- Oct 5, 2017
- 2,315
- 6,299
First, I beg everyone to forgive me. I thought LSU would have 2 TD's with 2 xp's and 2 FG's. LSU went for 2 and missed. So my score prediction was wrong. 
For the second week in a row, a team should have known a loss was coming when C'yontai Lewis caught a ball.
Anyways, I'm sure Slevin, BNA, Squatch, Queen, myself and anyone else that was in that stadium can tell you that stadium got to a level we haven't seen in years after Mullen went nuts on the sideline. I actually wish he had done it earlier. Let's be honest, most of the students don't know what a rocking Swamp is like and no one has given them a reason to find out.
Let me get this out of the way. Yes, if Stewart goes down the game is probably, but not guaranteed over. With 105 seconds left, if we run 3 plays and kick a field goal LSU gets the ball and a chance to win with a fluke TD (they would have approximately 20-25 seconds so very unlikely). However, you know what does guarantee a win? Going for two. A) That may have LSU take the 15 yard penalty (more on this later) on the 2 Point conversion (Great Kick by McPherson made it not an issue on kickoff luckily) and B) You make it, it's 9 points, you miss it, it's still 7. But that's just my mentality. It's more of a philosophy than a right/wrong thing.
This game had a bit of everything. Defensive lapses that made me frustrated as hell (Both LSU TD drives because of how quick they were), pedestrian play-calling at times, phenomenal play-calling, Franks being poor/Franks making outstanding throws, idiots in the stands, and LSU fans sitting in the seats directly in front of me. Those seats are definitely used for resale, but somehow they always go to the fans of opponents (except for cupcakes). When that happens to me and the fans are dicks, I love when we get a game sealing INT return. I might be known to do things like yell "Roll Tide! Roll Tide! Roll Tide!" when Nelson returned the INT in '06 against Bama, and definitely yelled "Go Tigers!" on Stewart's. I do try to keep it classy, but there are certain people who just are too much so if the opportunity arises to briefly poke fun...I do.
To the game!
*Note, I have not been able to find a stream of the game to re-watch it like I usually do so I will not have everything I normally have. Usually, I have it DVR'd or use the ESPN re-watch feature or there's a YouTube copy within 24 hours. Hulu will have it up tomorrow at 11 it looks like.
Joe Burrow passed for just above 50% against a real defense for the first time and Franks went under 50%. What was the difference between the two? Well, we were playing with a 5-10 yard cushion on their receivers for a while and LSU gave quick short routes that allowed their receivers to run while we were trying to be more complicated. Burrow also did a great job on a quick first drive of picking on McWilliams who was starting over Dean. Well, Burrow slowed down after the first big adjustment, replacing McWilliams with Dean a few series in. We did a great job, outside of the last LSU TD drive UF kept the LSU running game overall in check. Approximately, 100 yards through 3 quarters isn't bad with a team dedicated to the run like LSU.
Vosean Joseph continues to be the most improved player. He missed plenty of tackles against Kentucky despite being in position. So good for him with 14 tackles and going off. I even praised Gardner during the game when he made an open field tackle. I said to my uncle that last year that would have been a miss and long gain for LSU. The tackle I think was either at the line of scrimmage or just a short gain. Speaks to what Grantham has been able to do. Further, Grantham has been phenomenal with adjustments this season.
Raise your hand if the name Moral Stephens was the name you had going into the season as the most effective TE in the passing game going into the season. If you did, good for you, I did not believe, nor did I see anyone either, that he was even in the top 3. Good for him. Anyways, Franks was a mixed bag. There were throwaways and bad throws caused by hits and a drop by Grimes. Then there were poor throws including an INT. On the INT, I'm not sure where he was throwing, but Stephens was wide on the inside break. If we score there and go up by 11, it's a totally different game. With the poor throws and incompletions there were also some really nice throws. Including two nice deep balls to Hammond, a great 50-50 ball that Jefferson went up and grabbed, and that pass to Stephens in the endzone. This brings me to this week's edition of people that make me facepalm. On that second TD drive, the same guy behind me, in succession, b*tched when Franks released the deep ball to Hammond that might have been the best throw of the day, loudly whined that we didn't take a timeout after Hammond was ruled out of bounds (after the second mention of "CALL A TIMEOUT!!!", I had to turn around and tell the guy to look at the stopped clock because a guy went out of bounds), and then whined when Franks released the TD pass to Stephens. Seriously, at least wait until a play is over to whine.
