MILLER REPORT: It was the worst of times

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times. OK, I took a little liberty with Dickens’ work. What a difference two weeks make. After a nearly complete collapse against a slightly above average Missouri team most fans, myself included, thought the team had decided to pack it in. I expected an ugly loss to Georgia followed by an announcement this week that Will Muschamp would not be the head coach at Florida next season.

Jump forward two weeks and things have changed remarkably. A dominating blowout victory over the hated Bulldogs has piqued the interest of Gator fans again. Did Will Muschamp save his job? Is this team finally ready to turn the corner and start the climb back to the top of the SEC food chain? What happens when Treon Harris has to throw to win the game? How many games must the Gators win out of the final four to secure the staff’s position in Gainesville? These are all great questions and they make the final month of the regular season fun for the Gator Nation again.

Living up here in Georgia, the game in Jacksonville is the most important game of the season for me. It is nearly unbearable up here after a loss. It is brutal after three in a row. My phone has been incredibly quiet since the game. Regardless of what transpires the remainder of the season, this win was worth a celebration. I must admit that partway through the first quarter I thought the Gators were in for a long afternoon. Georgia marched down the field pretty easily for that first touchdown and the Gators opened up with a couple of three and outs. It did not look good. That is why I do not view this game as an anomaly. If the Missouri game was the norm, the Gators would have caved when things went badly early. They did not. They played solid defense and waited for things to click on offense with the new quarterback. When former walk-on Michael McNeely sprinted in for the touchdown on the fake field goal the pendulum seemed to swing back for Florida. The Gators took control of the line of scrimmage on offense and defense. From that point on it was a rout.

I admit that I began to grow concerned in the fourth quarter. I was pretty sure that the coaches were not going to put the game on Treon’s shoulder and I agree with that decision to an extent. The Gators need Treon for the long haul, not just one game. They do not want to mess up Treon’s confidence. He needs to build up a little more each game. However, it is not likely that Florida can get to where they need to be right now without throwing the football. Vanderbilt should be a better opponent for Harris to delve into the passing game. By South Carolina, Florida will need to be much more balanced on offense to win the game. But, when Georgia stopped the Gator running attack early in the fourth quarter I was concerned that Georgia would shut down the Florida offense and pull off the comeback. I imagine most Gator fans were thinking the same thing. When Kelvin Taylor rubbed the doggies’ nose in their mistake with the 65 yard touchdown I relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the game.

The key here is what the Gators do with this win. Does Florida build on this win and go on a run that salvages the season and the future for the coaching staff? Just as importantly, and connected, do the Gators use this springboard to convince recruits that this is a program on its way back to the top? Recruiting has not been strong to this point this season and it took a turn for the worse with a couple of decommits after the Missouri game. There are some elite prospects eying the Gators, but they want to see evidence that this staff is not only going to remain but that the staff knows how to put a winning product on the field. That will take some solid football down the stretch both offensively and defensively. It is imperative that this staff shows recruits that Florida will give them the opportunity to win and to showcase their talents to the NFL.

The most important factor in the decision of whether to keep this staff intact for next season is whether they can turn around this recruiting class. If this class doesn’t improve dramatically, the Gators are going to fall well behind the upper echelon teams in the SEC talent-wise. If that happens, it will be extremely difficult for ANY staff to be successful in this brutal conference. Defensive recruits know that they can come to Florida and play on a dominant unit, but they need to have confidence that the coaches will be here down the road. Only big success in these last four games can build that confidence. Offensive recruits want to see more than just coaching stability. They want to see signs that Florida will put playmakers in the position to make plays. Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper needs to show that with the right quarterback his offense will be opened up. That creates a bit of a quandary. How do you exhibit the future of the offense without putting too much on the shoulder of a true freshman quarterback? The staff will have to fight the urge to play strictly for the win and take advantage of any opportunity to open up the offense. This recruiting class demands it.

This all means the Georgia win and the way the game was won has put intrigue and suspense back into a stretch run that looked bleak and dismal just two weeks ago. There is reason to look forward to the next game and the game after that. If the Gators can keep winning that intrigue will grow even more interesting and the Gator Nation can actually enjoy some of this football season. Wouldn’t that be nice?

 

Mark Miller
Mark Miller's bravery knows no limits. He's a Gator living deep in the heart of Georgia. Mark's weekly columns appear in the Coosa Valley News in Rome, Georgia, where Gators are few and Bulldogs are many. His updates about football and life among the heathens will appear in Gator Country on a weekly basis.

7 COMMENTS

  1. This win does NOT “pique the interest of fans again”..Where did you discover that ? If Gator boosters and fans are satisfied with 4-8, 7-4 seasons on a REGULAR basis, then leave everything alone for another season..I think our fan base EXPECTS to compete for Conference and NAtional Titles !! This coach is and HAS BEEN over his head since he took the job. Running off at least 3 Qb’s in past 4 yrs (Brissett and Murphy are performing as starters), leaving Driskel as the starter for the past 3 yrs, running off 3 different off. coordinators all are proof he’s a failure. He continues to NOT trust any QB, and fully control the offense we run on a weekly basis (even though he’s not qualified to do so). Other examples of not maximizing the talent we have are: Not giving enough playing time to Kelvin Taylor, having Mike Taylor at OLB last yr instead of his natural inside position, and the lack of any trust in throwing DOWNFIELD over past 4 YEARS !! A JOKE..

