GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as the Florida Gators prepare for the Georgia Bulldogs this Saturday in Jacksonville.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre talk about how the Florida Gators match-up with Georgia and how the Gators can get things going on offense.
Andrew and Nick also talk about the latest commitment to Florida when offensive lineman Richard Gouraige committed to the Gators on Friday.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew:What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, getting ready for Florida-Georgia. I love this week. I love going to Jacksonville for the game. The atmosphere is awesome. I don’t know about you, Nick, but this is definitely my favorite game to attend for Florida every year, and that includes going to Dallas earlier this season.
Nick:It’s not that great for us in the press box. For fans, it’s an experience. You got to go. If you’re a Gator fan, or a Georgia fan, you have to go a World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. For us, it’s weird. I think we talked about. We’ve definitely talked about it before. It doesn’t get loud enough. The stadium’s split in half, and then the press box is enclosed. We’re watching a football game like with it on mute, basically.
Andrew:No. I’m talking about just pregame, that kind of stuff. Getting to go on the field pregame and just see the way things go, and just going into the stadium. It’s really cool. I like it, being right there on the water pregame, that kind of stuff. Last year we had the opportunity to kind of go to SEC Nation and kind of walk around a little bit more. I just think it’s a cool event. I think if you’re a football fan that is looking for a good atmosphere, that’s something to definitely go and see. There’s a lot of good ones you can go to. Alabama-Auburn’s a good one to go to, but they’re all at home stadiums. This is kind of split. It’s almost that bowl game feel. It is cool. I like it.
Nick:Really cool atmosphere. We can’t really partake in the actual World’s Largest Cocktail Party portion of it. I think that’d be frowned upon. We had some football games going on this weekend. Miami continues to slide by. They played some defense, but that #8 ranking next to their game, I’m sure it’ll go up after some teams lost. That is so fake. It’s just a house of cards. I was talking to one of my friends, huge Miami fan. I went home for the bye week, and I said, “Listen, man, look at this schedule. I see a Mark Richt loss in there somewhere. Like at Virginia.” He was like, “No way do we lose to Virginia.” I was like, “I’ve seen it. I’ve seen Mark Richt figure out ways.”
Andrew:Mark Richt will figure out a way, or he’ll go undefeated into the ACC title game, and then just fall flat on his face, and then get blown out in his bowl game. It’s waiting to happen. It just is. Here’s the thing. I know that there’s going to be some Miami fans that are tagged in our thing. I still don’t believe Miami is a great football team. I think they’ve just been benefit of the schedule they’ve played. I mean, who’ve they played?
Nick:They played FSU, who we’ll get to in a second, because they are not going to a bowl game. Here’s another thing. He probably wishes he would have done it. How good would that team be, I mean, AC Slater, their quarterback, is playing well, but how much better would they be with Brad Kaaya at quarterback?
Andrew:Yeah. You’re right. They are. Malik Rosier is doing good, and then you got to think. They lost Mark Walton, so not good for them as well.
Nick:No. They’re going through some stuff. A win is a win, and they’re undefeated. Three undefeated teams in the state of Florida.
Andrew:I didn’t watch a ton. Went and watched my South Alabama Jaguars play for the first time this year. Did watch that Florida State game against Louisville.
Nick:Did South win?
Andrew:South did win. They beat Louisiana Monroe.
Nick:Issue with that coach.
Andrew:They’re still getting rid of that coach. He’s a moron.
Nick:You’re not getting rid of your coach.
Andrew:Nick, I want to say this. There was 700 yards of total offense in the first half between the Jaguars and Louisiana Monroe. The wheel route was never covered.
Nick:It’s never been covered once.
Andrew:No. Nick, let’s go ahead and talk about Florida State. Then I want to move on to something else. The Florida State game was, Louisville was definitely the better team there. Florida State is just suffering from the lack of offensive players. Auden Tate’s a good receiver. I don’t think he’s elite. They don’t have that elite guy anymore. When you lose the Dalvin Cooks and the Jameis Winsons, you go through that. James Blackman still made some good throws in the game. They just lack it. Nick, that is just a team that looks lost, looks defeated. It’s almost like, “We’re not going to the ACC title game, so we’re done.”
