Gator Country brings you a new podcast as we recap the Florida Gators big homecoming win over Missouri on Saturday in the Swamp.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre break down how the offense found its groove in the second half, plus how dominating the Gators defense really was.
Andrew and Nick also talk about how the Gators are now leading the SEC eastern division race, plus recap our picks from the week.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew: What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, finally the Gators get a nice Homecoming win. Unexpected rain, sloppy first half for the offense, but overall I’m going to say it was a positive night for the Gators. I am off the negative train and on the positive train.
Nick: I think I’m going to be positive too. It didn’t feel like Florida had 523 offensive yards. I think it’s just the way that the game kind of played out. You missed a field goal on the first drive, and then punt, punt. Then you kind of stall again, field goal, field goal. All of a sudden it’s 2nd quarter, and 6-0, and you’re thinking, what? Are we doing this all over again? The running game really took over yesterday. I think that Florida has found its identity, despite it was kind of a little lopsided passing more than rushing, to begin the game, but I think that Florida has found their identity. They’re going to be a power running team, and that’s where they’re going to be going. I think that’s what you’ll see the rest of the way.
Andrew: I agree. I think that when you look at this 523 yards, I’m the same way you were. At first I was like, did they really have 523? Then I started to think about it, and I’m like, first drive goes, missed field goal. Second drive was a good drive, and a couple of bad.
Nick: That first drive of the game, 10 plays for 62 yards.
Andrew: Right. That’s what I’m saying. It was sustained drives, and then it was a penalty that backed them up, or a dropped pass or a fumble with Mark there. It was self-inflicted wounds that stopped Florida from really putting up big. Florida could have scored 50 in this game, had they executed better on offense. Missouri put up 363, and that number is totally obscured, because of some long runs when the game was out of hand. You take away the 99 yard drive they had at the end of the game when Florida had…
Nick: Michael Iorio was on the field.
Andrew: Yeah. Walk-ons on the field. You can’t read too much into that.
Nick: Florida had 128 1st quarter yards, no points to show for it.
Andrew: That’s what I’m saying. It was a lot of self-inflicted.
Nick: Three penalties for 15 yards.
Andrew: You just said the pass to run, it was 39 pass to 38 runs.
Nick: That got skewed later. To begin, in the first half it was not bad, 9-12. 9 rushes to 12 passes. Then half time it was 19-25. That’s more balanced. Everyone was freaking out. Why are we throwing the ball so much? There were six more passes than runs in the first half.
Andrew: I think a lot of that throwing the ball in this game more so was to get the rust off Del Rio. I don’t think people understand what three weeks off playing in SEC football, pro football, any high level football, can do. The speed is different from practice. Del Rio is going up against the best defense in the country, but they don’t go full speed all the time. Del Rio’s not getting hit. It’s a lot different in a game. Let’s call it what it is. It’s a lot different. Is this a good Missouri team? No, but it’s a lot different. I think you and I can both agree that Del Rio looked rusty, very rusty, in the game, but at the end of the day they got the win.
Nick: I’ve kind of gone back and forth on this. I think I’m going to settle on saying, sure it was rust, but it was also, you remember, I said on the podcast, I think people were just frustrated with Austin Appleby and put Luke Del Rio on a pedestal, and in their minds made him out to something that he’s not. People got mad at me after the first game when I said, “This is what Luke Del Rio is. He’ll throw for 250, couple touchdowns. He won’t turn the ball over, but he’s an average to above average quarterback. That’s what he is.” When you have an average quarterback, who hasn’t played in two weeks, three weeks, you’re going to get a game like this where he’s rusty. He never really threw the deep ball well before, so when he underthrows it this game I’m not really surprised that he’s underthrowing it. I’m surprised that it keeps getting called though.s1
Andrew: You got to. I mean, let’s just say it like it is. When you’ve got Tyrie Cleveland on the field, you got two dudes that can just straight go get it. You’ve got to put that ball up.
Nick: But then that’s on the quarterback. You’ve got to realize, I’ve got a 6’2” wide receiver that can jump out the gym. Put the ball up where only he can go get it.
Andrew: Exactly. You’re exactly right. I agree with you on that. I’m saying it’s there. I look back at the three picks. I consider the one at the end of the half a whatever pick, because it’s one of those that you knew the half was over there. The other two were concerning. The one that he threw on the comeback route, in my opinion, was probably the worst one of them all, because it was just like that’s just really bad that you threw that, because you timed it up there. Nick, I’m going to go down this road already, and we’re three minutes into this thing. Can we just stop with this rotation at running back?
