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Walt Kelly ran a cartoon for a number of years that featured a possum named Pogo. Interestingly, it was set in a swamp. One of the most remembered images came to mind after watching the debacle at the Cotton Bowl...



At first glance, you might think that the Sooners were our biggest foe. A 55-20 whipping in which we surrendered over 400 yards rushing might make you feel that way. So will a bunch of our players “opting out” or being unavailable, including our top four receivers that accounted for 34 touchdowns on the season. So will continued defensive ineptitude that spotlighted just how poorly coached we were from a basic fundamentals standpoint. So will your record-setting QB whose carriage suddenly turned into a pumpkin with three picks and no TD passes, the first time that’s happened since he became a starter. So will a basket full of head-scratching play calls (back to back QB runs that got nothing and turned a touchdown opportunity into a field goal; really Dan?) and more drops than catches by your remaining receivers, or so it seemed.

There’s really no easy way to put it, but our enemy comes from within. And it’s not the secondary that still looks like a garden of statues much of the time, nor is it the other defenders that have so often been swallowed up by the blocking or left clutching at air as the ball carriers ran past them. It’s not the OL that can’t get any movement to muster a running game and it’s not Kyle Trask, who had a terrible night throwing the ball in a game many thought he never should have played. It’s Grantham and the D staff. It’s Hevesy and Gonzalez, and Jones and others coaching the O. And ultimately, it’s Mullen. They coached every play of every game this year and this last one, maybe a defining moment, was the most damning. It sure erased any memories of 8-1 and the high hopes we had in this peculiar year.

*I remarked in the box during the game that I haven’t seen a team this poor fundamentally, especially defensively, at this level of college football...ever. In game 12 we were still missing tackles, blowing coverages, and not lining up or getting set consistently. Hell, we had twelve on the field and gave up a TD! Talent, which will get a lot of the blame, has less to do with these poor fundamentals than coaching, or the obvious lack of it. When you’re still making the same basic mistakes at the end of the season, it isn’t the kids.

*Trask was bad tonight. A part of me wishes that he would have opted out, but there was some question about whether he was going pro or coming back. If he needed a sign, he probably got it. I can’t pin all his woes tonight just on him. We had some drops and asking him to run it in against Oklahoma’s run D, twice, was pretty absurd. Mullen seemed to give him the sign when he went all Emery. Just a crappy way for a great Gator to maybe finish his career.

*Certainly there had to be someone upstairs letting Mullen know that we had backs open in the flats and up the sideline early? There were a few times we forced the ball between the hashes when we might have checked down, but it was not to be. When we finally did, it was too late. And who decided it was a good idea to run option and pass to the back in the flats to the short side? That pass was to Rick Wells, the same guy who got driven ten yards into a bubble screen as a blocker. Who the hell thought he would be able to bull his way into the end zone?

*There were a lot of kids that played that nobody knew. In truth, some of the fresh defenders didn’t look much worse than the starters. A bunch of our kids looked lost, timid, or both. Patrick Moorer, #37 who ran right into the pick on one score when he was chasing, looked like he had never practiced. Maybe he hadn’t or at least got few if any reps. I know that some of the opt outs hurt us, but we didn’t look any less prepared defensively than we have all season.

*I’ve complained about how meaningless the bowls have become that aren’t hosting playoff games. Even though Oklahoma didn’t appear to be struck that way, our opt outs would seem to bear that out. I don’t know what the answer is, but it hurts me to see Gators give up on a game even if it is to protect their pro prospects. That kind of pride has more value among the old guard I suppose.

Dan Mullen, prior to tonight, had done enough with his offense, as one dimensional as it was, to engender the confidence that we could outscore anybody. Turns out it was a false hope. That offense couldn’t hold up in three previous games when it had to have a lock down defense to salve some self-inflicted wounds. Tonight, nothing worked. Most definitely not the D, whose high water mark in the second quarter looked to come after a tongue lashing by Grantham, long overdue I might add. They eventually rolled over and took the 55-20 thrashing.

