Espn Article on SEC teams that can unseat BAma

[Spleezy]

I think we are still rebuilding in some areas while Bama is expected to be even better next year. I think we have just as good a chance as a UGA (lots of holes on defense), South Carolina, or Texas A&M to beat Bama but we have more question marks. I don't have a problem with not being mentioned, I like being under the radar.

[GATORAZ]

Originally Posted by whitelakegator

Hmmm. I think it is a waste of time to argue with fellow Gators.

How's this for "sense"...when I say "anything" it means the SEC or MNC. Heck, I'll even take representing the East as "anything".

Here comes the "we won 11 games" crowd and the last game doesn't mean a thing crowd.

We won plenty of games with Jeff as the QB. When you are one game away from the SEC championship you are very close. JD has shown up.

[MaceoP]

IMO, our O line should be much improved this year. We lose Gilly, however we get Taylor and Lane, and a more experienced Matt Jones. We lose Jordan Reed ( who didn't impress me) however we pick up some quality wide receivers.
If JD can make a modest improvement in his game, I believe we will be much better on O.

On D, Floyd and Elam will be missed, however our young freshman from last year will be better, and our incoming class will be more of a 'reload'.

I think we have a good chance to be as good if not better than last year.

[UFreak]

Originally Posted by GATORAZ

We won plenty of games with Jeff as the QB. When you are one game away from the SEC championship you are very close. JD has shown up.

Moreover, if you are one game from the SEC title game, it effectively means you were one game short of playing for the right to be in the national title game.

I understand the concerns and that we won a number of games in close scores vs some teams that were not very good. But we also won against very good teams too. We had the toughest schedule in the country.

There is never any need to apologize for going 11-2 if you have the nation's toughest schedule. This was a very good team.

This team will be very good in 2013.

[whitelakegator]

Originally Posted by GATORAZ

We won plenty of games with Jeff as the QB. When you are one game away from the SEC championship you are very close. JD has shown up.

No, the defense showed up. JD lead us to a triple digit offense and a passing offense sandwiched between the likes of Temple and Ga Tech.

But hey WE WON 11 GAMES!!!!!!

LOL.

I completely disagree with the best d line comment. You don't lose a top ten nfl draft pick and have the best d line the next year. Sorry.

[GATORAZ]

Originally Posted by whitelakegator

No, the defense showed up. JD lead us to a triple digit offense and a passing offense sandwiched between the likes of Temple and Ga Tech.

But hey WE WON 11 GAMES!!!!!!

LOL.

I completely disagree with the best d line comment. You don't lose a top ten nfl draft pick and have the best d line the next year. Sorry.

I didnt say he lead but we surely can win games with JD as the QB we WON 11 of them. You cant win 11 games without competent QB play.

You disagree well please name the defensive line in the SEC that will be better and why I would love to hear this one. We did lose a top draft pick and still will have the best Dline it happens its called recruiting well and developing talent.

[pinecrestgator]

Originally Posted by GATORAZ

I didnt say he lead but we surely can win games with JD as the QB we WON 11 of them. You cant win 11 games without competent QB play.

You disagree well please name the defensive line in the SEC that will be better and why I would love to hear this one. We did lose a top draft pick and still will have the best Dline it happens its called recruiting well and developing talent.

bullard, Easley and Fowler with Powell coming off the edge.Then, you have cummings, Jacobs and Reed rotating in the middle....that sounds elite to me.

[gatorev12]

Lumping a BCS team that went 11-2 in the year and had a top 3 recruiting class in with Miss State and Mizzou is "journalism" worthy of bleacher report, not a respected media outlet.

Not that I think half the assclowns on espn know a GD thing about sports though

[regurgigator]

Originally Posted by whitelakegator

No, the defense showed up. JD lead us to a triple digit offense and a passing offense sandwiched between the likes of Temple and Ga Tech.

But hey WE WON 11 GAMES!!!!!!

LOL.

What exactly do you think the point of playing the games is?

Is it more important to get 20 first downs or win the game?

We went 4-1 against teams that were Top 15 or better. It doesn't matter if it was due to offense, defense, special teams, or any combination of the above. The TEAM WON against an impressive list of opponents.



Also, we didn't miss the SECCG by a game. We missed by a tiebreaker.

[GatorAvatar]

Originally Posted by lurkingator1

LouisVille game was an Anomaly, but the Media can't or won't get over it , I think it's a good thing keeps us hungry with a chip on our shoulder

Anomaly? No. It was a beat-down. An anomaly were the 6 turn-overs against UGA.

[GATORAZ]

Originally Posted by GatorAvatar

Anomaly? No. It was a beat-down. An anomaly were the 6 turn-overs against UGA.

I disagree it was a beat down it was a loss but not a beat down. It wasnt like we got physically dominated.

[socraticsilence]

Originally Posted by GATORAZ

We won plenty of games with Jeff as the QB. When you are one game away from the SEC championship you are very close. JD has shown up.