Nick: I wrote about it three weeks ago. It should have stopped three weeks ago.
Andrew: Can we stop though? I know people say, “Mark Thompson did well.” No. 10 carries, 65 yards. Didn’t hit a hole well. Tiptoed, fumbled. No. Can we stop seeing that? I’m over seeing that.
Nick: The puzzling thing to me is Jim McElwain has never done this before.
Andrew: I know. That is exactly what’s puzzling to me. I don’t know what is going on, because it just seems odd. I guess that’s the best way to say it. I don’t know. I have to say, Nick, you know I’m a very big Perine fan, from the area, and I don’t hide that fact. It’s just frustrating when you see guys like him and Scarlett put up big runs, have big carries, and then the next play they’re out. It just seems like, let the guy get fresh. I bet you, if you were to ask Scarlett about the long run for Perine where he came out and Scarlett came in, he would probably say that should have been Lamical’s touchdown.
Nick: I said that. I said, Lamical had a couple good carries in a row, and I tweeted, “Lamical Perine running well right now, so someone else will probably come in.” Then Scarlett comes in on the next play and runs 33 for a touchdown. It kind of blew up in my face, but yeah. You’re right. Scarlett probably would say, or, no, Scarlett came in after Lamical’s big run. Is that what you’re talking about?
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: He came after Lamical’s big run. Right. Then he fumbled. It’s kind of like, let the guy finish his drive. He got us there. Dance with the one that brought you. At least let him try to punch it in once. As soon as you get down into the 10 yard line it’s, next guy in.
Andrew: I don’t know. I just, I guess there’s just no way to say it except to say it. I guess I’m just tired of seeing Thompson tiptoe. I guess that’s just the best way to say it. I just am. The fumble he had is a fumble, and everyone fumbles. I understand that, but the thing about it is he shouldn’t have been in position to fumble, because if he’d hit the hole hard he doesn’t even get touched. He’s walking into the end zone. I’m just not sure of what is going on with him as to why it is slower for him. Everything is so slow. Every cut is so slow. Everything just looks like slow mo for him. It’s like, I don’t know.
Nick: I think everyone is with us on that too.
Andrew: Am I wrong in saying that everything looks slow mo with him?
Nick: Yeah. I’m also tired of, and this is not just him, this is kind of all over the place with Florida. Why at first contact is every play dead?
Andrew: I’m over that. I’m so over Deandre Goolsby, at 6’3”, 240 freaking pounds, falling at every first contact. Can we see a guy get hit and fall forward or bounce? The reason that play action play is so good is because it usually guarantees you 5-6 yards. With Goolsby it’s averaging 2 yards.
Nick: To me it’s everyone though. Who’s breaking tackles?
Andrew: 25 and 22.
Nick: 25 has been bouncing off some people.
Andrew: That’s what I’m saying.
Nick: 22 has been bouncing off some people. It’s just…I got a positive note for us though. Let me read you this drive chart.
Andrew: By the way, I’m positive. I feel like there’s energy back around this team. I’m positive.
Nick: Let me hit you with this drive chart. Missouri, three plays, punt; three plays, punt; three plays, punt; three plays, punt; three plays, punt; three plays, punt; one play, interception. Finally started picking up some momentum, eight plays, 48 yards, pick six. Punt, half. Missouri punted seven times with seven 3 and outs. The only time Missouri did not have a 3 and out in the first half they threw pick sixes.
Florida’s defense played like that kid that was constantly in detention, that kid with behavioral issues in elementary school, the one that was always getting into fights, putting gum in girls’ hair. That’s what Florida’s defense was playing like last night.
Andrew: Playing out of their mind. I mean, that’s just what it is. You were able to see the defense come back with that fire and intensity that’s really been missing. It seemed like every play Drew Lock was either pushed after the play or was about to be. He had no time to throw. If it wasn’t Anzalone, it was Davis. If it wasn’t Davis, it was one of the defensive linemen. It was all game long where those guys were going at him. It was really good to see this defense come back. Is Missouri a great offense? No, but they have potential on offense. Their offense is mediocre. Florida just dominated them poor boys.
