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Air Force 99-03
Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (and a bunch of humanitarian crap)

 

Trask will be the starter

 

Some of you know I coach HS football. I have been to three straight title games and have gone 2-1. Second title came last night. Go me!!!

Not sure I could do this on a major level. It's not scheme or knowledge that I lack. I think I am smarter than most coaches because the ones I interact with seem kinda dumb to me. The obvious stuff they get wrong a lot. I see it a lot on Saturday too. I can't understand it.

Too often coaches focus on drills and individual stuff and don't teach the game. The smart side to football. They use big terminology without explaining it. Had one coach yell at a first year kid because he didn't slide down in the box. He didn't know what the box was.

Knowing football doesn't mean you can coach. Coaching is more teaching so players know what to do. This past week, we didn't put on pads. During practice, put the defense walking thru the opponents offense to the point they could recognize every run play based on formation, RB position, line stances, etc. Then after practice, reinforced on the white board. They were sick of it. Didn't care. We pitched a shut out in a state title game for 47 minutes and 37 seconds. The score we gave up was by the 9th graders we brought up who scrapped and clawed for 4 minutes before giving up the score.

When I asked the kids how it was going out there, the comment I got was "coach, they are running everything you said they would". In the handshake line, the opposing HC took me aside and told me he threw the whole playbook at us and couldn't move the ball. We gave up 93 yards of rushing and 62 yards of passing. About half of all that came on the last drive against the youngsters.

Coaching football for a high strung type A personality who hates to lose is too stressful which is why I couldn't do this at a college level. I just won my second state title last night and all I can think about now is next year. Didn't really enjoy the win because I didn't want my team to lose.

Kinda rambling, but our coaching staff, if they are anything like me, hate to lose and some of our fans should remember when the team loses, their jobs are on the line.

 

We lost our 11 1/2 year old Lab last night. Our family is devastated and hurting. This is my gameday buddy. Triton never missed a Gator game on the back porch w' friends and family. He was our wide retriever!
Go Gators

 

Gatorchatter Family,

When the Army blocked your site at work, I didn’t get to check in as much. However after 25 plus years in the Army, I am now retired and will be able to check in a little more regularly. Although I’m retired from the Army, I am not retired. I went to work for a great Oil Company here in South Texas as their “Safety Man”. I will promise to make a better effort to check in with y’all and I look forward to the Mullen Gators taking the field, kicking ass, and taking names! #GoGators #ItsGreatToBeAFloridaGator

 

Just want to wish all the father's on this board a Happy Father's Day. It's a very hard day this year for me. Being only 32 years of age and not having my father around anymore is tough on this day. This will be my 5th one without my dad but the real bummer is knowing I should be a father myself right now. My wife and i were supposed to give birth to twins in May but lost both during the 1st trimester. Then lost another a few months ago in the 1st trimester so it's a bad day for me but I wish all the dads a great day.

Cherish the moments you have with you're kids and don't take it for granted because their are people out there who would love to be in youre position tomorrow and can't be. All I've ever wanted was to be able to be a dad and raise my kids the way I was... As a Gator! I'm most likely never gonna get that chance because of my situation so just be thankful to be a dad and to have a day just for you.

A gator win tomorrow would be a nice pick me up for such a gloomy day. Go Gators!!!

 

6 lb , 15 oz baby boy

 

So I've purposely waited a little while to post my thoughts on the Missouri game, partially so I could rewatch it on DVR, and partially because I wanted to process what I had to say. The game itself at face value was a smashing success. Seeing how Missouri has given us fits whether we've beaten them or not since they joined the East, it was nice to beat them up for once. I'll go around each position group and offer up some points of wisdom for your reading pleasure.

