I am going to differ a little from my usual format to address the Florida/Bama game and the current state of our program, without further ado…
3. The Gators – Now We Know Where We Stand
My mother always told me if you don’t have anything nice to say, keep your mouth shut. It has always been my prime directive and it has served me well through the years as criticism can appear petty and often sounds like sour grapes. However, that is not an option when I have an article to write about the Gators’ performance in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. I can’t turn in blank pages.
I usually try to put a positive spin on fandom and how it can be rewarding, but I must realistically address the state of this team after this game. There was not a whole lot to like or be positive about on Saturday.
However, the two bright spots from the game were that defense seems to be adept at forcing turnovers and Kyle Christy will be challenging for a Ray Guy award this year. If we didn’t have those turnovers on defense this game would have been much, much uglier. Other than that, the Gators imploded and all the concerns about Will Muschamp and Jeff Driskel reared their ugly head again.
This team took an enormous step back this week and the ship is taking on water. Kentucky exposed our weaknesses and the Bama game showed other teams exactly how to exploit them. The Gators are a bad football team right now, but we do have talent and we could be better by the end of the season. We still control our destiny in the East, but to challenge UGA, South Carolina, and Mizzou something needs to change.
2. Muschamp
We gave up a school record 645 yards defensively and that is not acceptable given his pedigree. Giving up 449 yards passing when you coach the safeties is not acceptable. The secondary regressed and played worse than they did in the Kentucky game. The previous strength of this team has now become an enormous liability. I am simply thankful we do not play Texas A&M because Kenny Hill might break records NCAA records against this pass defense. However, I am fearful because Jameis Winston might.
I knew we were in for a long day, after the first Bama play from scrimmage. Simply put, it was a clinic on coaching; it gave us Kenyan Drake matched up in man-to-man coverage against Antonio Morrison, with a single safety over the top sitting in the middle of the field. This match-up was a pre-snap read for Sims to recognize the coverage. He had Amari Cooper running a screen on the other side of the play if the man coverage and safety placement looked different. This was a scripted play.
Sims read the man-to-man coverage and safety correctly and delivered a great ball over Drake’s head and over our safety to score right off the bat. They knew exactly what coverage we would be in on that play and they game planned for it and executed. We were vulnerable defensively and compounded that vulnerability by being utterly predictable.
However, through multiple turnovers we found a way to hang in the game. Yet, a play occurs in every game where the momentum swings so heavily it kind of shows you the likely ultimate outcome of the game. In the third quarter, Saban and Kiffen patiently bided their time until they finally pulled on the thread holding the Gators defense together all afternoon. On 3rd and 23, after an Alabama offensive pass interference, this play changed everything…http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tZGAhlywJQo.
After that play in the third quarter, I knew we probably lost the game, and maybe more. That play visibly broke our team’s will. There are not a lot of calls in the playbook for 3rd and 23. Draw, screen, maybe you call a deeper pass play to get some yardage for your field goal kicker. Most coaches aren’t looking to convert that to a first down, it’s a low percentage play.
Andrew Spivey said that our offensive coaches in the press box were yelling that a screen was coming on that play down to the defense. Apparently, their recognition of the play fell upon deaf ears.
The defense was constantly out of position all game and Alabama receivers were running uncovered all game. Our defense looked lost at times and finally after that play they just looked tired and beaten.
Will Muschamp is a good man; make no mistake that Jeremy Foley’s assessment on him as a human being is spot on. He has turned around discipline in this program. He is a brilliant defensive coordinator. Nick Saban speaks highly of him and thinks his football acumen is top notch on the defensive side of the ball. I know Will Muschamp is a great defensive coach and has a great mind for the game of football. He simply took the wrong job at the wrong time; he should have taken a head coaching job somewhere else, anywhere else, other than Florida.
The expectations at a program like Florida are daunting and we have an exceedingly high bar for what we expect as fans. Florida is a pressure cooker. It chewed up and spit out Spurrier, Zook, and Meyer. Muschamp was living on borrowed time before the season started and I think Saturday put one foot out the door.
In retrospect, Florida was probably not the best fit for Will Muschamp. It is not to say Muschamp can’t handle pressure. He worked for Nick Saban, I am sure he can handle all the pressure in the world; he’s just not who we wanted or thought we deserved. That has made his difficult job all that much harder.
Some Florida fans questioned his loyalty from the outset because he played and graduated from UGA; how could a Bulldog coach the Gators? How insane is that? Yet, it’s always the fringe elements that start the ball rolling and it seems they never get tired of saying I told you so at every opportunity.
