Pumping Sunshine

ATXGator

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There are a ton of reasons to be frustrated with the Gators right now and I get those, but it seems like that is all we are hearing on this board these days... so lets focus on some of the positives right now.

1. Del Rio just played one of his worst games, but it was after being injured and not really practicing for 3 weeks (he was splitting time with AA last week) - he now has two weeks to get healthy and spend more time with the 1st team and that will help.

2. We have two very good RBs. Scarlett and Perine are both fantastic RBs and if we focus on giving the two of them the ball it should make a difference. Thompson ran better against Mizzou, but I still think he is #3 behind those two and they should get the bulk of the carries.

3. We have 2 dangerous WRs. When was the last time we had multiple threats at WR. The emergence of Cleveland is only going to help open things up as teams will have to pick their poison.

4. Brandon Powell got involved. I think it was good to get him involved in the game. Finding ways to get a guy who can make plays the ball is key.

5. The D really was incredible the first half. I get that Mizzou gashed us running the ball in the second half, but the D was dominant early.. I think Mizzou had 6 series in a row that went 3 and out. That is insane even against a bad SEC team (and Mizzou wasn't bad offensively). - This gives our offense more opportunities and if we can just fix some of those procedural issues we may open up a big lead forcing teams to pass and attack the strength of our D.

6. Last year we had a lot of penalty issues and McElwain did focus on them and we did see an improvement. I think that will be a big focus in the next two weeks and I expect to see us improve like we did last year.

7. We got a kicker! Yes... Eddie barley missed a short FG early, but hitting a 53 yarder was huge. That really helps give us more chances to score points. It is a big deal (especially after last year)

8. I don't know the details on Ivie and Sherrit's injuries off the top of my head, but I am hoping they both can get healthy and contribute by UGA.

9. Young guys got some playing time. We constantly talk about the need to blow out bad teams so we can get younger guys some playing time. We got that during Mizzou.. Reese and Moon were both in the game and so was Clayton and other guys. This is key to building depth and giving us any chance next year on D. These guys need experience.

10. We are 5-1. I know we haven't played LSU and haven't really looked as good as we want, but we are 5-1 and control our own destiny to get to Atlanta. I'm not sure if we beat LSU, Arkansas, UGA or FSU, but I think we have a chance against all of them and that would make us a top 10 team which would help recruiting.
 

SGG

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Sherit had his knee scoped I think. Ivie had some sort of hand injury(thumb maybe?), and I think he was out 4-5 weeks.

Can't remember about Sherit other than the knee scope.
 

ATXGator

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Sherit had his knee scoped I think. Ivie had some sort of hand injury(thumb maybe?), and I think he was out 4-5 weeks.

Can't remember about Sherit other than the knee scope.

Thanks. I'm crazy, but if Ivie is out 4-5 weeks after Vandy... that means he might be avail for UGA or Arkansas?
 

SGG

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Thanks. I'm crazy, but if Ivie is out 4-5 weeks after Vandy... that means he might be avail for UGA or Arkansas?
We'll need him more for Arky than UGay, but he'll come in handy against both.
 

BMF

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I like that young players got meaningful playing time. We have had problems w/ player development since Muschamp, on both sides of the ball. Next year, there will be several "younger" players who aren't necessarily starters that will come into the year w/ at least 1 or 2 (or more) starts under their belt. Clark, Reese, Zuniga, and a few others on the D are getting very meaningful snaps. This will pay off because next year's D will be very green.

We need a new OL coach more than anything. Not only is the OL not developing, we're seeing 8 false starts? That's coaching and lack of discipline. If McElwain keeps Summers, McElwain should start packing his bags. He ain't goin' nowhere with Summers....and neither is our football team. He's been here 3 years and for 3 years our OL has gotten worse and worse.
 

ATXGator

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I like that young players got meaningful playing time. We have had problems w/ player development since Muschamp, on both sides of the ball. Next year, there will be several "younger" players who aren't necessarily starters that will come into the year w/ at least 1 or 2 (or more) starts under their belt. Clark, Reese, Zuniga, and a few others on the D are getting very meaningful snaps. This will pay off because next year's D will be very green.

We need a new OL coach more than anything. Not only is the OL not developing, we're seeing 8 false starts? That's coaching and lack of discipline. If McElwain keeps Summers, McElwain should start packing his bags. He ain't goin' nowhere with Summers....and neither is our football team. He's been here 3 years and for 3 years our OL has gotten worse and worse.

To be fair... 2 of those false starts were on a WR!

I agree Summers needs to go after this year.
 

ergator920103

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Well, as a bonus we did move up to # 53 in Total Offense, tied with that juggernaut Old Dominion.
 
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NCOGator

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Another "positive" is that coming into that game they were the #1 passing team in the SEC and we made them look horrible. Yes I am a :pumper:Pumper, but I think we will still win 9 plus games. I originally said 10 maybe more but now with the LSU mess and losing what was thought as a sure win I still see 9 plus in our future. That is two more than anyone expected, plus being 1st in the SEC East right now is pretty awesome!
 

TN G8tr

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I do feel we have some things to feel good about. Sometimes it about the glass is half full rather than half empty. But we do have a lot of things that need to be addressed. It's always still good to know we could be UGAly or Vandy thus far. I think cleaning up the stupid drive killing penalties first. Second evaluate Nuss and Summers. That's huge. I still feel great things are ahead for UF.
 

Concrete Helmet

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We've got some things that are definite positives on both sides of the ball but it seems like right about the time we should start feeling good we get a critical injury or something. Our offense has some potential but quite honestly it's seems like an engine that is out of firing order....A nice pass play or decent run is often followed by a holding penalty or someone misses an assignment and we lose 3 yards on the next running play......In other words we hit some nice plays but are unable to sustain an offensive attack.....
 

TheBigClaw

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If we can just clean up the dumb penalties and the offensive line can start getting their sh!t together, this team has some real potential. Games we have left are Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, LSU, FSU. Georgia, South Carolina each look very winnable. FSU has looked terrible this year, hardest thing about that game will be winning at Doak and stopping Cook. LSU is very beatable, although I'm worried about their running attack against our line. Arkansas is by far our toughest game left. Good running the ball and good passing the ball. Will be a challenge. There is no game on our schedule that is an automatic loss. If we improve, clean up the dumb mistakes I easily see at least 9 wins.
 

ThreatMatrix

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Team definitely not firing on all cylinders but with QB inconstancy in personnel and play it's somewhat understandable. The most frustrating thing is that this is a team that can score a lot of points if they can get their heads out of their asses. Have to keep in mind that good teams have consistant personnel which we haven't. But now we have all the pieces. Looks like we have playmakers on offense with Perine, Scarlett, Calloway, Cleveland and Powell. And the D of course is great when they're great. Still waiting for us to put it all together.
 

Marianna-FL_Gator

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In the last 62 SEC games UF has gained 500 yrds of offense 5 times. 2 of the 5 we're this year! So...in other words (even though it's hard to watch) we're getting better.
 

Gatorphan

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It was nice to see us in the classic blue on white uniform with orange helmets
 

CGgater

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Side note on Eddie... his miss was from the right hash mark. Not the optimal spot for a kicker.
 

soflagator

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It was nice to see us in the classic blue on white uniform with orange helmets

I swear, if we come out in Jax wearing some kind of space-suit, white helmet garbage like we did against ut, I will vomit. Time to stop letting players focus on what we're gonna wear that week, and getting back to how we looked when we won titles.
 

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