I started off with a shot at Mullen and his culpability for this sorry end to a once promising season. His body language during the game was pretty lousy. It looked like he wanted to be anywhere but on that sideline. He’s got some questions to answer. Most of them he should be asking himself and not waiting for a few softballs from the press. The biggest ones should be, in my opinion, do you work your ass off, and that of your staff (whatever it is after some needed changes) to fix this wreck, do you put your agent to work and find a landing spot after you cut and run, or do you keep doing the same thing, expecting different results? All are possibilities, but if it ain’t question #1, you ain’t Gator and it’s time for a change, regardless of the possibility of setbacks.

What a way for 2020 to end, but good riddance and here’s to better days. God bless, Gators! Don’t let the rock roll back on top of you!

 

Well we've finally moved past the lost decade against FSU. There's no reason it should have been this long between home wins against those assh*les, but after taking a few wrong turns, we're back on the right path.

I was so happy to see us come out and stomp on their throats from the get go. As we all know, we've had far too many games where we kinda piddled around for half the game before pulling away down the stretch. And while the end result is still the same if we're winning, I still like to see us put some points up right off the bat and remove all doubt before halftime. Even after FSU's initial TD drive where they threw the entire Coach Cline green playbook at us, it was obvious they were in WAY over their heads if they wanted to keep the game even remotely close. When you think about where we were as a program just two years ago, right up until the day before Mullen was hired, and we dicked around in this game and got waxed for the umpteenth time in a row, the turn around has been remarkable. We've gone from being barely competitive with a rival that was having a VERY down year, to running them off the field and embarrassing them in back to back years, all in a span of just over two calendar years.

I really can't say enough about Kyle Trask and what he did for us this season. I thought teams were going to adjust to him after a few games and it was going to be rough sledding after that, but he never flinched and continued to improve every single week. A lot of credit needs to go to Mullen, as well, for making sure he was prepared and ready to go when Franks went down. Last night might have been his best game as a Gator so far. He didn't take a sack for the first time this season, he hit a couple checkdowns to keep the chains moving (and for a TD to Swain when FSU didn't bite on the fake screen), and he didn't make a single bad decision that I can recall. This kid was a godsend this year, and I can't wait to see how he performs next year.

It was great to see the senior wide receivers all kinda get their own moments last night, as well. Every one of them has each had their own individual big games and big moments both this season and throughout their careers, and they all contributed in big ways last night. I just wish Cleveland could have scored on that last tunnel screen they called for him, but someone whiffed BADLY on a block. Oh well, he'll always have the 98 yarder and the Heave.

Defensively, what can you say about the way they played at home this year? Even though we had a lot of easier opponents at home, three shutouts and only 33 points given up in six games is NOT easy. FSU kinda got some cheap ones with that busted coverage on the first drive and Akers slipping away on the last TD, but it's hard to complain about 8 sacks and only 13 first downs given up. Here's hoping they continue to get better away from home next year and we can clean up 3rd down in some of the bigger games.

I also can't say enough about Jonathan Greenard and what he did this year. I would think it's unheard of that a guy coming off a serious injury to join an SEC team for one year would become an absolute wrecking ball like he did. Hopefully he gets the All-SEC recognition he deserves, as well as an NFL roster spot, because he's earned it. I wish we could clone him and give the clones four years of eligibility.

So that's that. I said before the season I thought 10-2 was a very realistic goal for this team, and while it's bittersweet knowing a handful of plays were all that stood between us and 12-0, we're getting there. We need to see this on-field success get followed up by recruiting success, but we're on the cusp of something great here again. And again, it can't be stated enough how different things are now compared to the day before Mullen got hired. He deserves every bit of credit thrown his way for grabbing the wheel of the ship and yanking that son of a b*tch around 180 degrees back the other way. It's not easy to do in college football, but he did it. We still have that next step to take, but I couldn't be more confident that we'll take it.