Nick:I remember before, maybe not as the game closer, but all off season it was “We’re going to make Bama look average.”
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:“Bama doesn’t want to play us.” What?
Andrew:This was the game of the century. For the fourth straight year there was a game of the century, and that’s what they called this game, the game of the century. It was supposed to be, what was it? One versus three? One versus four? One versus two in some.
Nick:It was 24/7. It was bad.
Andrew:Here’s the thing, Nick. Maybe I’m wrong in saying this, but I don’t know if Deondre Francois makes that big of a difference.
Nick:To me, the shocking part about their team is how poorly the defense is playing.
Andrew:That, and how poorly the offensive line is blocked.
Nick:I think they’ve been kind of shaky. Maybe they were a little shaky. They were shaky last year. Francois was getting crushed.
Andrew:He was. He was. Nick, I want to go back to this, and this is the reason that I said we’d talk Florida State first. Blackman’s still making some good throws. Nick, everywhere in the country quarterback play is decent. What’s going on in Gainesville?
Nick:Listen, man, if you were a Florida State fan you’d probably be bitching about Blackman too.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:You just have quarterback envy.
Andrew:I just want to see a quarterback. That’s all.
Nick:Hold on. Before we do that. There are five weeks left in their schedule. Do they find four wins to get bowl eligible?
Andrew:I think they get in with five.
Nick:You host Syracuse.
Andrew:Yes.
Nick:Tell me if there’s three wins in these five games.
Andrew:Okay.
Nick:You host Syracuse. At Clemson. Delaware State. Sorry, four games. They would have to win.
Andrew:They would have to win out, correct?
Nick:Sorry. I forgot Boston College. You have five games. You’ve got Boston College. They’re at Boston College, then Syracuse.
Andrew:They’re what? 2-4?
Nick:2-4. They need to win four out of the next five games to get six. Three out of those five to get to 5-6. Then with a good APR score you can get in.
Andrew:I think they get in with the five wins, personally. We’ll see on that. I think they beat Boston College. Probably lose to Syracuse. Of course, they’ll beat Delaware State. Then the Florida game’s a tossup. They lose to Clemson. I see three wins there, and the Florida game being a tossup.
Nick:I got Delaware State, Boston College. ‘Cuse will make that a game.
Andrew:I see two, maybe three. Two to four. I see two to four. They could easily beat Florida and Syracuse, and they could easily lose those two games.
Nick:Okay.
Andrew:I say they have two wins for sure on the schedule, Delaware State and Boston College. Agree or disagree?
Nick:I don’t know. I think they win this week.
Andrew:I do too.
Nick:Night game at Chestnut Hill.
Andrew:Friday night.
Nick:That’s when high schools play.
Andrew:Yeah. That’s when high schools play.
Nick:I think Syracuse could be a win for them. I mean for Syracuse. I think Syracuse could win there.
Andrew:I do too.
Nick:I don’t know. I don’t see them winning four of those games. Maybe three.
Andrew:Yeah. Here’s the thing. With Florida, it’s a situation of should Florida be able to win that game? Yeah, but we all know how Florida is. They find ways to lose games they should win.
Nick:Yes.
Andrew:That’s what I’m saying. Go back to my quarterback situation, Nick, and that’s what I wanted to talk about in this, before we get to the Georgia game. That is are things really that tough for Florida as far as their offense goes, or is Feleipe just that bad? I just don’t know. I hate to keep going on this point, but, Nick, you see it all around the country. You and I don’t get to watch as many games every week as we’d love to, but, Nick, I watched football a lot yesterday, and offense was easy.
Nick:Florida finds a way to make it look hard. That’s true. That’s for sure. That’s an issue. I don’t know what. McElwain says the play calls are simple, the concepts are simple, so maybe it’s on him.
Andrew:Yeah. But it’s been an issue for years now. It’s been an issue for years now. Wanted to kind of move on and talk about some of the positives. One of the things that came out last week was Marco Wilson, Nick. He’s rated as the fourth best freshman in the country right now, as far as being graded out. Surprised?
Nick:No. Not at all.
Andrew:No.
Nick:When Marco committed, I said, “You got a three year starter. Enjoy him for the next three years, and then you’re out.” Then he’s gone.