QB - Obviously Del Rio had a rough game. I don't know if it was rust, or if he's still not back to 100%, but he wasn't even close to his best. Underthrows and bad decisions were the story of the game for him. I will say that he did make some absolutely fantastic plays to keep drives alive, the most impressive being his early deep toss to Cleveland under pressure in the pouring rain, and the deep out to Powell in the 2nd half on 3rd and long. The one really big positive about what he did Saturday was he only took one sack despite being under pressure quite a bit. He's very crafty at avoiding the pressure and getting away from the pocket when he needs to instead of panicking and bolting immediately (Driskel and Treon style). And he knows how to throw the ball away. Now we just need him to recognize early that if the primary option on a route tree is double covered, he should maybe go somewhere else with the ball.

RB - The running back by committee didn't bother me until Herndon got in there. Not sure what the hell that was all about. Scarlett and Perine remain our best threats at RB, but Thompson had some very, very good runs himself and seemed to be reading his blocks much better than he was earlier in the season. The three of them combined for 33 carries for 272 yards, a 8.24 ypc average. We can piss and moan about RBBC all we want, but those are GREAT numbers. Some here have said we only had that many yards because we wore them out, but that's sorta the point of RBBC. You've got three fresh RBs going up against a tired defense in the 4th quarter. Look at how Cook and Henry did against us late in those games last year if you want to know how that works out.

WR - Another rough game for this position group outside of Cleveland. Callaway seems to be lost in Neverland somewhere, his head hasn't been in it all year. Two false starts, and he stopped and waited on the ball on Del Rio's pick in the 3rd quarter instead of coming back to the ball. The defender made a nice play to jump the route, but if Callaway had kept coming back, maybe that's just a PBU instead of an INT. Several times during the game, I was watching the route tree and absolutely nobody was getting open. Then when Del Rio scrambled, nobody worked to get open on his side to give him an option for an outlet. Bright side is we have a legit threat in Cleveland, and I hope they can work him into the passing game more as the season rolls on.

TE - Not much to say other than Goolsby and Lewis both remain as good security blankets in the passing game. The throwback to Goolsby was a thing of beauty (my all time favorite offensive play is the rollout throwback to the TE, makes me happier than a fat kid in a candy store).

OL - All in all, they honestly had a pretty good game outside of the penalties. Del Rio only took one sack and they paved the way for almost 300 yards rushing. Most of the times LDR was running for his life was because of the aforementioned lack of ability to get open by the WR. They let in some pressure here and there, but it was a more consistent performance than we're used to seeing from these guys. As far as the false starts are concerned, it looked to me like Dillard was a half count too late snapping the ball. I know people here and Musburger/Palmer (ugh) were blaming the speed rush of Missouri, but it really didn't seem like LDR and Dillard were on the same page with the cadence. If these guys can continue to set the edge on outside runs like they did Saturday, our run game is going to become a real strength for us.

All in all, what I saw from the offense was a "close, but no cigar" kinda day. It was another weird performance like North Texas in which we put up tons of yards, but it didn't show on the scoreboard. I'm hoping that whatever the issue was with the false starts, it gets addressed in practice the next two weeks and they iron it out. Because without those, we're scoring a hell of a lot more points. I'm also continuously baffled at the decision to run on 2nd & long after an incomplete pass on 1st down every single time. I get the strategy, and it makes sense, but you can't do it 100% of the time. I don't see why we can't use the fact that we always run on 2nd & long to our advantage and maybe run some playaction passes to the outside portions of the field. Every DC we face knows what we do on 2nd & long, so we should exploit that. I was also happy to see us take multiple shots down the field. Even if we only hit one of them, you've got to make the defense at least think you're going to throw it deep. That's something Muschamp has still never figured out.

Defensively, there's not much to say other than we completely and utterly shut down a passing offense that was in the top 10 nationally. I know they've played some weak teams and padded their stats, but many people here were wringing their hands over this passing attack all week and thinking we were about to get smoked. What I saw was a cat toying with a mouse and then finally killing it with two pick 6's. Drew Lock had 4 complete passes, one of which was a quick screen, and one of which was one of those quick toss jet sweeps where it counts as a pass because he tosses the ball forward. So Drew Lock, who everyone was so afraid of, had TWO complete passes downfield the whole game. You guys can make all the sarcastic "DBU" comments you want, but that was just about as dominant as it gets.