Nick: Yeah. For me, it goes back to what Quincy Wilson said before the Kentucky game, where he said, “They like to throw,” speaking about Kentucky, “they like to throw the ball around a lot. We like teams that like to throw.” Before this week we told Jalen Tabor, “They have the #1 passing offense in the SEC.” He said, “Okay. Good. This is the kind of game where you go make your money.” Yeah. They did that. I was questioning yesterday, I get a lot of support for it. Quincy Wilson and Jalen Tabor are both first round draft picks. I was like, “Are they both top 15 picks?” Do they both go in the top 15 of next year’s draft?
Andrew: You’d be stupid not to.
Nick: I would take either of them on my football team right now.
Andrew: Heck yeah. I would.
Nick: That was the third time this season that Wilson and Tabor have had interceptions in the same game. Third time this season.
Andrew: Those guys complement each other so well. Why do you throw at either one of those guys? I don’t understand why teams are not picking on our good friend Duke Dawson and that safety position opposite of Marcus Maye. What are you doing trying to throw a comeback route on Tabor? Are you stupid?
Nick: They threw one ball at Tabor. Tabor’s man was targeted one time. It wasn’t a comeback on Tabor. It was a bad throw on like a wheel route.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: They tried to throw the comeback on Quincy. They had thrown on him once earlier in the game, and I think it was just a bad throw.
Andrew: Yes. That was on the bottom. My bad. That was so dumb. Jalen Tabor looked like a first baseman that was set up to receive, because he was just standing there like, okay, when’s the ball going to him me in the chest so I can get reservations?
Nick: He didn’t even run, he sauntered. Jalen Tabor sauntered into the end zone after an interception.
Andrew: Quincy Wilson had the escort. He looked like the President of the United States with the secret service escorting him down.
Nick: He made sure that we knew that he threw a stiff arm though. He spoke with the media after the game, and he made sure to let us know, “It wasn’t all green grass. I had to throw a stiff arm in there.”
Andrew: I say this, Nick, and I don’t like to praise ourselves, but we’ve been on the Quincy train from day 1, unlike some people who called him a safety and all that other stuff. We’ve been on it. He had superstar potential from day 1, and I’ll say this. You don’t even have to say it. I’ll say this. He deserves everything he gets. He’s a hard worker, one of the hardest workers on the team, and deserves all the recognition he gets.
Nick: Yeah. Great kid. Great family. Saw someone on the board say, “How great would it be if Quincy stayed for his senior year, and he and his brother got to play together?” Sorry, bud.
Andrew: I mean, would it be great? Yeah. It’d be fun. Am I protesting that? No.
Nick: I get it. Don’t hold your breath.
Andrew: Don’t hold your breath. To go back to the offensive side of the ball real quick, Nick. The Gators found that 1, 2 punch at receiver.
Nick: Yup. You got it. You got it.
Andrew: Three catches, 79 yards, for Tyrie Cleveland. It wasn’t even so much the three catches, but every time he was going deep they started rotating a safety over the top. They weren’t letting Callaway and Tyrie beat them. That’s why the underneath stuff to Brandon was open some. That’s why the underneath to Goolsby was open some. People were not letting 89 and 81 beat them deep. They were double and triple covering those two guys, and that only makes the rest of the team better. Finally we see what we wanted to see from the beginning, and we understand why Tyrie wasn’t playing from the beginning, but finally we get to see what we’ve been hoping to see since the beginning, and that is dynamic duo of Cleveland and Callaway.
Nick: It’s all tied in together. When you have someone that can take the top off a defense like Tyrie Cleveland, or like an Antonio Callaway, then the defense has to respect that, and that opens up those drag routes. It opens up the running game. It opens up other things. If the defense doesn’t respect you being able to go up top to make a big play, then they don’t have to worry about it. Then everything slides down, and it makes those intermediate passes that you should have open and should be easy to make, makes those harder. Everything ties together. When you say Florida can’t throw the ball, that might have not been the case. They can throw the ball, but if you can’t throw it deep, and the defenses don’t have to worry about that, don’t have to game plan for that, don’t have to respect that, then they focus on everything else, and it makes those passes that you should be completing harder.
Andrew: It makes the running game not as effective.
Nick: Exactly. It all ties in. It’s not Florida sucks throwing the ball. It’s they haven’t had someone that can take the top off the defense. They haven’t had that threat. That doesn’t mean Florida just can’t throw deep. That affects everything else in the passing game.
Andrew: It’s a puzzle piece. It all fits together, and at the end of the day, when you look at teams that are successful, it’s because they’re successful with everything. Nick, I wanted to touch on the offensive line.
Nick: I might just mute myself and let you go off.
