- Jun 12, 2014
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Founding Member
After a promising start that saw us play uncharacteristically well defensively and keep the Noles on their heels while scoring a TD, a FG, and a safety in the second quarter to lead 12-0, it looked as though Billy and Co. might be on the verge of finally putting together a somewhat complete game. The defense was keeping Nole backup QB Tate Rodemaker on his heels and were stymying their ground game. But another theme began to emerge…dumb mistakes began to pop up. A personal foul and one of our D-Linemen ejected for SPITTING on an opponent! It was to be the first sign of our final game Football Apocalypse. With their possession kept alive, the Noles would score with 00:26 remaining in the half and gain both momentum and confidence. They also would get the ball to begin the second half. It was at this point that I could feel this scene beginning to unfold in my mind’s eye…
The self-inflicted wounds would continue as did the Noles capture of the momentum. RB Benson would score on a 36 yard run, running past the Two-Hand Touch attempt by Jalen Kimber (sound familiar?) to score a TD and the Noles had their first lead. All we could muster after that was a final Trey Smack FG to briefly take back the lead at 05:58 in the third. Smack had missed two previous attempts that could have added some pressure and urgency to the Noles’ task and his struggles were a part of the in-game decline we were seeing unfold. A little further along, we would lose Jaydon Hill on a targeting call when he and another defense mate clobbered Rodemaker as he began a slide after being flushed from the pocket. The penalty also extended the Nole possession and lead to a score. And just like that, the promising start and the engendered hope that it brought was summarily vanquished. The season would end as the twisted framework of the Gator football infrastructure lay smoldering in a heap at BHG.
Billy was not immune from mistakes as he produced a head-scratching call on a reverse pitch back pass that the Noles swallowed up and forced Max Brown into a grounding penalty, a loss of down, and eventually a punt and a Nole score. We had problems blocking the Noles pass rush on conventional passing plays; why on earth would Billy think that our fortunes would change on something as slow to develop as this? But that is who Billy has showed us that he is as an OC. And poor Max, despite a couple of nice throws early and a couple of keeps, it was clear that our OL wasn’t going to be able to protect him and he would not enjoy some of the same success he experienced against Missouri when he took over for an injured Graham Mertz. Makes me wonder if we’d have faired better with a healthy Mertz and his leadership?
Penalties were a factor as we were flagged 8 times for 90 yds. Even though we had an ACC crew courtesy of AD Scott Stricklin that reversed the change in conference crews after the Jack Childress-led ACC ”Swindle in the Swamp” in ‘93, I’d have to say that honestly, most of the penalties we committed were pretty legit save one holding call that comes to mind. I thought they actually screwed the Noles early on an unnecessary roughness call on a sack of Max Brown. At any rate, we created more problems for ourselves than any outside factors could account for.
Bright spots were Montrell Johnson, who rushed for 107 and a TD on 18 carries. He was forced to carry much of the load after Etienne, who started, got banged up. The D was pretty salty early on, stopping the Noles for much of the first half and even registering a Safety. It was good to see them flying around and putting pressure on the opponents. But for all the good that was happening in the first half, the OL struggles were highlighted and the offense ran in the ditch and couldn’t get unstuck to keep up with the Noles’ second half surge. On the D side, the excitement and energy that started the game and lasted until just before the half gave way to the familiar Spector of missed tackles. Add to that the aforementioned penalties and the result was an inability to win a close game late for the second game in a row when a chance seemed earlier at hand.
No bright lights and balloons at this point. We go into the off season at 5-7. No bowl game, no extra practice time. Way more questions than answers. Paramount are 1) can Billy and staff effectively mine the transfer portal for good help immediately on both sides of the ball, 2) can he hang onto the incoming freshmen class, 3) will he make some needed staff changes (OC, subtractions/additions)? I’m no prognosticator, but with next year’s schedule being pretty tough, I feel confident in saying that if Billy cannot find a way to knock these three areas out of the park AND embrace the CEO role as head coach, leaving the play calling to hopefully a competent and effective hire, I don’t see much of a way for him to survive next season, much less beyond. I guess anything is possible, but the Leopard usually doesn’t change his spots and Billy is nothing if not consistent and thus far not in a winning way. There’s always hope, but as we should all know by now, that’s not the plan we need.