Go Gators, and everyone keep your fingers crossed for an Orange Bowl bid!

 

Getting this up a little late after seeing it live at BHG. First one I've made in a few years since giving up my season tickets. The fact that it was a nooner worked in my favor and I enjoyed the trip down with c2 Jr. and two of my best friends. I'll have to admit that things didn't look too cheerful in the first half as the Cocks looked very efficient against us offensively on their first two scoring drives. They seemed to convert every third down, which were usually short yardage, and we were missing tackles to help them out. We couldn't cover the TE once again and just like that we were in a big hole to begin the game. Franks was still Franks and the O was sputtering in rhythm with the D. Started to look like the funk we have been under hadn't been washed off. Then lo and behold, we found the switch in the second half and were somehow able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and though it wasn't perfect, we got off the schnide (for the time being at least).

The crowd, which was sparse to start the game, provided some much needed noise as they filtered in and I heard Mullen compliment their energy on the SEC network. Let's be clear, we didn't just upend a top 10 team and we didn't look real good in the first half on the way to stopping our recent streak, but we showed some good things on both sides of the ball that should help as we prepare for Idaho and the Nole$ moving forward. 9-3 and a decent bowl are still out there and that is as good or even better than most expected at the start of the season. Here are some other thoughts and specifics:

*Got to start with Franks. First half he was what has become his usual self. Passes off target for the most part, either behind or beyond the receivers, laid one on the ground (luckily recovered it) while pulling the ball from the back on what was likely an RPO. Short hopped a bubble screen on a third and very long which led to some boos, probably more so for the call, but here was your sign that Mullen bound and determined that Franks wasn't going to F it up for us. Not much rhythm to that point. Passing was better in the second half and we were effective with play action after going under center and gashing the Cocks straight ahead between the tackles on the ground. His scores on the ground were marred by his immature shushing motion to our fans and the alleged mouthing of STFU as he did so. I believe one of our receivers came and interrupted this childish display. Feleipe, if you're listening, you need to understand that you aren't at WHS anymore and not the darling of Gainesville like you were in Crawfordville. You don't like the fans getting on your @ss when you play like crap and don't improve? Then find a way to up your game or accept that the stage is too big and move on. We are passionate and deprived. We want and expect better.

*Toney got some more touches and certainly made the most of them. He's a water bug if if ever there's been one. He has a knack of finding his way into space out of a crowd and making something good happen. Liked him in the Widcat. His muffed punt notwithstanding (which was our lone turnover I believe), the youngster had a big day and his TD reception which showed a big burst to split the secondary defenders was big. This is what we want and need for him and kudos to the offensive staff for upping his touches.

*The ground game was an obvious salvation yesterday. 367 on the day with Scarlett and Perine both rushing for over a hundred. Pierce had a couple of nice carries as well even though his last one was an option that got blown up. We looked real good running straight ahead or with a counter with the QB under center and the OL base blocking. G scheming the guards is something we seem to do well as opposed to the lateral steps required in the zone scheme out of the shotgun, but even that was ok today against USCe's front. Mullen seemed determined to minimize Franks' impact or at least lighten his responsibilities in the air and threw it on the backs and OL. They responded in a huge way and I hope we see more under the center runs and play actions.

*The front seven got pushed around early as the Cocks were effective against us with the run and the pass. We struggled early to get pressure on their QB and our coverage theme was keep the ball in front of you, which they exploited to keep the sticks moving. As mentioned earlier, we couldn't cover the TE. On one of their TD passes, Joseph reduced as if to take the TE, then let him run by for an easy reception while staying put to watch the RB. I believe he should have had first threat (TE) at that point when he bumped, so something is not clicking with him. This can't continue to be a liability in our man coverage schemes, especially when we face the Noles.

