Bits & Pieces: Florida vs. Oregon State

Detroitgator

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@Detroitgator , the rub will be in the culmination, specifically how the game will become governed and managed. Will the NCAA be cast aside and the colleges and schools figure out a mechanism to be self governing? The NIL and portal/free agent shifts might suggest such. I don’t know. Not sure anyone does at the moment. Money will drive it, that much is pretty certain.
As it has for 70+ years now (slowly at first, increasing now)... hell, money is why they started recruiting "negros" to play at the big schools...
 

AugustaGator

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I’ll probably start watching high school more.
 

tharber

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BN is doing the right thing and next year will be completely different. I know the 'not his kids' line has been played out but Mullen's left overs were not and are not top tier talent either. Few even realize Mullen was under probation at during the 2020 recruiting season. It's hard to compete in the SEC with players that probably wouldn't have even been playing the game anywhere else. I'm not saying it's all Mullens fault but next year we will have a team of kids that really wanted to come to Florida and win. They will be hungry and work hard as a team to be 'the one' that brings us back to National prominence.

Some of you are forgetting that last year under Mullen we were 5-6 plus 1 win with Knox. McElwain was 3-4 then Shannon went 1-3. Chump was 4-8. My first year there was 6-5 under Hall and under probation. I realize most of you are accustomed to the Myer years, which were fantastic and I don't even need to talk about the turn around we had SOS but times were different then.

So all in all while this year was not up to Gator standards, it's not the end of the world either. These kids for the most part have stayed out of trouble, the coaches have done a tremendous job of piecing the team together and most importantly earned back the trust of kids and high school coaches all over.
 

NOLAGATOR

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BN is doing the right thing and next year will be completely different. I know the 'not his kids' line has been played out but Mullen's left overs were not and are not top tier talent either. Few even realize Mullen was under probation at during the 2020 recruiting season. It's hard to compete in the SEC with players that probably wouldn't have even been playing the game anywhere else. I'm not saying it's all Mullens fault but next year we will have a team of kids that really wanted to come to Florida and win. They will be hungry and work hard as a team to be 'the one' that brings us back to National prominence.

Some of you are forgetting that last year under Mullen we were 5-6 plus 1 win with Knox. McElwain was 3-4 then Shannon went 1-3. Chump was 4-8. My first year there was 6-5 under Hall and under probation. I realize most of you are accustomed to the Myer years, which were fantastic and I don't even need to talk about the turn around we had SOS but times were different then.

So all in all while this year was not up to Gator standards, it's not the end of the world either. These kids for the most part have stayed out of trouble, the coaches have done a tremendous job of piecing the team together and most importantly earned back the trust of kids and high school coaches all over.
Meme Reaction GIF by Robert E Blackmon
 

NOLAGATOR

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It seems many of us old timers are not panicking. We've seen worse.

Napier is building something special. But can they/he coach?
 
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Egor's Assistant

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View attachment 52465


God Bless, Gators. Merry Christmas and high hopes for a better New Year!

:chomp:



Merry Christmas Cover2. You're a saint for coming back to us. After yet another bowl game disaster. Some of us really depend on your sober analysis to keep things in perspective. I don't think I could face going into next season without you on our side. All the best.
 

Bushmaster

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It’s safe to say that our Florida Gators’ inaugural season under first year coach Billy Napier ended more like a plane overshooting the carrier deck than than the crash landing that that was expected after a great thinning of the roster. No joy in Whoville, that’s for damn sure.

