Bits & Pieces: Florida vs. Tennessee

cover2

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“I think it shows where we are as a program”

- Dan Mullen answering a question at his post- game press conference about what it means to have clenched a spot in the SECCG.

A 31-19 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers that also earns us the title of SEC East Division Champions is certainly something to be happy about along with the aforementioned date with Alabama in two weeks. Trask also seemed to do nothing to dissuade the Heisman voters that he is deserving of the honor after throwing for 433 yards and 4 touchdowns. We have a lot to be proud of in this unusual year.

I wouldn’t be a Gator, however, if I didn’t harbor some reservations. After all, it was the 2-5 Vols (now the 2-6 version), losers of six straight that we allowed to score twice late in the game and amass three drives of ninety-plus yards each. Maybe at the very least the program is as good as it was since last we won the East, only to get clobbered by the Tide. But I’m happy, just not really ecstatic.

I don’t know that I speak for all Gators, but I was cruising after we scored to open the second half. Heck, it looked like the rout was underway. Then we had those two three-and-outs that featured three runs and three incompletions respectively. What in the devil were we doing, Dan? How about let’s keep our foot on the gas? Don’t let these peckerwoods make more of a game of it than it should have been. It was Tennessee, for crying out loud! You should ask Spurrier what he thinks!

Just so there’s no confusion, at no point did I think we would lose. But by that same token I thought we’d hang forty on them and ride into the LSU game with a little testosterone and prepare to meet Bama with a little more than just being glad to be in the championship game. And maybe we will be. And maybe I’m guilty of wanting too much. But I’m also guilty of equating football with warfare and my limited experience leads me to believe that you shoot to kill the enemy, not wound him and we allowed the Vols to slither away in a manner of speaking.

But enough of my scorched earth ideas. We’ve got the small trophy, which is a necessary step, and we’ve got the chance to get the big one after one more warm up. That does mean we are getting there, but there’s more work to be done...in a lot ways.

*I don’t pretend to really know what was going through Dan’s mind during those two dud possessions in the second half, but the three straight runs and a punt made me feel like he had a f’ it moment. We hadn’t run worth a crap all day and we were in the position of possibly running them out of their own building. I just don’t get it.

*Obviously there was a lot to be happy about. Trask put up some really good numbers that didn’t hurt his Heisman considerations. Pitts had a “quiet” 128 receiving yards on 7 receptions. Toney put on a show with 108 on 8 catches with a TD. The defense held the Vols to less than 100 on the ground, led by Ventrell Miller’s 8 tackles and 4 assists. At times we covered pretty well.

*And obviously there were areas that were a struggle. The OL was pretty bad blocking the run as evidenced by our 19 yards total (Copeland had our longest run on a reverse). They also allowed a couple of sacks and some pressures. McPherson missed a FG attempt, again. We missed some tackles, three on a short TD run. Mullen insisted on running Trask on a third and medium after they had been stuffing us all afternoon. And speaking of Copeland, the hands of stone were on display with a couple of drops (thank goodness he hung on to Trask’s last TD toss).

*Amidst my mullygrubbing, I have to give the Vols some credit for their defensive plan (which is looking very familiar of late, don’t you think?). They stopped our run with three or four DL and were able to mug our receivers quite a bit. That’s going to continue to be the book on us.

*The Vols almost executed a great trick play on the fake punt. Almost. It seems quite amazing, even if it shouldn’t, but losing teams have trouble converting those type plays. Lack of confidence has a way of chilling your scat.

I guess I should apologize for my earlier tone. We really do have a lot to be thankful for. The fact that we are even playing football this fall and winter should be cause to celebrate. But I’m not going to. Nope. We can celebrate after all is said and done and our work’s finished.

One old high school coach that we went up against, and who was a tough old SOB, took his team to Atlanta to play another top team in a kickoff classic. Keep in mind that this was the year after he had won the state championship. His kids battled extremely hard and needed a TD to win in the final seconds. They drove inside the five and were stopped on the goal line as time expired. As he gathered his team at midfield to address them with reporters and other officials listening and thinking he would tell his warriors how proud he was at how hard they fought, he instead told them simply this...”Get your GD 0-1 asses on the bus! We’ve got work to do!” As cruel as that may sound to some, that is frankly the attitude you have to have to be a champion, though maybe not as profane. That’s what we’ll need to beat Bama. It would be good to practice that against the Tigers next week. Go Gators!

:chomp:
 

GatorJ

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Watching this Bama LSU game.

if we can’t run the ball, we have no chance. We’ve had issues consistently moving the ball against Tennessee, KY, and Vandy. Bama’s defense is MUCH better.
 

NVGator

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Watching this Bama LSU game.

if we can’t run the ball, we have no chance. We’ve had issues consistently moving the ball against Tennessee, KY, and Vandy. Bama’s defense is MUCH better.
Just like Butter’s 2 trips to the SECCG, we have no shot. None. It’s going to be extremely ugly.
 

GatorJ

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Just like Butter’s 2 trips to the SECCG, we have no shot. None. It’s going to be extremely ugly.

We are a much better team than that clown fest under MacElstain.

But yeah, you’re probably right.
 

FireFoley

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Good points C2, but I have to think that Bama will consider using ZERO D Linemen against us and just play an 11 man zone (kidding of course). I guarantee you we could not rush for 50 yards if Bama did that. But if you can't run against a 3 man line AT ALL, then something is wrong. I never thought a balanced offense meant 50-50, as that is for the amateur to think, but balanced means being able to do both reasonably well both when the other team knows or when you fool them. As I have said, this team could not rush for positive yardage with the wind at their backs and no defense on the field.
 

