Bits & Pieces: Florida vs Kentucky

[cover2]

That seems a little fishy.

For real

 

[soflagator]

That seems a little fishy.

I don’t mind what two consenting adults do. But the public display was disguting.

 

[GatorJ]

Again, I don’t have a huge issue with the style of play. I have an issue with his play calling. The timing of the calls. Although it has gotten slightly better.

Even if he survives this season, I don’t think things are gonna get any better as far as his game management. It’s still atrocious.

The biggest problem with this team has been defense and it looks like the talent is starting to figure it out. This is probably the best defense I’ve seen us play in 5+ years.

But he’s always gonna be our Les Miles, I think. Overthinking things and struggles with feel for the game.

How many more games do I think we win? Probably 2. But with the defense playing as well as it’s been, it could be more.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

Again, I don’t have a huge issue with the style of play. I have an issue with his play calling. The timing of the calls. Although it has gotten slightly better.

Even if he survives this season, I don’t think things are gonna get any better as far as his game management. It’s still atrocious.

The biggest problem with this team has been defense and it looks like the talent is starting to figure it out. This is probably the best defense I’ve seen us play in 5+ years.

But he’s always gonna be our Les Miles, I think. Overthinking things and struggles with feel for the game.

How many more games do I think we win? Probably 2. But with the defense playing as well as it’s been, it could be more.

Tater couldn't hold miles jock

 

[MooseSmack]

View attachment 75282

Forgive me. I’ve made the Jekyll/Hyde comparison before, but it just feels so prominent up to this point. Mr. Hyde was dominant in a pair of spankings at the hands of Miami and Texas A&M, both at home, the place where once upon a time “only Gators get out alive!” The past two games have provided somewhat of an upward trend, though the overtime loss to Tennessee in Knoxville left all with a sense of ”what could’ve been” while the blowout of Kentucky brought back memories of a protracted winning streak against the Wildcats. With a bye week upcoming, it might be nice to dream of the possibility of the positives that could take over for the remaining five games on the schedule. But realistically, it’s going to be pretty dang tough with UGA, Texas, LSU, and Ole Miss to complete the SEC part of the schedule. I’m initially feeling more Mr. Hyde for this stretch despite the surge last evening.

Though we’ve done a lot of wallowing this season (heck, a lot over the past 14 or so) and are wondering about the fate of the HC position along with whether or not we’ll ever get the parts in place to manage the roster in terms of the impact the NIL, the transfer portal, and seasonal wins and losses are concerned, it was good to see DJ Lagway step up and show us what he’s capable of. Though he threw no TD passes and was intercepted once, he was able to get the ball down the field. The kid has a knack of being flushed but keeping his eyes downfield and throwing accurately on the run and not simply tucking and running. He is also an emerging leader who the other players respond to. You have to hate it for Graham Mertz that his season and college career is over, he is/was a good Gator, but it appears that the door for DJ has been thrown open and thus far he’s showing signs of why he was so highly regarded coming out of high school.

And what about the ground game? One of the bright spots this season has been the play and depth of the RBs, but it‘s doubtful that anybody had Jaden Baugh running for 106 yds on 22 carries and FIVE TDs on their bingo card! What a night and I’d like to think that UK’s defense was more of a test than maybe the stats would indicate. However, at this point we should take the good, however it comes, and be glad for it.

Defensively, it was good to see our kids flying around and making plays. I don’t know that holding the Wildcats to 309 total yds and 20 points qualifies as a “We’re Back” moment, but seeing us pick off three balls, returning one for a score, does feel like the secondary is rising…some. The LB play has also been more consistent and that’s certainly a plus. You can’t ignore how bad we looked against Miami and A&M, but the play, the intensity, has been better these past two games. One more similar or better effort, albeit against the Dawgs in two weeks, and maybe there’s a trend!

As far as disappointments, the biggest would have to be the KO return for a score. For a unit that was going to be a focus this season and had started out pretty solid, it sure feels like we’ve started gaffing it up or breaking down the past few games, mental errors by both players and coaches. You can’t have a Championship caliber team without solid Special Teams, but maybe more importantly you can’t have it without consistent oversight by the coaches. THIS has been a constant by the Napier staff.

Getting back to the remainder of the schedule, it is conceivable that we could go 2 and 3 and finish with 6 wins and a spot in a bowl. OR we could go 1-5 and spend Christmas and New Year’s Day watching everybody else that made it to the postseason. I know there is a thought that “Oh God, if we go to a bowl we’ll be stuck with this same staff, AD, etc. and we’ll be doomed to the bottom of the SEC with no chance of competing for an NC for the foreseeable future!” It could happen, but if hoping that we lose is our only way out and potentially back up…pretty distasteful and I believe most will always pull for a win. That leaves us with having to have the school’s administration in place and fully on board with doing what is best for the program in the long run. There’s got to be better days ahead. When they get here is still a guess at this point but more will be known after UGA, Texas, and LSU.

Go Gators!

Great Read Cover! As usual you hit the nail on the head.

 

[Ancient Reptile]

Nice job, cover. Not an easy task. Had to give credit to the positive without inflating expectations. You walked that line expertly. Thanks.

 

[Ancient Reptile]

Tater couldn't hold miles jock

I almost -almost- wish he would keep winning because I enjoy seeing you pissed off.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

I almost -almost- wish he would keep winning because I enjoy seeing you pissed off.

We're all well aware of just how much you love tater.

 

[Ancient Reptile]

We're all well aware of just how much you love tater.

Oh, what I love is seeing you so visibly pissed. Swonkey hides his frustration so much better.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

Oh, what I love is seeing you so visibly pissed. Swonkey hides his frustration so much better.

