- Oct 5, 2017
- 2,306
- 6,270
Let me start off with saying that I am shocked, SHOCKED, that this board does not have a thread, or at least I didn't see it, about the newest kicker in the SEC. The kicker who 100% was not a publicity stunt:rolleyes:. The kicker who was gushed over while warming up kicking from the 3 yard line, literally a place they would never kick from. Seriously, kudos to her for accepting an invitation to kick and having the cognitive dissonance to not recognize it is a publicity stunt. My understanding is Mason went to Vandy's soccer program, not the other way around, looking for a kicker. No one went to the football team looking to break a non-existent glass ceiling. I'm sure no one here would care if Evan McPherson were Erica McPherson if she could consistently make 50 yarders like he does.
Anyways, now that we have the "historic" moment of yesterday, let's get to the Gators.
Stop me if you've heard this before, offense starts kind of slow, defense does a poor job early, even if not immediately showing on the scoreboard, and then both come alive and we beat an SEC opponent by 3 or more scores.
Offense
Kentucky couldn't stop our offense, but as we know, the best defense against our offense is ourselves. We had 11 drives:
Trask with less than 300 yards and 3 TD's for only the second time this season each. He did well completing 77.7% of his passes. Yes, the Malik Davis ball could have been placed better, but we've seen him make a lot more difficult catches and he's a scholarship athlete at UF for crying out loud. Same for the incompletion to Pierce in the 4th quarter. I think Mullen did Trask a disservice by not letting him throw on the drive that ended in a missed field goal and then not letting him throw on 3rd and 9 on the next drive and potentially getting another TD and/or 300 yards. He wouldn't really let him throw, but decided that running a QB Power while ahead and risking injury to Trask was a bright idea.
Mullen needs to get a killer instinct, I've joked he will try to run out the clock if we are up 7-0 on Bama, but let's be real, there's some concern that may actually happen (if Mac could go up 7-0 in 2016, it is more than possible with this offense and this Bama D).
Running backs, save for a 38 yard run (longest of the season) by Pierce, didn't do too well. Some of that may be the 18 carries total by the 3 main backs. They did combine for 10 receptions for 67 yards.
Kyle Pitts returned and showed he is just as capable now as he was before being injured. 5 catches, 99 yards and his second 3 TD performance. He also set a record for most TD's in a season by a Gators TE. His 11 TD catches this season ties him with Jack Jackson for #8 for a season in Gators history. With probably 4 games left, maybe 5 if defense somehow changes (it won't, quote me on this and I hope you can "in your face" to me later on that), he has a shot at Reidel's season record of 18. And that's missing 2 and a half games, with less regular season games. He has 17 career TD's. 3 more knocks Carlos Alvarez out of the top 10.
It was good to see Rick Wells get receptions when the game still mattered and Copeland get a big reception. Outside of that, receivers were generally quiet. A good part of this is lack of drives and then lack of passing on the last 3-4 drives.
The O-line still is who they are. Can be very passable, but not dominant. Will make drive killing mistakes.
Defense
Allowed 10 points with the only TD coming on a 38 yard drive. That's good. We'd take that part every single day (knowing that if we don't turn the ball over at the 38, the TD probably doesn't happen). Allowing 41 yards in one half, is amazing and I don't care who you're playing. Especially, if you remember how Wilson dominated UF two years ago.
What we cannot see, and what we did see was over 20 minutes of possession allowed in the first half. What we saw was allowing an 87 yard field goal driving burning half a quarter. Another drive forcing a punt after allowing 6:33 to burn off. The defense needs to get off the field.
Stiner did make some good tackles and since I give him grief I'll give him that credit. However, he also didn't really attempt to jump to bat down the ball on the TD pass, that he could have stopped by jumping, or at least would have had an exponentially greater chance of stopping.
