[gatortalk] RE: [gatornews] [SUN]: Winning Game Is Only Stat That Should Matter (Dooley)

[keith]

Dang.  Pat dooley is more messed up than me.  I try to ignore the voices in my head - he lets them participate in his articles. 

 

 

 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Winning Game Is Only Stat That Should
Matter (Dooley)
From: "Shane Ford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, September 23, 2008 8:28 am
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (GatorNEWS)

Winning Game Is Only Stat That Should Matter

By Pat Dooley
Gainesville Sun sports writer

http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20080922/COLUMNISTS/809239967/1044?Title=Winning_game_is_only_stat_that_should_matter

Published: Monday, September 22, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 1:29 a.m.

 

Let me get this straight — Florida has won two straight games against two rivals by a total of 47 points and fans are complaining?

Ah, the Gator Nation. Nobody suffers winning more than a Gator fan.

Not all of you, I know, are on the ledge about your football team, but I've heard enough of you who are bewildered about your offense that it's time to bring in Dr. Football for a consultation.

OK, Dr. Football, how do you spin the fact that Florida is 10th in the SEC in total offense? This was supposed to be the greatest offense in the history of college football. And didn't you call the Gator offense average in the newspaper Sunday?

Yep. That was based on a knee-jerk (emphasis on the jerk) reaction to the total yards and to the perception that Florida's offense was tough to watch at times. The truth is that Florida did what it wanted to do which was to avoid turnovers and control the line of scrimmage. Urban Meyer wanted to be the one with the tougher team.

I think some of it, too, is the way teams are playing Florida. They are all playing two-deep zones taking the big play away from the Gators. But there are still ways to get the ball to your wide receivers.

And then there is the fact Florida had a lot of short fields against Tennessee and there were only so many yards that could be gained. And you add in a lost possession because of Brandon James' punt return.

Here's the only stat that really matters — Florida scored on five of its seven real possessions (not including kneel-downs) and the Gators have scored on 51 percent of their drives this year. Last year, they scored on 54 percent.

Actually, the only stat that matters is whether you score more than the other team. And Florida leads the conference in both scoring offense and scoring defense.

But what's the deal with Tim Tebow? This guy won a Heisman Trophy last year and his numbers this season wouldn't land him on the All-SEC third team.

Go back and read my column after the Hawaii game. This season isn't about winning a Heisman. It's about winning. I do think Tebow is running more tentatively but I think it's on purpose. The most important thing is that Tebow is healthy all season.

Do you buy the philosophy of not taking chances and avoiding turnovers?

To a point, but they have been fortunate in that area. Tebow and Brandon James have both fumbled this season. Tebow threw a couple of passes in Knoxville that should have been picked. But Meyer is no dummy and he understands this — teams are going to try to control the clock and keep the offense off the field and combined with the new clock rules it makes every possession crucial.

How much are those new clock rules affecting the offense?

A lot more than I thought they would. Florida had three possessions in the first half against Tennessee (losing one on James' return).

"They are taking at least two or three drives away from us," Tebow said. "It's kind of frustrating. I really don't like the new rules."

Florida ran 54 plays against the Vols. A year ago they averaged 65 and that includes losing eight minutes in last year's opener because of weather.

"It's awful, it's wrong," Meyer said. "If you're turning the ball over and the other team is running 87 plays because you can't get them off the field, then shut up. But that's not the case. It's a terrible rule."

Meyer's athletic director has gotten into the act, asking SEC commish Mike Slive to put the clock rules up for discussion the next time the league gets together. The league can't make any changes on its own and because TV has pushed for tighter games it's unlikely changes would be made for a fourth straight year.

"It's not a big deal, I just think the fans are getting cheated," Foley said Monday night. "We're not complaining because everybody plays by the same rules. But I was watching a game the other night that was close and boom, it was over. It felt like an NFL game. When Urban told me how few possessions we had against Tennessee, I called Mike Slive and asked if we could discuss it.

"Rogers Redding (the SEC's supervisor of officials) is on the NCAA committee, but he might get outvoted 11-1. The rest might like it like this. But I think people pay to see Tim Tebow or whoever play more than six possessions in a game."

Isn't it true the Gators are holding stuff back for the really big games?

The full package is in with the intent of everything being used. But against Tennessee, there was no need to do anything crazy once it was 17-0 early.

"It's all in the game plan, it's just that we haven't used it as much because we haven't needed to," Tebow said. "The way games have been going we don't feel we need to open up. We were a little bit content with three or four yards and a cloud of dust."

Having a defense that makes plays also means the Gators don't have to take as many risks.

"Last year we had major issues on defense," Meyer said. "We felt we had to score every time we had the ball."

So do you feel Florida's offense is fine?

There is this — every time Florida has needed a drive, the Gators have been able to do it. Every time you think a drive is vital to the game (and I'm not talking about the second quarter), they've been pretty good.

But there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially from Tebow. I didn't think he was all that great Saturday. And while the team has been able to score points, three field goals Saturday was a lot.

"One thing we're not doing well is we have to score touchdowns when we get down there," Meyer said. "That's going to come back and get us."

More than anything, Dr. Football thinks all of you should listen to your quarterback.

"We just beat Tennessee," Tebow said. "I'm not complaining about anything."

 

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions   |   2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions   |   2007 National Basketball Champions
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---