Andrew:Yeah. I’ve talked to some people, and I know you have as well. Nick, every one of those people will tell you, “Listen, he’s going to be better than Quincy.” That’s saying a lot, because Quincy Wilson is a damn good football player making some money on Sundays, and people are saying he’s going to be better.
Nick:Yeah. I think you’ll see him continue. He’s not going to every be Quincy’s size, as big as Quincy was, but I think you’ll see him fill out a little bit more as well, as he gets older. Different type of player, same results.
Andrew:Right. Exactly. Let’s go. Let’s talk about this Georgia game now. I don’t even know where to start. Okay, I do know where to start, and that is this game will never be or look as bad as it looks on paper.
Nick:Oh, my God. It is so bad on paper.
Andrew:Yes, because these two teams always, and I mean always, find a way to play a good football game. Will Muschamp will let you know that in 2013, when Georgia had every business in the world to absolutely blow Florida out the water, and they didn’t. Nick, 282 yards a game. Guess what that number is.
Nick:Georgia’s rushing yards. It’s almost Florida’s total offense per game.
Andrew:282.9 yards a game rushing is Georgia. That ranks tenth in the country, which is mind boggling to me, and second in the SEC. I mean, that is crazy. They’re averaging 37.6 points per game.
Nick:That’s a good month at Florida. That’s a good month of scoring in Gainesville.
Andrew:Yeah. Here’s the thing. Their big win against Notre Dame looks a hell of a lot better today.
Nick:It does. They knocked off USC.
Andrew:They didn’t just knock off USC.
Nick:Remember, I was kind of bullish on Notre Dame. I said we might look back at the end of the season and say the win isn’t as good.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:Notre Dame looked really good Saturday.
Andrew:Yeah. Here’s the thing, Nick. I’m looking here at Georgia. Nick Chubb and Sony Michel are both averaging over 80 yards a game rushing. Nick Chubb, 6.4 yards per carry, right at 98 yards a game. Sony Michel, 7.2 yards a carry, 82 yards per game. Can Florida shut down this running game? I don’t know.
Nick:I don’t know. That’s kind of what Florida’s leaned on the past, I want to say three years.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:Three or four. Have leaned on their running game against Georgia and stopping the run. To me, that’s probably where you go. Listen, you obviously don’t trust Feleipe Franks. I’m saying not because of how he’s played, even before losing two games in a row it was clear there was more of the playbook open for Luke Del Rio than there was Franks. Listen, you don’t trust your quarterback, so stop throwing the ball 30 times a game.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:If you need to, run the ball 50 times. Didn’t they run 50 times the year Muschamp won? What was that, 2014?
Andrew:I don’t even remember them throwing a pass. It seemed like it was Kelvin Taylor left, Kelvin Taylor right. Fake field goal. Kelvin Taylor left. Kelvin Taylor right.
Nick:Mike McNeely.
Andrew:That’s what it was. When you look at this team, and you look at things. Nick, I’m just going to shoot it straight, and that is your offense you’ve had all year, the game plan you’ve had all year, isn’t winning you this football game.
Nick:No. I mean, pull some tricks out. There was the fake field goal. I think they did one, Mac did one, his first year against Georgia.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:When Johnny pitched it to Cece.
Andrew:Yeah. That was the first year against them. That’s what I’m saying. You’re going to have to do something different in this game to get things going. I say that in that Florida’s offense does seem like after a big play that they kind of get better, and I think that that’s something. You go into this game, and after your first drive you find a way to mix things up. Maybe that is five wide and everybody running a slant, and Feleipe throwing it, or maybe that is goal line the whole game. Whatever it is, you’ve got to find a way to do something.
Nick:How about, I saw somebody, I can’t remember who it is now, Brandon Powell runs a marathon game in pre-snap motion. Just pump a ball off to him and run a screen that way. Have him stop, cut back, and throw a ball.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:Get a guy. Just some kind of creativity. You don’t need to run plays that take so long to develop. Just quick stuff. We asked about the get it to list. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it doesn’t. It just like, what is happening?
Andrew:Why not try some little end arounds, like Brandon Powell did? What about maybe a reverse? What about something?
