Florida vs. Auburn

[aggypryd]

What's going on on campus, Hifi?

and what are y'all doing booin' my Homey Chris Leak?

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

I hope Auburn puts a Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland score up on Florida.

[hifigator]

That booing stuff is old news. It was during the Kentucky game and Tim Tebow had been in for 2 plays and ran for about 50 yards. The coaches put Leak back in and the crowd instinctively rang out with boos. They weren't booing Leak though. It was a spontaneous voicing of displeasure from not letting Tebow stay in and get the TD after those two great runs. It has been taken care of now. The announcers on ESPN made too much of it. Both Tebow and Leak were very vociferously applauded the next time each of them took the field. It was as if the crowd cumulatively realized on their own that they goofed. The rotating QB system is working very well and everyone has bought into it.

Incidentally, in honor of Auburn week, I dug through the archives and found an old link to an Auburn homepage:


home.hiwaay.net/~pcasteel/aubfamily.html

[hifigator]

stpetersburghoya said:

I hope Auburn puts a Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland score up on Florida.

Don't bet the farm on it there St Pete.

[aggypryd]

That was my impression too when I heard the booing. And I was thinking the same thing..."Damn, coach!!! Let Tebow finish off the drive!!!"

I'm glad Leak is doing well. I was worried when I heard that Urban Meyer(sp) was going to be the new coach. Leak would have been more suited for a Spurrier type offense, IMO. But I did enjoy that 45 yard run that he ripped off against 'Bama.

Man, Chris Leak throws one of the prettiest balls I've ever seen...doesn't make him a great QB, but it sure is nice to watch him throw.

Tebow is going to be an absolute BEAST in this offense!!!!

My fear is that even if Florida goes undefeated, they'll be so beat-up by the end of the season because their schedule is so tough. Oh well...life in the SEC.

As long as Notre Dame doesn't see any parts of the National Championship game...

Hard cheering against the Irish because I still like Quinn and Walker...

[RusskyHoya]

War Eagle baby! Zook, Meyer, it don't matter, Auburn prevails.

[the_way]

This was a game that was inevitable for Florida.

I will stand by this statement: With their talent, Florida should have run the table in the SEC this year.

But they cant' now. I think its a shame.

Fortunately for the Gators, they caught Tenessee and LSU earlier when they did.

But you knew witht he inconsistencies of the offense, it would come to bite the Gators sooner or later.

And it did, but still...

Do you really think Auburn WON that game?

I think the Leak-Meyer Offense conflict was going to be and has become the undoing of what could have been at least an undefeated regular season for the Gators.

Chris Leak does not fit this offense at all.

I'm not saying Leak is the greatest QB ever, but to me, a sign of a good coach should is to adapt to his talent.

Meyer has made some adjustments, but to me they weren't good enough. Its still the spread-option-cute-poodle-offense trying to win in the SEC.

I think Meyer should have just cut to the chase and went ahead with Tebow. The kid is the prototype for Meyer's offense.

[kghoya]

theway said:

I'm not saying Leak is the greatest QB ever, but to me, a sign of a good coach should is to adapt to his talent.

Meyer has made some adjustments, but to me they weren't good enough. Its still the spread-option-cute-poodle-offense trying to win in the SEC.

I think Meyer should have just cut to the chase and went ahead with Tebow. The kid is the prototype for Meyer's offense.

ive been arguing with my friend over this point since last season...i completely agree with you

[kchoya]

If the refs had gotten the incomplete pass/fumble call correct, the gators might have won the game.

[One]

I believe it is irrelevant whether it was a fumble or a pass - announcers (and probably the refs) never mentioned this, but if you watch the replay, I thought the ball came out of Leak's hand backwards - by that, I mean the way it got knocked out of his hand, even if it was meant to be a pass, it was a lateral and, therefore, a free ball.

Although I concede that no TV replays showed this definitively and reasonable minds can differ over whether that's the way it happened.

