Zeb, I agree with you. I think one thing that made it so unpleasant to watch this team - even when they won - was that underlying feeling of chaos and confusion. Most of the time, they seemed a little like the Keystone Kops, didn't they?
Even when we were winning every game, there was a feeling of potential doom lurking. Remember how worried we were when Tebow was hurt? I think everyone knew that team - and, sadly, most of the coaching - was somewhat mediocre and, when Tim said he would carry the team on his shoulder, he really did have to do that quite often. If you look at how the teams of the last few years played with what auditors would call "a jaundiced eye", you realize that they would not have reached the heights they did without Tebow and his broad shoulders almost always there to carry the burden. When he had a bad game (ahem... the Citrus Bowl), there was nothing to fall back on. I realize it has been suggested that maybe Urban Meyer knew this, too, and that was at least part of the reason for his 'breakdown' or whatever it was at the end of last season. There may well be some truth to that. My dad and I were talking this weekend about how different even the most recent championship teams were as compared to SOS's championship teams (MNC and SEC). Many people categorized Danny Wuerffel as a mediocre quarterback, and maybe he was (Heisman trophy notwithstanding, right?) and suggested that UF won championships because of the talent of the team and outstanding coaching. They didn't attribute the championships to the QB. But those teams didn't look nearly as confused and chaotic (and Keystone Kops-like), and I have to think it's probably because of the differences in coaching. Just my usual late night rambling... my two cents worth (possibly over-priced ;-) ) Cee ----- Original Message ----- From: John Vega To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 11:04 AM Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] GatorNews From The Gainesville SUN For 11/30 at 7:00AM, Courtesy of Shane Ford On Nov 30, 2010, at 8:25 AM, Shane Ford wrote: I have to admit, I have never been happier to see a Florida season end I share this sentiment, and am not sure why. Certainly, I have suffered through worse seasons. Worse losses. Tougher losses. Still, this was the first year where I had no desire to watch the FSU game. In retrospect, that may have been a good idea. One thought is that we are worse than our 7-5 records suggests. The NCAA added a 12th game a year or two ago. We used it for a Division II team in App. State. If our traditional schedule were in place (only fair when comparing to Zook, Spurrier, Hall or even Darnell), we were 6-5. Included in those 6 wins were two patsies that we paid to come to our place in September and two teams (Vandy and Kentucky) that haven't beaten us in our players' lifetimes. Of the games where UF realistically had a chance to lose, we were 2-5. That's only part of the story for me. I think another part is the mass confusion on offense. That confusion led to a marked increase in three wildly annoying trends; increased penalties, giving up sacks, and turnovers. A typical UF drive seemed to be dive play for no gain, sweep to Rainey for a 2 yard gain, and then Brantley running for his life on 3rd and 12 after a delay of game or motion penalty. It was simply unpleasant to watch, and that unpleasantness was only accentuated by the talent of our players. I suppose that we have always had a feast or famine offense under Meyer, with the dive plays setting up a home run play by Demps or Harvin. With those players and Tebow, we outslugged a lot of teams and piled up a lot of points. We didn't seem to have those type of threats this year, and that exposed the herky-jerky nature of this offense. Adding the multiple quarterbacks - in my mind - didn't seem to help, but only made the offense more awkward and created more penalties. What was the year that we lost to Washington in the Garbage Bowl? That's about how excited I am about this team. -Zeb -- 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
