The Morning
The morning of a Missouri home game wouldn’t really rile me up, but this day seemed different. It seemed different because I haven’t seen the Gators play in over three weeks in person. I woke up feeling thankful that the game would be played and the LSU game issue was finally resolved. It was time to put all of that behind us and go out and hopefully get a win against an inferior team. My feeling going into the game was it’s going to be close, kind of how I felt going into the Kentucky game, but my hope was the Florida offense would somehow find a way to get back on track after being seemingly derailed since the second half of the Tennessee heart-breaker.
The Tailgate
The tailgate this week was completely outside. Most weeks, the tailgate starts inside and moves to under the trees as more people arrive. This tailgate, completely outside. Why? Well because us Floridians got a small taste of fall weather earlier in the week and we have to embrace it as much as we can. If it’s not 90 degrees or more out, we will stand outside and act like it’s perfect.
I wanted to watch some of the early games, but none of them seemed to too intriguing. That was until I saw that Georgia was in a Dawg fight with the Vanderbilt Commodores. I expected Georgia to be a smidge down this year just because of the fact that they have a new coach and new quarterback, but I never thought that the Dawgs would look quite like this. The Dawgs looked confused and the offense – dare I say – looks more dismal than the one in Gainesville.
The last hour of the tailgate was inside as the rain started to fall and added a new element to the day that I wasn’t expecting. For some reason, I thought after all the bad weather last weekend that no bad weather could possibly make its way to Gainesville. Boy was I wrong, the weather was bad and it just added another element of negativity to this already lack luster game.
The Game
I can’t lie, I selfishly wanted the team to come out firing on all cylinders because by the end of the evening they would probably have destiny tightly squeezed and put in their back pocket. But like most Florida games, the offense came out ice cold per usual. There were a few nice runs here and there in the first half, the offensive highlight had to have been freshman Tyrie Cleveland coming down with a long gain to set the Gators up for a field goal attempt that was missed. Of course. Because, you know, offensive momentum is basically a myth around these parts.
Once again, the offense is bailed out by the defense. Teez Tabor and Quincy Wilson both recorded interceptions for touchdowns and the Gators rolled into halftime with a 20-0 lead. A nice enough lead for the fans to feel like the game was in the bag, but the crowd still longed for offense. In the second half, the team came out and played with a purpose. The defense continued their dominating performance and the offense put together some nice drives that one can only hope will lead the team into the bye week with some hope.
The Aftermath
After I made my way out of the soggy Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, I thought about the game I had just witnessed and while I was not happy with the offensive performance, there was some positives to take away. First, the offense has the bye week to hopefully find some momentum to take into a game against Georgia that has everything on the line. The way it should be. Second, the defense looks like it is going to be the anchor that either makes or breaks this team. The defense is what makes this team great, and the team will go as far as they take them. Lastly, the Gators are now in control of their own destiny. That is something that you have to be proud of, especially after the way things went down in Knoxville just three weeks ago. The team now heads into the bye week with a lot to correct, and everything to play for.