Andrew: I’m positive on some and negative on some. Still not sure what our boy 78 is doing. I’m still not sure there. Martez, better game. Better game. I said it. Better game for Martez. Cam Dillard, better game. Tyler Jordan got benched, terrible play. Awful play. Terry Beckner, Tyler’s having dreams of Terry Beckner whipping him all night. Fred came in.
Nick: To be fair, Beckner whips a lot of people.
Andrew: To be fair, he does. Fred came in, and didn’t do too bad. Yes, I said that. Agree or disagree?
Nick: I agree.
Andrew: Jawaan, had a false start, had the holding, had one bad pass pro to my knowledge, but he was the escort to Scarlett’s big run. Props to Jawaan. Jawaan did well as well.
Then, I have to say this, Nick, the backs of 22, 25, 25 mainly, had hell of a pass pro days. I said this to you in the box. The running backs are really doing a good job of picking up on pass pro. Not too sold on the way the tight ends picked up on pass pro at all, but the backs did really well.
Nick: Yeah. I think there was one time where Scarlett missed a guy. I was talking to you about it in the box. He was looking for the linebacker to fill the B gap, and the linebacker took one step and looped around, and he was kind of like, where’d he go? Crap, there he is. Time to get it over, and it was too late. Other than that, it’s been that way for a while too. Those two have never had a problem.
Andrew: Definitely. That’s something that I think has been a big improvement to the team is the way that happened. Nick, I’m just not sure though what’s happened to C’yontai. He’s MIA.
Nick: He was unhappy after the game last night.
Andrew: Was he?
Nick: He tweeted, “Shit ain’t for me.” He deleted it, but you can I guess take that however you want to take it.
Andrew: Do we blame anybody but him?
Nick: I got no one else to blame.
Andrew: I mean, I don’t know who else you blame. Do you?
Nick: No. Won’t be long though.
Andrew: Won’t be long?
Nick: That’s his hashtag.
Andrew: I mean, can we see it? What are we waiting on?
Nick: I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s not in the game plan. I don’t know if he’s in the game plan and not getting open. I don’t know what it is.
Andrew: I have a hard time believing he isn’t in the game plan.
Nick: Certainly not making any kind of impact.
Andrew: Yeah. Injuries. We got to talk about it. We’re taping this at 1:37 on Sunday, so could be an update before you guys get this.
Nick: I don’t think we’ll get an update.
Andrew: I’m saying we may get an update, personally, you and I may get an update on what happens. It may be on Gator Country, so check it when you’re listening to this. We do have to tape this. We can’t wait until we get an update. MRI on that, or the X rays were negative. He had an MRI on that. Some people that were watching it at home said it looked like he just took a helmet to the shin level. Probably more just a bruise, if I’m trying to be a doctor and guess. It’s probably just more of a bruise.
Nick: X rays were negative, and he was going to get an MRI. Said he was in good spirits. Quincy Wilson said to the media when we asked him yesterday that he thought he was going to be fine, heard he was going to be fine. Losing Jarrad Davis hurts. If you lose Jarrad Davis, I should say. That hurts. From a production standpoint, from a leadership standpoint. Jarrad Davis is the one getting plays from the sidelines, barking them out, making sure people know where they are, where they’re supposed to be, where they’re going.
With that being said, David Reese played well when he came in, and that’s what we’ve said all along. I said, when David Reese got in in the spring, I said, “Listen, Randy Shannon is holding this kid’s hand. He’s making sure he knows everything.” Jarrad Davis would go through a drill, line up first and go through a drill, and Alex Anzalone would sit there and tell David Reese what Jarrad Davis was doing. Watch him, this is what you need to do. Anzalone would go. So Reese would watch him, and then he would go again. I think you’re seeing the impact of what that kind of tutoring and what coming in early has done for David Reese, on top of him just being a very instinctual linebacker. Tough kid. Good linebacker.
Andrew: I agree. The thing for me, let me first talk about Davis. You don’t replace Jarrad Davis.
Nick: Can’t do it.
Andrew: You don’t replace Jarrad Davis. Even if you have whoever, and I say this, and I say this jokingly, but if Ray Lewis steps back on this team, is he a better player? Yes, but he’s not that guy that this team is. This team kind of looks to Jarrad Davis. That’s their guy. That’s their leader on defense. You kind of take that away, and it’s there. I do think he’ll be okay. To go to David Reese, in a couple years we’re going to talk about that guy being a monster. He is a very good player. He has ill will every time he gets to running down field. He has the old will like, I haven’t been able to hit nobody today, so guess what? You get to take the shot today. Also, I wanted to say this too. You pointed it out too. Vosean Joseph, he’s not afraid to lay the licking either. He still rolling that offensive lineman?
