Game Thread ***OFFICIAL GAME THREAD: UF vs UGA***

[SGG]

Don't count out Vandy.

Seriously.

I’m well aware. We can’t tackle, and our offense plays down to the level of competition. Hell, who am I kidding, us and Vandy are pretty much equal footing these days.

 

[AugustaGator]

WTF is with this board. I can't post unless I reply to something.

Issues with ad blocker and Twitter

 

[jdh5484]

 

[gatormandan]

That settles it then. Everything will be just fine.

 

[MJMGator]

That settles it then. Everything will be just fine.

 

[soflagator]

For some perspective, the big showdown everyone’s talking about next week between undefeated uga and undefeated ut was a 41-17 beating last year year in Knoxville in Heupel’s first season.

 

[SGG]

For some perspective, the big showdown everyone’s talking about next week between undefeated uga and undefeated ut was a 41-17 beating last year year in Knoxville in Heupel’s first season.

It’s going to be a beating this year, too, just in the other direction.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

This is the only hope I have.

 

[t-gator]

LK is what we just had. Career 9-10 win guy.

Not saying BN is the definite answer, but he did at least get us up to speed in the facilities/recruiting world, whether he’s the guy reaping the rewards or not. LK basically mocked recruiting again tonight after the game saying A&M’s freshman class isn’t great yet. Total clown and will never win anything. Also got beat by Lsu worse than we did. Again, I’m all ears on options, but not him.

Again, I'd rather have 9-10 wins and play some watchable football. Upset uga every now and then . Than what we're seeing now. Not advocating for LK necessarily but we shouldn't have fired mullen unless we absolutely knew we were upgrading. And no matter what anybody says, there is zero evidence right now that we have. Could that change? Certainly .But objectively, what are we doing better now, than we were a year ago? That's a serious question, not being a dick. I'm wondering why I should be excited or have any ounce of hope going forward.

 

[t-gator]

I’m well aware. We can’t tackle, and our offense plays down to the level of competition. Hell, who am I kidding, us and Vandy are pretty much equal footing these days.

Vandy is going to beat us. It's happening, dude.

 

[jdh5484]

This is the only hope I have.

There is another...

 

[soflagator]

Again, I'd rather have 9-10 wins and play some watchable football. Upset uga every now and then . Than what we're seeing now. Not advocating for LK necessarily but we shouldn't have fired mullen unless we absolutely knew we were upgrading. And no matter what anybody says, there is zero evidence right now that we have. Could that change? Certainly .But objectively, what are we doing better now, than we were a year ago? That's a serious question, not being a dick. I'm wondering why I should be excited or have any ounce of hope going forward.

Like I said elsewhere, Smart inherited a stable team littered with NFL players that had gone 10-3 the previous year. He took that team and went 7-5 with some near disasters and several embarrassing losses. We all laughed. Thats what gives me some patience. He’s implementing a new system and culture and we may even go backward before going forward. But there is some history that says it will pay dividends as we saw in his last 3 seasons at UL. I’m not losing my patience just yet. But I do think the final 4 games are critical, as is the way we finish in recruiting.

 

[Saulgoodman]

The problem is the better teams (starting this year with UK) will take that away. You have to be able to play QB, not just run if no one’s open. We’d win the first game we did that(Utah) and the immediately get shut down in conference play. As I said, look at Hooker for ut. That’s a dual threat QB. We may have that on the roster and not even know it. Agree we should be willing to explore options.

While I agree somewhat with this I would like for it to be put to practice so we could actually see the outcome. When AR decides to run, he is hard to stop EVEN if you know it's coming. He had a play yesterday where he made 3 or 4 Georgia defenders look like chumps on a scramble in the 2nd half. Billy could also scheme it up to where he only has a spy to beat in a 1 on 1 match up as well. I'll take AR against any defender in the country in a 1 on 1 and have confidence in saying he will win a minimum of 60% of those. Running is our strength, but we are nowhere near as potent as the stats say if you take all of ARs runs out of that equation.