We have seen this play out before with Ron Zook. The vocal minority that expects to be in Atlanta every year relentless dog and criticize the head coach until it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
However, that is not to say that the torch and pitchfork crowd do not have valid points, because they do. I just don’t think their points became particularly valid or relevant until the implosion at Bama this weekend. Yes, gloat and tell everyone I told you so. Finally, your prescient concerns ultimately turned out to be true; but Muschamp deserved time to prove himself.
I do not relish the idea of looking for another head coach for this program especially with no slam dunk hire like Urban Meyer out there; but I just don’t see how to right this ship in two weeks without drastic changes and that is not Will Muschamp’s forte.
Muschamp has shown a tremendous amount of stubbornness during his tenure at Florida and that will probably be his undoing. It’s actually ironic if you think about it; being stubborn and tough has probably served him well in his life, when Spurrier told him no at Florida he went to Georgia and walked-on. That led to his coaching career and his current job at Florida. His greatest strength has now turned into his greatest liability, it’s Kafkaesque. Sound familiar?
Will Muschamp will be a great head coach someday, but I don’t think it’s going to be at Florida. However, I do not think his time spent at Florida was wasted for himself or for our program. He turned around the discipline at Florida, which needed to be sorely addressed. It’s not really Muschamp’s fault that Florida is not a place where you get the benefit of the doubt to learn on the job. After losing the way we lost at Bama, I have a hard time seeing him surviving this season because I just don’t see him making the bold decisions he needs to make to save his job.
1. Jeff Driskel
As bad as the defense was, our offense regressed in a noticeable and ugly way against Bama. Our offensive woes seem to have returned. However, I am not going to place the mantle of responsibility on Kurt Roper. The line protected our quarterback pretty well on Saturday. The running backs were finding room to run when they got the ball. They were not ripping off huge chunks of yardage, but there were holes. We sputtered on offense because of our quarterback play.
Jeff Driskel did not play well. He did not play well in the run game or the pass game. There were a couple visible drops, but he missed a lot of wide open receivers. He did the same thing against Kentucky. He held the ball too long when passing and he made questionable decisions on the zone read running plays.
Roper simplified the offense in the offseason; yet, Jeff Driskel is still struggling. Jeff Driskel struggled as a freshman against Bama. He struggled again as a red-shirt junior. He struggled under Weis, he struggled under Pease, and now he is struggling under Roper.
I drank the Kool-Aid about system, coaching, lack of offensive weapons and poor offensive line play; I just hoped that the light was going to go off for Driskel. After Jeff went down last year against Tennessee, Tyler Murphy came in our offensive flow improved. I think an overwhelming amount of evidence has accumulated that shouldn’t be ignored.
This isn’t to say that Jeff Driskel is a bad person. He is a great Gator; I am a great Gator too, but I have no business playing football in the SEC. Sometimes, in life and football, we all have to recognize what our limitations are or have someone we trust tell us what they are.
He has struggled to learn this position since he stepped on campus; perhaps we shouldn’t force him to bear the mantle of our expectations that come weighted with hallowed names like Spurrier, Wuerffel and Tebow anymore. Some people aren’t built for that kind of thing. I feel bad for him because football should be fun for players, even at this high level. The game doesn’t look fun for him anymore; he looks like he is afraid to make a wrong decision. However, making decisions and wearing that heavy mantle is what a quarterback has to do at Florida. We simply can’t spare his pride for the sake of the team.
Therefore, I think the Jeff Driskel experiment should come to an end. This team has talent and we are still capable of challenging for the East; it would be a shame to waste it by being stubborn and going with a formula that we know struggled to beat Kentucky at home. We don’t know what we have with Treon Harris or Will Grier; we know what we have with Jeff Driskel; it’s time to see if anyone else on the roster can step up and wear that mantle.
I do not relish the idea of throwing a true freshman out to the wolves in the biggest game of Will Muschamp’s tenure. However, if I were in Muschamp’s shoes I know whom I would not trust my fate to. It is do or die time. If we lose at Tennessee the East becomes nigh impossible to win.
TWO-MINUTE DRILL
- Whew! Auburn struggled mightily on Thursday night against Kansas State. Malzahn was lucky to escape with a win in Manhattan. K State had three turnovers and missed three field goals to squander a chance to make a statement against the SEC.
- Iowa stunned Pittsburgh 24-20. Coming off a bad loss to Iowa State that had many people calling for Kirk Ferentz’s head, he stepped up and found a way to win. As a side note, Pitt’s field goal kicker Chris Blewitt is setting himself up for lots of punny headlines.
- East Carolina finds itself in the top 25 after hanging 70 points on UNC. Yes, you read that correctly.
- Utah embarrassed Michigan to no one’s surprise that has paying attention to college football this season. I don’t think Brady Hoke is a hot commodity anymore. I just hope we get a chance to talk to Jim Harbaugh before the Wolverines play their alumni card with him.
