FLORIDA FOOTBALL: FOOD FOR A MAN'S SOUL
30-6. That’s What We Meant When We Said Y’all Aren’t Tough
Brandon Spikes talks the talk and walks the walk. The athletic Gator LB was dominant in his final Knoxville outing. Once again Tennessee’s running game was nonexistent despite some moderate “We’ll see on Saturday” type talk from Phil Fulmer, his running back Arian Foster, and LB Rico McCoy.
Tennessee… Fail. Fail. Fail. It’s a rivalry game and of course we’re pleased with a win by any margin, but this Tennessee squad simply isn’t very good. CBS commentators rightly pointed out that the Vols will likely struggle against the likes of Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, much less Georgia and Florida.
Overall, Florida performed well — particularly the defense. The offense seemed to sputter at times, and I have to tell you, I was not at all thrilled with Dan Mullen’s playcalling. Entirely too much east-west running, too much option, and not enough passing. Florida’s speedy WRs should have been able to burn Tennessee’s secondary at will, yet were rarely called into action. Nonetheless, it’s hard to argue with 30-6, especially in Neyland Stadium.
The CBS telecast depicted an en-masse departure of the Big Orange faithful in the early third quarter. As they strolled out of the stadium, I couldn’t help but think we were watching the last matchup between Fulmer’s Vols and Meyer’s Gators. It’s hard to imagine Fulmer pulling a rabbit out of the hat this time. His team looked sloppy, unprepared, and a full-notch below the Gators in terms of talent, athleticism, and sheer grit.
Brandon Spikes was right. The Vols are soft. They’re undisciplined. Not to pile on, but this is not an SEC-caliber team. It’s time for Tennessee to start thinking about new directions.
Meanwhile, Florida got through the toughest test of the early part of the season without a scratch. With Ole Miss and Arkansas lined up next on the schedule, the Gators are likely to be 5-0 when LSU comes a-calling in the Swamp in October.
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5 Comments so far
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you know who’d look good in that spot? skip holtz.
he looks like he brings the discipline that the Vols team doesn’t have right now……cheers
By rjsplow on 09.21.08 12:37 am
I’m not sure why people are so disappointed with the offense. I can’t remember how many possessions they had, but only two didn’t result in a score (1 punt and one failed fourth down conversion). Except for the kneel-down at the end, every other possession was a FG or TD. So what’s the problem?
And zero turnovers in three games! When was the last time that ever happened?
I don’t think Mullen’s to blame that the offense doesn’t look prettier. Blame Brandon James. If he would just stop scoring or tearing off 50-yard returns every god-damned time then maybe the offense might look a little better.
By Mr. Flibble on 09.21.08 9:02 am
Just once, I would love to see us make an adjustment of any sort at halftime and not go 3 and out to start the 2nd half.
By skigator93 on 09.21.08 3:55 pm
I think the sputter look of the offense is the “were gonna prove we can run it” mentality. When Tebow only drops back 15 times never looking to pass beyond 10 yards, it makes the offense look to have a slow drab look.
This year is definitely no fun and gun. I’d like to see Timmy hitting 30 attempts and lighting it up just for an excitement factor. My take on the game was that we pulled out the Zooker’s “let’s run out the clock” game plan even though we weren’t even out of the first.
Another observation is Timbo doesn’t look very quick with his draw plays this season. He is going in high and skipping side to side too much. Just my 2 cents
By Mr2Bits on 09.21.08 5:54 pm
That was definitely a very conservative game plan - perhaps the most conservative I’ve ever seen from a Gator staff. But if you can run it, and you have the necessary quality on defence and special teams, the new rules mean that you can settle down to sand-blasting the clock as soon as you’re up two scores. It isn’t pretty, but it works (and I for one am happy to finally see a UF offence that’s capable of sitting comfortably on a lead.)
By peachy on 09.22.08 2:39 pm
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