View attachment 52466

A couple of confessions, followed by some observations and opinions:
  • I wasn’t able to watch the first half of the game as we were attending a get together of my wife’s family. I’m sort of glad I didn’t. The game, unfortunately, went about as bad as expected, concluding with the 30-3 spanking that many in the media and certainly our rivals are only too happy to endlessly point out. I did get home in time to watch the second half and what I saw reminded me of a Class A Christian School playing a 6A Power (to use antiquated FHSAA classification terms). I’ve always felt that part of football was you play the next team on the schedule, but it almost felt like a set up that a 6-win team that had experienced a big culling of the roster was matched with a 9-win bunch who’s team was not similarly composed (or maybe “decomposed”). Sour grapes? Maybe, but something is clearly amiss in my opinion. The real victim, unfortunately, just might be our immediate recruiting. Wait and see.
  • It was pretty clear that the Beavers were going to make Jack Miller beat them. Our rushing attack, if you could call it that, certainly wasn’t. That’s not rocket science. Thanks Jack, we hardly knew you. Clearly, the need for a seasoned and talented QB is beyond dire as is hanging on to our commit(s). Billy and company have done the initial groundwork, but it remains to be seen whether they can hang on to the class they are assembling, much less add to it.
  • I like Billy Napier and the culture he is trying to build. I believe that if he can survive a disappointing, if not unexpected, 6 win season and the bowl debacle as well as put together a good class of recruits and portal players, he can get us headed back to competing for the SEC and beyond. Trouble is, he’s an unknown quantity still with the exception of coming from the Saban tree and having good organizational skills along with a great work ethic where recruiting is concerned. The latter, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to be quite as important now with NIL and the portal. Many of our fans, if they had to bet, wouldn’t put money on Billy’s longevity. But at some point we‘re going to have to stick with a coach and program lest the ignominy of constant change and poor results continues. Or if change is absolutely necessary, then let the burning begin at the top administratively and prepare for more weeping and gnashing of teeth. Come to think, we’ve gotten pretty good at that already.
  • About the best highlight was the last minute field goal that kept our game scoring streak intact. It might not have mattered much at the moment, but I’ll guarantee you that those turds in the media (and likely some among our fans) who are decrying it would be hollering just as loud about the goose egg. That’s what happens when fans are in as much disarray as the team. The only cure is winning and I don’t doubt that Billy understands that, so we’ll have to see what he can do along with what help he can get from the “collective” and the administration.
  • Just sharing a general feeling, but I hate what college football has morphed into with the open bidding for recruits and the free agency that the portal has unleashed. A lot of my past enjoyment came from subscribing to “Gator Bait” and keeping up with the recruiting classes in four year intervals, reading player bios and seeing those that started as Gator fans, were legacies, or wanted to at least come away with a degree from a prestigious university. Clearly, there’s not as much of that anymore and I don’t feel like we’re any better off. But that’s me.
  • Sorry to see Jonathan Odom (a legacy) and Derek Wingo suffer injuries in a meaningless game. Hated to see some defensive players play not to get injured. Hated to see the offense be so…offensive. If we could turn back the clock and let me decide, knowing what I now know, we’d have started Christmas break early and avoided Las Vegas altogether.
  • Not much of a statistical breakdown to offer. Could probably just continue to harp on the overall effort and a depleted roster along with a boatload of mistakes. Some things are best swept into the dustbin of history and the sooner the better.

I guess the knee jerk reaction would be to pack up your Gator gear and stow it away until the good times return. Embarrassment will make you think in those terms. As for me, I’m a little edgy just waiting to see what the immediate future holds and despite any reservations that might be trying to creep in after the bowl, I’m expecting some good things to happen and I’ll take a trickle if not a flood, at least for a bit. I cant stand the NFL, basketball that I once loved would probably now embarrass the Harlem Globetrotters’ sense of seriousness, and baseball can get real monotonous. So I’m holding out for the pendulum of Gator football to swing back in a favorable direction. It’s all I’ve got, all I want.

God Bless, Gators. Merry Christmas and high hopes for a better New Year!

:chomp:




OSU sat their nuts on BNs face.

The MFer can't coach and is in way over his head.
 

cover2

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Merry Christmas Cover2. You're a saint for coming back to us. After yet another bowl game disaster. Some of us really depend on your sober analysis to keep things in perspective. I don't think I could face going into next season without you on our side. All the best.
Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and all the Egor family! I think ‘sober’ is an operative term.
:pumper:
 

TN G8tr

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@cover2 Great as always but you sure didn't have much to work with as far as the on the field product. I put this in another thread, but after the game went and looked at the depth chart. Of the two deep 2 SRs, 2 JRs, 17 SOPH, and 23 FR. I was hoping for a win, but with just that and all the defections this had disaster written all over it. If you didn't know any better this was a setup for the Beavs. I do think better days are ahead. How soon, who knows. Merry Christmas to you and your Family.

It seems many of us old timers are not panicking. We've seen worse.

Napier is building something special. But can they coach?

@NOLAGATOR Nola, between you and Cover I am ready to crawl out from under the rock I've been in since watching the game yesterday.