And for those of you that are always so quick to say AR is hurt and that's why BN isn't utilizing his legs in the run game, give it a rest. $hit is getting old.

 

[lagator]

Like I said elsewhere, Smart inherited a stable team littered with NFL players that had gone 10-3 the previous year. He took that team and went 7-5 with some near disasters and several embarrassing losses. We all laughed. That's what gives me some patience. He’s implementing a new system and culture and we may even go backward before going forward. But there is some history that says it will pay dividends as we saw in his last 3 seasons at UL. I’m not losing my patience just yet. But I do think the final 4 games are critical, as is the way we finish in recruiting.

Bowl cut established himself as an elite recruiter from the get go. No one thought he was a great coach and we used to laugh that he was going to waste all those top 3 classes, but he unfortunately is proving us wrong.

If Napier was bringing in a top class I would have hope that amassing talent would eventually overcome his coaching limitations. But simply good, not great recruiting isn't ever going to get us to the top of the SEC. Then there's the fact that Napier insists on being his own OC when he is clearly below average in that role, and in game management in general.

I agree with you that how we finish this season, and especially how AR finishes is more important than folks are realizing. Can Napier hold together a team that has nothing to play for and see growth in the play of the most physically gifted QB he is likely to get? And can he hold together and hopefully build on a recruiting class that's going to be the foundation that determines if he will succeed or flame out in 3-4 years?

The odds are stacked against him because he is in a league where you have to be great at something to have any chance to compete.

 

[MJMGator]

While I agree somewhat with this I would like for it to be put to practice so we could actually see the outcome. When AR decides to run, he is hard to stop EVEN if you know it's coming. He had a play yesterday where he made 3 or 4 Georgia defenders look like chumps on a scramble in the 2nd half. Billy could also scheme it up to where he only has a spy to beat in a 1 on 1 match up as well. I'll take AR against any defender in the country in a 1 on 1 and have confidence in saying he will win a minimum of 60% of those. Running is our strength, but we are nowhere near as potent as the stats say if you take all of ARs runs out of that equation.

And for those of you that are always so quick to say AR is hurt and that's why BN isn't utilizing his legs in the run game, give it a rest. $hit is getting old.

What you and I see must be different things. I see AR choosing not to take off with the ball when there’s an easy 5-15 yards of space in front of him on those scrambles/roll-outs. I see him choosing to hand it to a RB into a stacked front that is forming in the middle instead of keeping it and running around the edge. AR is the one choosing not to utilize his legs and not our coaching staff IMO.

 

[soflagator]

Bowl cut established himself as an elite recruiter from the get go. No one thought he was a great coach and we used to laugh that he was going to waste all those top 3 classes, but he unfortunately is proving us wrong.

If Napier was bringing in a top class I would have hope that amassing talent would eventually overcome his coaching limitations. But simply good, not great recruiting isn't ever going to get us to the top of the SEC. Then there's the fact that Napier insists on being his own OC when he is clearly below average in that role, and in game management in general.

I agree with you that how we finish this season, and especially how AR finishes is more important than folks are realizing. Can Napier hold together a team that has nothing to play for and see growth in the play of the most physically gifted QB he is likely to get? And can he hold together and hopefully build on a recruiting class that's going to be the foundation that determines if he will succeed or flame out in 3-4 years?

The odds are stacked against him because he is in a league where you have to be great at something to have any chance to compete.

Smart finished with the 9th ranked class in 2016, and I’m not sure who he landed that year other than Hardman, who was a lock all along. Nauta and Eason were already in the bag, and he almost lost the latter to one James “JBone”McElwain. In fact, Kirby made an all out run at Jawaan Taylor(both of them) and failed to pry them from the ever charismatic grip of our yellow toothed wonder. His next class was #3. We’ll see how close BN can get to that this year. In any event, my point was about in field performance. That 2016 team was stacked and they regressed in every aspect from the year prior, while implementing new systems and culture.

No guarantee that happens here, but again, they were sort of flying blind. We at least have seen it happen at another stop.

