Bits & Pieces: Florida vs. Kentucky

cover2

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After reading a couple of threads, I think we'll start out with a joke to lighten the mood a little. Here goes...What did Bennie Snell say to the Florida defense when he ran into them at the bar in Club Park Avenue? "Excuse me guys, but may I push your stool in?"

:rimshot:

Bad joke, but you get the point. Snell ran for 175. He's a good back, but I couldn't believe just how many missed tackles we had. I was hoping we had that leftover habit repaired, but apparently not. I was not quite as surprised that the OL stunk, unfortunately. You won't win many when the opponent dominates both lines of scrimmage. Big story of the game as far as I'm concerned, but let's talk about some of the moving parts:

*Franks was not consistent tonight and it would be easy to say he either regressed from the first game or he just fooled us against an over matched opponent. Maybe a little of both. Though he wasn't real sharp, he was better when the game was close and made some good decisions and good reads and throws in the first half. I didn't think he handled the pressure when behind with the clock ticking. To be fair, the OL didn't make his job any easier. The missed opportunity on the two point conversion attempt was a text book case of Franks making his mind up to throw back across the formation, which we scored against CSU with, and completely missing a wide open Davis...on the side he rolled to! He may be better, but there's still work to be done, especially with composure.

*Poster boy for our OL woes is Martez Ivey. Tackle body; Guard feet. Poor Fred Johnson is a close second. But really they all seem to play with cement shoes and look confused on their assignments frequently. The SEC Network commentator made a good point on the step-gap responsibility that remains backside that wasn't fulfilled. Got to at least be able to get a punch and slow the guy up a step. Ground Hog Day.

*The entire D was not good. It starts with the DL, who simply got manhandled the majority of the game (when they weren't being held; a lot of no calls IMO). Our LBs aren't good, but they're really not good when the DL can't protect them. Henderson looked like our best cover guy in the secondary and I can't say much bad about Chauncey, but we gave up two TD's that certainly should have been better covered IMO. First one was a young guy that got caught peeking at the QB when he should have been in the receiver's jersey with him. The second I thought the safety had plenty of time to read the route and adjust, but it never happened. Losing Wilson will definitely hurt. Even though they did have a couple of good stops, the entire D better grow up in a hurry.

*I've alluded to what I believe were several missed holding calls by the officials, so you can read that as I'm not impressed with their performance. I won't say "we was robbed," but they didn't help matters. The homer in me also says as close as the field goal attempt was, it was hard for me to see justification in the no good call. I guess I understand the rule change that the ball must be inside the upright when it crosses, but I'm not agreeing with it tonight. Could have made a difference, particularly if Franks would have seen Davis! Moot point I guess.

*High point in the game was the 99 yard drive. It wasn't smooth, but the ending was beautiful.

*Freddy Swain was announced as the player of the game. Toney looked good. Franks, again, wasn't consistent with all his throws, but we had some drops. Cleveland had some stone hands tonight.

*I'm sure Mullen (and the staff) will be raked over the coals and surely they deserve some criticism. Personally, I felt like we didn't rush the ball to set up the pass nearly enough at the outset, but maybe what they knew about the OL influenced that decision? Poor tackling has to fall in the coach's lap. Illegal substitution penalty after the time out was inexcusable. I'm sure there are more. But if you didn't think that there was going to be some of what was on display tonight from this roster, you were kidding yourself. The fact that we saw it this early was a kindling point. The fact that UK was better than they have been, got pretty good play from their QB, Snell, and didn't shoot themselves in the foot like last year had a bearing on the outcome.

Back to the drawing board and another week of bitchin' in store. Got to find away to get more wins on the LOS. For as much as the average fans these days want to focus on the skill positions and the need for entertainment, the game is still usually won or lost at the line. I believe tonight helped remind us of that. Still a lot of football to be played, but it's got to get better in all phases as we move forward. Go Gators!

:chomp:
 

NVGator

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Season's over. Have fun with the rest of it. Sucks this ended so soon.
 

cover2

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Season's over. Have fun with the rest of it. Sucks this ended so soon.
Very disappointed to hear you say this. I can understand the frustration, however. Sack 'em up. There's a lot more ball to be played.
 

FireFoley

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C2, I love reading your analysis, but I must say I think you were quite kind on this review. Perhaps you were sipping warm milk while writing this and not booze, LOL. Not b/c of the result, but from my 50 yard line seat on my couch, I saw a lot of issues. But your best point that no matter who you have at the "skill" positions, if your "trench" players stink out loud, then you probably are not going very far.
 

NVGator

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Very disappointed to hear you say this. I can understand the frustration, however. Sack 'em up. There's a lot more ball to be played.
Sack'em up? We just got our schit pushed in at home by Kentucky and you're response is "Sack'em up"?

Some of you have an eternal beacon of optimism, hope and blind faith that I pity you.
 

GatorJ

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Failure to run it. Weird game plan.

Defense was abysmal. Some of the worst tackling I’ve ever seen us have. And 12 men on the field with time running down. Grantham is just a liability.
 