Fellow Gators, though I’m not personally happy with the program’s trajectory nor the length of time we’ve languished after such great runs under Spurrier and Meyer, I am glad to have the opportunity to share thoughts on the games and the program. I truly believe there are better days ahead, but I also believe there’s got to be some dynamic changes to occur before this happens. Here’s to sooner than later! Go Gators!
The self-inflicted wounds would continue as did the Noles capture of the momentum. RB Benson would score on a 36 yard run, running past the Two-Hand Touch attempt by Jalen Kimber (sound familiar?) to score a TD and the Noles had their first lead. All we could muster after that was a final Trey Smack FG to briefly take back the lead at 05:58 in the third. Smack had missed two previous attempts that could have added some pressure and urgency to the Noles’ task and his struggles were a part of the in-game decline we were seeing unfold. A little further along, we would lose Jaydon Hill on a targeting call when he and another defense mate clobbered Rodemaker as he began a slide after being flushed from the pocket. The penalty also extended the Nole possession and lead to a score. And just like that, the promising start and the engendered hope that it brought was summarily vanquished. The season would end as the twisted framework of the Gator football infrastructure lay smoldering in a heap at BHG.
Billy was not immune from mistakes as he produced a head-scratching call on a reverse pitch back pass that the Noles swallowed up and forced Max Brown into a grounding penalty, a loss of down, and eventually a punt and a Nole score. We had problems blocking the Noles pass rush on conventional passing plays; why on earth would Billy think that our fortunes would change on something as slow to develop as this? But that is who Billy has showed us that he is as an OC. And poor Max, despite a couple of nice throws early and a couple of keeps, it was clear that our OL wasn’t going to be able to protect him and he would not enjoy some of the same success he experienced against Missouri when he took over for an injured Graham Mertz. Makes me wonder if we’d have faired better with a healthy Mertz and his leadership?
Penalties were a factor as we were flagged 8 times for 90 yds. Even though we had an ACC crew courtesy of AD Scott Stricklin that reversed the change in conference crews after the Jack Childress-led ACC ”Swindle in the Swamp” in ‘93, I’d have to say that honestly, most of the penalties we committed were pretty legit save one holding call that comes to mind. I thought they actually screwed the Noles early on an unnecessary roughness call on a sack of Max Brown. At any rate, we created more problems for ourselves than any outside factors could account for.
Bright spots were Montrell Johnson, who rushed for 107 and a TD on 18 carries. He was forced to carry much of the load after Etienne, who started, got banged up. The D was pretty salty early on, stopping the Noles for much of the first half and even registering a Safety. It was good to see them flying around and putting pressure on the opponents. But for all the good that was happening in the first half, the OL struggles were highlighted and the offense ran in the ditch and couldn’t get unstuck to keep up with the Noles’ second half surge. On the D side, the excitement and energy that started the game and lasted until just before the half gave way to the familiar Spector of missed tackles. Add to that the aforementioned penalties and the result was an inability to win a close game late for the second game in a row when a chance seemed earlier at hand.
No bright lights and balloons at this point. We go into the off season at 5-7. No bowl game, no extra practice time. Way more questions than answers. Paramount are 1) can Billy and staff effectively mine the transfer portal for good help immediately on both sides of the ball, 2) can he hang onto the incoming freshmen class, 3) will he make some needed staff changes (OC, subtractions/additions)? I’m no prognosticator, but with next year’s schedule being pretty tough, I feel confident in saying that if Billy cannot find a way to knock these three areas out of the park AND embrace the CEO role as head coach, leaving the play calling to hopefully a competent and effective hire, I don’t see much of a way for him to survive next season, much less beyond. I guess anything is possible, but the Leopard usually doesn’t change his spots and Billy is nothing if not consistent and thus far not in a winning way. There’s always hope, but as we should all know by now, that’s not the plan we need.
Fellow Gators, though I’m not personally happy with the program’s trajectory nor the length of time we’ve languished after such great runs under Spurrier and Meyer, I am glad to have the opportunity to share thoughts on the games and the program. I truly believe there are better days ahead, but I also believe there’s got to be some dynamic changes to occur before this happens. Here’s to sooner than later! Go Gators!