Last year we were very close (though again I'd argue we weren't quite as good as our record suggested) this upcoming year we replace multiple OL starters and our two best offensive players from a mediocre at best attack (this is being kind, statistically we were one of the worst offenses in the country) as well as replacing the core of our defense both figuratively (in terms of leadership) and literally (DT, 2 LBs, both safeties) and an all-American quality kicker (extra important if you want every game to have scores in the teens).

We have a good enough defensive coach that we should only take a small step back on that front, but offensively we just don't have too much coming back that would make an unbiased observer think anything more than a small improvement (if that) is likely. If you think we improve slightly on offense (an optimistic but not entirely unrealistic belief) and go a bit back on defense while also taking a small hit on special teams then expecting us to be an 8 or 9 win team is a pretty rational projection.

I do think we'll have an elite Defensive line, and hopefully have a good pass rush for the first time since 2009- if thats the case we can probably add another win or two because they'll cover for some of the big plays our secondary would otherwise likely give up early as the safeties learn how to play the position (think Wright and Black early on when they had all the talent but just needed to learn how to put it together). What I don't see is an answer to what we do offensively if teams play us like Louisville, ULL and UGA did (also what LSU did before they lost like 3 linebackers for a few drives and what USCe did before it got out of hand) stack 9 in the box and blitz heavily on every passing down-- unless we get a quantum improvement in QB play and have 2 or more downfield threats emerge (1 needs to breakout just to bring us back to what we had last year since our only downfield elected to enter the draft ) that's a formula to hold us to 10 to 20 points every single game.

[socraticsilence]

Originally Posted by MaceoP

IMO, our O line should be much improved this year. We lose Gilly, however we get Taylor and Lane, and a more experienced Matt Jones. We lose Jordan Reed ( who didn't impress me) however we pick up some quality wide receivers.
If JD can make a modest improvement in his game, I believe we will be much better on O.

On D, Floyd and Elam will be missed, however our young freshman from last year will be better, and our incoming class will be more of a 'reload'.

I think we have a good chance to be as good if not better than last year.

Could someone please explain the prevalence of this line of thinking among some in our fanbase- Reed was basically the only mismatch we had last season, Gilly was a good quality SEC starter but didn't really scare anyone all that much- what is it that Reed did that makes so many people think he was a mediocre tight end? I mean I get that he struggled with blocking at times, but as a receiver he was our only big play threat and if we had a better QB or a more aggressive approach he would have been a household name but a lot of people on here seem to think he's going to be an addition by subtraction.

[GATORAZ]

Originally Posted by socraticsilence

Last year we were very close (though again I'd argue we weren't quite as good as our record suggested) this upcoming year we replace multiple OL starters and our two best offensive players from a mediocre at best attack (this is being kind, statistically we were one of the worst offenses in the country) as well as replacing the core of our defense both figuratively (in terms of leadership) and literally (DT, 2 LBs, both safeties) and an all-American quality kicker (extra important if you want every game to have scores in the teens).

We have a good enough defensive coach that we should only take a small step back on that front, but offensively we just don't have too much coming back that would make an unbiased observer think anything more than a small improvement (if that) is likely. If you think we improve slightly on offense (an optimistic but not entirely unrealistic belief) and go a bit back on defense while also taking a small hit on special teams then expecting us to be an 8 or 9 win team is a pretty rational projection.

Offense -

OL-
We replace Nixon & Wilson with Humphries Garcia Dunker Brown and Moore. Harrison and Halapio will have another year under their belts the Oline will actually be ,much better and deeper.


RB- Matt Jones will be better than Gillie IMO. He has a lot more talent.

The running game will be better than last year


Receiving Frankie Hammon was average at best he wont even be drafted. Reed is an elite player and will be missed. But look who we add D Rob Pittman Taylor Thompson and Purifoy the weapons are better than last year. We will actually be able to stetch the field.

The defense will lose something but it wont be much of a drop.

That being said you have to look at what other teams lose. It is just not about Florida but the competition. LSU loses an unreal amount of talent UGA loses their whole defense. People complained about pass protection but we are not going to face as many elite Dlinemen next year

What scares me the most about next years team is the kicking game. We go from an All American kicker to an unknown.

[socraticsilence]

Originally Posted by gatorzguy28

When you talk of beating Alabama, there is one thing they all have in common: true dual threat, up-tempo, spread style offense. Tebow, Newton, Shaw, Manziel all beat Alabama with their dual threat nature taking advantage of openings in the defense. If the idea behind the spread is correct, that a defense cannot play 11 on 11 football for all 4 qtrs, then that explains what you need to beat Alabama. LSU has also beaten them but they use a more traditional offense with some multiple sets in it. Ole Miss, under their new coach runs this style of offense. And with his recruiting prowess (or bank account), he landed some key pieces to that offense. I hope Ole Miss comes alive. Bama needs someone else to give them some competition.

