Bits & Pieces: Florida vs. Hurricane Matthew, et al.

[cover2]

...no current game this week, but plenty of opponents! Been thinking a lot about our state of affairs and will post some ideas. Probably some redundancy, but maybe some new ways to look at things. I don't know, but let's give it a shot...

• Regardless of which side of the fence you fall, it should be clear we are not among the elite in big boy college football. Haven't been for a spell. Biggest reason? IMO not enough high impact players, those that can come in and play, even excel, from the jump as compared to the best programs. I think we get some good ones, but the majority of them are developmental (need to gain strength and weight and experience going against big time competition). Right now, we are too light on the DL and at TE, depth shy at LB, too cocky and in some cases inexperienced in the secondary, overall young, weak, quality depth shy, and unatheletic on the OL, and average at QB. RB and REC seem to be our most promising position groups, but if we can't block to get some holes for the running game and attack the D through the air consistently, these group's value is moot. Some teams can be competitive and even work in an upset every now and then (Troy comes to mind), but this type program will not be sustainable, save a season here and there, in the SEC. The cure? No-brainier...consistent high level recruiting that not only brings in greater numbers of the aforementioned players, but also includes facilities and other perks that will attract them. I'm old and can want a bunch of tough guys that will go to war and don't worry about the frills, but the fact remains that I can be Knute Rockne/Vince Lombardi reborn and if my Jimmy's ain't better than your Joe's, you'll beat my ass consistently.
• Coaches? Some good guys that show glimpses of good prep and planning, utilization of available talent, but at least an equal if not greater amount of the opposite. We're not good enough in all phases except FG/PAT and Punting to play less than 60 minutes of football with a great plan and preparation and our foot on the gas with MOTIVATED players. I think the staff has not been effective where motivation is concerned and Mac seems to reflect it outside of a deserved chewing on KT last season and showing a little fire when LDR was injured. We need to be feeding the players buckshot and gun powder instead of PB&J's.
• I've got a lot of this guy in me. Hell, I'm old, I know it, and I have a good sense and appreciation of history. I appreciated that the '79 group wasn't very good, but I believe they came to play every Saturday with the best they had to give. I think this year's bunch, while obviously more talented, doesn't necessarily bring their best each game, or at least can't sustain it. If that can ever be corrected, we might not win a championship, but we'll play games that a lot of folks can better appreciate.
• What do I think about LSU and their pissy attitude and "kind offer" for us to give up a home game and play them in Baton Rouge? 2 things: Matthew wasn't as bad as Katrina, but how we have to,prepare for these big storms these days is far more complex and affects way more people than ever before, so thinking that all this sh!t can turn on a dime is wrong-headed; f**k those coon ass SOB's and the creamsicle hillbillys while I'm at it.
• How will the season end? One of two ways probably. If we keep doing what we've been doing, we'll keep getting what we've been getting. Or, change some things. Become better motivated and play hard and smart for 60 minutes. Don't play to not lose if we ever have a lead in the 2nd half. Attack on both sides of the ball. Offensively, make them think we know we can move it on them and score. On D, since we are small and few on the DL, send more than they can block against the pass and blitz the run, requiring the secondary to walk the walk from here on out and not just run their mouths. They're good enough to play man or one high if it is expected of them. Take some well-designed chances at appropriate times. Love each other, coaches and players, but make it a tough love that requires being dependable and taking responsibility. Be more fearless and less afraid to make mistakes. Being well-prepared will greatly help if not cure this and develop confidence.

Hope everyone in harm's way is ok and can resume normal operations as quickly as possible. I'm looking for better from this team for the second part of the season and a much better recruiting haul in February. I'm kind of skeptical based on the body of work before us, but I still don't want to be disappointed! Go Gators and let's get ready for next week.

 

[Since65]

I always appreciate your insight and particularly your X + O's expertise. Clearly the UF program lacks the number of elite players that fueled the program during the national title days. To me it seems the quest to find an elite quarterback has been among the biggest contributing factors to the run of mediocrity.