[hifigator]

One, you are wrong on that count. All of the quotes I have heard confirm that the call should have been overturned and ruled an incomplete pass. I am not here to blame the refs though. We had way too many opportunities and didn't take advantage of them and more importantly we gave Auburn too many free points. The fumble return the last play of the game was irrelevant and something you can live with. You are just trying anything in desperation so that l;ast TD doesn't bother me in the slightest. But we gave them a safety and the following field goal because of the field position the kick after safety. And of course we gave them a gift TD on a dropped snap. I know those are all a part of the game so I am not dismissing them in any way.

Then in addtion we took points away from ourselves. On our first drive we had second and 1 from the 3 or 4 yard line and got tricky. In stead of just running the ball we tried some misdirection pass which failed. Then got stuffed on third down for a loss of 2 and were forced to take the FG. Of course the most important shortcoming was on 3rd and 3 from the Tiger 6 yard line. And Leak totally screwed up. Even though it was a bad call, Leak cannot put himself in that position. Worst case, simply take a sack at the 11 yard line, then kick your 29 or 30 yard field goal and take the lead. There simply was no reason to do what he did at all. Ironically, that was so out of character. One of his greatest strengths has been that he is totlally "risk averse" arguably to a fault. He will throw the ball away rather than risk a loss. In many times he had very legitimate chances to make a play but elected to "be safe" and just throw the ball away. That is what made that particular mistake so hard to swallow.

Then after the Defense got the ball right back for us, he went out and threw about the worst pass I have ever seen him throw. He did have a receiver coming free on the post pattern but he couldn't get anythin on the throw for some reason and it was an easy pick for the droppoing MLB. That was a throw that simply shouldn't have been made. It would have been one thing if it had been fourth or even third down, but no way on first in that situation.

And as long as I am passing out barbs, I will loft one inthe coaches direction as well. I thought that play calling was suspect. We just refused to throw the ball deep ever. When you have Andre Caldwell, Jamalle Cornelius, Percy Harvin and Jarod Fayson as wideouts, you have serious spped. Thouse are all 4.4 and below guys. Two even ran sub 4.3 times in timed trials. We have got to cut someone loose and send him on a fly pattern at least once. We haven't done that all year. I honestly thought that we were just saving it for when we really needed it. Well we sure needed it but still refused to take a stab. And lastly, it was very clear that Auburn could not stop our running game. Yet we kept inexplicably abandoning it. Like I mentioned before, if we run the ball on second and short on our furst drive we probably score a TD and the game would have taken on a completely different complexion. Similarly, on the thirs and three play in the fourth quarter a hand off to Wynn and he could have waltzed into the endzone untouched. Simply put, Tebow, Harvin and Wynn were gaining big chunks of yardage at a time and we refused to keep giving them the ball.

This was a total team loss. I blame pretty much everyone. Even our powerful Defense got pushed around a bit. Now we did play much better in the second half holding them to only a hundred or so yards and granted we did keep them out of the endzone the whole game. Still we let them control the ball and the clock too much, espectially in the first half.

On the bright side, we are 6-1 and still holding the #6 position in the BCS. We also still control our own destiny on the most important scale -- winning the SEC. We get a much needed bye week to rest and in all honesty, most Gator fans if asked before the season would have gladly taken 6-1 with the sole loss to Auburn at this point.


RDF, if you look way back in the archives you will see that before the season started, I predicted us to win all regular season games except Auburn and then avenge that loss in Atlanta and go to a BCS bowl. If everything fell into place, we had an outside shot at the Big BCS game. In an eery sense I am dead on so far.

[One]

HiFi
That was my point - nobody mentioned the fact it was a lateral because I don't think anybody considered that aspect. Watch the replay yourself with that in mind and tell me what you think. But like I said, I'm still not sure one way or the other - I may be wrong.