Homer J

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The talk all week was to shut down the run and make their QB pass but tonights defensive gameplan looked like something that Randy Shannon cam up with.
 

cover2

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Sack'em up? We just got our schit pushed in at home by Kentucky and you're response is "Sack'em up"?

Some of you have an eternal beacon of optimism, hope and blind faith that I pity you.
Save your pity for the homeless and destitute. The misery we've had for a decade didn't happen overnight and it won't be easily fixed. If only we could have hired Chip.
 

NVGator

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Save your pity for the homeless and destitute. The misery we've had for a decade didn't happen overnight and it won't be easily fixed. If only we could have hired Chip.
No one said anything about Chip Kelly. I guess I'll just chalk up the next 10 years to the rebuilding effort because it certainly isn't happening with Mullen, although most of you would have banked on it.
 

cover2

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No one said anything about Chip Kelly. I guess I'll just chalk up the next 10 years to the rebuilding effort because it certainly isn't happening with Mullen, although most of you would have banked on it.
Not pinning Kelly to you, but he was the splash many wanted. You may eventually be right about Mullen, but we're going to get at least three years from him. Next week will tel us more than tonight did, especially with Colorado State riding in on the heels of a win over Arky.
 

Gator Fever

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*High point in the game was the 99 yard drive. It wasn't smooth, but the ending was beautiful.
---------------------

Franks went into Driskel mode on that drive its just KY decided not to take advantage of what he was trying to give them.
 

cover2

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C2, I love reading your analysis, but I must say I think you were quite kind on this review. Perhaps you were sipping warm milk while writing this and not booze, LOL. Not b/c of the result, but from my 50 yard line seat on my couch, I saw a lot of issues. But your best point that no matter who you have at the "skill" positions, if your "trench" players stink out loud, then you probably are not going very far.
I don't know, Fire. Probably not as emotional as I might would have been had I not seen our early woes on both sides of the line. Had a bad feeling that came true. Poor tackling was disappointing for sure. If this continues, I'll get loud and profane, but I'm not ever going to be the first guy to man the life boats. Besides, I'm a good swimmer!

BTW, loved the Joe Lee Dunn comparison. At least Grantham doesn't wear deck shoes and no socks!
 

bayou gator

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Good review, Cover. I agree with pretty much everything you said. At this point, I am not sure of how much blame needs to be at the feet of Mullen. This roster has more holes than Swiss cheese in a whorehouse (inside joke). Anyway, it is fitting that this is the first time we have lost to Kentucky since '86, because this has got to be the weakest interior D I have seen at UF in at least 3 decades. Zero pressure, and zero ability to tackle. Those two factors are enough of a recipe to lose every single game we play. The OL looked like nearly every other OL we've fielded over the last decade, so I wasn't surprised at all by their play. And, Franks... is Franks. He might be a little smarter than Driskel, but not by much. This is who we are.

As for Mullen, I wasn't enamored by his hiring, and I let my opinion be known over the offseason. I think we can all agree that he is not going to be a transformational coach that sets the SEC on fire. He needs a few consecutive years of top 5 recruiting to have a shot at a championship, in my opinion. Hopefully he learns how to recruit better than he can coach soon, or this is who we will remain.
 

Swamped Gator

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I was not sold on the Mullen hire but I also am fully aware that he was dealt a crap sandwich. Overall I didn't think the coaching was horrible. I thought trying to throw after the weird Franks review was a dumb call and the 12 men on the field was absolutely inexcusable. I do think we can do a better job of getting David and Toney the ball. They are both a home run threat every time they touch the ball and they deserve more touches. Other than that I still feel this is the best coaching we've had in a long time.

Franks is still Franks but I firmly believe the o-line is our biggest problem. Franks would do much better if he wasn't under pressure everytime he drops back. He is going to miss some throws because he isn't accurate and he's gonna make some head scratching decisions (like ignoring Davis wide open in the endzone) but I actually think he could be serviceable behind a solid o-line. He should be able to manage a game with all the talent at RB and WR.

We sorely missed Reese and Jefferson on d tonight. Regardless we were absolutely manhandled on the line and I think our linebackers are still trying to figure out where they're at. Any competent offense is going to gash us on the ground.

Special teams looked pretty solid other than the Swain muff. We definitely got robbed on that FG but quite frankly we didn't deserve to win the game. It's going to be a rough year but I do think TN and FSU are winnable games. That would at least salvage this massive rebuilding year. There's no way we're beating Miss State, LSU, or Georgia this year. There's a good chance we lose to Mizz and USCe as well. I just want to see improvement throughout the year and a solid recruiting class.
 

NVGator

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Like cover2 said, sack up. This was never going to be a great year. Watch for progression throughout the year - that’s whats important.
GTFOOH, Seriously, Get the Fùck out. No one, NO ONE, saw this BS coming and it’s all at the footsteps of the O & D play calling. Stick you progress up somewhere else. That don’t fly.
 

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