*I mentioned us finding the switch in the second half on O, but our D picked up as well. Tackling and coverage got better and we found some pressure for their QB. One big play late was a hurry that led to a short hopped pass on third down, forcing a punt when they needed to convert to try and drive. Big time when we needed it. Henderson's late pick to kill their last opportunity was also a big moment. We seemed to regain the "want to" and it couldn't have come at a better time.

*Special teams were a little sub par with McPherson missing a FG and coverage giving up a return by Debo (who is a great player and deserving of his accolades). Get better Freddie, we need you back on the return team! Townsend was pretty good on the punts and uncorked one almost to Alachua. He also remained free of the personal fouls this week. Probably a wash, but the missed FG looked for a while like it might be a factor in the outcome.

*Many are probably not pleased with the soft coverage and lack of pressure Grantham seems to be stuck on. I think it is in most part to try and protect our secondary, which is very shakey at times. We find ourselves playing guys who are either struggling with technique or requirements of the coverage calls. We have a mixture of youth and some who just aren't ready for SEC prime time, and may never be. Getting Henderson back was big, but the fact remains that this is a weak spot and the conundrum is do you keep them soft so we minimize the chances of getting burned over the top or do we sell out and expect them to lock up downfield? Grantham is clearly in the nutcracker where this is concerned and the LB's inabilities in coverage are a mitigating factor. Growth and better talent will be the eventual cure I believe. Until the, it will be a guessing game.

*Mullen's compliment of the crowd might look like crawfishing from his comments last week, but he was right that they brought some juice and helped energize the team in the second half. This was also the first time I heard Tom Petty after "We are the boys" live and despite mixed reviews I enjoyed it, especially when the Cock's band started playing and the crowd sang louder and drowned them out! Even though the stadium wasn't full (and maybe never will be again save a few games here and there), the crowd did their part. A good show for the recruits who visited as well.

Next step...Idaho. Just how respectable they are remains to be seen. A win and stay healthy should be the minimum order of the day, though a blow out with time to rest the starters and get the reserves some time on the field (maybe an Emery Jones sighting) would be great. But just get it done and then on to the Nole$ in the regular season finale. One last jab...it was great to send Muschamp home with the L, wasn't it? Onward and upward. Go Gators!



***A nice conclusion to the trip was a stop at Texas Roadhouse in Lake City for a nice steak and a Blue Moon and good conversational recap of the game. The way they all ought to end!

****Forgot to mention initially, but the 90 yard drive and score late was BIG. We haven't had a response like that in a while. I'm taking it as a good sign until proven otherwise. A winner grinds production like that out when it has to, not just when it wants to. Consistency in determination is as important as consistency in effort and execution.

*****Im not a big band guy, but the halftime show was fantastic with the patriotic theme (and a rendition of Amazing Grace as part). Hats off to the Pride of the Sunsine, they made me proud to be an American as well as a Gator!

******Nice tribute to Mick for his career as the voice of the Gators. One of the best in the business.

 

So I have a really long and sh*tty day at work and then an even worse commute that took me over an hour and 15 minutes to go the 34 miles home. Needless to say, I wasn’t in a particularly good mood when I finally arrived home.
Well, after spending about 15 minutes checking in here, I must have laughed out loud about 5 times and kept a smile on my face the entire time. Now, I can play with my son in a good mood.

Thanks for all you do, folks...you’re the best!

 

This has been a hell of a weekend and this message board has not disappointed in keeping up w/ the news!

If you visit other sites their "free" sites are inactive, slow, or have links to "paid" articles. It sucks!

Not Gatorchatter!!

So, let's jerk off our founder: Mr. Ox!! For starting the best "free" Gator message board on the web! It's taken a few years, but this site has arrived!

I've been a "VIP" member (i.e. I paid membership fees) on several other Gator message boards. As most of you know, I try to post up topics here as much as I can to keep the board active - to give us something to talk about during the long off-season. I tend to slow that down during the season, as it's pretty easy to have things to talk about. I visit the other boards for many reasons: articles, see what other boards are talking about, to see if there's any news we've missed, etc.

