Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Week 9 Praemium Terribilis



It's time for another edition of the Suckie awards and it pains me to say this butwhen it comes to week 9 suckiness...

Heeeeeeeeeeere come the Gators!

Cumberland Awardnamed in honor of the Cumberland team that took a 220-0 thrashing at the hands of Georgia Tech in 1916, this award honors the team that took the soundest beating of national significance in the past week.


Week 9 Winner – Florida

After losing to Auburn and LSU, two games that you didn't have to be ashamed of losing (especially the one against the top ranked Tigers in death valley at night) and winning a much too close for comfort game against Kentucky, Florida's bitch decided to get all uppity on us. Though this was not a blowout, it was a more sound beating than the score indicates. And the game certainly had national significance. By winning out the rest season Florida might have made a case for a strong 2-loss team to play in the BCS title game, with some help of course. Now everything is out the window. Though technically not out of the picture for the SEC East, it's pretty doubtful. Besides this team has already shown it's not championship caliber.

Ron Zook AwardFor the coach who is “always getting better," even if that betterment is not discernable to the rest of us.

Week 9 Winner – Urban Meyer

I have to believe that this will be a 1-time only occurrence but it seemed like Meyer just didn't have the players at the same level of intensity that Richt had the Bulldogs. We can take issue with the stunt that Richt pulled, but it doesn't change that fact. And Meyer and Mullen should both be criticized for their too cute decisions at times during the game. This team has shown only Zookian improvement, especially on defense.

Ron Powlus AwardGoes to the nationally anointed one and presumptive Heisman candidate that didn’t quite live up to his hype during the past week.

Week 9 Winner – Tim Tebow

Going into the game Tebow was being touted as front runner for that hunk of metal known as the Heisman Trophy. Many believe it would be shocking for an underclassman to win it. And Tebow fumbled away the opportunity to shock those people on the last drive of the game.


Prairie View Awardgiven each week to the specific squad (offense, defense, special teams or otherwise) that distinguishes itself for pure, unadulterated suckiness. The award is named in honor of the Prairie View Panther team that lost a college football record 80 consecutive games during the 1990’s.

Week 9 Winner – Florida's defense

The Gator defense can't stop the run and they can't stop the pass, other than that they're pretty good.

The Blue AwardNamed after September 1, 2007, the date “everything changed”, this award commemorates the team that overcame enormous odds to their undying detriment, thus losing to a team that they ought to have easily handled.

Week 9 Winner – Florida

It's tough to say the Gators should have easily handled Georgia, but recent history in this series is pretty one-sided. The Gators supposedly had already had their "wake up calls" they had gotten the break they needed to control their own destiny in the east and possibly set up a rematch with LSU in Atlanta.

The Roy Riegels AwardNamed in memory of Cal Bear Roy “Wrong Way” Riegels who while playing in the 1929 Rose Bowl picked up a Georgia Tech fumble and ran for 65 yards – the wrong direction, costing his team the game. This award honors the college football player who committed a blunder of such enormity that it perhaps single-handedly cost his team the game.

Week 9 Winner – Kestahn Moore

Urban Meyer prides himself on teaching ball security. Unfortunately Kehstahn slept through those meetings. Two fumbles by Moore probably made the difference in this game in which the offense needed to carry the team.

So there you have it. The all Florida edition of the Suckies now comes to a close with the singing of the alma mater.

All hail Florida, hail!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Urban Meyer is gonna get his QB's killed running that offense in the SEC.

There is a reason the QB's don't run in the pros, i. e., the size and speed of the LBs. The same rule applies in the SEC.

Running a WR framed kid at RB in tthe SEC will also yield hurt players.

Where is Leak when he is needed? Ya don't know what cha got till its gone...

Henry Louis Gomez said...

I disagree. We're seeing the beginning of a new era in college football where the QBs will have to be as physical as the RBs. Florida's problem is not on offense. The 2007 Gators are much more proficient on offense than the 2006 edition. Our problem is the defense which only returned 2 starters.

By the way, neither Auburn nor LSU was able to "kill" Tebow. The game he got dinged in was the Kentucky game. Kentucky is a good team, but their defense is not notable as being physical or dominating. Sometimes players get hurt. It happens.

Dad said...

I'm sensing a wee bit of bitterness here....

Henry Louis Gomez said...

Bitterness? Do you disagree with anything I wrote? If so, what?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but SOS ain't coming back to Florida.

Anonymous said...

Henry, JJ Gator here (the post wasn't allowing me to pull up my blogger name). I will need to disagree with one comment you made about Kestahn Moore - that 2nd error wasn't completely his fault; Drew Miller snapped the ball way over his head and was the MAJOR cause of that screw-up.

Moore needs some serious coaching-up from Meyer and Stan Drayton; if Tiki Barber could overcome his tendency to fumble a lot there's no reason why Moore can't be broken of that habit, too. Moore can make plays on offense besides rushing (I've seen this guy catch short passes, and he caught a beauty during the Tennessee game), helps a LOT as a blocker on offense and special teams in clearing the lane for Brandon James on kick/punt returns, but he needs to learn to "protect the rock" better and not cause all the turnovers.

Also, keep in mind that right now we're getting nailed with all the injuries piling up. When our team isn't healthy and the roster is getting depleted, that ultimately has a negative impact on our performance. Meyer's making some personnel changes in light of this that some fans may scoff at, but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Everybody seems so quick to point the finger at our coaches and force them to shoulder the majority of the blame for a loss, but the players need to bear some of the brunt as well when they're no executing correctly. That was also the case last weekend against Georgia as well.

Fasten your seat belt Henry, it's gonna be a bumpy ride the rest of this season. Keep the faith, though - we'll manage to get through these rough times.

GO GATORS!!!!!!!!

Henry Louis Gomez said...

JJ, the snap was a little high (facemask high) but I don't think he was ready for it. He could have handled it.

And Anon, did I say he was?

Matt said...

Remember, we can use Moody next year. I think that will solve alot of our running problems. Well, we can hope. Pray, maybe would be a better word.

Anonymous said...

So how do you REALLY feel about that UF/UGA game? :)

I have to say it was a pretty pathetic effort on defense. They give, give, and give some more. And after they get a good play, they TOTALLY make up for it by doing something equally stupid the next play. I know they're young...but man...they have to be the worst defense fielded at UF in 20 years. With all of the injuries, it's not looking like things will improve for Vandy.

Hope you're prepared to write another UF version of your awards.

Unknown said...

If we lose to vandy at home whilst giving up 450+ yards of offense, I'm just not sure what I'll do. I say this because it looks like a distinct possibility to me. 3rd and 12, anyone?

Nice job on the Suckies, but I must nitpick this line: "And Tebow fumbled away the opportunity to shock those people on the last drive of the game."

As pointed out regarding K. Moore's second fumble, the snap on that one was terrible--Miller snapped the ball about 1/2 a yard off his right butt-cheek.

Tebow was moderately ineffective, but given his shoulder and an apparently over-reactive offensive scheme because of it, I thought he did pretty well under the circumstances.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

Evan,

To the Heisman voters the snap, Tebow's sore shoulder and the bad defense won't matter. The stat line on Tebow, including the fumble and the the third L for the Gators will.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

And by the way on if Florida scores on that drive and mounts a comeback Tebow virtually assures himself the Heisman. Matt Ryan had a terrible game a week ago and saved himself on the last two drives. Whether the fumble was Tebow's fault or not, it cost him the opportunity to stay in the chase.