Gator Country VIP Newsletter – 10/17/18 Edition

    By popular demand, Gator Country is refreshing one of its favorite features, this time in a weekly cadence to get everyone over hump day and rolling into the next Gator game day. Ray (Solari), in his everlasting wisdom (?), assigned the bulk of the newsletter to me, David Parker.

    Most of the thoughts will revolve around our beloved Gators, of course, but many will stray about the field of college football, as well as other ports of call along the pop culture spectrum.

    Following that, you’ll find additional snippets and tidbits from the Gator Country staff and columnists. Sometimes it’s factual stuff, sometimes it’s insider stuff, sometimes it’s something else entirely. But it’s always relevant to the Florida Gators!

    We’ll be mailing this out every Wednesday morning just in time with your coffee, tea, or whatever voo-doo you use to get your day started.

    Hope you all enjoy. -PD

    Thoughts of the Week

    What We Learned Saturday

    We learned that the LSU team we beat last Saturday is a very good team. We struggled mightily at times to move the ball on them and struggled mightily to stop their offense on a few drives. And after Saturday’s obliteration of Georgia by the Bengals, the context of LSU’s season – beating 3 top-10 teams this year, the most of any team in the country – comes into fuller focus. Florida should have struggled mightily at times, because we saw that then #8 Miami, then #7 Auburn and then #2 Georgia not only struggled mightily at times against LSU, they lost. Miami and Georgia even lost in blowout fashion. And these are all three established programs with coaching stability for 3 or more years. Florida and Dan Mullen’s coaching staff has yet to be on the job for a full calendar year. 

    We learned a lot about Georgia Saturday, as well. What I thought I knew about Georgia going into this year is that they were not nearly the same powerhouse team they were last year, without all those NFL-ready seniors coming back, which included some once-in-a-decade type players. I also thought I knew that starting quarterback Jake Fromm was a physically talented quarterback but just an average signal caller when put under any pressure or asked to do anything beyond handing the ball off and making very safe passes with the complement of a dominant running game. I also thought I knew that Justin Fields was not a legitimate quarterbacking weapon yet, but little more than just a wildcat quarterback gimmick. I thought I knew that Kirby Smart is a pretty good recruiter and mimics Nick Saban’s programmatic model very well, but is an average strategists and an average game-day coach. I thought I knew that all of these things had been masked by the fact that Georgia has played 2 cupcakes and 4 of the 6 worst teams in the SEC. I THINK that every one of those things were demonstrated Saturday to be reality and not just wishful thinking. 

    Mostly importantly, we learned a lot about our Florida Gators Saturday. We learned they were a team that will not go away, will not stop fighting, will not go gently into that good night (or that not-so-good 11:00 AM-start late morning). Last year’s team would have lost this game. So would the 7 Gator teams prior to that. So might some of the teams during championship runs. Teams don’t just come back from 18-point deficits, especially on the road in a conference game. The last time Florida overcame a deficit of 18 or more points on the road was…never. The last time the Gators came back from 18 or more points down  to win was at home. In 2003. I’m sure you all remember that game against Kentucky where Ron Zook encountered perhaps his only brush with the good side of the luck coin. Before Saturday, the biggest road comeback in program history was a quarter century ago, back in 1993, when Steve Spurrier’s squad trailed South Carolina 17-0 in Williams-Brice Stadium, where Jack Jackson magically avoided a safety twice on one play and scampered 76 yards to set up an Errict Rhett run to take the lead and do what was to stand as the most impossible Gator road comeback ever. Until Saturday. 

    That sort of effort, that refusal to lose, refusal to give up on the coaching staff’s plan, is something Gator fans have been waiting a long time to return to Gainesville. It makes the win in Nashville seem perhaps even more impressive than the wins against LSU or MSU in the previous 2 weeks. Sometimes learning to deal with success and beat a lesser team in a trap game (especially on the road) is a more difficult task that beating top teams as an underdog.  

    The Show So Far

    We’ve reached the bye week in Gainesville, the time at which we now have a really good barometer of what this team is, what our personnel is, and what our coaching staff is. And most importantly, where this program is headed under the new coaching regime. It’s also a good time to take inventory of the national scene as well, and what we have with college football in 2018. 

