Tuesday Afternoon Linebacker

But for the want of a good running game the Bucs would now be somewhere around 5-2 instead of 2-5. If Urban Meyer would run the ball with his running backs, maybe the Gators are still number two. Maybe that’s why you have to Run The Damn Ball.

Swirlie
In the swirling winds of Giants Stadium the Buccaneers used the only game plan they could under those conditions. Throw the ball 48 times. Wait, what? No. That should have been “run the ball 48 times”. Oh yeah, I forgot, someone didn’t check the forecast before drawing up the game plan. Down by eleven at the half is not the time to panic. What do we know about Cadillac Williams after 23 games? Well, we know that you have to feed him the ball and keep feeding him the ball for him to get going. Sure, the first ten rushes will probably go for 20 yards total. But once he gets his mojo working Caddy is going to steamroll people. He’ll be out around corners or going through holes. He won’t trip over the chalk like some other RBs on the roster who we won’t mention. He’ll go out and run and run and run some more. Caddy had eight carries Sunday. He should have eight carries by the end of the first quarter for frak’s sake.

The play calling stinks right now. I know that Gruden knows how to use Williams. So what the hell is going on? Is he trying to force Grads into being a star right now? Cause that’s not working out so well. How about we give the kid a chance by establishing a solid run game? And until Grads can hit the long ball, the pressure will come and come and come. So a solid running attack will abate that pressure to some degree. Seriously, this is all Football 101 here folks.

And the defense is getting back to form. Only to have the effort wasted. Check the drive charts. The two touchdowns came on drives of 53 and 28 yards. Any time the Giants had to cross their own 30 or 35 they never made it into the end zone. After being called out by Gruden a few weeks ago this defense has come back to life. They’re still missing some tackles, but that will get better.

Looking ahead, we have a tough road to hoe. We can probably win one out of the next two (NO, @CAR). Then a winnable game at home versus the Skins. The Cowboys on Thanksgiving is probably a loss. At Pittsburgh is winnable, but can we do it? When we play the Falcons it is either tight or one team runs away, it’s at RayJay though. At Chicago - loss. At Cleveland, we better win. Seattle back at RayJay to end the season could go either way depending on how Seattle does with regards to the playoffs. Either way, the Bucs are looking at maybe 7-9; 8-8 if things go really well. Given the pre-season expectations that would be disappointing. But also given what has happened to this team it wouldn’t be all that bad.

Woopie Concussion
Was Chris Leak playing with a concussion? Did anyone notice? He was still making poor decisions with the football and still forcing plays that he had no business running. The end of this season can’t come fast enough. So we can dispense with this farce of a quarterback situation and get on with it. That doesn’t mean I want the Gators to lose more games or anything.

The defense did okay. I would have liked a few more stops. But when the offense got untracked they sort of had to carry the game.

And then there was the running game. We didn’t see much more of Tebow than we did two weeks ago. Nor did Deshawn Wynn touch the ball much. I say this to TTNHBC, if you really want to make things work with Leak at QB, then you have to run a more traditional offense. Not saying that you have to abandon the spread or anything. Just play some traditional offense most of the time. Leak cannot run the spread.

The sad thing is that this offense as it is currently performing is probably good enough to win the rest of the way through the regular season. Once we hit Atlanta and the bowl game… not so much.

BMOC
USF did not lose this past weekend. No sir. They did not.
However, a couple of other state programs fell to defeat Saturday. FSU lost to Maryland while Miami (FL) was bested by Georgia Tech.

TALB has some advice for FSU fans. Go ahead and fire Bowden. Then you’ll be waiting another couple of years before the program turns around. As a Gator fan nothing would make me happier. However, if you are an FSU fan and would like to see your football program back on track this decade you might want to consider keeping your best recruiting draw on staff. On the other hand, Larry Coker is a goner.

Chompy
I have been unofficially tracking a trend over the last few football seasons. It relates only to the Gators and their opponents. The evidence overwhelmingly comes to one conclusion. If a player, coach, or significant fan* of a Gators opponent does a mocking Gator chomp while the outcome is still in doubt, that team loses.

Now that I’ve said it, the trend will probably reverse.

* A significant fan would be someone like a parent or sibling or prominent alumni. Basically, someone the TV cameras would be focused on during the course of the game.

Finger Banged
Back in the race kids. The Finger Bangers pulled out another victory this weekend. It was all thanks to Tom Brady and his forty-seven touchdowns. I’m a game out of the last playoff spot (tied with three or four other teams) with six weeks to go. It’s a tough road ahead though. This week I play a team that has a large contingent of his core players on bye. Then after that it’s all teams either already in the top six or still in the hunt.

BCS Breakdown
With USC losing to Oregon State the whole BCS is in turmoil. West Virginia is having a conniption over all the one-loss teams nipping at their heels. OSU-Michigan and WVU-Louisville are the biggest games left in the season now. And don’t forget the third (yes third) undefeated team in the Big East; Rutgers. They’ll have a say in all of this before it’s over. After The UL-WVU tilt on Thursday the Cardinals have to travel the next Thursday to New Jersey to face the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers will close the season at WVU.

As for the Gators, we’re hoping that UL wins Thursday and then Rutgers wins next week. That would, through the vagaries of the BCS rankings put us in the three spot. And as you might have heard, Ohio State and Michigan will play each other. If that were to occur in the Big East, the penultimate BCS standings might look something like this:
1. UM/OSU winner
2. Florida
3. Auburn
4. Texas or UM/OSU loser
5. Texas or UM/OSU loser

Auburn fans would rightly be angry at such a situation. The surest remedy would be for UF and Auburn to face off again in the SEC championship game. Controversy will ensue though. Maybe five other one loss teams are going to say “hey wait…” before shuffling off to their appointed BCS game. I have to say this though: an undefeated Big East champ should probably be playing for the MNC. If there is no such team, then whoever survives between Auburn and Florida is probably the next best team.

But does it really matter? Ohio State and Michigan are playing very good football. Whichever of these two reaches the title game is likely to leave Arizona with a glass football.

Running Items
There’s More To Life Than Football
Your defending NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions start the 2006-07 season ranked number one. The basketball poll is even more useless than the football version. It’s vaguely used to assist in bracket seeding. But mostly it’s used to determine who gets to be on TV. Go Gators.

Plus One Bowl
Ohio State vs. West Virginia/Louisville

Super Bowl XLI
Chicago vs. New England

Team TALB
TALB is always looking for fresh insight and additional input. If you want to submit something to be included in TALB, please feel free to contact me and I’ll get it put in the next edition.

King Of Football
As always, feel free to submit your entry for TALB’s King Of Football 2007. It will appear during the off week between the NFL conference championships and the Super Bowl (January 30, I think).

Next Time: Can it get any worse for the Bucs? Can the Gators turn on the offense? Can I stop asking questions?