On Saturday, the Florida Gators traveled to Jacksonville’s All-tel Stadium for the 2006 Georgia-Florida football classic. In theory, Cowford, er, Jacksonville is neutral territory for both Georgia and Florida fans. This is the game which is known to everyone but CBS as “The World’s Largest Cocktail Party“, the rivalry which has been so, so kind to the Gators over the past few years, even when the Bulldogs were dominating the SEC East.

Going into the game, it was a well-known fact that Florida had the better personnel. But in a rivalry matchup like this one, you can throw the win-loss record and team roster out the window. The game promised to be a battle, despite the fact that the Gators were sporting a fourth-year senior at QB in Leak, while the Bulldogs were starting a true freshman in Matthew Stafford.
Much has been said about Meyer’s production after a bye week. And after taking the ball on the opening kickoff, the bye-week play scripting appeared to be ready to offer up gaudy dividends for the duration of the game. Florida ran nine plays and went 62 yards downfield, and Leak was able to hook up with Bubba Caldwell on a reverse toss for the first touchdown of the game.  Seeing Leak and Caldwell together on the final play of that series echoed the whispers of greatness which accompanied this dynamic duo when they were recruits four years ago. This first touchdown by Caldwell was made possible by the block that Dallas “Touchdown Maker” Baker put on Georgia cornerback Paul Oliver.

Florida’s defense pitched a 3-and-out, and proceeded to drive downfield a second time but had to punt after gaining yardage.  The Gators looked like they were straining at the leash to break out with an offensive outburst. But in the second quarter, the Gators stalled.  The half finished with the Gators nursing a 14-0 lead. One thing that was quite surprising to me was the lack of touches by the Senior RB DeShawn Wynn who was replaced in the first half offense by Percy Harvin, and to an extent Tim Tebow, who showed off his RB skills.

The second half started off nicely for the Gators. A gift-wrapped Georgia fumble was scooped up by Ray McDonald and carried into the endzone for a TD, making the score 21-0.  Again, it seemed like Florida might break it open, but that’s when Georgia decided to make a game of it. Slowly but surely, Georgia began learning how to drive and score points on the Gators.  It happened for two reasons: one, the Gators’ offense shut down in the second half; and two, Georgia’s offense, which seemed to come alive and improve with each play.   Florida’s kicking game — with Chris Hetland at kicker — was unable to get the ball between the goal posts.  Hetland went 0-2, missing two very makeable FGs.  This certainly did not help the Gators’ cause, as an additional six points would have put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter.

If it was not clear to coaching staff before the game, Florida should be taking auditions come Monday to see who the new kicker will be.

Without a doubt, the missed kicks kept Georgia in the game. You would think by now that Meyer has lost all confidence in Hetland. Who could blame him? He definitely gave this kid a chance.
For Florida fans who endured the Gators’ loss at Auburn, the feeling was ‘Here we go again,’  as the Gators punted… and punted…  and punted throughout the fourth quarter as Leak and the offense were unable to get anything going.

It was up to Florida’s defense to win the game and they did.  Meyer, sensing his senior QB was getting rattled and making bad defensive reads, elected to go to a ball-and-clock control offense, focused on gaining enough first downs on the ground to bleed Georgia dry.  During Florida’s final drive, a Georgia facemask penalty on a 3rd-and-short play — which came up a little short — led to a Florida first down and eventual victory.
You could say this win was a great one to come away with. And that’s true; a win over Georgia is always special.  But, I am  disappointed with the lack of offensive production with all these weapons that Meyer has to choose from. The distribution of the ball to many different players, in my mind, is not working. It seems that, week to week, it’s a different guy. And I am puzzled by lack of use of Wynn.

The way Wynn finished off the game with his running prowess reminded me of the days of Eric Rhett. Now that’s a weapon the Gator offense needs to utilize more often. We have to keep improving and make use of our gamers. Florida won the game tonight, but with the way Georgia has been playing this year, it should have been over by halftime.  But, I think we might run into some trouble as season plays on with a performance like we saw today. The Gators are on track to win the SEC East, but I can’t help but feel like we are winning this division by default. Ask yourself this question: based on the way UF played its last two games, do we look like SEC Champions?  I can’t help but feel as though we caught Tennessee at the right time. I’d be scared to play them again based on our last two games.

I can’t wait until our next game to see the improvement we surely need!