I seldom see a top 10--20 team these days that doesn't have a difference maker at QB. I am not yet sold on Tom Herman because it appears he inherited an excellent quarterback in Greg Ward. That's not to say that he hasn't done well in "coaching him up" but he's not working with a plowhorse. The other top teams all seem to get excellent play from their quarterbacks. My point is that having an exceptional quarterback (especially one who is mobile) can cover a multitude of other shortcomings, including a suspect offensive line.

I don't see a quick turnaround coming with the current roster. Agree that this recruiting year is vital and the loss of the LSU game for visitors could be a real negative. Would be nice to see someone step up at the QB position and be more than just a game manager.

 

[alcoholica]

My thoughts on the postponement...

The UF perspective:

• Having lived in the G'ville area most of my life, hurricanes don't hit us. They may brush up and kiss the coast like Floyd, but they don't make landfall, and neither did Matthew. No one had any reason to believe it would hit us, and it didn't. But it was reasonable to wait and see if it would veer east and leave the Florida coast unscathed. So that's why you don't cancel a home game when the hurricane has yet to hit Haiti.
• By the time we thought that the weather would affect the game, there were too many other considerations to make.
  • The infrastructure is stressed. Despite no real weather issues, it was not a certain thing as Matthew veered North and avoided landfall. Had he stayed on course, G'ville would be among the $1MM+ without power in Florida. Add to that, there was very little gas to be found in G'ville and hotels were already filled with those heading in from the coast, which also put stress on restaurants and grocery stores.
  • Safety personnel. The potential was certainly there that law enforcement would be stretched thin as well as other first responders.
• The players were not in a frame of mind to play. I heard that over half the roster came from East coast communities. This does not include those who may have extended family on the coast. So a vast majority had their minds on loved ones on the coast.
• Lets be honest. We needed optimal conditions for this game. We did not want to make a last minute road trip (potentially without security). We also did not want a half full stadium on an off day like Sunday. This is our only big home game this season, so why do we want to give it up? Makes no sense. November 19th is just fine. It can and should be played then.

The LSU perspective:

• Who want's to play in a fully loaded Swamp? Even with an injured QB and several other injuries, anything can happen when the Swamp is on fire.
• By offering to host or delay the game by a day, they take the Swamp out of play. They also get to play us at potentially our most vulnerable time personnel wise.
• Nov 19th works for LSU. They have South Alabama, they can make it work, but they don't want to. It's hypocrisy for them to cry about the schedule, but act like a hurricane bearing down on players' loved ones is not a big deal. F them.

The SEC needs to mandate the game be played in the Swamp on Nov 19th. The SEC has insurance to pay for buyouts and both teams losing a home game. What could be an even better option is to play the Presbyterian game after the SEC Championship game. That gives the team more practice time and a game where younger guys can play.

I cannot reiterate enough.....F the corndog eating mofo's

 

[TN G8tr]

You are 100% right. And of all schools that should understand......LSUck, shouuld know. LSUck did not want to play a 3 road game stretch and also not loose the revenue from such an event. Hey LSU, a little perspective for you. UF by coming to BR on Sunday would be playing 3 road games in a row. In addition you corndog bastids UF lost a home revenue game against a cream puff last year, sound familiar. So suck it! That is why you have an insurance policy. That is why the SEC will more than likely make you play this game. Don't choke on the hypocricy there LSUck. With Orgeron at the helm already they are covered in slime.

 

[cover2]

I always appreciate your insight and particularly your X + O's expertise. Clearly the UF program lacks the number of elite players that fueled the program during the national title days. To me it seems the quest to find an elite quarterback has been among the biggest contributing factors to the run of mediocrity.