Three picks is a good day for the defense. No one is going to confuse a Kentucky QB with a great pocket passer, but still, that doesn't mean 3 picks is a given. The first pick was a nice play by Diabate reading what was going on, making a nice outstretched catch, and good return. The second play was made by Marlon Dunlap. Dunlap jumped with his hands in the air in the face of the QB, making him release a higher trajectory, causing the overthrow that landing in the hands of Davis...who had tons of room to run if he went to his right. The last pick was one of the best plays we've seen a DB make this year. Johnson needs more time, but makes me believe we have talent for the future.
Special Teams
McPherson missing one was the only special teams negative of the day.
We saw a fake punt well executed for a first down. We watched an excellent Punt Return for a TD. Marco Wilson is what made that play. His movement and actions brought all the attention to him, leaving Toney with plenty of room to make the play happen. Before that, we saw an excellent "coffin corner" punt leaving the ball at the 1.
Quick Hits
If the defense could get UK off the field quicker on Saturday, this game would not have been or felt as close as it was. If we catch and take care of the football, this game isn't as close. Part of the defensive change could be aggressiveness and strategy. Another part could be going ahead by two scores and forcing Kentucky not to play possession football. Either way, another Saturday, another 3 score SEC victory that doesn't seem fulfilling as it should. We should be happy that this is the first time in 4 years and only the second since 2013 that this hasn't been a one score game at the end. There are definitely things to fix. Like I said, this is Groundhog Day, seems like I have said this weekly since the Georgia game.
On to Knoxville.
Go Gators!
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And for those of you, who like a Cincinnati broadcaster, think I'm from Kansas City;) (which in itself was a Blazing Saddles reference). I appreciate the comments from last week. They inspired me to say this. Check out Orlando City vs. New England at 3:00pm today on ABC. Go City!
Anyways, now that we have the "historic" moment of yesterday, let's get to the Gators.
Stop me if you've heard this before, offense starts kind of slow, defense does a poor job early, even if not immediately showing on the scoreboard, and then both come alive and we beat an SEC opponent by 3 or more scores.
Offense
Kentucky couldn't stop our offense, but as we know, the best defense against our offense is ourselves. We had 11 drives:
- TD
- Shorter Fumbles
- Punt after Malik Davis doesn't catch a ball hitting his hands, plural.
- Drive killed by 15-yard penalty (Literally 4 drives in the first half, we will get to that)
- TD
- FG
- TD
- Wright Fumbles
- Missed FG
- FG
- End of Game (Killed last 5:53 on this drive)
Trask with less than 300 yards and 3 TD's for only the second time this season each. He did well completing 77.7% of his passes. Yes, the Malik Davis ball could have been placed better, but we've seen him make a lot more difficult catches and he's a scholarship athlete at UF for crying out loud. Same for the incompletion to Pierce in the 4th quarter. I think Mullen did Trask a disservice by not letting him throw on the drive that ended in a missed field goal and then not letting him throw on 3rd and 9 on the next drive and potentially getting another TD and/or 300 yards. He wouldn't really let him throw, but decided that running a QB Power while ahead and risking injury to Trask was a bright idea.
Mullen needs to get a killer instinct, I've joked he will try to run out the clock if we are up 7-0 on Bama, but let's be real, there's some concern that may actually happen (if Mac could go up 7-0 in 2016, it is more than possible with this offense and this Bama D).
Running backs, save for a 38 yard run (longest of the season) by Pierce, didn't do too well. Some of that may be the 18 carries total by the 3 main backs. They did combine for 10 receptions for 67 yards.
Kyle Pitts returned and showed he is just as capable now as he was before being injured. 5 catches, 99 yards and his second 3 TD performance. He also set a record for most TD's in a season by a Gators TE. His 11 TD catches this season ties him with Jack Jackson for #8 for a season in Gators history. With probably 4 games left, maybe 5 if defense somehow changes (it won't, quote me on this and I hope you can "in your face" to me later on that), he has a shot at Reidel's season record of 18. And that's missing 2 and a half games, with less regular season games. He has 17 career TD's. 3 more knocks Carlos Alvarez out of the top 10.
