Sunday, October 28, 2007

Serious Issues

So let me get this straight – a Georgia offense that scores 20 on Vanderbilt in a narrow win, 12 on South Carolina in a loss and 14 on Tennessee in getting routed scores 42 mother loving points on the Gators?

The most the 2006 Gators gave up was 28 to Arkansas in the SEC Championship game, and 27 during the regular season in the loss to Auburn. This season, we have given up 31 to Troy, 24 at Mississippi, 28 to LSU, 37 to Kentucky and now 42 to Georgia.

It’s not that we aren’t scoring points, the offense scores plenty. 30 points should have gotten the job done yesterday. And yes this defense if young, but we seem to be getting worse rather than better.

If you look at yesterday’s box score, you see two offenses that both had 19 first downs, and the same in yards per pass (12.1). The two killers are the yards per run, with 4.5 for Georgia against 3.1 for Florida, and UGA converting an amazing 10 of 13 third downs, against 4 for 10 for Florida. Georgia also rushed 44 times against the Gators 35.

If we had last year’s defense, we are probably undefeated right now. And while this defense is inexcusably bad, Mullen’s offensive play calling (or Meyer, or whoever) yesterday was terrible. We were getting 3.1 yards per rush, and running at will on them. Why stop that? Why put in gimmick plays or forced passes that consistently put the offense in 3rd and long situations? It was obvious early on Tebow wasn’t going to get much time in the pocket, so why keep trying to throw when the run is working? When your defense is that bad, you need to keep them off the field with long, sustained clock eating drives. The offensive play calling was criminally negligent.

We were out coached, outplayed, and just plain beaten, which is made all the more the shame by the fact the ticky-tacky antics of the Georgia coaches should have allowed us to beat them silly. The same group of players that stamped on Vandy’s logo thought is somehow advisable (assumedly with the nod of the coaches) to all run on the field after the first TD. There is an old saying about “acting like you have been there before” when you score a TD. Instead, the entire Georgia team acted as if it was the first TD they hade ever seen. If the Gators did that, I would be embarrassed beyond belief.

Yet, given 30 yards of penalties (twice!) we couldn’t capitalize. Shame on us.

Here’s hoping Tennessee represents the SEC East, rather than this low rent group of logo stomping excessive celebrators.

As for the Gators, time for some serious retooling, before we end the year with a Zookian amount of losses.

23 comments:

anonymous said...

All due respect, a fanbase that sanctifies Steve Spurrier, the Michaelangelo of opposing-coach-tweaking and score-running-up, is now getting the vapors over the Bulldogs excessively celebrating one touchdown?

Don't be mad just because Georgia finally got a taste of what it felt like to be the bullies in this rivalry. On second thought . . . go ahead and be mad. We'll still sleep at night.

Ally said...

If the gaytors thought we were so classless then why not man up and put us in our place (the one you think you own) on the field?
Oh that's right, you don't have last year's defense. Are you kidding me??? That's all you got???
We don't have last year's offensive line either - we're starting 3 true freshman! Yet we still managed to hand you your asses on a silver platter yesterday. We're out our 2 senior RBs - that was a FRESHMAN that embarrassed the shit out of your D btw. I'm sure you know his name by now - Knowshon Moreno, the REAL Superman of that game.
Gotta say, I expected a much better excuse than that lame one.
And Doug, AMEN!
Go Dawgs!

Mergz said...

Doug -

I'm mad at the Gators for not responding, especially when we were gift wrapped 30 yard penalties on two occassions.And certainly it is point taken regarding Spurrier. After this and the Vandy incident, I guess you can congratulate yourselves on being the new Miami.

Ally - Honey, you might want to try a little reading comprehension. Saying our defense is bad isn’t an excuse for losing, it is an observation. The comments aren’t necessarily about yesterday’s game (I mention several scores)and has more to do with what it will take the Gators to get better. You might also notice I am very critical of many things the Gators did here. Then again, you might not. You didn’t understand it the first time.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

I for one don't care about logo stomping and excessive celebration. I do care that we can't stop run and that we can't stop the pass. If it were up to me, all of the Suckies this week would go to the Gators. Lord knows they sucked enough to earn them.

Anonymous said...