[the_way]

hifigator said:

And as long as I am passing out barbs, I will loft one inthe coaches direction as well. I thought that play calling was suspect. We just refused to throw the ball deep ever. When you have Andre Caldwell, Jamalle Cornelius, Percy Harvin and Jarod Fayson as wideouts, you have serious spped. Thouse are all 4.4 and below guys. Two even ran sub 4.3 times in timed trials. We have got to cut someone loose and send him on a fly pattern at least once. We haven't done that all year. I honestly thought that we were just saving it for when we really needed it. Well we sure needed it but still refused to take a stab. And lastly, it was very clear that Auburn could not stop our running game. Yet we kept inexplicably abandoning it. Like I mentioned before, if we run the ball on second and short on our furst drive we probably score a TD and the game would have taken on a completely different complexion. Similarly, on the thirs and three play in the fourth quarter a hand off to Wynn and he could have waltzed into the endzone untouched. Simply put, Tebow, Harvin and Wynn were gaining big chunks of yardage at a time and we refused to keep giving them the ball.

Hifigator, you hit it right on the head. And this is why I question Meyer and this offense.

Whether you liked Steve Spurrier or not, what Spurrier did was play to his team's strengths. In other words,since he had speed on his team, he aired things out and used it to his advantage. He took chances.

I don't understand why guys like Coker for Miami and Meyer for Florida and Bowden for FSU and their horrible play calling. They have arguably the best talent in the country at their disposal, yet they don't use it or use it properly?

Thats why I always respected Spurrier. He had 'sac. He had guts. And he wasn't afraid to ATTACK when he had the artillery. He cut to the chase.

Meyer's scheme seems timid, always trying to be cute. Just play football and attack. There is no reason with adequate play-calling that Florida shouldn't have won that game, despite the fact the offense is not at its optimum level with a QB who doesn't fit the system. Florida was fortunate LSU gave them the game away the week before. I'm telling you, if they don't get this offense right, they may not see the SEC championship game or win it even though they are capable of easily doing so.

[AustinHoya03]

hifi:

Your team did last Saturday what it has been doing all season: give away points, keep the opposing team in the game instead of putting things away, and look unpolished (see: Kentucky, Alabama). However, you drooled over the Gators when they won, wrote a novel in defense of Chris Leak, and now you say "I blame pretty much everybody" when they lose? You sir, are a results-based fan as his finest.

What sickens me is that the Gators probably will win out, and we'll have to listen to more slurping of The Greatest Team Ever through November.

[RDF]

I agree that Leak is in the wrong system--but he was, is, and always will be a punk when it comes to not wanting to get hit and backing up as he throws or ducking after he releases. To win Championships, you have to man up and step into the throw and take a hit--Leak did what Chris Leak does--and that is stink in big games. He cost UF that game--flat out. He would've cost them the LSU game if he took all of the reps and he'll keep a struggling UGA team in the game more then they should be. He gave game to Tennesse and was bailed out by the roughing the passer call.

The guy lacks toughness. Tebow should play in this offense but when he's forced to throw, he'll be exposed. He's got a pop gun arm and is highly overrated as well--but he fits what they do which will make him/UF more successful during his time at QB.

[hifigator]

First things first. The SEC has announced that they reviewed the ruling and said that the replay official made the right call. After reading their ruling I understand and accept it. Basically they came to the determination that the on field official ruled that Leak wasn't trying to throw the ball but was stopping his throwing motion on his own and the ball came out. I think we all knew that the whole time. But that isn't the job of the on field ref. His job is to follow the rulebook. Once he took the liberty to arrive at a decision he wasn't supposed to do, then the replay official made the right call in not overturning the call. In any case, like I said before, I am not going to blame the call since we had plenty of chances on our own to make the play and failed.

Ausitn, I think you misinterpreted my words. I wasn't intending to excuse Leak at all. I thought I made that very clear. I thought that he made two crucial errors at immensely crucial times in the game. Furthermore the type of mistakes he made would normally fall into his areas of strength. When I said there was plenty of blame to go around, my point was not to excuse Leak but rather to also blame others deserving of such.

As to your "greatest team ever" nonsense, you are obviously talking about someone else. I haven't ever said anything remotely in that direction. I did say "IF" we were to run the table with our schedule (and openly admitted that it was highly unlikely) but if we were to do it that we would certainly be worthy of the BCS title game. That was it.