It was good to see Rick Wells get receptions when the game still mattered and Copeland get a big reception. Outside of that, receivers were generally quiet. A good part of this is lack of drives and then lack of passing on the last 3-4 drives.
The O-line still is who they are. Can be very passable, but not dominant. Will make drive killing mistakes.
Defense
Allowed 10 points with the only TD coming on a 38 yard drive. That's good. We'd take that part every single day (knowing that if we don't turn the ball over at the 38, the TD probably doesn't happen). Allowing 41 yards in one half, is amazing and I don't care who you're playing. Especially, if you remember how Wilson dominated UF two years ago.
What we cannot see, and what we did see was over 20 minutes of possession allowed in the first half. What we saw was allowing an 87 yard field goal driving burning half a quarter. Another drive forcing a punt after allowing 6:33 to burn off. The defense needs to get off the field.
Stiner did make some good tackles and since I give him grief I'll give him that credit. However, he also didn't really attempt to jump to bat down the ball on the TD pass, that he could have stopped by jumping, or at least would have had an exponentially greater chance of stopping.
Three picks is a good day for the defense. No one is going to confuse a Kentucky QB with a great pocket passer, but still, that doesn't mean 3 picks is a given. The first pick was a nice play by Diabate reading what was going on, making a nice outstretched catch, and good return. The second play was made by Marlon Dunlap. Dunlap jumped with his hands in the air in the face of the QB, making him release a higher trajectory, causing the overthrow that landing in the hands of Davis...who had tons of room to run if he went to his right. The last pick was one of the best plays we've seen a DB make this year. Johnson needs more time, but makes me believe we have talent for the future.
Special Teams
McPherson missing one was the only special teams negative of the day.
We saw a fake punt well executed for a first down. We watched an excellent Punt Return for a TD. Marco Wilson is what made that play. His movement and actions brought all the attention to him, leaving Toney with plenty of room to make the play happen. Before that, we saw an excellent "coffin corner" punt leaving the ball at the 1.
Quick Hits
- FSU is a joke. I really do believe the ACC should fine them or have them pay UVA (preferably both) for all the travel costs. The issues were discovered well before they cancelled.
- Said on the Twitter machine, Most teams say they will play anyone at anytime at any place, but FSU will cancel against anyone at any place and at anytime.
- Hoped Clements would have had a TD on the last play, just for him as a guy who will never see significant time at RB.
- No, I don't think an Ohio State who's best win is Indiana should make the CFP.
- Michigan State is all about being crappy unless it ruins a season.
- Is there a worse division in football than the Big 10 East this season as the ACC doesn't have divisions this year?
- Egg Bowl was entertaining, can't wait for next year. Seriously, I think Leach and Kiffin will be great in the interviews and with Leach getting more people for his system, we could see 100 points.
- Good to hear we will officially finish the season against LSU, don't know why I see Bama sites this morning acting like Arky won't happen for them on the 12th. If we don't get a bye, you don't either. Though, I'd rather face LSU's D than Arky's based on what we've seen so far.
- Snow/cold rain predicted for Knoxville this Saturday. Percentages keep increasing. High in the 40's.
If the defense could get UK off the field quicker on Saturday, this game would not have been or felt as close as it was. If we catch and take care of the football, this game isn't as close. Part of the defensive change could be aggressiveness and strategy. Another part could be going ahead by two scores and forcing Kentucky not to play possession football. Either way, another Saturday, another 3 score SEC victory that doesn't seem fulfilling as it should. We should be happy that this is the first time in 4 years and only the second since 2013 that this hasn't been a one score game at the end. There are definitely things to fix. Like I said, this is Groundhog Day, seems like I have said this weekly since the Georgia game.
On to Knoxville.
Go Gators!
***************************************************
And for those of you, who like a Cincinnati broadcaster, think I'm from Kansas City;) (which in itself was a Blazing Saddles reference). I appreciate the comments from last week. They inspired me to say this. Check out Orlando City vs. New England at 3:00pm today on ABC. Go City!
We've got to have someone better. We've got to.