Nick:I don’t know. You got to try something. I feel like normally you do. You do see that in this game. Pull up the stats. Mac has run, in both games, 48 times. First year was 258 and two touchdowns. That was 5.3 per carry. That Kelvin Taylor going nuts. Then last year it was like, listen, we’re going to run the ball. We’re not doing it well, but we’re going to run it. There was 48 attempts for 100 yards. Two yards a carry and two scores. Just run the football.
Andrew:You got to do something to make things interesting.
Nick:It’s such a bad product to watch.
Andrew:It is, because I mean, and I say this, and I don’t know how to say it. I don’t know how to say it any more than we’ve said it before. That is it just seems like they’re trying to fit that square peg into a circle. It just seems like it’s rocket science out there. I don’t know. It just seems like 11 guys are having a tough problem figuring out the one thing to do. It seems like, you’ve been working on this since late July, or longer than that. Why is it so difficult?
Nick:They’re offensive geniuses. The genius takes time. That’s probably it. That’s not it?
Andrew:I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. I can’t sit here today and blame Nuss completely or blame this offensive staff completely, when there’s guys running wide open. I can’t. The only thing that I can blame those guys for is why does your quarterback and the rest of your offense have no clue?
Nick:I don’t know. At what point do you blame the players? That’s kind of where we’re at, right?
Andrew:I’m at that point. I’m blaming the players. I’m blaming the players just as much as I’m blaming.
Nick:You’re not firing Nuss. They just need to recruit better.
Andrew:No.
Nick:Still firing Nuss?
Andrew:I’m not firing nobody right now.
Nick:You’re firing Feleipe.
Andrew:Yes. Well, you should have never hired Feleipe. What were you doing there? I just think you go into this Georgia game and have 10 plays that you can run fully, and run those 10 damn plays. I know someone’s going to say, “After a while those 10 plays …” Listen, plays that are ran correctly are always open, because you run a play that, if it’s cover two, this receiver’s open. If it’s cover three, this receiver’s open, and vice versa. Find 10 plays that you can work with. Go into this game. Make sure Feleipe and the rest of the offense knows, and make sure Feleipe knows that he has five options, not one.
Nick:Well, you have a little bit of news to talk about, since we’re talking quarterbacks.
Andrew:Apparently Kyle Trask is out of his boot.
Nick:Look at you, stirring the pot.
Andrew: My question to you is this, Nick.
Nick:People want to hear it, and I’ve been saying it for two years now. Kyle Trask is the best quarterback Florida has on campus.
Andrew:Let me ask you this. If Kyle Trask was not injured this year, would he be playing?
Nick:Yeah. Yes.
Andrew:Any reason as to why?
Nick:Listen, man, if he’s not vocal enough, or coaches don’t think he’s being the leader in practice, and that’s why you go with somebody else, okay. When the other guy struggles, you’re going to give him a chance. We have no idea how Kyle Trask would react in a game situation, when there’s 80,000 people instead of just out on the practice field. Could be great. Could be terrible. Athletically, he’s more than capable. Can move like Feleipe does. Arm is strong, and he’s significantly more accurate.
Andrew:And significantly smarter.
Nick:I don’t know. We don’t see him at practice. He could easily get in there and start staring down people too.
Andrew:I don’t know. We won’t discuss that more, but I wanted to drop that little nugget to just kind of stir the pot a little bit. Let me ask you this, Nick. Defensively this week, you better play good fundamentals. You better set that edge. You better tackle.
Nick:Chubb’s coming. Here’s a little stat. Alabama’s rushing for more yards per game than Tennessee and Butch are getting total offense.
Andrew:I just want to throw this random stat at you real quick, Nick. In the middle of the 3rd quarter yesterday, Kansas had -7 yards total offense.
Nick:God. I saw a picture from one of their beat reporters. Said that the offensive coordinator was just sitting in a stairwell with his head in his hands for like five minutes.
Andrew:What do you do if you’re in that situation?
Nick:I don’t know.
Andrew:Go back to defense in this game.