FireFoley

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Watching this Bama LSU game.

if we can’t run the ball, we have no chance. We’ve had issues consistently moving the ball against Tennessee, KY, and Vandy. Bama’s defense is MUCH better.

But thankfully this is no where near a vintage Bama D, so that should make is less oppressive.
 

NVGator

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We are a much better team than that clown fest under MacElstain.

But yeah, you’re probably right.
I’m just looking at the monumental discrepancy in our teams those two years and then again this year. At least we had a defense under Butters.
 

Jbossgator8

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Lol I just wanted to put that in one of C2 posts since everyone else does just to throw you off.
 

Zambo

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After we scored to open the 2nd half it seemed entirely appropriate to me to try and get the damn run game going. We aren't going to win any championships if we can't run the ball. As fun as it is to hang half-a-hundred on rivals, at some point you have to be able to hand the ball off and get some tough yards. So I don't have any heartburn over calling those runs. The heartburn is our inability to execute those runs.

The next possession didn't have anything to do with playcalling or taking your foot of the gas. It had everything to do with a stone hands receiver once again putting the cart before the horse, and another terrible call by the refs as Pitts I believe was getting mugged on a sideline route. Both of those were strictly foot-firmly-on-the-gas play calls.

Trask is pretty darn amazing at putting difficult passes in the only tiny window they can go and still be caught. Then he has a head scratcher play now and then where he floats a ball that should be delivered with some zip, such as the failed 4th down conversion. Which came after the biggest head-scratcher play call of trying to run Trask on 3rd and 4...c'mon!

Sometimes you have one of those games that is close and then right at the end there are a couple scores that make it look like the game was a blowout. This was the opposite. It was never a close game in the 2nd half but looking at the score you might think it was a battle. It wasn't.
 

cover2

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Thanks ltraz. The quote sums it up very concisely and accurately.
 

CGgater

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Good stuff, @cover2!

This year's team is definitely a mixed bag. Just trying to enjoy the wins where I can, but it's hard not to focus on the problems when we know they will catch up with us soon.

We all talked about the cold night leading up to the game. I guess we shouldn't be surprised by the drops, which have happened even in warmer temps.

Sloppy tackling continues to be a problem and this late in the season, it falls squarely on the coaches.

They threw up the series' stats at the beginning of the game, including UF leading the series overall AND in knoxville. Considering how the series started, that's amazing. Add the similar dumpster fire in tally and the win in Jax and there's plenty to appreciate Gainesville, even if the SEC and NC seem almost impossible this year.

Would love to see Trask win the Heisman, but I fear late season wins will favor a few other candidates like Jones, Lawrence, fields and even book (never underestimate the nd faithful). I'm hoping KT's feel-good story and continued offensive numbers are compelling enough. We shall see...

Go Gators!!!
 

cover2

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After we scored to open the 2nd half it seemed entirely appropriate to me to try and get the damn run game going. We aren't going to win any championships if we can't run the ball. As fun as it is to hang half-a-hundred on rivals, at some point you have to be able to hand the ball off and get some tough yards. So I don't have any heartburn over calling those runs. The heartburn is our inability to execute those runs.

The next possession didn't have anything to do with playcalling or taking your foot of the gas. It had everything to do with a stone hands receiver once again putting the cart before the horse, and another terrible call by the refs as Pitts I believe was getting mugged on a sideline route. Both of those were strictly foot-firmly-on-the-gas play calls.

Trask is pretty darn amazing at putting difficult passes in the only tiny window they can go and still be caught. Then he has a head scratcher play now and then where he floats a ball that should be delivered with some zip, such as the failed 4th down conversion. Which came after the biggest head-scratcher play call of trying to run Trask on 3rd and 4...c'mon!

Sometimes you have one of those games that is close and then right at the end there are a couple scores that make it look like the game was a blowout. This was the opposite. It was never a close game in the 2nd half but looking at the score you might think it was a battle. It wasn't.
Zambo, I really respect you and your opinions and with the exception of the bolded text, I agree with your post. The fact that we hadn’t pissed a drop with the running game and we’re still in the third quarter, my opinion is that you keep doing what you're successful at. Get it into the 4th quarter, put in EJ and run it if you want to practice that aspect or salt it away. I don’t know what the fighter pilot analogy would be, but competitively speaking, a limp d**k during passion won’t get you to your destination ;)

I wasn’t clear when referencing the ensuing three-and-out with the incompletions, but I do believe it was affected by that give away possession. Kinda broke the mojo. I agree with you on your reference of some later plays getting back to an aggressive mindset. I just believe that you’ve got to keep momentum while you have it. Don’t get cute and give it away.

Lastly, your final paragraph is very much on point.
 

Zambo

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I just think the game WAS salted away by that point. We only ran the ball 17 times all day. Should we just stop ever trying to run the ball and just throw it 70 times a game? I'd rather us work on it now so maybe, somehow, we figure something out we can use later when we need it. The biggest difference between us and Bama right now is the ability (or lack thereof) to run the ball. As I type this I'm watching Davenport waltz in untouched for his 3rd rushing TD of the game vs LSU.
 

cover2

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@Zambo I understand what you’re saying. I just believe that after the half in game 9, if I’m going to practice anything, it’ll be to put some more looks on film for the upcoming opponents to account for in the passing game, like some more wide screens or circles to the back, than continuing our ineptitude on the ground. Tuesday through Thursday is the time to try and patch that part of the game up imo. Besides, it already looked like Hevesy was about to go apoplectic with the OL. At least try and reduce the damage to their already listing confidence :)
 

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