Are you going to follow up with one of your legendary predictions? We all get a lot of enjoyment out of those.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Good summation C2.

That KO ret TD definitely sucked some wind out of the stadium. What was funny - kind of - was had the ball been kicked a yard or so farther he probably would have taken the touchback. We were in the S. end zone and had several chances to see which ones he ran back or not. Then when they closed it 27-20, it was kinda, “uh-oh, here we go…”. But DJ and then the defense took care of business and it was a nice victory.

The SEC seems so weird this season. One week Kintucky gets curb stomped by USCe and then turns around and goes toe to toe with Ugly and beats Ole Miis in Oxford. Ole Miss then goes to Columbia and beats USCe. Bama beats Ugly and then loses to Vandy and so on. We probably should not win another conference game on or schedule, but given how this season seems to playing out, I expect the Gators will shock us all and win a game we don’t see coming

 

[soflagator]

Again, I don’t have a huge issue with the style of play. I have an issue with his play calling. The timing of the calls. Although it has gotten slightly better.

Even if he survives this season, I don’t think things are gonna get any better as far as his game management. It’s still atrocious.

The biggest problem with this team has been defense and it looks like the talent is starting to figure it out. This is probably the best defense I’ve seen us play in 5+ years.

But he’s always gonna be our Les Miles, I think. Overthinking things and struggles with feel for the game.

How many more games do I think we win? Probably 2. But with the defense playing as well as it’s been, it could be more.

The predictability, especially on 1st down, is the biggest issue. You could see that Uk’s defense knew what was coming almost every time. Napier knows this and predicates everything on beating your individual opponent. And we all knew that when he was hired, but rationalized that his recruiting should be in the neighborhood of those tops teams we’re chasing which would help offset that. It isn’t though, and hasn’t been since day 1. So what you need is, as Law pointed out, a team to overthink a gameplan and inexplicably envision something different, and we then can exploit it. We’ll get that 2-3 times a year. Combined that with the pushovers and outmatched conference teams, and you have a recipe for 5-8 wins annually. Never better.

I said after last year, there were some difficult circumstances that this team faced, especially with the amount of youth, lack of depth in key spots and then of course an injury at QB near the end. But to be clear, there was nothing historical about last season. In fact, between injuries, the portal, graduation or NFL and just general recruiting misses, you are likely to have that type of scenario every 3 to 4 years. And we’ll be 5-7. If we’re ok with that, and then a ceiling of 8 wins, then he’s our guy. If not, it’s time to move on.

 

[Detroitgator]

For real

 

[FireFoley]

Maybe but McClain has enough baggage to cover Deion. Also, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. What Cormani was best at is playing the ball in the air. He has WR level skills and gets lots of picks as a result. I’m curious how he plays against more creative offenses and is he disciplined on zone coverage or double moves. Don’t know that yet.

I think that whether McClain played a lot or not at CO he did receiving coaching from an excellent cover corner in the NFL. The INT last night was him just being in the right spot (which is good) but the backup QB throwing a ball 50 yards across the fiekd trying to get a 10 yard gain is a little silly. The other pass was nice ball recognition and getting a hand on it. Better technique than any of our other CB's or most teams CB's play with in space.

 

[cover2]

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Tater couldn't hold miles jock

I laughed when when I saw that in the original post.
The only thing Les Miles- like is the way some morons clap as Cajun Retard brings home #15 (at best) classes and claim he's a wizard at recruiting.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

I almost -almost- wish he would keep winning because I enjoy seeing you pissed off.

 

[Homer J]

Again, I don’t have a huge issue with the style of play. I have an issue with his play calling. The timing of the calls. Although it has gotten slightly better.

Third and 2 from the 10 yard line. They lined up in the pistol and I yelled NOOO!,
I told my friend they are going to run the ball to the left where the 2 TEs are set. They did, for a 2 yard loss.

I would feel a lot better about Billy if he would hire an innovative OC / play caller. He just doesn't understand how bad he is at calling plays. And I am not seeing any new wrinkles during the game. Having Plyburn in on the goal line was smart but that's been around since the 85 Bears.

 

[Homer J]

You have to hate it for Graham Mertz that his season and college career is over, he is/was a good Gator, but it appears that the door for DJ has been thrown open and thus far he’s showing signs of why he was so highly regarded coming out of high school.


Defensively, it was good to see our kids flying around and making plays. I don’t know that holding the Wildcats to 309 total yds and 20 points qualifies as a “We’re Back” moment, but seeing us pick off three balls, returning one for a score, does feel like the secondary is rising…some. The LB play has also been more consistent and that’s certainly a plus. You can’t ignore how bad we looked against Miami and A&M, but the play, the intensity, has been better these past two games. One more similar or better effort, albeit against the Dawgs in two weeks, and maybe there’s a trend!

Go Gators!

While I hate it for Mertz and I'm glad he came here, our offensive passing game showed what it's supposed to be with the down field passing attack. He just didn't look to throw the ball down the field.

Defensively, I think KY sucked more than we were good. I hate to be a downer but Vanderdawg is really really bad.

 

[Homer J]

The SEC seems so weird this season. One week Kintucky gets curb stomped by USCe and then turns around and goes toe to toe with Ugly and beats Ole Miis in Oxford. Ole Miss then goes to Columbia and beats USCe. Bama beats Ugly and then loses to Vandy and so on. We probably should not win another conference game on or schedule, but given how this season seems to playing out, I expect the Gators will shock us all and win a game we don’t see coming

I'm praying that Jawja has a Bama mentality on November 2nd.
Beat the #1 team in the country and then lay an egg against the new Vandy.