Maybe?
What might have been. For 58 minutes and change the Gators had #1 on the ropes, but that defense snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. And what would have happened had the Bucs actually got on the plane to Indianapolis? Maybe they would have made a game of it.
Get Off The Field
As my early Sunday morning tirade said, in less eloquent verbiage, the Florid defense was less than good Saturday night. A defense isn’t made on first and second down. While a sack to make it 2nd and 19 is nice, it’s what happens on 3rd and 3 that defines a defense. Or in this case, 4th and anything. I will grant that the Gators were not supposed to win the game, so the close score should be comfort enough. But it’s not. It would have been more palatable, to this Gator fan at least, if the Tigers had run away with the thing.
Urban Meyer’s weakness, so far as I’ve noticed, is clock management. You’re up by 3, you can’t stop the other team, there’s less than 2 minutes to go, and the bad guys are on the goal line. Maybe call a time out? At least give the team a chance. We have receivers that are quite adept at gaining yards after the catch. With 30-40 more seconds you can throw one (or maybe even two) more passes like that from the LSU 45 yard line.
I would also disagree with the decision to stop using Kestahn Moore after his fumble. TMQ has a saying that I’ve used here before; “Sometimes, all you have to do is run the ball for no gain and everything will be just fine.” The defense has a completely different set of problems if the ball can come up their gut from either the QB or the RB. But when you pull the RB, things get much easier for the defense. Moore had one fumble. One. It’s not as if he’d put 3 on the ground and lost one. He fumbled a total of one time. Way too soon to lose confidence in the guy and go “one back”. Especially since he was gaining yards in bunches up to that point. And double-especially since he was fighting for yards when the ball came out.
On the bright side, such as it is, the Gators were called for just 2 penalties totaling 8 yards. With just two others called; one was declined and the other off-set.
One could make some hay talking about the questionable officiating. TALB will take umbrage with but one call; The Replay. As was noted by the TV bobbleheads, and countless on-line commentators, the replay official would have stopped the game if he thought there was something there. And unless the DVSport equipment is of some resolution greater than CBS’ 1080i or my own 720p, the replay official will be hard pressed to produce “indisputable visual evidence” that Brandon James did actually step out of bounds. The ball was placed at the 14, instead of the 30 or 31. Even if the ensuing Florida drive covers the same distance, and the punt goes the same distance, LSU would have to start their (eventual) game-winning drive from their own 25 (or so) rather than their 40. And then let’s even go so far as to presume the next few plays cover the same distances (per play) as the drive that happened. While Les Miles displayed his ginormous brass balls, would they have been big and brass enough to go for 4th-and-1 at his own 34 instead of his own 49? With more than half the quarter to go at that point, maybe there he decides to play field position in a one-score game. Who knows, but it is near-criminal to have the outcome (in my opinion) of the game taken out of the hands of the players on such a vividly questionable replay call.
After a day or two of reflection, I can say that the loss isn’t entirely on the defense. Some questionable coaching decisions played a pretty big part as well. But Dan Mullen, Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, Bubba Caldwell, the offensive line, and Kestahn Moore (until he was pulled) were doing their damnedest to win the game. I can’t fault them too much.
And as to the commentary that Florida is still in the SEC East race, I say bah. We can’t rely on Tennessee (of all East teams this year) to have to lose a game. But if you’re rooting at home, the Vols have MSU, Bama, South Carolina, Arkansas, Vandy, and Kentucky left on their SEC slate. But that also presumes that we defeat Kentucky, Georgia, Vandy, and South Carolina. Tennessee losing another game is not that far-fetched. It’s the part where one presumes the Gators don’t lose another game in the conference.
Get On The Field
Bucs-Colts had to have been one of the most boring NFL games I have ever witnessed. Maybe it was the way Fox had the stadium miked, but it was too quiet for a football game. Are Indy fans that disciplined that they speak in whispers while Manning and company are on the field? Or are they just so used to victory that they aren’t all that excitable? The Bucs’ performance didn’t help any either.
I don’t know what else to say about this game other than the Bucs got out-everythinged from start to finish.
Oh Ricky
With Cadillac out for the season and Pitt-Man out 6-8 weeks the Bucs are shopping for running backs. The Times thinks the Bucs are looking at trades for Vikings running back Meweldee Moore or “Dolphin” Ricky Williams should he be reinstated by the league.
Also rumored to be on the Bucs’ short-list is Corey Dillon.
Trap Shooting
Bulls fans, you’ve just encountered one of the pitfalls of a high ranking; the “Trap Game”. It’s a game that your team should win handily, and it comes between two high-pressure, high-interest games. For USF those would be the big-time tilt against WVU last week and this Saturday’s rivalry game against UCF. And it took a record setting performance for the Bulls to escape southern Florida with a W.
It’s Up, And It’s Good!
Of the 6 games this week in the BJFL, five were nail-biters. One was decided during the Sunday night game, while the remaining four had to wait until the wee hours of Tuesday morning for their conclusion. The Trombones took at 7 point lead into Monday night, and on the strength of Nick Folk’s kicking leg, emerged victorious by a margin of 72-51. The win vaulted the ‘Bones back into first place.
Next: Teabaggers (2-3)
Running Items
Breath Of A Salesman
I had glimpsed the Nissan Heisman Trophy spot a few times during fast forward, but never stopped to watch until it came on during the UF-LSU collision. Simple, yet effective. Any rabid fan of college football will spot the giant Buckeye rolling down the street, a hulking Cornhusker, slithering Gator, coonskin-capped Volunteer, buzzing Yellow Jackets, and much more racing down the streets of New York in pursuit of a Heisman carrying Nissan Titan.
Reverse Watch
Going forward TALB will no longer note the occurrences when Verne Lundquist screams “REVERSE!!!!11one” during simple ends-around. I would be here forever if I tried.
Grated Cheese
Beansy, just one week after eclipsing Dan Marino’s career touchdown mark, has broken another record. This time he passed George Blanda to claim the record for most interceptions thrown. While Peter King is on his knees ready to take Brett’s Favre, the fact is that #4 has taken too many chances and put his team in too many bad spots over the years. Interestingly enough, Brett’s Int/Game ratio is higher than future Hall Of Famer Trent Dilfer. But wait, Beansy has a Super Bowl ring as the starting QB! What’s that? Oh… nevermind.
Plus One Bowl
LSU vs “Whoever in the hell can survive the rest of the season with just one loss”
Super Bowl XLII
Patriots vs “Whoever in the hell between Dallas/Green Bay/Tampa Bay/Arizona(!) can survive. Period.”
Next Week: Clash Against the Titans, TALB guarantees the Gators will not lose, and so much less…