Nick: Oh my God. Andrew didn’t see it during the game, but it was a kick return, or he was on kick cover. I turned, and I see Vosean make a play, and I turn to Andrew, and I said, “Bro, Vosean just decapitated an offensive lineman.” Spivey goes, “An offensive lineman?” I said, “Look at the TV.” Looks up, Vosean was running full speed and just launched himself into this poor offensive lineman’s face. Knocked him back about five yards. I love to see that.
Andrew: Homeboy’s still rolling.
Nick: Love to see that. He felt that when he woke up.
Andrew: Yeah. That was there. Jordan Cronkrite did go out. Nick, I wasn’t with Mac. I was doing recruiting stuff. What was the update on that, and was there any more injuries that we’re not talking about?
Nick: What was the update? The update was upper leg.
Andrew: Okay. I figured it was something like that. It was kind of weird, because we were looking, we weren’t really looking for him on the field, because kind of didn’t need to be out there.
Nick: Somebody said it perfectly to me. When I said that I saw, when I finally found him on the sideline, and he was in street clothes, I said, “Jordan Cronkrite’s on the sideline in street clothes.” Somebody goes, “Damn it, I thought the coaches had just voluntary stopped rotating another back in.” I was like, “That’s probably why I didn’t notice it.”
Andrew: We didn’t notice until we see it on the, so we’re in the box. We usually watch the play, and then Nick and I, or at least one of us, catch the play when it comes live on the TV, because there’s like a two second, three second, delay. I said, “Nick, Cronkrite’s in street clothes.” You go, “Where is he at?” I said, “He’s by Mac in the orange shirt.” Two seconds later you’re like, “Damn, yeah. There he is.” That’s kind of how it was. You feel bad about it, because it’s like, I didn’t see him, but usually if you don’t notice someone not there that’s probably not good.
Nick: No. I’m trying to think anything else on the injury front. It’s really make it through fine except for Jarrad. Losing Jarrad hurts, if you lose Jarrad. Also, you get the bye week this week. So that helps.
Andrew: That helps for Sherit. That helps for Ivie.
Nick: Joey Ivie, we said after he got hurt the earliest he’d come back would be for the Georgia week. So he still has a hard cast on his hand, covering his thumb. We’re going to wait to see if that comes off, if he’ll be able to play for Georgia, like put a club on it or something like that. Caleb Brantley is still playing with his cast on his hand.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: Let’s see.
Andrew: Sherit should be back, from everything we’ve heard.
Nick: Sherit should be back from his surgery, and Bryan Cox was playing with a cast on his hand. So maybe you get two weeks off and some of these casts come off.
Andrew: Everyone should be good when you look at that. Then offensively. Nick, we got to go to somewhere. You know where we’re headed?
Nick: Picks.
Andrew: Nope. We’re going to head north. You know where I’m heading?
Nick: I think you’re heading to the state, the Volunteer State.
Andrew: Did they volunteer for that ass whooping?
Nick: Lane Kiffin is on the revenge tour. It starts with USC, runs it up on them. He goes back to old Rocky Top, second time he’s been there, runs it up on them. Almost scored half a hundred.
Andrew: Old Rocky Top got an ass whooping, son. I mean, that ain’t even, you call yourself the spring national champions, the national champions. Bro, you got your ass whooped. I mean, it wasn’t even close. It wasn’t even close. Alabama had more, Bo Scarbrough almost had more yards on one carry than Tennessee did in the whole game. Then my boy, Bo, does what I wanted to do, and that’s just give a face plant to some poor Tennessee fan. I’m sitting here thinking, “Bo, I knew you and I used to be friends, but I didn’t know you could read my mind.” Damn, he did. He read my mind. Somewhere I’m thinking, Bo did that for me.
Nick: I don’t think he did it for you.
Andrew: You don’t?
Nick: I don’t think you were the driving force behind that.
Andrew: Can I take credit for it?
Nick: My God, I watched, you show me that guy that does the Alabama videos.
Andrew: Funny Man.
Nick: Funny Maine. His video came out for this week, Week 7.
Andrew: Don’t tell me about it then.
