- Jun 12, 2014
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Founding Member
Checking in with everybody, post-Charlotte and having only followed on WRUF (only thing available out here in the sticks), reading the stat lines, and seeing a few highlights. Emphasis on “few” but the one-handed grab by Ricky Pearsall should get a ton of play. Pretty amazing.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a brief update on my goings on, having missed an article on the win against UT, but I wound up in the hospital in Tallahassee with a bowel obstruction from a hernia related to a past operation. That led to an eight day stay with a surgery in a couple of weeks to repair the hernia with the mesh deal, so more time in the hospital is expected (not eight days again, I hope). Wrapped around all of this is a new chemo regimen that I had just started, so there’s more juggling going on here than is optimal, but we’re making it work. Doc says my heavy lifting days are over and I should be able to resume playing golf in a couple of months. And I’ve still got my boyish good looks…!
Now back to Charlotte. On the heals of a great win that featured a very good defensive effort and a well-executed offensive game plan (even if it was very controlled and run heavy), you were probably a little underwhelmed at the 1 TD, 5 FG performance by the offense that hiccuped more than it roared. Personally I’m not too surprised, considering the overall maturity of the team and maybe more importantly, the piecing together of the OL due to the suspensions from the end of UT. Listening to the pre-game, Billy alluded to Charlotte’s roster being somewhat unique in that they had something like 60 portal players on the roster that no doubt included plenty of experience with some talent mixed in. I don’t believe he was trying to build in an excuse in the event that we struggled, but I think he understands that our Gators are still in an infancy of sorts. They made great strides last week, but they haven’t arrived…they’re still traveling. So yesterday’s malaise really shouldn‘t come as a huge surprise.
* At least we seemed to have settled on a kicker. Smack’s long FG was impressive and going 5/5 on a day when the offense sputtered in the red zone was a good thing. I remember thinking when the first guy chili-dipped his first attempt in the UT game that if he was the best we had, it was going to cost us down the line somewhere. Truth of the matter, you PK is only as good as his last kick, but I’m glad Smack has gotten off to the start he has.
* Mertz got banged up a few times, but he keeps getting back up and completes a bunch of passes, albeit not as many long and over the top as we’d all like to see. I believe I heard Sean Kelly say during the broadcast that if he completed 70% tonight, he would tie Kyle Trask’s record of 4 games in a row at 70 or better. 20/23 got that taken care of. I like that Mertz can be the technician / game manager that we need at this point but also throws accurately and to our players and not the other team. Billy got pretty harshly panned for his portal misses at QB, but Mertz isn’t working out too badly. Just hope we can keep him healthy.
* If it weren’t for that pesky TE and the mobile QB, the defense might have pitched a shutout and held the 49ers to around 100 total yds. I coached with a guy one time that would always say in a situation like this that “If ‘if’s’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas!” The perspective is that we’ve got guys on that side of the ball that are playing with relentless effort, responding to their coaching, making more plays than they miss. We’re heading in a good direction.
UK on the road will be a test, though I’m glad it’ll be during the daylight. I watched them play the previous week and their QB has an arm, but doesn’t seem to be much of a threat to run. They had a good back and their line got a push and gave the QB time in the pocket. I think it was Akron they were playing, so they didn’t have too much trouble. Feeling like a return to UT form by the O, line in particular is a must along with pressure on their QB and minimize receivers getting a step behind the coverage. Of course, the D front needs to keep controlling the LOS. Their gap control technique thus far has been pretty dang good. Here’s looking for a great football game next Saturday against the Cats!
Go Gators!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a brief update on my goings on, having missed an article on the win against UT, but I wound up in the hospital in Tallahassee with a bowel obstruction from a hernia related to a past operation. That led to an eight day stay with a surgery in a couple of weeks to repair the hernia with the mesh deal, so more time in the hospital is expected (not eight days again, I hope). Wrapped around all of this is a new chemo regimen that I had just started, so there’s more juggling going on here than is optimal, but we’re making it work. Doc says my heavy lifting days are over and I should be able to resume playing golf in a couple of months. And I’ve still got my boyish good looks…!
Now back to Charlotte. On the heals of a great win that featured a very good defensive effort and a well-executed offensive game plan (even if it was very controlled and run heavy), you were probably a little underwhelmed at the 1 TD, 5 FG performance by the offense that hiccuped more than it roared. Personally I’m not too surprised, considering the overall maturity of the team and maybe more importantly, the piecing together of the OL due to the suspensions from the end of UT. Listening to the pre-game, Billy alluded to Charlotte’s roster being somewhat unique in that they had something like 60 portal players on the roster that no doubt included plenty of experience with some talent mixed in. I don’t believe he was trying to build in an excuse in the event that we struggled, but I think he understands that our Gators are still in an infancy of sorts. They made great strides last week, but they haven’t arrived…they’re still traveling. So yesterday’s malaise really shouldn‘t come as a huge surprise.
* At least we seemed to have settled on a kicker. Smack’s long FG was impressive and going 5/5 on a day when the offense sputtered in the red zone was a good thing. I remember thinking when the first guy chili-dipped his first attempt in the UT game that if he was the best we had, it was going to cost us down the line somewhere. Truth of the matter, you PK is only as good as his last kick, but I’m glad Smack has gotten off to the start he has.
* Mertz got banged up a few times, but he keeps getting back up and completes a bunch of passes, albeit not as many long and over the top as we’d all like to see. I believe I heard Sean Kelly say during the broadcast that if he completed 70% tonight, he would tie Kyle Trask’s record of 4 games in a row at 70 or better. 20/23 got that taken care of. I like that Mertz can be the technician / game manager that we need at this point but also throws accurately and to our players and not the other team. Billy got pretty harshly panned for his portal misses at QB, but Mertz isn’t working out too badly. Just hope we can keep him healthy.
* If it weren’t for that pesky TE and the mobile QB, the defense might have pitched a shutout and held the 49ers to around 100 total yds. I coached with a guy one time that would always say in a situation like this that “If ‘if’s’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas!” The perspective is that we’ve got guys on that side of the ball that are playing with relentless effort, responding to their coaching, making more plays than they miss. We’re heading in a good direction.
UK on the road will be a test, though I’m glad it’ll be during the daylight. I watched them play the previous week and their QB has an arm, but doesn’t seem to be much of a threat to run. They had a good back and their line got a push and gave the QB time in the pocket. I think it was Akron they were playing, so they didn’t have too much trouble. Feeling like a return to UT form by the O, line in particular is a must along with pressure on their QB and minimize receivers getting a step behind the coverage. Of course, the D front needs to keep controlling the LOS. Their gap control technique thus far has been pretty dang good. Here’s looking for a great football game next Saturday against the Cats!
Go Gators!