Originally Posted by gatorzguy28

As for Low's article, he is a UT guy....what do we expect? The reality is that if our defense plays the way it did during all but the bowl game, we can beat anyone. If we get the Boise-esque offense we are hoping for, especially where Jeff feels comfort in the pocket and confident to make his throws to a WR who actually separates from time to time, then we will be better and that gives us the ability to beat anyone anytime. Right now we don't have that. All doubt goes away once we get back to passing the ball well.
Keep in mind that UGA only put 19 pts on us and put like 28 on Bama. I think our defense was honestly better, but our O kept giving the ball up. Six turnovers in one game and you should lose it.

I agree with this largely, I'd note that LSU's win over Bama in 2011 required like 4 missed FGs and that they got shutout in the rematch, I just don't think you beat Bama with a traditional offense, at least not with any consistency whatsoever its what they're built to stop its why they're so large- match up Bama against Oregon last season and they lose, heck they lose the Texas title game in 2009 if McCoy doesn't get hurt-- you don't run through Bama you put them in space and shred them, make them individually make decisions and plays rather than allowing Saban to position them in a set and running into the teeth of it.

Since 2008 Saban's losses have come almost exclusively to spread teams the exceptions are: USCe in 2010 (where Spurrier utilized the read option a bit with Garcia and Garcia had an almost perfect passing game passing largely out of shotgun spread sets) LSU in 2010 (where almost all of the big plays were made out of the shotgun spread either passing or on the read option) and LSU 2011 (discussed above), teams that are primarily under center don't beat Alabama under Saban-- heck the only thing that beats Saban consistently is the spread and the Read Option.

[qwghlmgator]

Originally Posted by whitelakegator

No, the defense showed up. JD lead us to a triple digit offense and a passing offense sandwiched between the likes of Temple and Ga Tech.

But hey WE WON 11 GAMES!!!!!!

LOL.

"Winning isn't everything...it's the only thing." - Vince Lombardi

"You are what your record says you are." - Bill Parcells

We went 11-1 playing the toughest schedule in a conference that is in the midst of dominating college football at a level heretofore unseen in the game. Those are facts. Not conjecture or opinion. Facts.

Now opinion and conjecture are fun - heck they're why we come here - but they are entirely subjective. Facts, such as our record, are objective. Hence our record should always be kept forefront in our debates in order to shine on subjective arguments (e.g "we really weren't that good las year") the cold hard light of objective fact (e.g. 11-2).

So I would ask you what in your argument could lead a resonable person to conclude that our record last year was indicative of anything other than the work of a superlative team? That the record itself reflected something other than the truth of what happened on the field last year. And to the extent that quoting said record would become an ungentlemanly act.

Personally, I think you don't like it being quoted continually because it makes your arguments look silly.

[Sylez_G_Koolaid]

No one's gonna beat Bama so long as they have weird signs like this in their weight room, bro. Also, smoothie bar!

[whitelakegator]

Originally Posted by qwghlmgator

"Winning isn't everything...it's the only thing." - Vince Lombardi

"You are what your record says you are." - Bill Parcells

We went 11-1 playing the toughest schedule in a conference that is in the midst of dominating college football at a level heretofore unseen in the game. Those are facts. Not conjecture or opinion. Facts.

Now opinion and conjecture are fun - heck they're why we come here - but they are entirely subjective. Facts, such as our record, are objective. Hence our record should always be kept forefront in our debates in order to shine on subjective arguments (e.g "we really weren't that good las year") the cold hard light of objective fact (e.g. 11-2).

So I would ask you what in your argument could lead a resonable person to conclude that our record last year was indicative of anything other than the work of a superlative team? That the record itself reflected something other than the truth of what happened on the field last year. And to the extent that quoting said record would become an ungentlemanly act.

Personally, I think you don't like it being quoted continually because it makes your arguments look silly.

Personally, I could care less. I swear some people take message boards way too seriously(nodding in your direction). Personally, we'll never meet...ever. So, who really cares. This is just a place to voice said opinions. I never said 11-2 wasn't great or superlative. You completely lost the point...which is...pay attention please...everytime someone is critical of any component of last year it is immeditaely met with a resounding "but we we're 11-2!!!" It is comical at this point, hence my posts.

So personally, bug off pal.

[GatorLaw]

Originally Posted by your_perfect_enemy

Am I the only one who remembers that we beat a&m in college station?

Not just A&M but every other team we played that's mentioned in the article as a possibility to beat Alabama - South Carolina, LSU, and Vandy - except UGa.

I don't think the media thinks we're for real because our offensive stats were so bad last year and because we got blown out by Louisville. Had we put on an offensive show and tromped Louisville I think we'd be more highly regarded than we are. That's o.k. with me - nobody mentioned us in preseason last year either.

[JohnC1908]

Originally Posted by whitelakegator

Personally, I could care less. I swear some people take message boards way too seriously(nodding in your direction). Personally, we'll never meet...ever. So, who really cares. This is just a place to voice said opinions. I never said 11-2 wasn't great or superlative. You completely lost the point...which is...pay attention please...everytime someone is critical of any component of last year it is immeditaely met with a resounding "but we we're 11-2!!!" It is comical at this point, hence my posts.

So personally, bug off pal.

You aren't "critical" you are just negative. The only time you show up on the Bball forum is after a loss. It's your M.O.