The rushing yards we gave up were ok in my book. The way Missouri's offense was, and I'm not sure if this was apparent on TV, is they spread you wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy out. I'm talking there were times when there wasn't a WR within 20 yards of the tackle box in either direction. By design, they spread as many defenders out as they can and then try to sneak the RB up the middle. If an OL or two can get to the second level and disrupt the LBs long enough for the RB to slip by, you get a gash. Most of their running plays against the first string guys ended up in the negative or 0-3 yard range, but they hit a couple plays here and there. Then they padded their stats with like 160 yards against our scrubs, so whatever. Since they're literally the only team we'll play the rest of the year that runs an offense like that, it doesn't bother me.

What does bother me is Jarrad Davis being hurt. He couldn't put one iota of weight on his left foot coming off the field. That's bad. Really bad. He's lucky it's not broken, but I'm guessing there's going to be some type of tear in his ankle ligaments. I'll be shocked if he comes back at all this year. Nice thing is, Reese filled in admirably, and Anzalone had another solid game. But neither of them can get hurt now, because the drop off after them is drastic.

At the end of the day, winning "ugly" 40-14 is a hell of a lot better than losing "ugly" 42-13 (like the last time Missouri came to Gainesville). Looking forward at the rest of the season, @Arkansas remains our toughest test. UGA is in shambles and has been all year, still very fortunate to not be a 2-win team. USC is an absolute joke. They might score about 6 points at most on us in the Swamp. We'll see with LSU and FSU, as they're both Jekyll & Hyde teams. Being on the road against them sucks, but it is what it is at this point. Arkansas is going to be a tough one, though. They've been really balanced on offense and their defense has shown improvement. They also get a bye week while we play UGA. It's going to take our best game of the year to beat them, so hopefully our boys are healthy and up to the task.

Thanks for reading my novel, I'll be doing a book signing this afternoon at 4 if anyone's interested. Go Gators!

 

Folks, by the grace of God and sweet baby Jesus mine and my parents houses were spared. I had no housing or roof damage and no flooding and im waiting for a check on the parents but initial report is theirs is fine too. My fence is long gone, nowhere to be found, and the roof on my workshop is gone but thats it. Nothing to the house. The beach side was largely spared; we were just west of the western eyewall. Panama City townside, is a different story. The whole town is absolutely demolished. Total devastation - were talking Andrew and Katrina (minus flooding) level catastrophe. Nothing was spared. Will take at least a week for road crews to clear the roads - they are really bad.

I had a buddy who almost died - his dogs did. He barely made it through. Townside of PC got the western edge of the eyewall and had sustained CAT 5 winds. The weather services were under reporting at the end. All the local wind readings in PC to mexico beach were above 160 until they just quit working once the eye was fully on shore.

Thanking the Lord that my family got out and are safe. Praying for literally thousands of people that stayed and hundreds more that are still unnaccounted for and not responding. I have freinds and family of freinds who havent been heard from since the eyewall came ashore. Cell service is actually decent and has been throughout the storm, so many are fearing the worst for these folks. If any of you are religious types, I ask you to take a moment right now and say a prayer for these people.

God Bless.

 

USA 1985-1998, then some Other Government stuff.
Enjoy the rest of your day fellas, and remember Remembrance/Armistice Day for all our allies today... it's their Memorial Day.

 

THANK YOU to all of you Vets for keeping this country safe and secure...
I'll refrain from posting my ROTC picture
But I do have a special thanks to my favorite drill instructor when I was growing up...
Thanks Dad -
RIP "Big Ed" -
USAF SSgt '57 - '65 | GI Bill - UF '69 | USArmy Reserve MSgt '73 - '90.