- BYU beat Virginia and has a favorable schedule down the stretch. If anything, I just would love to see chaos with the Playoff Selection Committee. The Committee was a horrible idea. The rankings were not necessarily the problem with the BCS, the fact only two teams played was.
- FSU squeaked out a win against Clemson and Jameis Winston had another embarrassing gaffe by walking out pre-game with his pads and uniform on. Jimbo claims it was a miscommunication. The biggest story in Tallahassee and in college football all week and somehow his pads and uniform ended up in his locker and Winston lacked the common sense to not put them on. Silver lining moment- we may not tackle, run or pass well, but I don’t see that one getting by Muschamp or Driskel.
The Weekend That Will Be…
- UCLA and Arizona State will be playing Thursday night. I am looking forward to the PAC-12 coming further into focus. I enjoy watching good offense and the PAC-12 has it in spades.
- Tennessee and Georgia square off between the hedges which will tell us a lot more about Tennessee and where they are at. The Georgia run game is fun to watch with that stable of backs that Richt has put together up there. This game will show us what we will need to do to win the East.
- Florida State plays NC State. Jacoby Brissett finally gets to play against the Noles. Jameis Winston returns to action after his mind-blowingly tone-deaf one game suspension levied upon him by FSU Administrators. While the Gators might not beat them, the Noles have looked vulnerable. I think they drop a game somewhere in their schedule and the Noles have been bitten by the Wolfpack before.
- Stanford takes on undefeated Washington. Washington has been a surprise this year under Chris Petersen we will see if he his program is ready to take a leap forward.
- Mizzou/South Carolina will also tell us a bit more about what it’s going to take to win the East. Mizzou surprised with a poor showing and loss against Indiana last weekend…yes, Indiana. South Carolina also struggled a bit against Vandy before finally winning the game. I look for Spurrier to take control of the East with this game.
- Cincinnati/Ohio State might be a compelling game. Gunnar Kiel has the Bearcats offense humming. OSU hasn’t been beaten by an in-state opponent since 1921. OSU’s in-state opponent winning streak is at 40 games…tune in you might witness history.
I thought that almost everything you said was true. To me, the biggest problem with this Florida team is not Jeff Driskel. It is the utter and total collapse of the defense. They have given up 1100 yards in the last two games. It wasn’t against Oregon or FSU. It was against a bad team, Kentucky, and another team that has never been an offensive juggernaut until they played Florida, Alabama. It’s not just the secondary. Florida still can’t rush the passer and the linebackers are horrible. Forget the offense, isn’t it normal for the offense to be bad since Tebow left? No, the big concern is the defense, it’s hard to see UF winning another game against any team not named Vanderbilt or another paid scrub unless there is a dramatic improvement.
On another note, Jameis Winston is getting royally screwed. He can’t even put on an uniform, just like another suspended player,Jesus Wilson, did in FSU’s opener, without getting crucified. Even his gaffe at shouting out a meme is made out to be a capital offense. Yes, he should have been smarter than to try to impress some other students by shouting out a vulgar phrase. But when you think about it, did he do something that thousands of other young people are not doing? If you don’t know that college students can do some pretty stupid things, you didn’t go to college. I feel sorry for the guy, there are so many people that want to see him fail, that he can’t do anything without being criticized. He’s shoplifted some food, that’s the only thing he’s done that is criminal. Accused of rape, that doesn’t mean he did it, and the system we have in America says that he didn’t do it. I could accuse you of being a child molester, does that mean you are one? It’s gotten so ridiculous that one idiot on ESPN, Tom Luginbill, mentions sociopath and Winston in the same sentence. Gee, a college student stole some food, shouted out a vulgar meme, and put his uniform on. Now he’s a sociopath? I have a son the same age as Winston. He’s done some pretty stupid stuff too. Some where the only response is, “What were you thinking?”. But that’s the point, the prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed until around the age of 25, which controls decision making. Kids aren’t thinking sometimes, like Winston probably thought he was being cute shouting out the meme because he wasn’t thinking. I am smart enough to not overreact when my son does something stupid, but it seems that I’m in a decided minority. It seems there are a lot of stupid people when it comes to Winston. The next thing you know there will be a headline blasting Winston for chewing with his mouth open, I think you get my point.
I also don’t see FSU losing because I don’t see a team that can beat them. Even Alabama, i see losing a couple of games. After all, what they did Saturday was only beat a bad team, I doubt they can get away with turning the ball over four times against a good team.
Snowprint – We all understand that you’re the Negative Nancy of Florida Football; that’s fine, every program has that one fan………..but next time go to warchant with this Winston BS.