First let me say losing flat out sucks. I hate it, don't like it, and it pisses me off. But, I am as you say above that I am not panicking yet. And yes, we've seen worse from a W/L perspective. One thing I will say is this..... I have been a Gator since before I can remember. And have intently paid attention to UF since the mid to late 70's. If you had to live with Doug Dickey, this is about where we are now, IMO. But the landscape is very different with CFB now. What I do believe is that UF is in the middle of the biggest program tear down I can ever remember, and it is not going to change over night. We've all said time to burn it to the ground. Yes, Burn it completely. Rid everything that has accumulated since 2010 and start it all over again.

I do think the BN is the guy to rebuild and lay a foundation for the rebuild. I am HOPING, that he can be the one to coach them as you say. This is TWO Different issues. I like some of the things that are going now and especially with recruiting. I have no problem with burning the building to the ground. He is just going to have to build it back and with a championship expectation. Have to see improvement in all areas.
 

NOLAGATOR

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@cover2 Great as always but you sure didn't have much to work with as far as the on the field product. I put this in another thread, but after the game went and looked at the depth chart. Of the two deep 2 SRs, 2 JRs, 17 SOPH, and 23 FR. I was hoping for a win, but with just that and all the defections this had disaster written all over it. If you didn't know any better this was a setup for the Beavs. I do think better days are ahead. How soon, who knows. Merry Christmas to you and your Family.



@NOLAGATOR Nola, between you and Cover I am ready to crawl out from under the rock I've been in since watching the game yesterday.

First let me say losing flat out sucks. I hate it, don't like it, and it pisses me off. But, I am as you say above that I am not panicking yet. And yes, we've seen worse from a W/L perspective. One thing I will say is this..... I have been a Gator since before I can remember. And have intently paid attention to UF since the mid to late 70's. If you had to live with Doug Dickey, this is about where we are now, IMO. But the landscape is very different with CFB now. What I do believe is that UF is in the middle of the biggest program tear down I can ever remember, and it is not going to change over night. We've all said time to burn it to the ground. Yes, Burn it completely. Rid everything that has accumulated since 2010 and start it all over again.

I do think the BN is the guy to rebuild and lay a foundation for the rebuild. I am HOPING, that he can be the one to coach them as you say. This is TWO Different issues. I like some of the things that are going now and especially with recruiting. I have no problem with burning the building to the ground. He is just going to have to build it back and with a championship expectation. Have to see improvement in all areas.
mkrau GIF by My Kitchen Rules
 

Bushmaster

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It’d be hard to argue your second point. I’m not familiar with point one, though. Can you elaborate?

When you tackle a player, some tacklers drag their crotch over the head of the tacklee as further humiliation, often referred to as dragging your nuts across their face or sitting your nuts on their face.
 

cover2

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I don’t know that there’s a winning argument concerning Napier and staff’s coaching. However, this item from @TN G8tr deserves consideration:
Of the two deep 2 SRs, 2 JRs, 17 SOPH, and 23 FR.
So you’ve got 44 on the two deep, of which 23 are freshmen :scratchchin: Certainly there were things from a strategic standpoint that could have been done better. I’d be interested to hear some ideas.
 

cover2

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When you tackle a player, some tacklers drag their crotch over the head of the tacklee as further humiliation, often referred to as dragging your nuts across their face or sitting your nuts on their face.
:joke:
 

NOLAGATOR

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I don’t know that there’s a winning argument concerning Napier and staff’s coaching. However, this item from @TN G8tr deserves consideration:

So you’ve got 44 on the two deep, of which 23 are freshmen :scratchchin: Certainly there were things from a strategic standpoint that could have been done better. I’d be interested to hear some ideas.
They weren't worth keeping.
 

TN G8tr

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They weren't worth keeping.
@cover2

On the 28 that were in the portal last week (there may be some more since then) 24 were not even in the top 150 and many of them didn't sniff the field or any playing time. So in your earlier post, This team is youuuuuuuung with the numbers we had playing yesterday and will be for the immediate future dependent on the portal.
 

cover2

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@cover2

On the 28 that were in the portal last week (there may be some more since then) 24 were not even in the top 150 and many of them didn't sniff the field or any playing time. So in your earlier post, This team is youuuuuuuung with the numbers we had playing yesterday and will be for the immediate future dependent on the portal.
Sure wasn’t an SEC roster. Whether it’s Billy, the next guy in line, or whoever, it’s doubtful those roster numbers are going to improve dramatically for next year. Meaning that our success will depend mostly on the development between now and September as well as the expected coaching improvements in the three phases. What are our realistic chances?
 

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