opinions from so called experts express differing opinions on both sides. Of course hindsighters are always accurate.

5. No one is so foolhardy to think this victory means excellence is just around the corner but it certainly lifted the spirits of the players and some positive carryover is possible. I look forward to such.

6. With respect to coaching staff, I rate it a 4 overall. But frankly, my view is that of a fan and laymen, not an X and O guru. Bottom line, just win games. Be they ugly, lucky, unnerving, nauseating, controversial...just win.

Thanks for answering my questions. I disagree with pretty much every thing you said. The only thing we were close on is the coaches ranking, but I think a 4 is still too high.