 

[Saulgoodman]

What you and I see must be different things. I see AR choosing not to take off with the ball when there’s an easy 5-15 yards of space in front of him on those scrambles/roll-outs. I see him choosing to hand it to a RB into a stacked front that is forming in the middle instead of keeping it and running around the edge. AR is the one choosing not to utilize his legs and not our coaching staff IMO.

Not saying you are wrong. So, if you have a QB that has AR's gifts but refuses to use them, what would be your move? Or how would you like to see it handled by the coach? I think he would best be suited with pass plays that have a predetermined guy he is throwing to before he snaps the ball. If that guy isn't open, tuck it and do what you do better than anybody in the country. Either AR is refusing to do what he is coached, or BN isn't relaying the message to AR that our team has the best chance of winning when he doesn't try to force the pass and uses his legs to take what the defense gives him.

We are 8 games into the season. An adjustment needs to be made.

 

[lagator]

Smart finished with the 9th ranked class in 2016, and I’m not sure who he landed that year other than Hardman, who was a lock all along. Nauta and Eason were already in the bag, and he almost lost the latter to one James “JBone”McElwain. In fact, Kirby made an all out run at Jawaan Taylor(both of them) and failed to pry them from the ever charismatic grip of our yellow toothed wonder. His next class was #3. We’ll see how close BN can get to that this year. In any event, my point was about in field performance. That 2016 team was stacked and they regressed in every aspect from the year prior, while implementing new systems and culture.

No guarantee that happens here, but again, they were sort of flying blind. We at least have seen it happen at another stop.

They tied for second in the east in his first year, 2016. Certainly not good, but we aren't going to be anywhere close to that and in fact it's not a certainty that we won't finish dead last.

This isn't intended to praise the dwags for the Smart hire, but I just don't see anything to suggest that Napier is on track to duplicate their success. Is it possible? Sure, but I wouldn't bank on it.

 

[soflagator]

Not saying you are wrong. So, if you have a QB that has AR's gifts but refuses to use them, what would be your move? Or how would you like to see it handled by the coach? I think he would best be suited with pass plays that have a predetermined guy he is throwing to before he snaps the ball. If that guy isn't open, tuck it and do what you do better than anybody in the country. Either AR is refusing to do what he is coached, or BN isn't relaying the message to AR that our team has the best chance of winning when he doesn't try to force the pass and uses his legs to take what the defense gives him.

We are 8 games into the season. An adjustment needs to be made.

Another point on AR and his gifts not being used, no one is asking who’s making those decisions. Richardson himself said after the Utah game that he kept watching highlights of him running and admitted he felt like he should be throwing more, because after all, he’s a quarterback. Whether it’s in his own head, or coming from his camp, he’s shown that he’s trying to prove something through the air. I’ve said for months that he’s got people in his ear that seem to be dead set on him not being a running QB. Look at the Q3 pick against Usf. Nothing there, and instead of extending the play or even conceding and running, he throws directly to a LB. And we’ve seen as recent as Mizzou where he had the whole field in front of him on 4th down and had to be practically begged by the crowd to take off. That’s not on Napier or anyone else. He’s trying to be something that most indications are he can’t be.

 

[soflagator]

They tied for second in the east in his first year, 2016. Certainly not good, but we aren't going to be anywhere close to that and in fact it's not a certainty that we won't finish dead last.

This isn't intended to praise the dwags for the Smart hire, but I just don't see anything to suggest that Napier is on track to duplicate their success. Is it possible? Sure, but I wouldn't bank on it.

Ok, that’s semantics. They were 4-4. And 2016 was a garbage year. The fact that such a record garnered 2nd place that season, while the 2nd place finisher this season is possibly 11-1 and in playoff contention actually aids my argument. They took a significant step backwards that year in record and have been a buzzsaw since is my point.

And no, I’m not banking on it. I’m saying the uga fans went through just as much of a “oh ****” phase in year 1 as we are. I have friends and used to read their Rivals board.