Things I wished for & now I'm glad they didn't happen

[lizardbreath]

Okay, hind-sight is 20-20, but that is sort of the point of this post. I wanted all of the following things to happen and now I thank the FB fates that I did not get my wish.

1. Chip Kelly to UF: After the semi-disastrous first game loss to a mediocre Cincinnati team, plus his extremely underwhelming start in recruiting, CK is looking more and more like a bullet we were fortunate to dodge. DM is at the very least off to a respectable and reasonably encouraging start - CK is most definitely not.

2. Joe Burrow to UF: The kid is no doubt a player, and aside from the fact that I hate LSU, I actually wish him well. But one the things that put me in the "McElwain is a douche camp," was that the he kept bringing in other people's castoffs instead putting in the work to recruit a good talent and then develop him into an SEC QB. The stop-gap approach was a cop-out and a total failure that contributed to the dumpster fire DM inherited at the QB position. Regardless of what Burrow achieves at LSU, we need to get back to recruiting and grooming quality QBs without relying on whatever pops on the transfer availability list.

3. Anybody but Franks: I'll admit that I had given up on FF and didn't consider him to be worthy of further consideration. After last night's performance, clearly, I was wrong. He played like a young QB with some real promise, who is just now receiving some actual coaching for the first time in his life. Which is a damn good thing, because although Trask looks likes a fairly adequate back-up, and nothing more, he has the "command presence" of a door knob - and that is not a positive trait in a leader of men. EJ is intriguing, but a long, long way from being ready to start in the SEC. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad Franks is the starter.

That is all.

 

[rogdochar]

Not to be cliche, but "careful what you wish for" next wish session.
Good post covering stuff many must have gone into the game also sorta wishing.??

 

[InstiGATOR1]

Wow you see a lot of trends in one game. The one thing I will agree with you on is that unless you have a really special team lacking just a certain player, taking too many grad transfers too often can hurt your program in football.

 

[lizardbreath]

Wow you see a lot of trends in one game. The one thing I will agree with you on is that unless you have a really special team lacking just a certain player, taking too many grad transfers too often can hurt your program in football.

You are correct. I do. In the fullness of time, you may as well.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

You are correct. I do. In the fullness of time, you may as well.

If the fullness of time is past next Saturday then I will have two games to see or not see trends.

 

[lizardbreath]

If the fullness of time is past next Saturday then I will have two games to see or not see trends.

Quite so. Incidentally, my thoughts were intended as a snapshot of the here and now, but your point is well taken and it will be interesting to see if my "reconsidered" insights hold up better than my original "wants" seem to have - at least to this point anyway.

 

[GatorTruth133]

He played like a young QB with some real promise, who is just now receiving some actual coaching for the first time in his life. Which is a damn good thing, because although Trask looks likes a fairly adequate back-up, and nothing more, he has the "command presence" of a door knob - and that is not a positive trait in a leader of men. EJ is intriguing, but a long, long way from being ready to start in the SEC. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad Franks is the starter.

Hopefully, by FSU, I can take a victory lap on this prediction. There are definitely parts of his game though where you can see a change that doesn't have to do with the level of competition. The command presence may be the best critique I've seen of Trask. I think the guy did look like a guy playing in his first competitive game in 3 years behind a second string line. Made some 2 good throws and a low throw that still made it there. I hope to see more of him the next two weeks (meaning I hope we are a F ton ahead and he gets time).

 

[lizardbreath]

Watching this game right now but wow what an intriguing title for a thread, good one. I'll try to contribute later.

Please do, I like your posts.

 

[GatorJ]

You might be right, but wow, that’s a lot of leaps after one game. We’ll know a lot more about Franks after the Tennessee game.

 

[rogdochar]

Well, I'd love for Fileipe to grow swiftly into a QB that is "football poetry in motion". IMO, his "jump pass" falls into that category : it was fluid & in stride. Well done Franks. In Franks, we have a QB who fires tight spirals that are the hallmarks of a good QB. He can swiftly chew up yardage with long strides. He has learned a lot in a short time with Mullen and crew. So, the best is yet to come, but he must not digress.

 

[g8orbill]

Burrows was hardly impressive but did enough to win

but was anyone else dumfounded by the admission that he took 1 on line class to qualify as going to grad school and spent the rest of his time on football

he has 2 years of eligibility

 

[TNGatorBrad]

We need a Gator rewrite of that Garth Brooks song: "Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers, remember when your talkin' to the man upstairs; that just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care... Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers."

 

[alcoholica]

You might be right, but wow, that’s a lot of leaps after one game. We’ll know a lot more about Franks after the Tennessee game.

I think UK will be difficult for him. Rolling into Knoxville may be worse because it's a road game, but I think UK can do more on the field to disrupt him this year.

 

[GatorJ]

I think UK will be difficult for him. Rolling into Knoxville may be worse because it's a road game, but I think UK can do more on the field to disrupt him this year.

Until they forget to put DBs on the field.

 

[alcoholica]

Until they forget to put DBs on the field.

People can keep bringing that up all they want, and think it's cute and funny, but UK got him benched last year, UT did not.

 

[ChiefGator]

I try to remember that it is a team game if the team does not play well no QB will be sufficient. He needs a lot of work on being consistent, and somewhat getting to the right receiver. I saw coach actually coaching him in real time, I saw him correct a foolish action that should have been a penalty very forcefully. All good signs.

 

[78]

I'll need to see Franks against a non-directional school before I put him on my wish list, but based on Trask and EJ Saturday night, he's probably off ABF.

 

[Mr2Bits]

A telling stat I heard last night was that only 5 of the last 85 grad transfers have gone on to leading a team to a successfull winning percentage. Case in point, most of these grad transfers everyone longs for fail miserably!

 

[leogator]

Burrows was hardly impressive but did enough to win

but was anyone else dumfounded by the admission that he took 1 on line class to qualify as going to grad school and spent the rest of his time on football

he has 2 years of eligibility

I thought he said he spends one hour a day taking online classes.

 

[GatorTom85]

Burrows was hardly impressive but did enough to win

but was anyone else dumfounded by the admission that he took 1 on line class to qualify as going to grad school and spent the rest of his time on football

he has 2 years of eligibility

No, I am not surprised at all. I wouldn't really be that surprised if it was any SEC school but, given that it is LSU and involves a QB, I would only be surprised if the class in question actually required something akin to effort.