Nick: So many, just you know when the camera, when it’s a blowout the camera starts panning around and showing fans? So many sad Tennessee fans. So many sad Tennessee, I was like Paul though, your boy, Paul. Tennessee was never going to win that football game, ever. I said it before the season. I said it this week. I’ve said it as much as you let me say it. Tennessee was never going to ever, ever, going to beat Alabama.
Andrew: Never, but I did not expect an ass whooping.
Nick: You know what this year was?
Andrew: What?
Nick: This was the Billy Bob win. It was 10.
Andrew: Yeah, it was. The cigars were out. Everything was out. Nick, seriously, that was an ass whooping. That was a downright ass whooping. I mean, they got smoked in their home stadium, and, Nick, they got smoked.
Nick: Didn’t even compete.
Andrew: Nick, no, I’m serious. It was downright, old fashioned, behind the woodshed, Butch Jones, Lane Kiffin just whooped him up, spit him out for supper, because it was that bad. The only national championship Tennessee got was that Bristol championship they got a couple weeks ago. So they better admire that t-shirt, because guess what, Nick?
Nick: What?
Andrew: Guess who’s #1 in the East?
Nick: The University of Florida.
Andrew: It ain’t them Volunteers. It ain’t them Volunteers. My question to you is this, Nick. Do things just go completely south for this team now, and do they lose a game they shouldn’t?
Nick: What’s a game they shouldn’t?
Andrew: That’s correct. Tennessee shouldn’t be favored in any games. That’s a good point. You know, Nick, I’m starting to like you a little bit.
Nick: You pull up Tennessee’s schedule.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: Georgia’s catching Ls against Vandy. Bless your heart, Vandy.
Andrew: Do your thing. Do your thing, Man. Good grief. I’m sitting there, and I’m like, what? What’s going on here?
Nick: I walked by a TV. It was in the first half. Vanderbilt was up, and I was like, good for you, Vanderbilt. You hang in there. All of a sudden I walked back, and it’s the 4th quarter. I’m like, look at you Vandy. Florida’s going to get a bye week this week. I’ve said it all along, I can’t predict the Georgia game. Once Will Muschamp beat Georgia I threw my hands up in the air, and I said, “I don’t know. I will never be able to tell you what’s happening in this football game, because Will Muschamp beat Georgia. So I’ve seen the impossible happen.”
Andrew: Real quick, just to give you Tennessee’s schedule.
Nick: They’ve played the bulk of their schedule.
Andrew: They have a bye week this week. Then they go to Willy Muschamp. Now, hold on.
Nick: No, man.
Andrew: Hold on.
Nick: You know what South Carolina’s doing this year?
Andrew: Oh, they’re getting a big L, but hold on. Butch Jones has never beaten Will Muschamp.
Nick: That’s true.
Andrew: Butch Jones has never beaten Willy.
Nick: He’s going to do it next week.
Andrew: I’m rooting for Willy.
Nick: Never.
Andrew: Tennessee/Chattanooga, Kentucky, Missouri, and Vandy. They should win out and get the hype train started for next year.
Nick: Florida has a much more difficult road.
Andrew: Yeah. The players after the game were talking very highly about that, controlling their own destiny. Let’s go to picks, Nick. We’ve got about 10 minutes here. Picks always get rowdy.
Nick: I picked my boy, Antonio Callaway. He had three catches for 28 yards. Also returned a kick for a touchdown.
Andrew: Yeah, but that was a late kick.
Nick: Also returned a kick for a touchdown.
Andrew: We’re not giving you that win, Nick.
Nick: Special teams touchdown. Unbelievable.
Andrew: We’re not giving you that win. I’m sorry.
Nick: Unbelievable. Special teams touchdown.
Andrew: People on Twitter also said no. I’m sorry.
Nick: One person. One person. We’ll come back to that. I get a win for Jarrad Davis.
Andrew: Yeah.
Nick: Jarrad Davis tied for the lead in tackles, despite playing half a game, and led the team with one and a half tackles for loss. That’s a win. We’re in the game, and your boy, Perine, takes over the rushing lead, and Scarlett at that point I think had about six carries for like 30 yards. You looked at me, and you’re like, you’re catching an L that week. I said, I just need a 50 yard run. That’s all I need. Boom. 12 attempts, leads the team in carries, 101 and a touchdown. That’s a win.
Andrew: That’s a win. I’ll give you that.
Nick: I think I should get three wins for a kick return touchdown.