I seldom see a top 10--20 team these days that doesn't have a difference maker at QB. I am not yet sold on Tom Herman because it appears he inherited an excellent quarterback in Greg Ward. That's not to say that he hasn't done well in "coaching him up" but he's not working with a plowhorse. The other top teams all seem to get excellent play from their quarterbacks. My point is that having an exceptional quarterback (especially one who is mobile) can cover a multitude of other shortcomings, including a suspect offensive line.

I don't see a quick turnaround coming with the current roster. Agree that this recruiting year is vital and the loss of the LSU game for visitors could be a real negative. Would be nice to see someone step up at the QB position and be more than just a game manager.

Thanks 65. I agree wholeheartedly about the QB position, particularly in the last several years (read as post-Tebow). We've had more guys like Bobby Sablehouse, Larry Ochab, Donald Douglas, etc. (God bless them and we love and appreciate them as Gators, but I think you know what I mean). We've had a couple of highly-touted guys (Brantley and Driskel) that just didn't pan out. Grier started out with promise, but proved that a 10 cent head and likely the attitude of self > team led to his crash. I'm ready to see another guy that can lead us like Danny and Tim. I know those guys don't come around every year, but there are better ones that can get the job done out there. We just haven't found them or pursued end them to come to Hawgtown.

 

[Gator Fever]

If LSU would have played Sunday we have no excuse at all. Just cancel Sat if the storm is worse than thought. Foley is just hoping it isnt made up and Mac ends up with 4 losses instead of 5 while he is departing.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

doesn't necessarily bring their best each game, or at least can't sustain it. If that can ever be corrected, we might not win a championship, but we'll play games that a lot of folks can better appreciate.

This hits home pretty good. I watch our guys play some decent ball for a quarter or so and then it's almost like they're waiting on someone else to come finish the job they've started. Usually they wake up in time(4th quarter) to preserve the victory against lessor competition but I think most of us realize that doesn't work real well against Top 25 teams....3rd quarter production is non existent....a small part of this is depth but some falls back on coaching/motivation/mindset IMO.

 

[soflagator]

If LSU would have played Sunday we have no excuse at all. Just cancel Sat if the storm is worse than thought. Foley is just hoping it isnt made up and Mac ends up with 4 losses instead of 5 while he is departing.

I'm shocked that you're on the wrong side of a fairly obvious argument. Shocked, I tell you.

The only thing more shocking would be your not posting virtually the same thing again and again in various threads.

 

[Gator Fever]

I'm shocked that you're on the wrong side of a fairly obvious argument. Shocked, I tell you.

The only thing more shocking would be your not posting virtually the same thing again and again in various threads.

Well its the truth. You probably have your head buried in the sand.

 

[soflagator]

Well its the truth. You probably have your head buried in the sand.

Of course it is. Despite the fact that you start your statement with a speculative statement about playing Sunday, and end it with a theory that you've created. Lots of truth.

The Sec commissioner just basically said what most of this board has said. It's not ideal, but the decisions that we're made were correct given the circumstances.

 

[Zambo]

Well I don't think so. I think we completely effed this up. Love you to death sofla but there were numerous legit ways to handle this and we just threw up our hands and gave up. Danielson just as much said so with his questions to the commish about how we were the only school that wasn't able to figure out a plan and he's right.

 

[Gator Fever]

Of course it is. Despite the fact 307"]Of course it is. Despite the fact that you start your statement with a speculative statement about playing Sunday, and end it with a theory that you've created. Lots of truth.

The Sec commissioner just basically said what most of this board has said. It's not ideal, but the decisions that we're made were correct given the circumstances.

They spin. Unless LSU wouldnt play on Sunday this is on Foleys arguments.They could have said Sunday and adjusted accordingly on Saturday. He is hoping it gives Mac one less loss because he screwed up again it appears.

 

[soflagator]

They spin. Unless LSU wouldnt play on Sunday this is on Foleys arguments.They could have said Sunday and adjusted accordingly on Saturday. He is hoping it gives Mac one less loss because he screwed up again it appears.