 

I was going to say at least I'm the highest rated female, but then I saw Slevin was in the top 10.

 

There's a four- or five-hour documentary on the band and its G'ville roots and its rise that's really worth the sitdown. Saw it a several years ago, then again a few years ago, maybe on Netflix. Really well done. They went through some hell together before they got it together.

It'll be a collector's item now. Sheez, hard to believe he's gone.

All of this on what was a great day for me personally. I've been battling bladder cancer for five months. Got a clean bill just today.

 

Free shoes to be exact. The irony is real.

 

One thing I'll say for Franks. He may not be a great QB, but he is one tough SOB.

The whole team is tough and physical in a way we haven't seen in years.

 

My only concern is too many people here starting to like one another.

 

Don’t look now, but… the Gators are doing these things

Some, mostly, nice facts/stats about where we stand at this point in the season. Very little to really complain about. Let's have a great second half and kick some UGA butt!!


DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... PUTTIN' UP POINTS
Don’t look now, but the Gators are 4th in the SEC in Scoring Offense. At 34.4 points per game, Florida trails only Alabama (53.6), Ole Miss (41.6), and Georgia (36.7). It should be noted that they are barely ahead of Missouri (34.2) in the league. It should also be noted that Florida has played three of the four top scoring defenses in the conference (Mississippi State, Kentucky, and LSU). In 2017, the Gators finished 13th in scoring offense (22.1).

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... RED ZONE SCORING
Don’t look now, but Florida is four scores in the red zone away from tying last year’s total.Amazingly enough, with the lack of scoring a year ago, the Gators were really proficient in scoring in the red zone. That had a bit to do with kicker Eddy Pineiro, but Florida scored all but once when they made it into the red zone, getting points on 30 of 31 tries which was best in the SEC. But, seven games into this season, the Gators have scored 26 times from the red zone, missing on three giving them the fourth best percentage in the SEC.

DON'T LOOK NOW. BUT... TOUCHDOWN STRIKES
Don’t look now, but the 16 touchdown passes in seven games surpasses five of the last eight seasons totals. Feleipe Franks (15) and Kadarius Toney (1) have thrown 16 touchdown passes for the Gators in 2018. Only the 2014 (18), 2015 (20), and 2016 (18) squads finished the season with more in the ENTIRE season. The Gators had a low of 10 touchdown passes a year ago and 11 in 2013.

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... AIR DELIVERY
Don’t look now, but the Gators are scoring much more through the air than on the ground. Florida has 16 touchdown passes and just 10 touchdowns via the run. The preseason thought was that Florida was going to have to rely on a heavy dose of the running game and let the passing game come along as Feleipe Franks got more comfortable. Well, that kind of went out the window early when the running game was slow to get started and Franks threw for five touchdowns in the season opener against Charleston Southern. In the previous eight years, only the 2015 and 2016 seasons saw the Gators pass for more touchdowns than run for touchdowns.

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... POCKET PROTECTORS
Don’t look now, but the Gators have given up just nine sacks in seven games (1.29 per game). Last year, Florida quarterbacks were sacked 37 times (3.36/ game). That is more than two sacks per game improvement. A big note to that is Florida has already played the five best sack teams they will face in the SEC. Future opponents South Carolina (12th), Georgia (13th), and Missouri (14th) are the bottom three in that department in the SEC.

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... SACK MASTERS
Don’t look now, but the Gators are two sacks away from last year’s team total. Staying on the sack category, but this time for the Florida defense, the Gators are really getting after the quarterback. Florida has 21 sacks on the season and finished with 23 in 11 games a year ago. They fell behind Alabama this week which now has 23, but are still headed in the right direction. Florida’s Jachai Polite (7.0 sacks) is a half sack off of the lead in the SEC, while Jabari Zuniga (4.5) is tied for 6th in the conference. We will have to see how this plays out for the rest of the season as Missouri and South Carolina are two of the top four teams in not giving up sacks.

