- Jun 12, 2014
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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!
- 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!