Nick:Shoot. Listen, we talked about it a little bit last week on the bye week, but it’s Georgia put themselves in a great position being forced to play a freshman quarterback. Jake Fromm’s a great quarterback, and will be great, but they’re smart. They have two great running backs, and they’re letting that lead the way. You got to stop Georgia on 1st down. You can’t let them run for five yards, six yards. They can’t be all day 2nd and short, 2nd and 5. It can’t be that.
You got to put them behind the sticks, and basically make Fromm beat you. He could do it. Listen, this isn’t like a Missouri game, when you’re saying you got to make James Franklin beat you with his arm, not with his legs. You’re like, you’re going to lose that way. Missouri will lose if you do that. Fromm could come out and …
Andrew:Light the world on fire.
Nick:Light the world on fire. Throw for 350 and three touchdowns. I would rather get beat by him than let Georgia run for 300 yards.
Andrew:Okay. Let me ask you this. Are you loading the box, dropping that extra guy down, and just playing base defense?
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:I am.
Nick:Yeah. I say, listen, Quincy, CJ, you guys are going to be on an island. Moon, get ready to play more than you’ve ever played. You’re on the field, bud. I’m base, 4-3, all game.
Andrew:Marco, Duke, you got your guys loaded up.
Nick:Yeah. Marco, Duke, CJ. If they go four, bring someone else down.
Andrew:Let me ask you this. This is something that I think is going to be key to this game. That is Florida forcing at least one to two turnovers in this game. Florida’s going to have to find ways to get some easy points. Agree?
Nick:Yeah. You got to steal some.
Andrew:How do you do that, if you’re Florida? Is it playing that man, and hitting Fromm? Because that’s my opinion of the way to do it. Not sitting back in coverage. In this game, my opinion, if you play not to lose, like Randy Shannon has in the past few weeks, you’ll lose this game.
Nick:You keep beating it. We just don’t agree there.
Andrew:Nick, you say it yourself. You say it yourself that this team plays not to lose. Now you’re going to go back on it.
Nick:No. I say the offense. The offense does that. When they get a lead, the offense tries that.
Andrew:How do you say the defense doesn’t play not to lose, when you’re playing cover zero, prevent D, or not cover zero, when you’re playing prevent D, cover five, up by seven. What are you doing?
Nick:Playing defense, man. You’re up seven.
Andrew:Playing defense? When you’ve done well the entire first half attacking, and now you’re going to play not to lose?
Nick:We just don’t agree.
Andrew:Explain why the defense was as bad as it was, and don’t give me this excuse they were on the field. Every team in America’s out on the field.
Nick:The defense wasn’t bad.
Andrew:It wasn’t bad?
Nick:They only gave up 19 points.
Andrew:They got torched in the second half. Yes, they only gave up 16, but the yards, Nick. I mean, and the big plays were there.
Nick:Yards count? Yards put points on the board?
Andrew:Big plays.
Nick:You get a point for every 100 yards or something? Did the game change? You can give up yards. Giving up yards doesn’t matter.
Andrew:Okay.
Nick:That’s a good Texas A&M offense.
Andrew:Then give me your keys for the defense in this week. If we’re going to disagree, you give me your keys for the defense this week.
Nick:I already did. You got to make Fromm beat, win the game. That’s the keys for the defense is stop it, if you can, stop their running game. That’s the key for the defense. You make Fromm beat you.
Andrew:Here’s my other thing. You can’t be stupid on special teams.
Nick:No. There can’t be kickoffs out of bounds. To me, what’s really shocking with the special teams is Florida’s punt return, or punt coverage. I mean, the punt and kick returns have been atrocious. Everyone knows that. Opponent punt returns, Florida’s given up 13.12 on average per punt, per punt return.
Andrew:You know what makes me mad about that, Nick? They’re going to blame Townsend. Here’s the deal. I know Mac blames the guys that have a lot of confidence, because he knows that doesn’t affect them. It pisses me off when they blame Townsend for that. Could Townsend have better hang time on his punts? Sure. You could also have your guys run their ass down the field instead of lollygag down the field and jog down the field. When your long snapper is the first guy down there, that pisses me off.
