I must admit that, while I didn't think we had much chance of winning this game, this was worse than anything I had imagined. I wish that Meyer had never brought up the Bad News Bears before the season started; it keeps coming back to haunt us. We needed to have the coaches call a great game and they didn't. We needed for our kids to step up and play with focus and intensity and they didn't. I am particularly irritated that this veteran offensive line cannot seem to give enough of a push for us to get half a yard when we need it. I suspect that's why we try stupid trick plays like the jump pass. because Addazio has no confidence in his O-line. Given their size, strength and experience, we should have been able to score that touchdown straight up the middle in one try. But it is what it is (a disastrous night), and I'm happy to put it behind us and think about the future.
So the real question in my mind is the last one Scott asked. Can we close this gap, even if we manage to get back to the SECCG (not at all a sure thing)? I'll take these positive points from this contest. - We DID get in the red zone five times in this game. In fact, we showed we can consistently move the ball against this excellent Alabama defense. That's no small achievement. Our offense gained more yards than theirs, so we do have the ability to get the job done. - Our defense did an excellent job. We held their Heisman Trophy winning running back to 28 yards! We held Richardson to 62 yards. We held McElroy to 86 yards passing. Seriously, if I had told you before the game that those would be the stats, would you have thought we could do that and not win? - What the score reflects is the number and magnitude of our mistakes, not our fundamental ability to play the game. - Adversity is a great teacher, so our young players should have learned a lot about themselves in the game last night. This is their chance to decide who they want to be as a team this season. When LSU comes to town, we'll see what they've decided... the Bad News Bears or a potential championship team. So back to the question. can we close the gap? We're young and we got overwhelmed in a hostile environment. Every break went against us, and the kids didn't have the maturity to stay steady and play through it. We'll continue to improve and we have great athletes who are natural competitors. The SECCG is on neutral ground. If Addazio ever learns how to call a good game, we have the athletes to come back in the SECCG and beat Alabama. I'm not sure how hopeful I am that Addazio actually will ever call a good game - I think he's simply too conservative and unimaginative to keep a DC off balance - but it's within our reach if we want it badly enough to get better. Honestly, I think it's unlikely that it will happen, but it's really up to the coaches and the team. There is nothing standing in their way except themselves. Alabama is not inherently better than us, they're just playing better than us, and they were definitely coached better than us last night. Okay, bring on LSU. Go Gators!!! Rob From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Scott Lucas Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 11:13 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [gatortalk] for what it is worth... We COULD have won this game... it COULD have been MUCH closer. But we were inept in the red zone. We got into their red zone 5 times and came out with 6 points. That is atrocious! So where does that blame fall? Certainly the jump pass was boneheaded, Meyer took the blame going into the half. But all the other problems? We look out of sync. Brantley appears about .5 second SLOW on all his passes/reads. He hesitates a fraction of a second too long. It doesn't look smooth or fluid. Its herky jerky... Something is failing. All can be fixed. Play calling leaves something to be desired. Our O-line is supposed to be one of the greatest in the nation and they are underachieving. Coaching plays a huge part in all of the issues... they don't look prepared, they are not clicking, they are not reaching their potential-- yet! My concern is there is not enough time in the season to improve before the next Bama game... we control our destiny still, but to what end? Can we close this gap? -- 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 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- 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 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