And therein lies the trouble with Georgia fans. Very selective memories. They hate Spurrier because he ran up the score, yet venerate Vince Dooley who did the same damn thing. When another team trashes the hedges or turns on the fire hoses, they are indignant. But its all cool when its them. Get beat 15 out of 17 years, but remind everyone about your dominance in the 1930's and 1940's. Win one game, then strut like a peacock. No one lives more in the past than a Georgia fan. How many times can you watch Buck Belue and Herschel Walker highlights? Georgia Tech and BYU have won national championships more recently than UGA. Georgia fans are like the person who shows up at the party just because he's the accountant for the host then embarasses himself by trying too hard at name dropping to prove he belongs.

Anonymous said...

I know it's probably small consolation for you guys at this point, but that was a great game to watch, even if you didn't follow either team.

One things for sure: I'm not gonna miss seeing Harvin any more this year. That kid is scary good.

Anonymous said...

If it weren't for the fact that I'm unfortunate enough to be a Miami Dolphins fan, I would have to say this year's Gators D has undergone the biggest one-year decline in performance I've ever seen in over 25 years of watching football. Certainly the biggest dropoff at the college level.

BTW I live in west Tennessee and am a diehard Vol hater, which is why it's so hideously mortifying for me to see them now have a clear shot at winning the SEC East. Because they're awful. No, really. Fat Phil was going to be fired before that stupid FG in regulation went through (a team not having the option to accept or decline a false start penalty is the worst rule in football, bar none).

I simply cannot accept a world where the Vols have two blowout SEC losses, three in all, and win the East anyway.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

A drop-off was expected. Losing 9 of 11 starters will do that. But where's our juniors and our seniors? Oh we'll have to ask Ron Zook, because those two classes are supposed be his players.

Anonymous said...

SMQ sums up my feelings about the Vols-Gamecocks and the game-tying FG in particular perfectly, as if he'd literally read my thoughts. Just read the bit on that game, it's not too far down.

http://sundaymorningqb.com/

Ally said...

First of all, I'm not your "honey" you fat, ugly bastard. I'm way out of your reach darlin'.
Secondly, read your own crap: "If we had last year’s defense, we are probably undefeated right now."
I don't know why I'm surprised at such a moronic response from a Florida fan....
Better luck next year chump.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

Get a load of Li'l Miss Uppity over here. It's OK, little lady, when you come to grips with what you really need we'll be here for you.

Anonymous said...

Pretty much *all* women are uppity these days. Us men never should've let them out of the house and get the right to vote. Now they all think they're important high and mighty sex goddesses and stuff. LOL

Gatorpilot said...

"ally" reminds me of all too many Gawja broads I've seen in Jacksonville over the years... way too high on themselves and overly indulgent in trash-talking after winning 2 out of 17... make that 3 out of 18 now.

This is the weakest Gator squad they're ever going to face under Meyer, definitely our worst defense in 20 years at least, and the bye-week deal went the opposite way this time. It still took a horrible performance by Florida from top to bottom (including coaches, players, ball security, play-calling, mistakes, etc.) to give Georgia the win.

"ally" will have many more reasons to hate us in the coming years. See ya, honey.

Anonymous said...

Ally, baby, calm down.

Everybody else, you cant really blame Ally for the way she acts. Look how bad we feel after 1 loss. Now imagine being a Georgia fan... Of course they have lower standards, but i'm sure 3 out of 18 is acceptable for them.

Also, being overrated sucks. It sucks a lot more losing games you think you should win easily. Now i know how ND feels.

Tommy said...

We've won two of the last four. If you want to be selective and bring up the games from the '90s, fine, but don't whine about Georgia fans living in the past.

Mergz said...

Ally comes in here tossing out the word “gaytors” in the first sentence and then totally blows her dyed-red head when she gets called “honey”.

Might want to stick to something a little less stressful, hon.

Anonymous said...

So, during pre-game warmups earlier this year, Florida makes a point of waiting until LSU goes into the locker room and jumps all over out Eye of the Tiger at mid field. No penalty called and no consternation from the Orange and Blue regarding tacky/class/juvenile. And now you Gators are butt hurt over someone else doing something similar and even getting penalties for it? Florida fans are beyond touchy and pathetic.

Anonymous said...

Ally, grow the f**k up. Only kingergarteners and retards use gay smack. Go change your tampon before your jorts get stained up.