Andrew: Two for three. That’s all you’re getting. So go ahead. Luke Del Rio.
Nick: That’s a fat loss.
Andrew: That’s a fat loss for sure. Going to Quincy Wilson, that’s a huge W.
Nick: Yes.
Andrew: Big W. Then, the man over here calls Tyrie Cleveland to have his big game, and he does.
Nick: I said it would never happen, so I’ll eat my crow there. Tyrie Cleveland shows up. Three catches, which matched his season total. Three catches for 79 yards, and that score, the late score. That was 3rd quarter touchdown.
Andrew: You know what though, Nick, and I’m going to say this, and I know people get.
Nick: What the hell was that two point conversion?
Andrew: So I think it was…
Nick: They were throwing the ball to Jachai Polite, which I’m all for a fat guy touchdown, all for it.
Andrew: I think it was a good play call, but I think the rest of the team didn’t sell it. You know what I’m saying? The whole point of that play is that Jachai, well Jachai broke out too quick. The whole thing is for him to act like he’s blocking, and then when everybody flows to the other side he flows. He automatically took off to the left, and was just there.
Nick: And was covered. You had David Sharpe lined out wide. You had a defensive linemen that you set into motion. Another defensive lineman in the game.
Andrew: That was just something for Georgia to preview, pretty much. Tyrie gets it. Nick, I want to say this. Tyrie’s gotten a lot of heat for him being stupid, and that’s very well deserved. You and I don’t make excuses for people being stupid. He was stupid. He got caught. He’s done his consequences that we know of. Man, I’m going to say this. I think this game was what he needed mentally, just to get back on a positive thing, but also, someone mentioned this to me on Twitter, and after looking back at it, they said, “Man, Tyrie just looks like he always loves being a Gator. He always had a smile on his face, doing the Gator chomp.” That kind of stuff. He does. He really does. Maybe this just gets him back in the positive mindset with fans, and helps him as well. Whether whatever he’s done, I think I speak for you as well, we hope Tyrie stays straight the rest of his career and is able to go on and live a good life of staying out of trouble. Maybe this is a positive that helps him.
Nick: I think people might have said that the hamstring injury was fake. I think that was…
Andrew: I think there was some truth to it.
Nick: I think there was some truth to that, and that did hold him back.
Andrew: Right. You know what I’m saying? I just think it’s positive that he’s able to get things going, have a good game. I just think it was good. So Tyrie gets that W. Nick, so it’s bye week. We won’t have as much to talk about this week. We’ll have a lot of recruiting this week though, as the coaches get out on the road and go visit some schools, visit some prospects, that kind of stuff. We’ll have some recruiting. Maybe we’ll do more recruiting Wednesday, Nick. Is that cool with you?
Nick: Why don’t we do your recruiting mailbag? Why don’t we do it on the podcast?
Andrew: Yeah. We’ll do that. We’ll do the best questions on there, for sure. We’ll talk a little bit about the team. Just so everyone kind of knows what the bye week happens. Sunday, you guys are listening to this on Monday, but Sunday the team came in for workouts and their little family dinner. Monday the coaching staff goes out on the road to recruit. The players get Monday totally off, except for treatment. They have to go in for treatment. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday they practice more fundamentals.
Nick: Yeah. That’s what the bye week is used for. The bye week is used for cleaning up stuff.
Andrew: Right.
Nick: The entire week last week is game plan and installation getting ready for an opponent, for Missouri. When you don’t have an opponent, it’s we haven’t been able to work on this, because we’ve been doing so much other stuff. Time to clean this nonsense up.
Andrew: Right. Now, there will be some Georgia preview on Thursday, and they’ll introduce some new stuff that the coaching staff has looked at for Georgia on offense and defense. They’ll introduce that. Then Friday the team gets to go home, if they want to go home. The coaching staff goes back on the road. So they get Friday, Saturday off, and then Sunday it’s back to treatment, family time, get ready for the cocktail party in Jacksonville. That’s the week for them. Nick, I don’t even think there’s any media this week, except for teleconference, right?
Nick: We might get McElwain once, on top of that.
Andrew: Okay.
Nick: On top of the teleconference. He’ll be on, no players.
Andrew: So that will be the week, so you guys kind of know what the week’s all about. We’ll have stuff. Nick and I, we don’t get bored very often. We’ll get some stuff. Maybe we’ll bring on Dan, Dan Thompson, on Wednesday. Maybe he can break down some stats or something for us. We’ll find something. We’ll find somebody. If you want to hear from somebody, now let it be realistic. Don’t come tell me Tim Tebow, unless you got Tim Tebow to call in. If he wants to call in, we’re not rejecting. If there’s anybody you do want to hear from, let us know. We can always get most people to come on.