    From the Florida perspective, what an incredible season so far. I hazard to say that at 6-1, everyone’s expectations for the first half of the season have been met or exceeded. All of our projected strengths – running backs, receivers, defensive backs and D-line – have played up to their advance press, even exceeded it in most areas. And the well-known weaknesses have been masked very well as they have developed, and have more importantly shown impressive, even shocking improvement to the point of trending toward the type of output usually seen in team strengths. I am talking about the offensive line, linebackers, tight ends and the entire portfolio of special teams. I will go more in depth on these next week, but for now, let’s just appreciate what an incredible coaching and development job has been done in all these areas. 

    And this thoroughly enjoyable season has certainly not been limited to Florida. It seems every week we as general fans have been treated to a host of great games around the SEC and the country. Outside of games involving Alabama, this has been one of the most competitive and entertaining college football seasons in memory. Made all the more enjoyable by the fact that Florida is finally a relevant part of the mosaic again. 

    Pumping the Brakes on the Puppy Love

    Anyone who has read social media or fan site comments the last two years knows that there has been an avalanche of Gator fans genuflecting at the feet of Kirby Smart, and shaking in fear over what he’s done for the Jawja Bulldawgs in a relatively short time. However, he has not exactly created a Saban-of-the-East in the SEC just yet. 

    In his third season, he has still not been able to get over several humps. Firstly, he has now lost all of his road games against SEC West opponents, going 0-3, with all three of them being complete blowouts: 45-14 to Ole Miss, 40-17 to Auburn, and 36-16 to LSU. They have also been blown out as the #2-ranked team in the country for the second-straight season. On the broader scale, when you throw in the two playoff games last year, Kirby & Co have done a great job of winning games when they get the lead early and don’t face much adversity. However, when they get punched in the mouth, early or late, Kirby has had no answers and the Dawgs have folded the tent in all but one instance – that being the Oklahoma game last year in the opening round of the playoffs, where Georgia erased a 31-17 halftime deficit to win in double overtime. And that Oklahoma was the biggest pretender to get into the playoffs since the postseason format was rolled out. They lost to a bad Iowa State team that year and their defense was just plain bad all year, giving up an average of over 30 points to Power 5 teams not named Kansas. Against SEC opponents, though, for the last 2.5 years, when Kirby Smart’s Georgia teams have faced adversity, been punched in the mouth, been made to play football outside of all their comfort zones, they have cratered every time. 

    We Got the Right Dan

    Beyond the winning, the observable improvement in every facet of the football program, the big recruiting boost, and all the energy and enthusiasm Dan Mullen has pumped into the Gator program in such a short time, what has really cemented the comfort of Gator Nation in the knowledge that we finally got our man – the right man – is the way Dan handles himself in all situations. When we lost to Kentucky for the first time since color film was invented, he was very matter of fact about bad practice habits creating bad play. He matter of factly dismissed a player for subverting his team culture in the locker room. He actually answers questions when the press asks them. He takes responsibility when things go wrong, and he demonstrates love and respect for his players without being nauseating or making a show of how great he is for caring. 

    But if you really want to appreciate how well he handles himself in front of the mic, just take a look at how so many other coaches do it. Dan refused to say anything negative about Vandy coach Derek Mason, despite Mason’s directly and intentionally inciting a near on-field riot. He even praised him and the job he’s done at Vandy, and stressed that they are great friends. In the home locker room, there was Mason, grumbling to the press corps that Florida and its sidelines started the whole thing and Dan got mad. Not that bad, but not up to Dan’s standards. Heck, Dan refused to even criticize the either corrupt or horribly incompetent (or both?) officiating crew. 

    Compare that to the context of the coaching fraternity. Will Muschamp is again sniping at his fan base and barking rudely at reporters who ask him questions he doesn’t like. Nick Saban is always Nick Saban: the only humans he hasn’t condescended to or been intolerably rude and demeaning to are the ones he just hasn’t gotten around to yet. James Franklin and Paul Johnson are throwing their players under the bus and blaming them in their post-loss pressers. And then there’s Dana Holgerson, a guy many Gator fans have been coveting and pleading with the program to hire as Florida’s head coach. After his team, and specifically the offense he designs, game-plans and dictates to offensive coordinator Jake Spavital laid an egg against lowly Iowa State Saturday, he held a clinic on how not to respond to adversity, insulting his team and the opponent with equal lack of flair. In his post-game presser, he slumped back in his chair like a slob, at times looking like he was going to flip backwards out of it, and said with angry dismissive snark, “It’s the worst offensive performance I’ve seen in my 30 years of coaching. Are they that good on defense? I don’t know. Oklahoma State scored 42, we scored 7. It’s the worst offensive performance I’ve ever seen.” Uh, Dan, you didn’t SEE it…you CREATED it. You IMPLEMENTED it. You weren’t just a disgusted observer – you were its architect. So while you’re discrediting the opposition’s effort completely, at least show some responsibility, some accountability, or at minimum just a little trace of class. We are so lucky we got the other Dan, and not the one currently residing in the mountain state. 