Noleprint,
Please stop drinking the garnet and gold Kool-aid. This rant just made you look like a fool and discredited yourself. Not that I ever took your posts with a grain of salt or cared, but this one was just pitiful! How embarrassing you must have felt writing this crap.
What you’ve just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent view were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone on this board is now dumber for having to read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Next time you want to cry about what a fine, young man Winston is. Please go to the F$U board who gives a rats ass the Semi’s. I do not.
Your concerns about our defense are right on I’m afraid. Our pass rush was non-existent. I agree with your assessment of Bama, I am not sure they are elite. I don’t know how this loss will look at the end of October; hopefully, I will be wrong.
I am not sure I share your assessment of Winston; I will concede this, I think that FSU has failed him by not leading him and enabling him. I think he has surrounded himself with people that have given him and his family a lot of bad advice. He needs people around him that will tell him no. I don’t think he has that and I doubt he ever will.
Christopher, I have no idea what you are talking about when you sat y FSU has failed Winston by not leading him and enabling him. Let’s see he shoplifted, and like anyone else that had no prior record, was given community service and was never convicted. Sort of like a get of jail free card for a first offender He was suspended from the baseball team, the team he was playing for at the time, until he fulfilled his obligation. So how was FSU not leading or enabling him? Florida, on the other hand, also had a player that had a misdemeanor that was removed the same as Winston, named Jalen Tabor, but he wasn’t suspended from any athletic activity. Similar cases, but one was punished and the other one wasn’t. Now Winston shouts out a vulgar meme. There’s no law against that, it was just a dumb thing to do. FSU suspended him for a game, and it wasn’t against the Citadel or Wake Forest. What is his other transgression? Putting on a uniform? You probably think that FSU was not leading or enabling him to allow him to put on a uniform. That’s silly. That’s the sum of the dastardly things Winston has done. Now what do you think FSU should have done? It’s amazing to me that someone can say with a straight face that Winston has got away with anything or he’s somehow been coddled by FSU. He’s had a misdemeanor and wasn’t even convicted of that because of what I referred to above. But I’m kind of wasting my breath, facts don’t matter to someone who already has their mind made up. They just want anything to confirm their belief. Things like Winston being an outstanding student, one that will have the words cum laude on his degree if he maintains his G.PA., which, by the way I have on my bachelor degree, and him being a leader and very likeable person to anyone that knows him, don’t matter. No, let’s focus on him putting his uniform on…
Noleprint,
Once again – pathetic.
Please post your continued whinning on whorechant. I guess, if you had a daughter, you would let her date him?
I didn’t think so!
The Tallahassee police dept had about a competent investigation as the OJ Simpson case. Where is Mark Ferman when you need him. Tallahassee as it looks.
I’ll save you the trouble for you next post.
F$U , yadda, yadda, Great. Winston, yadda, yadda, God that does not wrong.
See how irrational that sounds.
Now try that samething on a PRO F$U board who really cares. There you go. They think it’s gospel. Let me hear an AMEN Brother Noleprint.
We are not going to miss you.
Have fun at your new home.
Snow you are entitled to your opinion, but the reality is JW is a public figure. It’s different for people that win Heisman Trophies. As a public figure eyes are on him and magnify his actions. Is it fair? No, but whether he likes it or not he represents FSU. Certainly at some point he will cash in on his talents. As far as the sexual assault investigation, TPD/FSU did him no favors in making him look he had something to hide. I read all the police reports and witness statements and I would not have charged him, but let’s not treat the guy like he’s a saint…there was still not a lot to like about Winston from that police report, even in the most charitable of lights. What concerns people about Winston is that he hasn’t kept his head down or mouth shut since then, he’s still doing stupid and embarrassing stuff that shows a lack of maturity and that he fails to grasp the reality that he is a public figure whether he likes it or not.
so what are the facts ? our D yes playing very bad, who coaches our safeties ? WM, funny he can say positions in the D are up for grab but JD gives us our best chance to win a game , MR Scammell hit it right on ..besides other things WM is extremely stubborn , if the entire world thinks JD not the answer and a change is needed of course WM is going to go au contraire and not do it , because he of course is the MAN the head coach and he is the one who knows best , but you see is not only the fans, is also former UF players , is coaches ( trust me on that ) and for sure UF current players , so is way beyond fans who believe JD should not be our QB , in the very least TH needs to have a chance but he will not get it because if he plays and does better than JD which is not very hard to do what will WM say then ? that he was wrong ? that will never happen , book me that I am in the corner of former UGA guy should never coach at UF , and I said this at the start years ago not now=======I wonder what will it take for the rest of the year .
Champ has put himself in a tough spot, I am hoping against hope that he changes his mind or that he is really just blowing smoke and that TH gets meaningful snaps at UT.