In a classic example of David vs Goliath, the Florida Gators played the part
of Goliath and Western Carolina Catamounts played the part of David, however
in this case and unlike the biblical story, David met expectations and got
squashed. The Florida Gators played just about everybody who suited up as
they cruised to a 62 – 0 victory over a woefully undermanned Western
Carolina squad.
In what amounted to a glorified scrimmage for the backups, Florida got a chance to rest the injured and gain valuable experience for the backs as they look ahead to Florida State and the SEC Championship games.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
IMPRESSIVE: Given the quality of the competition, if you played, you were impressive.
SOLID: Given the quality of the competition, if you stood on the sidelines you were solid
NEED WORK: The medical staff and trainers to get the injured healthy. Mental preparation for the “team out west”
THE GRADES
DEFENSIVE LINE: Due to the depth issues along at defensive end Derrick Harvey played almost the entire game. Ray McDonald, Joe Cohen and Steve Harris played about a half, while Lutrell Alford, Clint McMillan, freshmen Jermaine Cunningham and Brandon Antwine got most of the work. It didn’t matter who played, the Catamounts had only 24 yards rushing on 26 carries. Alford had the Gators’ only sack and two tackles for losses. GRADE A
LINEBACKERS: With Brandon Siler and Earl Everett sitting out with injuries, true freshmen Brandon Spikes and Dustin Doe got the starting nod along with Brian Crum. Spikes and Doe acquitted themselves well. Spikes led all Gator tacklers with six and Doe contributed four tackles, including a tackle for loss of one yard. Ryan Stamper, Darryon Robinson, and Darryl Gresham took their turn in the second half and did a decent job as well. Stamper and Robinson each recorded a tackle for loss. GRADE A
DEFENSIVE BACKS: After being torched for almost 600 yards over the last two ballgames, the Gators were able to hold the Catamounts to just 35 yards passing on just five completions. Reggie Nelson, Reggie Lewis, and Ryan Smith each contributed a tackle for loss. In fact Smith’s tackle for loss came on a pass play, so Florida only allowed 4 completions for positive yards. GRADE A
OFFENSIVE LINE: It didn’t matter who was running the ball—Florida’s offensive line, both first and second team units, completely dominated the overmatched Catamounts. The Gators rushed for 282 yards and their quarterbacks were never pressured when dropping back to pass. It looked like men playing with kids as the Gators offensive lines had a distinct size advantage. GRADE A
RECEIVERS: Jermalle Cornelius, Andre Caldwell, Percy Harvin, and Dallas Baker all contributed towards the first two scoring drives, collecting 9 receptions and 112 yards before retiring for the day. After getting off to a slow start, Freshman Riley Cooper got to be the star of day, catching three passes, all for touchdowns, for 82 yards. Cornelius Ingram led all receivers with four receptions for 59 yards. David Nelson saw extensive action recording three passes for 47 yards. Despite losing Dallas Baker to a knee injury on his first catch of the day, Florida receivers totaled 19 catches for 300 yards and tree touchdowns. GRADE A
RUNNING BACKS: DeShawn Wynn got 4 carries for 32 yards and two touchdowns before taking a seat. Wynn’s 26-yard scamper on his second carry opened the scoring. Kestahn Moore followed by Marcus Manson produced 52 yards on six carries. The running back star was true freshman Mon Williams who had 95 yards on just nine carries in the fourth quarter. GRADE A
QUARTERBACK: Chris Leak led Florida on scoring drives its’ first two possessions of the game before retiring for the day. Leak finished with 100 yards and one touchdown on 9 completions in 12 attempts. Tim Tebow took over the part of Leak, passing 12 times completing 10 for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns, while rushing 6 times for 47 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jarred Fayson took over the previous Tebow role as the running quarterback, Fayson actually was the first quarterback off the bench, replacing Leak on Florida second scoring drive, rushing 7 times for 77 yards and scoring a touchdown. GRADE A
KICKING/SPECIALTY: Brandon James produced the most yardage of any Florida Gator. James had 155 yards on six punt returns, including a 77-yard return for touchdown. Chris Hetland made his only extra point attempt, Eric Nappy was two for three—he had one blocked, and Jonathan Phillips went 4 for 4. Florida never punted. GRADE A
COACHING: The offense scored 48 points and 582 yards of total offense. The defense gave up a grand total of 59 yards of offense to Western Carolina. Special Teams scored 14 points and contributed another 177 yards. What kind of coaching do you need to do other than to tell the players, go play? We will make this week a pass-fail grading system. GRADE Offense, Defense, Special Teams all passed
FANS: The fans weren’t needed and the stands weren’t full, but everybody sure did look like they were having a good time. GRADE B
FINAL THOUGHTS
Dallas Baker is a senior and deserved to get a catch in his final game at the SWAMP, but it is a shame he twisted his knee on the play. Okay, be honest, how many of you were wondering how long the game would last and whether you were going to be able to get to see any of the Ohio State – Michigan game somewhere in the first quarter? Western Carolina wasn’t very good; I believe Lakeland High School would have only been a two-touchdown underdog to the Catamounts. Now that that is over with, let us start to get our heads ready for that “team out west”. They are wounded and dangerous and would like nothing more than to save their season by putting a loss on us. OVERALL GRADE: A
Randy Platt
The Armchair Quarterback
Later GATORS, after while the rest!