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... DBU
Don’t look now, but DBU is defending the second most passes per game in the last 10 years.Florida has broken up 32 passes in seven games and intercepted seven. The 39 passes defended equates to 5.57 per game. Only the 2014 defense had a higher rate of defensed passes in the last 10 years when they averaged 6.50 per game.

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... PENALTIES
Don’t look now, but… honestly nothing new with penalties against the Gators. In the same as it ever was category, there is certainly something to be said about Florida being the most penalized team in the SEC on average over the last three decades. We have seen Dan Mullen blow a gasket a couple of times in recent games wanting games to be called evenly, but the Gators still remain one of the most penalized teams in the league. Right now they are 12th in the league in penalties against averaging 71.0 yards per game in that category.

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... EVAN MCPHERSON
Don’t look now, but Florida freshman kicker Evan McPherson leads the SEC in field goal percentage. Taking over where Eddy Pineiro left off, McPherson has made good on 11 of his 12 field goal attempts this year and everybody but the ref that matters believes he is actually perfect on the season. Pineiro led the SEC in field goal percentage last year hitting on 17 of 18 attempts.

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... FELEIPE FRANKS
Don’t look now, but Feleipe Franks has the second most touchdown passes (15) in the SEC. It was ok to put an asterisk by it when he threw five touchdowns in the season opener against Charleston Southern, but we are seven games into the season now and Franks is only behind Tua Tagovaiola (21) at Alabama. If someone would have bet you that mid-way through the season Franks would have a higher QB rating than Nick Fitzgerald (MSU), Jarrett Stidham (Auburn), Jake Bentley (So. Car.), Kyle Shurmur (Vanderbilt), Drew Locke (Missouri), and Kellen Mond (Texas A&M), you would have taken that bet. But he does.

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... SCARLETT, PERINE, AND PIERCE
Don’t look now, but the Gators have three rushers in the Top 25 in the SEC. That may not sound like too crazy of a statistic, but Missouri is the only other team to have three of the top 25 rushers in the conference. Florida’s Jordan Scarlett (381 yards) leads the way with Lamical Perine (376) and Dameon Pierce (295) not far behind them. A year ago, Perine was the only Gator to finish in the Top 25 rushers in the SEC.

 

My experience with Nebraska weather....(skip if you have ADD or just don't care)

So I have to travel with my job and had to go to Omaha in the middle of January.....it was 13 degrees BELOW ZERO. When I parked the car and got out to go into the hotel, there were two squirrels in the brush next to the car. I wondered why they were not running as I was less than 5 feet away from them. THEY WERE FROZEN....FROZEN SOLID. I went into the hotel and the desk clerk asked me if I had plugged my rental car into the outlet in front of the car. I asked why and he told me that at the temperatures they were expecting that night (-25 or colder) that my car battery would most likely be dead and if not, the oil in the car would be so thick it would not pump through the car...potential leaving me stranded somewhere. I was like WTF??? Then, the next morning, I had to borrow a hammer and screw driver to chip off the ice on the car so I could open my door and see out the windshield. I went to my meeting and told the story to the folks I was meeting with and they all just looked at me like, "yeah...so?" I thought to myself, "what the hell is wrong with you people??" and vowed to never go back to the state ever again. That was 17 years ago and I handed that account over to a newbie who later told me he quit the company because he did not ever want to go back to Nebraska.

 

Please indulge me while I honor my dad, a Marine and a member of the 1st Marines regiment that engaged in hand-to-hand combat against the Japanese on Okinawa. It looked something like this.



He took a Japanese slug to the gut and was destined to bleed to death if not for the efforts of several of his buddies who dragged him to safety. I'm here to tell this story because of their heroism.

My dad was a badass, a great dad and yet kind of screwed up, but he was my dad. I'm proud as hell for his courage and his service. Happy Vet's Day, Dad.