Nick:Listen, man, at one point you Joseph Putu and CJ McWilliams on the field. They didn’t touch a soul. There’s no return. Put athletes on special teams. Carlos Dunlap played special teams as an All-SEC defensive end for Urban Meyer. You have to put an emphasis on special teams. During the Meyer years, there was so special teams. Brandon James. Jeff Demps. Chris Rainey. There were so many special teams plays that completely shifted a game. You’re playing field position games back and forth, back and forth. No one’s getting any ground. All of a sudden, 68-yard punt return. You’re on the board. Now your offense has some juice. Everyone’s got a little juice. It’s a huge play.
Andrew:Right. Blocked punt. Just different things like that. I mean, Chris Rainey, Demps, those guys, they were All-SEC running backs at times. They were elite runners.
Nick:Yeah. Special teams …
Andrew:Special teams wins championships just as much as defense.
Nick:Special teams with this coaching staff is like where you earn your stripes. If you’re not good enough to play in the game on offense or defense, we’ll put you on special teams. That’s not cutting it.
Andrew:Yeah. I was about to say, this coaching staff almost makes special teams to seem like a non-important key of the game. Here’s the deal. Florida’s punt return isn’t a punt return, because Brandon Powell, it does not matter if he has 70 yards of running room or 5 yards of running room. He’s fair catching it. He’s fair catching it. If the ball bounces one time, he’s not picking it up. He’s going to let it roll forever.
Kickoff return, this team might as well let every kickoff return go in the end zone, and they might as well nail it down, because they’re not blocking. Adarius Lemons had a fine kickoff return the other day, and it was all on his own, because this team does not do that. Kickoff has been pretty good, because Eddy kicks it out of the end zone every time, so that’s not been an issue. Except for when he kicks it out of bounds.
There is no creating momentum on special teams for this team, and that is going to hurt them. Georgia is going to do a good job on special teams. They’ve been doing a good job on special teams. They rank 18th in the country in kickoff returns. If Eddy doesn’t put it through the end zone, they’re going to have a good return. They’re just going to. You have to win special teams when your other parts of your teams aren’t as good.
Nick:Yeah. Eddy actually has kicked every one out, except for the two that he’s kicked out of bounds.
Andrew:Right. That’s why I say, if he doesn’t kick it out. The two kicked out of bounds have been crucial. The one two weeks ago to Texas A&M led to a score.
Nick:LSU. Or was it Tennessee?
Andrew:I couldn’t remember if it was LSU.
Nick:It was LSU. There was the punt to Kirk led to that Texas A&M.
Andrew:Right. The other one was the field goal, where he kicked it out of bounds right after Florida had scored against A&M.
Nick:Yes.
Andrew:That’s the thing. It almost seems like special teams aren’t taken serious. People blame Greg Nord, and I’m going to tell you guys, don’t blame Greg Nord. He’s special teams coordinator in title.
Nick:Poor Nord. Don’t blame Nord.
Andrew:Do you agree?
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:He’s it in title.
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:He’s it in title.
Nick:And paycheck.
Andrew:And paycheck too. Anyway, that’s that. To get off of that, we’ll talk more about that later this week. We’ll break that down more on Wednesday. Back to a normal week. Nick, got some big recruiting news. Florida went out and secured the big commitment of offensive lineman Richard Gouraige out of Tampa. Nick, this is the strikes earned by Brad Davis, going to get Gouraige. Florida had less than zero percent chance of getting Gouraige with Mike Summers as their offensive line coach.
Brad Davis comes in. Brad Davis instantly reaches out to the people around Gouraige. Finds out what it is. They’re big religious people, big religious family, and mom doesn’t know a lot about football. Doesn’t really care a lot about football, more about academics, that kind of stuff. Brad Davis found out what it is, and he beat Clemson head to head. How many times can we say that Florida has beaten Clemson head to head for those big guys that they want? Especially out of the Tampa area. Ray Ray McCloud. Deon Cain. Those guys.
Brad Davis earned his stripes and really, in my opinion, showed fans how good he’s going to be. Also, he’s shown me how good he can be on the field. He’s coaching with nobody on offensive line, and he’s making a productive offensive line.
Nick:What do you mean nobody on the offensive line?
Andrew:I mean, in my opinion, Martez Ivey is just okay. I don’t think he’s elite. Brett Heggie and TJ McCoy are young, and Jawaan Taylor is just playing okay. Then you have no right guard. I mean, do you agree? You think you’ve got five All-Americans up front?