    Final Thoughts & Stats

    — How far has the star fallen from the Gus Malzahn sky? He took Auburn to the national title game in his second year, and then he basically threw that game and a national title away with terrible in-game decision making. From those bad decisions that handed FSU and Jimbo Fisher the national crown, he has been in a steady downward spiral, with only a few upward spikes and jolts to keep the fans and administration hopeful. But now, after blasting another potential national title shot out of the water by laying an egg in Atlanta last year, Gus just gave new Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt – who entered the game with as many head coaching achievements as he has active hair follicles – his first and only success of any kind in Knoxville, and gave the Vols their first SEC victory since 2016. And Auburn recently gave Gus a contract extension with a buyout so big, the university would have to sell all of its library’s coloring books to pay it. 

    — Not to conflate this rebuilding season with championship campaigns of the past, but many benchmarks are falling that have not been seen since our last championship era. One of those is the season that Jachai Polite is having. He has now logged sacks in 5-consecutive games. That hasn’t been done since the national title year of 2006, a feat turned in then by Derrick Harvey. Before Saturday, Polite’s mark of 4-straight games with a sack was last held in 2009 by Jermaine Cunningham, one of the defensive linemen instrumental in winning the 2008 national championship. 

    — Florida’s vast improvement this year has been seen in all 3 phases of the game, with one of the most symbolic being their 3rd down efficiency on both sides of the ball. While it looked like Florida would hold Vandy to 0-for-the-game on 3rd down (the ‘Dores failed on their first 8 3rd down attempts before finally converting one with about 7 minutes to play in the game), they settled on limiting Vandy to 3-of-12. The Gators are holding opponents to just 34% conversion rate on the season, but against their last three SEC opponents, MSU, LSU and Vandy, the Gator defense has snubbed 3rd down attempts at a 22% clip. Meanwhile the Gator offense is converting 3rd downs at a 41% rate. That’s almost a 10% improvement over last year’s 32% conversion rate. And Saturday’s 12 3rd down conversions tied for the 2nd-most Florida has had since 1996, the year of the Gators’ first national championship.  

    — I would be remiss if I failed to highlight the special teams play that seems to have at least one “wow” play every game, the sort of thing Florida fans haven’t seen since their last national championship run. To wit, Tommy Townsend’s 18-yard run on the fake punt Saturday was the longest run by any Florida punter since Eric Wlibur ran for 20 yards on a fake to convert a 4th down against Georgia. That happened in 2005, the year that launched Florida to 2 national titles in 3 years.

    I’ll close with some music for the week. It’s a throwback, like the Gator program is throwing its fortunes back to the tradition of high quality, winning football. Gator fans have been fretting and sweating their football future since December 2009, and this song rings out the mantra that should be on all Gators’ minds, if not their lips: Baby, it’s all right now! The rest of the lyrics have nothing to do with us, unless you are currently embattled with the twisting turns of teen angst, but the chorus (which is the only thing anyone can really remember from this song, anyway) tells our story. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngrIHvfl-XY

    Chomps from the GC Staff & Columnists —

    ANDREW SPIVEY

    Recruiting has really picked up for Florida since the LSU win. More guys are scheduling visits and wanting to see what Florida is all about. Among the guys that have scheduled visits are Mississippi State commit Nathan Pickering and Auburn commit Jaren Handy. Many more guys are in the process of setting up visits. 

    The 2020 class is where I think you see Florida really battle for a top five class. The Gators are currently sitting in good shape for five stars Fred Davis and Leonard Manuel and are right in the mix for several high four star prospects like Miles Brooks who is teammates with Davis. The key pro Florida areas like Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando are loaded with big time prospects in 2020. 

    One note on the football team that I have is that the heated argument between Derek Mason that was directed at Dan Mullen is something that really fired the team up. Guys were talking in the lockeroom at halftime about this being personal and that they needed to have their coach’s back against Mason and Vanderbilt. 