I was hoping you wouldn't just repeat the same speculation and completely made up theories. I was wrong. You have no idea what was discussed. What's worse, the idea that they were willing to play Sunday and we refused is from tHe tweet from Lsu's AD. But by all means, please tell me about spin. They just talked about the resources a game ties up. Bad situation, right move.

 

[soflagator]

Well I don't think so. I think we completely effed this up. Love you to death sofla but there were numerous legit ways to handle this and we just threw up our hands and gave up. Danielson just as much said so with his questions to the commish about how we were the only school that wasn't able to figure out a plan and he's right.

But in the same breath, he's saying that he'd be concerned about the health of Lsu's players having to play on the 19th. What does that tell you? It's a 2 way street. Both sides have to agree on a change in plans. Obviously either they couldn't reach terms or there simply wasn't a solution that worked. I just find it odd that we automatically assume we're wrong. I'm. It even a Foley fan per se, but I'll trust the guy who goes about things professionally over a guy who runs to twitter to earn friends.

And as moot as it probably is, I'll continue to wait for another like scenario that was handled the way you suggest, pre-disaster.

 

[Tunaboat]

Too many "factors" getting in the way of solutions. We could have played the game tomorrow in the Swamp. No law against it, no downside that I can see other than people showing up Sunday rather than Saturday. Nobody has a panic attack about November changes. Weather beautiful, same weekend, Hurricane refugees have gone back home opening up the hotels and restaurants. Back to a normal SEC game day weekend with 2 big names playing. And make it a night game!

 

[ThreatMatrix]

LSU's players were playing on the 19th anyway? How does that enter the argument.

 

[Zambo]

But in the same breath, he's saying that he'd be concerned about the health of Lsu's players having to play on the 19th. What does that tell you? It's a 2 way street. Both sides have to agree on a change in plans. Obviously either they couldn't reach terms or there simply wasn't a solution that worked. I just find it odd that we automatically assume we're wrong. I'm. It even a Foley fan per se, but I'll trust the guy who goes about things professionally over a guy who runs to twitter to earn friends.

And as moot as it probably is, I'll continue to wait for another like scenario that was handled the way you suggest, pre-disaster.

I honestly don't know why you keep saying pre-disaster. It makes no sense. The parallel is that a week before the event they had concerns about the game so they made a contingency plan. On Wednesday they realized they'd have to execute the contingency plan. There is no difference.

Another parallel is that a few games were simply postponed one day. Those are being played tomorrow. We could have done the same thing and still cancelled if the weather didn't cooperate. This is a total failure. Hell I'm still pissed about the Idaho game.

 

[Gator Fever]

Too many "factors" getting in the way of solutions. We could have played the game tomorrow in the Swamp. No law against it, no downside that I can see other than people showing up Sunday rather than Saturday.

Exactly. Foley hit the mini lottery it appears using the overblown talk on the hurricane tracking off land.

 

[soflagator]

I honestly don't know why you keep saying pre-disaster. It makes no sense. The parallel is that a week before the event they had concerns about the game so they made a contingency plan. On Wednesday they realized they'd have to execute the contingency plan. There is no difference.

Another parallel is that a few games were simply postponed one day. Those are being played tomorrow. We could have done the same thing and still cancelled if the weather didn't cooperate. This is a total failure. Hell I'm still pissed about the Idaho game.

How do we know they were good with Sunday? Because an AD on the hot seat says so? We've basically said it wouldn't work? The Sec commissioner said so as well. Why do we believe their guy and not an unbiased official or our own?

 

[The Shady Grove Gator]

We will not make any changes in-season, we are not LSU. Mac smells like a turd but being in the current cycle of coaching change, where would we go? We had the benefit of explorational greatness twice in 26 years. Strickland still has a trial period. Foley was a $2 ante player in a $100 blind game, Strickland has some limited leeway.