    • Wrong. How could that game not PIQUE your interest? Yes, we have a high winning standard at UF. But I will never wish for us to lose or tank a season just to have coach replaced. I never understood that dumb ass mentality. If WM runs the table with the next 3 and at least keeps it interesting against FSU then he should keep his job….and gator fans should be happy with that. If he doesn’t then Foley will move on to someone else, but bitching about it now is a waste of time. It’s the same as all those whiny non SEC fans that were freaking out with the CFP release of the top 4 last week….getting worked up when there’s 6 weeks worth of games left. Let the season play out for christ sakes.

      And the argument that we have to fire him now to save recruiting is stupid. WM being there now is the ONLY reason we haven’t had more kids decommit.

      And stop it with the Brisset and Murphy comparisons. Yes, We struck out with JD, but those guys play for BC and NC state and they haven’t actually been world beaters. I don’t know what it is with Driskel, you can’t deny that he didn’t have the talent or the tools he’s just hasn’t seemed to mature in game time decisions. A lot of coaches would have made the same mistake. Where I have an issue, is WM sticking with him beyond Tennessee – that was the nail in his coffin.

  2. mark , mile high is not wrong ………..but you were when 30 days ago u stated the recruiting would get hurt if we change staffs , and u still saying that, you are just dead wrong , recruiting is in the dog house ranked below 60 right now and not a single top 100 Rivals has committed to UF , I believe top recruits are running away from UF ==for sure we will not get any explosive players to come here .
    WM should have been let go last year after 4/8, now the new coach would have been in place to go hard after recruits —if after everything we also wind up with a terrible class yes it will be very hard to catch up to top 8 SEC teams ======tell me what happens if GARCIA graduates and then Jones , Bullard and Fowler go pro =========figure that one out===it was a great win , but too late in my view , plenty of damage has been done========and why none of you guys ever mention the NCS AND BC QBS that our HC chose JD over ??? nobody but us fans ever mention this ……..I am also happy for you living up there , good win for you

    • Murphy and Brissett have hardly set the world on fire with their play either. They play for BC and NC state….don’t you want to laugh when you say that out loud? Playing under center at UF is a different universe. And no one, i mean no one complained when WM stuck with Driskel and those two kids transferred.

  3. It was the worst of times. Huge win. Muschamp absolutely needs to get some big time guys in here and win out or why even bother having him around? I mean, 4 years of just misery is enough. If we’re gonna be down because of recruiting, might as well get the best highest paid dude in here ya can. Florida doesn’t have the luxury to sit around another year. Foley and Champ will be freaking lynched for Gods sake. But, if he pulls off the impossible…he deserves it. Maybe he’s like some recruits. Just takes a while to get up to speed? (ya think?)Or maybe he’s a bust like some players with so much promise. He has a tough uphill battle IMHO. But the Georgia win was great. I was talking with an ex SC football player and NFL guy out here, he said people always wanted to blame the coaches, when often times its the players. UNfortunately, for us it’s been both. Hopefully, everyone is finally getting out of their own way. My biggest fear is Muschamp is a complete and total control freak. If that is the case, we are doomed no matter what. Contro freaks clip the wings of otherwise good people around them and leave them as veritable puppets. Can our personnel be that bad that our OC has to dumb it down? Or is it Muschamp. I mean all season. Watch, Miss St, or any other spread team-people are open all over the place-short routes too. God bless the Gators.

  4. Consistency is the key. The Gator team that played Georga bore no resemblance to the team seen previously in the season. The offensive, including D. J. Humphries, turned into road graders, the defense played well for an entire game, etc. Is this what we can expect to see the rest of the season or will the team that played at Homecoming show up?
    Te win may actually hurt UF in the long run. It’s no secret that Foley desperately wants to keep Muschamp. If UF wins over the bad teams left on the schedule and loses to FSU, they will finish with a 7-4 record, and barring an unforeseen collapse by Missouri, again not make a trip to Atlanta. Foley said he wanted to see improvement and UF compete for the East title. The win over Georgia means that UF is a better team than last year and UF, mathematically, is still in contention for winning the East.
    Is that enough for Foley to justify keeping Muschamp?
    As for recruiting, I would hope it doesn’t factor in to the decision about this staff. Recruiting has never been the problem at UF and UF should have enough players from the highly ranked classes of the past four years to overcome a one year drop in recruiting rankings. As seen with Missouri, who is in the driver’s seat for a second consecutive East title, the hoopla over recruiting is overrated. After all, there should be the hope that UF already hs all the quarterbacks, receivers, running backs,etc. it needs to prosper on the roster already to survive. As seen at FSU, you can have true freshmen come in and make an immediate impact to make up for any single year of sub-par recruiting.
    Again the question is, after the warm and fuzzy feeling of beating UGA has wore off, is the win over Georgia a good thing for the future of Florida football when you know the affection that Foley holds for Muschamp?