- Jun 12, 2014
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Founding Member
Coaches sometimes talk about their teams overlooking presumably overmatched opponents despite every effort they make to get them to focus as if they were playing a better team or rival. Hundreds of David and Goliath outcomes through the history off sports have resulted. One colleague described it as being "the fear of starting the game with the lights off and then being unable to find the switch in the dark!" That was almost our fate today. The light flickered until Treon hit McGee, who made a nifty move, for the game winner. Of course, it went pitch black again on the PAT. Luckily, Brian Poole had enough light and opened his eyes to make the final play for the win (because he didn't see shti the play before!).
We survived. That's about the best that can be said IMO. Mac can say that this team finds a way to win, and I'll agree with him with regard to previous games, but not today. With the help of a 2 win opponent, we found a way to not lose. Is there a difference? I think so. In this game we had so many opportunities to shake off the slow start and run away and hide in the 2nd half, but each time we found a way to let them back in. We didn't make the plays we had to make early on. Thank goodness we made the last one of the game. If there is a bit of a silver lining, historically we have been knocked back into consciousness after games like this and played well.
Anyhow, enough mullygrubbing. Here are a few observations:
*To overstate the obvious, the OL was about 1500 lbs of horse manure today. Why this group of all our position groups thought they could just show up and dominate is beyond me. They were physically whipped for all but what seemed like a handful of plays. They all need to kiss KT's @ss or buy him a steak. Probably Treon, too.
*Been reading about Demarcus Robinson's likely entry into the draft. He'll probably get snagged, but a pro would have hung onto the one he dropped, erasing a TD.
*Without a wide angle view, it's hard to tell from the TV, but I can't believe that FAU had us completely covered on all the roll outs where Treon was either sacked, ran out of bounds, turned it over, or threw it away. I thought I saw a couple of guys open (McGee for one) on a couple of these. Andre Ware was right about his internal clock and it's obvious that his vision narrows greatly when flushed. I thought we were going to have a chance to win at the end until he missed an open Powell on the 3rd down play. Thankfully he hit the one we needed in OT.
*Austin Hardin (shakes head). Misses one off the left goal post. Misses the next wide right (over correction?). Has the PAT in OT blocked. Let the Dentist kick.
*I have lost no faith in Coach Mac and love to hear his comments and pressers. But I cringed a little when he earlier described FAU as probably having a roster full of guys who wanted to be Gators! In reality, the bulletin board material wasn't nearly the factor that our obvious overlooking them was, but when we barely won in OT, it made us and Mac look like "Ned and the Third Reader."
There were some positives today (KT, Callaway's return and TD catch, Poole's final play, Bullard not being injured and out, etc.) and thankfully they were enough. The first principal I worked for many years ago told me that sometimes we are forced to learn lessons through our @ss when our head fails to do so! Hoping this is the case as those lessons (maybe because of the embarrassment) last a while. We'll know if that's so these next couple of weeks. Noles dead ahead. Go Gators!
We survived. That's about the best that can be said IMO. Mac can say that this team finds a way to win, and I'll agree with him with regard to previous games, but not today. With the help of a 2 win opponent, we found a way to not lose. Is there a difference? I think so. In this game we had so many opportunities to shake off the slow start and run away and hide in the 2nd half, but each time we found a way to let them back in. We didn't make the plays we had to make early on. Thank goodness we made the last one of the game. If there is a bit of a silver lining, historically we have been knocked back into consciousness after games like this and played well.
Anyhow, enough mullygrubbing. Here are a few observations:
*To overstate the obvious, the OL was about 1500 lbs of horse manure today. Why this group of all our position groups thought they could just show up and dominate is beyond me. They were physically whipped for all but what seemed like a handful of plays. They all need to kiss KT's @ss or buy him a steak. Probably Treon, too.
*Been reading about Demarcus Robinson's likely entry into the draft. He'll probably get snagged, but a pro would have hung onto the one he dropped, erasing a TD.
*Without a wide angle view, it's hard to tell from the TV, but I can't believe that FAU had us completely covered on all the roll outs where Treon was either sacked, ran out of bounds, turned it over, or threw it away. I thought I saw a couple of guys open (McGee for one) on a couple of these. Andre Ware was right about his internal clock and it's obvious that his vision narrows greatly when flushed. I thought we were going to have a chance to win at the end until he missed an open Powell on the 3rd down play. Thankfully he hit the one we needed in OT.
*Austin Hardin (shakes head). Misses one off the left goal post. Misses the next wide right (over correction?). Has the PAT in OT blocked. Let the Dentist kick.
*I have lost no faith in Coach Mac and love to hear his comments and pressers. But I cringed a little when he earlier described FAU as probably having a roster full of guys who wanted to be Gators! In reality, the bulletin board material wasn't nearly the factor that our obvious overlooking them was, but when we barely won in OT, it made us and Mac look like "Ned and the Third Reader."
There were some positives today (KT, Callaway's return and TD catch, Poole's final play, Bullard not being injured and out, etc.) and thankfully they were enough. The first principal I worked for many years ago told me that sometimes we are forced to learn lessons through our @ss when our head fails to do so! Hoping this is the case as those lessons (maybe because of the embarrassment) last a while. We'll know if that's so these next couple of weeks. Noles dead ahead. Go Gators!