As far as our GATORS go: Damn, we made so many mistakes on Saturday. That 2nd screw-up when Kestahn Moore was standing at the QB position wasn't 100% his fault; Drew Miller made a shitty snap (as well as one later that Tebow lost). Stan Drayton (our RB coach) really needs to work with Moore to get him over his fumbling habit - hell, if Tiki Barber could be cured of it so can Kestahn Moore.

I also saw the left tackle (Jason Watkins) break down a few times; one of the reasons why Tebow was sacked as many times as he was besides the fact that he was limited with his sore right shoulder.

We weren't executing on defense very well; even though Wondy Pierre-Louis picked off that one UGA pass for a TD he could have broken up a later TD pass but missed. Tony Joiner stunk up the joint at safety with too many missed tackles. The only real productivity on defense was coming from our linebackers.

The fact that Bubba Caldwell and Riley Cooper aren't 100% is hurting our offense. I only wish Kestahn Moore didn't fumble that one carry, but I see in the way he's holding the ball that he's an easy taget for a forced fumble. He needs to protect the ball better when he has it in his possession; this kid has talent but (1) our offense hasn't really been creating some good rush opportunities and (2) the gametime mistakes are working against him. I like this kid; he's a good leader in the locker room and a good student but needs to get more consistent as a ball carrier in spite of the fact that he's a damn good blocker and has shown that he can receive on the short routes. We have Louis Murphy, CI and Harvin playing up to par, but they and Tebow can't be our entire offense.

We're hurting from injuries, and that's also holding us back.

Let's regroup, get ready for Vandy and

GO GATORS!!!!!

Mergz said...

If we jumped on the Tiger-eye pregame (I didn't see it) it is shameful, made doubly so by the fact we lost the game.

blackertai said...

I've got to say, as someone who grew up a Florida fan due to relatives living close to Gainesville, and who graduated from UGA, it's really an interesting place to be sitting. I remember in the 1990's watching Florida dog Georgia and make fun of their coaches, players and purposely run up the scores, and my family would explain it away as revenge for the last 50 years of the series when Georgia was constantly the better team. But now, it's funny to see the response from Gator fans to Georgia finally turning around and responding.

It's alright for Georgia to sit there and take it, because, really, they deserved it, right? But Lord knows that Florida never did anything to deserve losing another game to Georgia, right? I'm sure "Ray Goof" and all the other little jabs that Spurrier and co made at Georgia's expense are explainable, and not classless and brash. And while it's alright for Florida to disrespect Georgia's home field by purposely running the score up, Georgia should be punished for having the gall to celebrate in the endzone of a neutral field. Stunningly trashy, these Georgia players, it seems.

Anonymous said...

Good post, blackertai.

Let "Jawja" fans talk all the trash they want, but except for Wondy Pierre-Louis' endzome stunt we didn't stoop to their bottom-feeding level on Saturday.

Poor execution and the mounting injuries cost us that game - we need to regroup and go back to the drawing board before Vandy.

And to that "anon" making the misogynistic comment - take your male chauvinism elsewhere. Don't let the behavior of one internet whore stereotype the rest of our gender and judge the rest of us on account of that jort-wearing bitch who carries her brains between her legs instead of inside her skull.

Anonymous said...

I remember back in the 90's when a Florida player went strutting up and down the sideline waving one of those stuffed gators with a bulldog in its mouth. Passed right in front of Spurrier & he did nothing but laugh.

A Florida player laid out Stafford well after the play was called and there was no 'low-class' actions on Florida's part? Your DB who got beat on the Henderson TD pass whapped a guy in the mouth - twice - and that's not low class?

Your young defense? Not any younger than Georgia's. *And* we have two freshmen starting on the o-line that blew you away. *And* that RB that gashed you for 188? Our *third-string* RB. Florida's injuries? GA can match every one. Jeez.

Anonymous said...

Mergz -

Interesting point about the Vandy incident this year. Even though Brandon Coutu just happened to be 15 yards from the logo and just happened to drift accidentally on the the V, I'll admit that it shouldn't be allowed. However, I found an interesting video on YouTube.com of the LSU vs. UF game this year depicting your gators dancing on the LSU logo before the game, once the LSU team had already gone to the locker room (lsujoshua). Who is the hypocrite now? You gators get even the slightest dose of your own medicine and immediately go home cryin to momma.

Your team gets beat and all of the sudden the uf fans are quoting the past/predicting a win "next year". Wow.