This board has blown up!! I checked Gatorcountry's "Swamp Gas", which I consider the most "active" message board out there and the Corral topic/commit wasn't even posted until - at least - 30 minutes after this board had posted it. True story!

Most of the other boards require you to be a 100% Homer or they will blow you out and - more or less - kick you off the board. The opinions on Gatorchatter are heard; pumper, realist, or negative. I love it! You should too!

This is the best overall, top-to-bottom, active "free" message board for Gator football that I've been a part of. I love you guys! I love CGGator - he's a F'ing Coast Guard Master Chief in real life!! He's an E9! The highest Enlisted rank in the military!! I love ThreatMatrix! He posts a bunch of knowledge! I love Cover2 (who doesn't?)!! I love LawDonkey!! He's an arrogant, know it all MFer!! But he's OUR know it all MFer!! I love gatormandan, gatorbrad, gatorJ, MJM, Nav, Marianna (I don't care that his "source" f'd up), aka, even 222222222 (tell Jeremy to step aside, please!), williston is my man!, chief & Lake - i get these guys confused....but they contribute!, who doesn't love crosscreek?, ATX, UR, OkeeJoe, t-gator, Alagator, CH, Navet, heversle, TheQueen (one of my fav's!)....TheDude, MidWest, T-Rex.....who hasn't argued w/ this guy????, theBigClaw (needs to post more!), same w/ NoFriends (WTF dude?!), Lee43 - can anyone say "Basketball"???, (I'm sneaking EuroGator in here)....Douglas....oh, Douglas!! I've butted heads w/ this dude before!, chferg!!! Anyone know this "jboss" guy? He's occasionally posted about "owned" and "destroyed"....can someone explain this to me? , How about NoTrain??? If you don't like him...well, you're an assh0le!!, alcoholica....his avatar freaks me out...but I like the dude!, NVgator - I'm surprised he's not a Mod by now!, Even gatorKev!! GatorinKnox - hey dude, post more!!!, soflagator - he's a great drive-by poster!! , Gatoraid81 - glad you joined up here! Oklahoma, SundaySunday, GatorSkin, blacklab, GR8 2B - you guys need to post more!!! Carib...TAG.....TN....GW....98MD...BNA....PE.....and how could anyone miss Zambo....and maheo, dammit!??? Sorry if I missed any of the regulars!

Bottom line: this board is the best!!!

If you haven't donated or become a lifetime or supporting member, please do so! The season is about to start and I imagine we'll see a boost in members. Some may be great....some might be trolls. But if you contribute to this site it's appreciated and we will know you're not some fly by night troll trying to ride the coattails of the best "free" Gator message board on the web!

Go Gators!!!!

 

Kirby watched his punt team go out there with Justin Fields as the upback (red flag #1), Bama in safe punt return (red flag #2), on 4th & 11 (red flag #3) and didn't call timeout to 86 the call. He deserved to lose for that alone.

 

Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar, all against Franks, just find a new sport to watch you dumbasses!

I'm a little shocked this morning at the hate for Franks. I don't know what else he could have done last night to impress some of you who already have your minds made up about him. Play defense? Do a backflip? Bang a cheerleader on the field? He had a great game. He wasn't perfect, he certainly missed Pitts a couple times when he was open down the field, but he was extremely accurate and managed the game exactly the way he was supposed to.

Mullen said it after the game, and I definitely noticed it during the game, but UTM is constantly dropping 8 men and rushing 3 on defense. If some of you were concerned with him taking a long time to get the ball out, it's because we had 4-5 guys running routes being defended by 8 guys in zone. It's going to take a while when the defense plays like that. He'll have all day to throw, but the receivers have to get open. If you have an issue with the WR screens being called, then clearly you've never paid attention to a single Dan Mullen football game in your entire life. His offense has a lot of WR screens, even going back to Tebow.

