Miller report: Florida Gators fall to Tennessee

After further review? Well ……! I am not exactly sure what I was expecting going into that game, but it wasn’t that. As most Florida Gators fans I’m sure, I was elated with the first half of that game and appalled, but sadly not shocked by the second half. I was concerned that only one team would come out in the second half at peak intensity. The question is whether the second half collapse was due to lost intensity on the part of the Gators or was the first half domination simply a case of the Gators being fortunate that Tennessee could not seem to catch a pass. We will learn a lot about this team over the next few weeks when we see how they respond to this disaster. Here are some things I know already.

Some Gator players need to strongly rethink having so much to say on Twitter and other social media. When Deion Sanders talked a ton of smack it irritated some people but they had to admit that he backed up what he said. When you talk trash and back it up you might be an obnoxious star. Eccentric but fun. When you talk a bunch of trash and get humiliated on the field, you are just obnoxious. There is no accompanying fun. After Saturday, it might be wise to keep quiet and try to prove that Saturday was an aberration and not who you are.

The next item that demands attention is the incredibly dumb plays on special teams. I seldom call out individual players but there is absolutely no excuse for trying to field a punt inside the five yard line. If it had happened just once, I would chock it up to just a boneheaded mistake. When it happened again, you have to start wondering about the focus or learning ability of that player. I simply cannot believe that any punt returner at the college level has not been told multiple times NOT to try to field a punt inside the five yard line. High school players know better than this. I am not one of those arrogant fans that somehow think they are entitled to an explanation. I just hope we never see it happen again.

I thought the first half offensive game plan was a good one considering Florida was starting a backup quarterback in such a huge game. Austin Appleby did an admirable job of putting the Gators into position to win this game. One would think that 28 points would be plenty to win the game with the defense the Gators have, or the defense everyone thought they had. I am still trying to figure out what the game plan was for the second half. Offensively, Florida did not really run enough plays to figure out what the plan was supposed to be.

On defense, apparently the second half game plan was to see if the Tennessee receivers would continue to drop the ball if we did not cover them at all. I do not claim to be a defensive coordinator or an NFL scout or anything but I’m pretty sure of this one observation. To be considered a “lockdown corner” you need to actually be in the camera frame when the ball gets to the receiver. I’m thinking you probably need to be step for step with the guy, but I am sure you have to be visible on the television screen.

All joking aside, what we witnessed on Saturday was a collapse of historical proportions. Every player and coach involved in that debacle should be embarrassed. They should also admit to themselves that they are not quite as good as they thought. That looked like a football team that got a little full of themselves. The result is that now, if this season is going to mean anything, there is zero margin for error. That begins in Nashville against a Vandy team that has a tendency to give Florida fits. The Commodores are not going to roll over and play dead for the supposedly great Gators. These players better stop concentrating on what is going on in social media and start focusing on what is going on out there on the football field. Maybe then there will not be receivers high stepping into the end zone without a Gator in sight. Maybe then there we won’t see a punt returner trying to catch a ball inside the two yard line instead of just letting it bounce into the end zone so the offense can start on the twenty yard line.

I don’t want to put this all on the players. The coaches have to shoulder some of the load here as well. In fact, head coach Jim McElwain talked a little smack about the tradition of beating Tennessee. In my opinion, this game came down to one possession. After the Vols drove the length of the field to open the second half only to throw an interception, Florida was in the driver’s seat. I firmly believe that had Florida sustained a drive and scored ANY points at all on the following possession the game would have been over. Third and inches standing between extending the drive and breaking their will or going three and out and for some inexplicable reason the Gators dropped back into the shotgun changing the distance needed for the first down from inches to five yards. Florida failed to convert and the rest is history. Why not a quarterback sneak there? It was at that precise moment that the winds of fortune changed and the Tennessee fans got back into the game.

After further review, it wasn’t that the Gator Nation was forced to watch bad football on Saturday. Gator fans were forced to watch stupid football. And there is no excuse for that to happen. The remainder of the season depends on how these players and coaches bounce back from having their pants pulled down and their shining butts spanked in front of a hundred thousand plus in attendance and millions watching on television. The Tennessee Vols exacted revenge for the impudence of players and coaches alike talking about how Florida beats Tennessee. It’s what they do. Let’s try to avoid that kind of embarrassment in the future gentlemen. You might want to shut up and play football.

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.