We ran at a 5 yards per carry clip which was good and not a single sack, also good. However, that doesn't mean Franks wasn't being hit. Heck, he had a nice throwaway where an LSU defender was hanging on him and he got it out of bounds in the direction of the receiver at a stand still. Not happy with the false starts, but the number is still down from last year. I will say this though, we are losing almost all of the O-line and I'm not sure that makes a difference for next season. Toney continues to be underutilized.
The play-calling, when aggressive and creative worked. Sometimes it didn't make sense, like when you are gashing the other team and pass it on 2nd and 7 when everyone run kills either a timeout or 40 seconds of clock. Perine also continues to look like the Tiger killer we saw in '15. The throwback was nice. Good job by Jeff CarBozo for asking a question of Dan Mullen about the throwback on the post-game show that had already been asked and answered in the press conference.
Quick Hits:
For the second week in a row, a team should have known a loss was coming when C'yontai Lewis caught a ball.
Anyways, I'm sure Slevin, BNA, Squatch, Queen, myself and anyone else that was in that stadium can tell you that stadium got to a level we haven't seen in years after Mullen went nuts on the sideline. I actually wish he had done it earlier. Let's be honest, most of the students don't know what a rocking Swamp is like and no one has given them a reason to find out.
Let me get this out of the way. Yes, if Stewart goes down the game is probably, but not guaranteed over. With 105 seconds left, if we run 3 plays and kick a field goal LSU gets the ball and a chance to win with a fluke TD (they would have approximately 20-25 seconds so very unlikely). However, you know what does guarantee a win? Going for two. A) That may have LSU take the 15 yard penalty (more on this later) on the 2 Point conversion (Great Kick by McPherson made it not an issue on kickoff luckily) and B) You make it, it's 9 points, you miss it, it's still 7. But that's just my mentality. It's more of a philosophy than a right/wrong thing.
This game had a bit of everything. Defensive lapses that made me frustrated as hell (Both LSU TD drives because of how quick they were), pedestrian play-calling at times, phenomenal play-calling, Franks being poor/Franks making outstanding throws, idiots in the stands, and LSU fans sitting in the seats directly in front of me. Those seats are definitely used for resale, but somehow they always go to the fans of opponents (except for cupcakes). When that happens to me and the fans are dicks, I love when we get a game sealing INT return. I might be known to do things like yell "Roll Tide! Roll Tide! Roll Tide!" when Nelson returned the INT in '06 against Bama, and definitely yelled "Go Tigers!" on Stewart's. I do try to keep it classy, but there are certain people who just are too much so if the opportunity arises to briefly poke fun...I do.
To the game!
*Note, I have not been able to find a stream of the game to re-watch it like I usually do so I will not have everything I normally have. Usually, I have it DVR'd or use the ESPN re-watch feature or there's a YouTube copy within 24 hours. Hulu will have it up tomorrow at 11 it looks like.
Joe Burrow passed for just above 50% against a real defense for the first time and Franks went under 50%. What was the difference between the two? Well, we were playing with a 5-10 yard cushion on their receivers for a while and LSU gave quick short routes that allowed their receivers to run while we were trying to be more complicated. Burrow also did a great job on a quick first drive of picking on McWilliams who was starting over Dean. Well, Burrow slowed down after the first big adjustment, replacing McWilliams with Dean a few series in. We did a great job, outside of the last LSU TD drive UF kept the LSU running game overall in check. Approximately, 100 yards through 3 quarters isn't bad with a team dedicated to the run like LSU.