Nick:You twisted that quick.
Andrew:I’m asking you.
Nick:You twisted that quick. All-Americans. No. I think Jawaan Taylor is playing okay. I don’t think they’re playing terrible. I think at times. They have good stretches during games where the team leans on them. I think they should lean on them more.
Andrew:Yeah. That was a big win though for Florida in the recruiting front, to get Gouraige. This is a big year for offensive linemen, to have Gouraige and Dunlap, two big guys that are going to play. Gouraige as a tackle, and has a very high upside guy there. That was big. Then they finish out the week recruiting. Went out and recruited Matt Corral out in Cali, and the rest of those guys. That was big. Hopefully that kind of steps it up for Florida to have a big recruiting weekend against UAB, then against FSU, and then that leads into December, where you have official visits. That was the key, because you got to remember, that early signing period’s coming. December 20. What do you think?
Nick:That new signing period, how do you think that is going to affect, literally everyone?
Andrew:I think it makes you believe who is really solid, and is going to sign on December 20, and who’s bull crapping you about being solid. If they don’t sign December 20, are they really a commit?
Nick:Shoot, man.
Andrew:Then here’s my question to you too, Nick. That is if you’re a kid, do you sign December 20 with the question marks around the coaching staff?
Nick:No. There are some kids that have the pull. Richard could easily tell Florida, “Kick rocks, man. I’m not signing on the 20th. I don’t know who the hell’s going to be here after the season. I’m signing on Signing Day.”
Andrew:Right.
Nick:Florida’s not in a position to say, he’s not a two-star receiver from nowhere, “We have five of those guys if we want to.” Florida will say, “If you want in this class, you have to sign on this day.” The players that you need, you’re not giving them an ultimatum. They’ll say, “Cool. Man.”
Andrew:Right. Exactly.
Nick:That’s cool. I’m going to go sign on the 20th to FSU. Thanks for that ultimatum, Florida. There’s kids that have that kind of pull. I think it’ll be interesting to see. I think it might give some other kids a little bit more power.
Andrew:Exactly. I think that’s your thing. Here’s another thing. If you’re a guy that is a guy that’s on the fringe with a lot of schools, you kind of know where you stand. If you’re offering to sign in that first signing period, and they say no, then you kind of know you’re a backup plan.
Nick:Yeah. It kind of makes coaches play their hands, because in the past you’d be able to string kids along.
Andrew:Right. Exactly. You’ll see where that is. It’s a thing where your early enrollees are able to sign and get their whole signing day, all that good stuff. It’s a special moment for a lot of guys. They’ll get those guys, like a guy like Matt Corral. They’ll get that time. I think it’s good. I like the December 20th thing, and I think that you’ll see a lot of your commits sign. Then I think you’ll see a lot of guys, even for other schools, that don’t sign on December 20. Here’s the deal. If you sign on December 20, no more official visits in January. We all know how those kids want those official visits. Hell, I would too. Would you sign on December 20?
Nick:No. I told you. I’d be taking official visits to Hawaii.
Andrew:Arizona. Arizona State.
Nick:I’d be going everywhere.
Andrew:Oregon. UCLA. All the big ones. Yeah. Nick, we’ll get out of here. We got a lot of good basketball content coming. I hope you guys are liking Eric. He’s doing some good stuff. We also have another surprise coming. Going to have one of our new guys breaking down X’s and O’s for the football team, doing some things that Nick and I just really don’t have time to do. That should be coming your way this week, hopefully. That should be fun. Tell everybody where they can find us, Nick. We’ll get out, and we’ll see everyone on Wednesday.
Nick:www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gator news. The podcast is there in audio and transcript form. Find it on iTunes. Search @GatorCountry. Find it. That’s where it is. Do your social media thing. Double tap on Instagram, @TheGatorCountry. @GatorCountry on Facebook and Twitter. @NickdelaTorreGC, and he’s @AndrewSpiveyGC.
Andrew:There you go. If you’re looking for that coupon code, hit one of us up. We’ll get it. We’ll see everyone on Wednesday. As always, go Braves. Chomp, chomp.
Nick:You stay classy, Gator Country.