    NICK DE LA TORRE

    The Florida Gators are 6-1, ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press poll and are enjoying a bye week before facing No. 8 Georgia in two weeks.

    This week Florida is focusing on two things. First getting back healthy (will talk about one in particular soon). Not big huge injuries but the bye week really helps guys get over those nagging aches and pains that come from playing seven straight weeks in a row.

    Florida is mostly healthy but there is one injury that needs to be addressed. Jacob Copeland hurt his knee and needed surgery in fall camp. He was given a 4-6 week timetable. That timetable has come and gone. Copeland has returned to practice but hasn’t played in a game yet. That won’t happen anytime soon we’re told. Copeland hasn’t felt the same since he’s returned to practice and is on pace to redshirt this season. The new NCAA rule states that he can play in up to four games (at any point) and still redshirt this season. There’s no hurry to rush Jacob back. Florida is fine at the position. It’s better to be cautious with Jacob than rush him back before he’s comfortable running and cutting and doing all the things he needs to do on the field.

    Another player I’m asked about a lot is Antonneous Clayton. Clayton hasn’t played much this season (just two games). He hasn’t traveled with the team in any of their road games and hasn’t really been close to cracking the lineup. Clayton, in my opinion, will want to leave after this season. Clayton could take a redshirt this season under the new rules and transfer to a new school after the season. I don’t see Clayton coming back to Florida even when you consider the Gators will lose CeCe Jefferson and likely Jabari Zuniga and Jachai Polite. Clayton came to Florida with a lot of fanfare but he never reached his potential. That, ultimately, falls on him.

    DAVID WUNDERLICH

    With six games against FBS competition in the books, it’s worth comparing this Florida team’s start against those of the past decade. The 2018 Gators are averaging 31.3 points per game in their first six games against FBS teams, which is second-most of the last ten years. The 2015 team with Will Grier running the show edged it out for first with 32.2, while the 2010 and 2009 teams are just behind at 31.0 and 30.8. In yards per game, this year’s offense is in third at 402.0, behind only Tim Tebow’s 2009 team and the 2016 team. The offense so far compares favorably with some of the best.

    The defense doesn’t rate as highly. It’s in sixth at 18.3, well behind the 2009, 2016, 2012, 2013, and 2015 units that were all between 11.3 and 14.3 points per game. The 2018 defense is second-to-last in yards per game allowed at 339.7, 15 yards per game better than last year but 22 behind the 2014 team.

    Non-offensive scores have really pumped up the points per game for, so the offense isn’t quite as ahead as it may seem. Regardless, the offense has progressed a lot more beyond last year than the defense has yet. Timely plays and finally getting support from the offense have helped secure wins, but the defense still has plenty of room to get better.

    ERIC FAWCETT

    With the 2019 recruiting class all finished up there isn’t anything too big on the horizon until basketball season starts, but there was a bit of news with the announcement of a “secret scrimmage” game. Teams are allowed to play one “secret scrimmage” a year, a game with no media and no fans, but a chance for an extra exhibition. The Gators will be playing Furman on the 20th which should be a nice test as Furman was sneakily really good last year and played Tennessee really tight. However, since it is a secret scrimmage, don’t expect any video from this one or for much to come out.


    That’s all, folks!

    We’ll send you off with our photo of the week below. Until then, see you in your inbox next Wednesday. : )

    Oct 13, 2018; Nashville, TN, USA; Florida Gators running back Jordan Scarlett (25) breaks away from defenders to run for a touchdown during the second half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Vanderbilt Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

    All the best,
    Your friends at Gator Country…where it’s GREAT to be a FLORIDA GATOR!

    Raymond Hines
    Back when I was a wee one I had to decide if I wanted to live dangerously and become a computer hacker or start a website devoted to the Gators. I chose the Gators instead of the daily thrill of knowing my next meal might be at Leavenworth. No regrets, however. The Gators have been and will continue to be my addiction. What makes this so much fun is that the more addicted I become to the Florida Gators, the more fun I have doing innovative things to help bring all the Gator news that is news (and some that isn’t) to Gator fans around the world. Andy Warhol said we all have our 15 minutes of fame. Thanks to Gator Country, I’m working on a half hour. Thanks to an understanding daughter that can’t decide if she’s going to be the female version of Einstein, Miss Universe, President of the United States or a princess, I get to spend my days doing what I’ve done since Gus Garcia and I founded Gator Country back in 1996. Has it really been over a decade and a half now?