Vosean Joseph continues to be the most improved player. He missed plenty of tackles against Kentucky despite being in position. So good for him with 14 tackles and going off. I even praised Gardner during the game when he made an open field tackle. I said to my uncle that last year that would have been a miss and long gain for LSU. The tackle I think was either at the line of scrimmage or just a short gain. Speaks to what Grantham has been able to do. Further, Grantham has been phenomenal with adjustments this season.
Raise your hand if the name Moral Stephens was the name you had going into the season as the most effective TE in the passing game going into the season. If you did, good for you, I did not believe, nor did I see anyone either, that he was even in the top 3. Good for him. Anyways, Franks was a mixed bag. There were throwaways and bad throws caused by hits and a drop by Grimes. Then there were poor throws including an INT. On the INT, I'm not sure where he was throwing, but Stephens was wide on the inside break. If we score there and go up by 11, it's a totally different game. With the poor throws and incompletions there were also some really nice throws. Including two nice deep balls to Hammond, a great 50-50 ball that Jefferson went up and grabbed, and that pass to Stephens in the endzone. This brings me to this week's edition of people that make me facepalm. On that second TD drive, the same guy behind me, in succession, b*tched when Franks released the deep ball to Hammond that might have been the best throw of the day, loudly whined that we didn't take a timeout after Hammond was ruled out of bounds (after the second mention of "CALL A TIMEOUT!!!", I had to turn around and tell the guy to look at the stopped clock because a guy went out of bounds), and then whined when Franks released the TD pass to Stephens. Seriously, at least wait until a play is over to whine.
We ran at a 5 yards per carry clip which was good and not a single sack, also good. However, that doesn't mean Franks wasn't being hit. Heck, he had a nice throwaway where an LSU defender was hanging on him and he got it out of bounds in the direction of the receiver at a stand still. Not happy with the false starts, but the number is still down from last year. I will say this though, we are losing almost all of the O-line and I'm not sure that makes a difference for next season. Toney continues to be underutilized.
The play-calling, when aggressive and creative worked. Sometimes it didn't make sense, like when you are gashing the other team and pass it on 2nd and 7 when everyone run kills either a timeout or 40 seconds of clock. Perine also continues to look like the Tiger killer we saw in '15. The throwback was nice. Good job by Jeff CarBozo for asking a question of Dan Mullen about the throwback on the post-game show that had already been asked and answered in the press conference.
Quick Hits:
- Dan Mullen was so hyped the team didn't even wait for "The Swamp, Where Only Gators Get Out Alive!" before taking the field. Like 30 seconds early. Not even sure if we got a "Here Comes the Gators!" because I was so amused by it. Murphy and Mullen lead the team onto the field.
- Those "offsetting penalties". I said it during the game and Steve Russell said the same thing post-game (and I don't agree with him a lot), the officials did it so they wouldn't decide the game. It's ridiculous, but is what it is.
- UF has swept the West in the regular season for the first time since '12. Since divisions started in '92 UF has accomplished this feat now 6 times. Yes, in 27 seasons of divisional play, this is only the 6th time. The others? '95, '95, '98, '09, '12, and now '18. Granted, '92-'11 you had three games against the West, but we've only done it once since in dropped to 2 so let's not pretend it's much easier. Plus, before the season many had both of these games written off as losses, even blowouts by some. I like the company we are in...well, '12 was a good year at times, but more fool's gold than anything.
- Surprised we didn't see Pierce at all, but near the end Mullen went with the SEC leader in broken tackles so there's that.
- With the win, Florida should be favored in every game, but UGA the rest of the way.
- Special shout out to Kyree Campbell who read a screen and instead of charging the QB ran toward the sideline. He didn't make the tackle (the DB's got there first), but made a really smart play and could have made the play had the DB missed. It's something probably most people missed, but I'd like to call out. Shows the smarts of the sophomore.
(because he could redshirt if he wanted to under the new rule).
(for those not in the know, Malaka is Greek for *******. Why do I know that? Because my greek friend named his Halo account Malaka back in the day and I was killed by Malaka a lot), I don't know what was shown where, but on the stadium replay it appeared to show our guy was standing over the LSU player, possibly helping him up, when he was shoved. I can only guess that maybe he was taunting...
, don't know though.