Nick: People like us.
Andrew: People like us. I feel like we have a good repertoire with most people.
Nick: What else do we got going next week?
Andrew: Baseball, right? You got baseball.
Nick: We’ll have baseball. They’re actually scrimmaging right now. I’m not going to catch it, but I’m going to catch a couple baseball scrimmages before I head back down to south Florida for the bye week.
Andrew: I’m going to get some golf in this week, finally. Been missing my golf. I’m going to get some golf in, and watch a little good football on Saturday. That A&M/Alabama game should be a good one.
Nick: Can’t wait for that. I have a feeling that Alabama is not going to make that a good game. They’re just going to crush A&M.
Andrew: Really?
Nick: I have a feeling Alabama’s just going to smoke A&M.
Andrew: Maybe. I don’t know. I hadn’t really dug too much into it, but we’ll have plenty of stuff. Don’t worry about it. We’ll have plenty of good stuff. Bailey will have some basketball stuff as well. Nick, tell the people where they can find us. We’ll get out. We’ll see everybody Wednesday.
Nick: www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gators news. On Twitter, @GatorCountry. On Facebook, @GatorCountry. On Instagram, @TheGatorCountry. You can find me @NickdelaTorreGC. He’s @AndrewSpiveyGC. On iTunes, the podcast, search Gator Country. It’s there. If you want to read the podcast, that’s on the website, and if you’re an Android user, we have a link to the audio on the website as well.
Andrew: There you go. That’s the way. Check us out. If you’re not a member yet, come on over. If you haven’t given us a like on iTunes lately, give us one. We really appreciate it. If you’re going to be in Jacksonville in two weeks, let Nick and I know. Nick, that’s my favorite game of the year. It really is. I love Jacksonville.
Nick: I don’t. It’s so weird in the press box.
Andrew: I hate the press box.
Nick: I hate the press box. For anyone else, the press box is closed. The press box was closed, and when I say closed I mean we’re just behind glass, but because of the way the stadium is split, it never gets loud enough to hear anything. So it’s basically we’re watching a football game, and all you hear is just typing.
Andrew: Compared to Florida or LSU or wherever you go, you hear the cheers. You feel like you’re at a college atmosphere. I love the pregame. I love going out on the field before the game. The tailgate scene’s always cool, except for traffic. Traffic sucks major ass.
Nick: The traffic’s bad. The tailgating is cool. I do enjoy that game, and we’ll be there in two weeks. I’m going to enjoy my bye week.
Andrew: There you go. Alright, Nick, we’ll get out of here. Before I get out of here, I don’t want you to say another word, but Mark Richt sucked it up and got that loss, so hush. As always, guys, chomp, chomp. Go Braves. Mark and Butch, you got them Ls.
Nick: You stay classy, Gator Country.
I disagree with your comments on Thompson’s performance against Mizzou. First, Andrew, you said he fumbled tiptoeing into the endzone, but his fumble came on a 10-yard run in which he was doing anything but tiptoeing. Scarlett is the one who fumbled going into the endzone. Also, Nick, you said Thompson was gong down at contact, but I saw several runs in which he was hit and gained 3-4 more yards after being hit. Don’t get me wrong — there are things about his running style that need to improve, but I think the criticisms of him in this podcast are off base.
He was tiptoeing through the hole or he scores there. The whole was huge. Thompson needs to run like 240-back instead of a 180-pound back.
SPIVEY….. YOU HAVE TO SPEAK INTO THE MIC MORE CONSISTENTLY!!!
We hear Nick very clearly all the time. You, on the other hand, not so much.
This podcast is great. You guys give good insight.
SPIVEY…… get it together.
Why are you yelling?
One more thing. I know you guys got it in for Sharpe, but he stepped up this game. Give or take a few false starts….. he was good in pass protection and outstanding in run blocking.
Can’t just gloss over that and blast him when he underperforms. Just saying…. it’s only fair.
Sharpe had a sup par game on Saturday and that was the reason for the talk about him.
I thought besides the false starts, Shapre looked great. He wasn’t getting beaten to the outside by speed rushers like usual. He had a good game pass blocking overall. He was finishing blocks in the run game and creating nice holes. I think it was his best game, by far.