Franks dropped dimes on every downfield throw except one of his two incomplete passes, the jump ball in the endzone (which was his one truly bad play, Swain was WIDE open about three seconds earlier on that play and he missed him). But if you guys are going to take the small handful of times he didn't make the right read out of an entire game's worth of passing plays and judge him on those, once again, find a new sport to watch. Or maybe pick up a copy of "College Football for Idiots" at Barnes and Noble today. Every single QB is going to make the wrong read a few times a game, just get over it. We left after Trask's TD pass because we had to drive home, so I'm not sure how either of them looked throughout the 4th quarter. But I can guarantee all of you the offense is in far better hands with Franks than it is with either of those guys..

The offensive line continues to worry me, they just aren't opening holes up for the run game right now. For those of you pissed about the short passes last night, we're calling them because those short passes are basically our running game for the time being. We can't open up enough space to make headway through the middle of the defense, might as well get the ball out into space quickly and take your chances out there instead of counting on our line to block. That's the one truly troubling thing about our offense moving forward. We've got to find a way to create more space up the middle or it's going to be very difficult to get the running game going no matter who is carrying the ball. And the tight ends certainly aren't pulling their weight blocking, either.

I was happy to see the defense pitch the shutout last night. Even though the opponent was clearly inferior, the tackling was much improved, and there really wasn't much to critique with the way they played. Felt good to have the first shutout in three years. Apparently UK's QB is hurt pretty bad, so our defense has to be letting out a sigh of relief they don't have to face him again this year. Feel terrible for the kid, though, hopefully it's not too serious of an injury.

The one thing that frustrated me the most was UTM taking their sweet ass time the whole game. It almost seemed like their strategy was just to shorten the game so they didn't get blown out by 70. Mullen also mentioned this in the postgame about how few plays we ran on offense in the first half because their offense was in stall mode. Anyway, having said all that, it was a decent enough game, but the Two Bits tribute was awesome and it's always great to walk out of a stadium with a W. Big game next week, it's time for SEC football!

 

1-0 against ranked teams at Florida




Edit:

Mullen is 4-1 against ranked teams, 3-1 against the top 10

 

In a stunningly poor performance the message board lost in spectacular fashion to a Gator squad loaded with players nobody could identify without a program. The board refused to concede and trash talked to the bitter end......vowing to come back even stronger next year.

 

People are commiting here. You should do what's best and commit here too. Currency that's is afraid cannot, by definition, replicate into more currency.

 

This was McMurphy’s 3rd attempt to spread this false rumor.

On the first two attempts, Grantham stopped him.

On third, Grantham couldn’t stop him.

 

I can see it now. A relaxing seven days of...

‘78 in the gym, striking up a random “what if” conversation about UF football, with someone who unbeknownst to him, doesn’t speak English.

NV living in the casino, frustrated at going all in on an ill advised bet

Law baking in the sun, smoking a Virginia Slim, angry, in part because he can’t stop thinking about our facilities being worse than the 3rd world country we just stopped at, and in part because he requested “Dancing Queen” to be played hours ago, but nothing still.

Stephenpe waking everyone up at 4am for breakfast, and showing up on formal night in those polyester gym teacher shorts.

Sitting at dinner with Sas and Queen while they have one of those awkward, “we’ll maybe if someone hadn’t...” couple conversations.

Bart not being allowed back on ship and being detained by local authorities because of the “figurine” he purchased.

Fever finally discovering his element because they just keep playing the same “Red Red Wine” song over and over and over and over...

Alcoholica hammered—I mean hammered—and threatened with being kicked off at every port.

Williston, BMF and GB25 keeping us informed of the news, day’s itinerary and best beer at the next stop.

And of course, Ox leaving a note for the maid that if she turns one more of his towels into a flamingo at turn-down, she’s staring at a 3-day vacation.

Yeah, should be fun.