RDF, you still obviously have more football smarts than you show. We have all been in agreement that Leak is not a perfect fit for Meyer's spread option. No one ever disputed that. In fact I have said that Tebow is clearly a better fit ... another opinion everyone understands. But, had we thrown Tebow in there to start with then we most certainly would not have made it to 6-0 much less 7-0. The quarterback rotation had worked rather well and helped everyone on the offensive side of the ball make the transition. Meyer tried the same thing last year with Josh Portis but he didnt' have the mental makeup to be a part-timer. I don't think there was ever any doubt that over time Meyer wanted to move the offense forward to where he ultimately wants it to be. When Portis didn't pan out and we were in the position of only having Leak 24/7 then Meyer toned down the offense to more fit his strengths and it worked rather well against Georgia, FSU and Iowa towards the end of last year. Enter Tebow -- the perfect fit for the system but about as green as they come and his plans changed.

I'm not dismissing the loss as unimportant, but Auburn is still a quality team and we were playing them in their place. We made mistakes and gave them points. We were also the victim of a bad/highly questionable call at a crucial time in the game and still had a good shot at pulling it off. The real test will be how we perform against Georgia. I honestly don't see us losing at home at all, even against South Carolina and I don't think Vandy will beat us either. So if we can beat Georgia we should head into the final showdown against those crimilnoles from TallaCrappy at 10-1 and with a spot in the SEC title game sewn up. That is exactly what I predicted at the beginning of the season. Hopefully we can make it three in a row over the Noles and then win in Atlanta. A chance for redemption against Auburn would just be icing on the cake. We would then be off to a BCS bowl, and as unlikely as it looks right now, it still could ... just maybe could be the big one. My best guess however is that we will play in the Sugar Bowl against the West Va.-Louisville winner, if we are fortunate and effective enough to win out.

Go Gators!

[AustinHoya03]

hifigator said:

Ausitn, I think you misinterpreted my words. I wasn't intending to excuse Leak at all. I thought I made that very clear. I thought that he made two crucial errors at immensely crucial times in the game. Furthermore the type of mistakes he made would normally fall into his areas of strength. When I said there was plenty of blame to go around, my point was not to excuse Leak but rather to also blame others deserving of such.

As to your "greatest team ever" nonsense, you are obviously talking about someone else. I haven't ever said anything remotely in that direction. I did say "IF" we were to run the table with our schedule (and openly admitted that it was highly unlikely) but if we were to do it that we would certainly be worthy of the BCS title game. That was it.

You didn't excuse Leak, and I didn't say you did. My point was that you have drooled over:
a) the defense
b) the coaches
c) Chris Leak
d) the receivers
at many points during this football season. Now that the team has lost, you blame a-d (everyone) for losing. Which, considering that the Gators played the same football they have been playing in '06 last Saturday, seems unfair to the team. Now, I think this Gator team, playing the same football, can run the table and have a shot at the championship game. The defense did look good last weekend, and I think there is a lot of athletic talent on both sides of the ball. However, your analysis of whether the team played well in Week X lies not in anything objective, but the final score from that Saturday.

[hifigator]

Fair enough. Maybe I misinterpreted your point. When you said this:

However, you drooled over the Gators when they won, wrote a novel in defense of Chris Leak, and now you say "I blame pretty much everybody" when they lose?

It sounded to me that you thought I had been praising Leak when we were winning but now absolving him from blame when we lost. That was all I was saying. He made mistakes. There was a bad/questionable call at a crucial time. We tackled a defender in the end zone, yeilding a safety and resulting field goal. We bobbled a snap for absolutely no reason on a punt, resulting in a gift TD for Auburn. We threw a pick on a first down when we were in position to drive for a potentially game winning score. We had a late hit personal foul which kept alive one of Auburn's scoring drives when they would have been forced to punt otherwise. And we didn't run the ball enough given that they couldn't stop our running game and had been vulnerable to the run most of the year.

The bottom line is that we made too many mistakes and we couldn't overcome them, although we did have the opportunity to do so in the fourth quarter.

Yes I do think we are talented. In fact we haven't had this much talent across the whole team since the glory days in 95 and 96. Even then I am not sure that we had as many true playmakers as we do now, but only time will tell. If they continue to develop, the likes of Harvin, Caldwell, Tebow, Fayson, James and others will entertain us for several years to come.

As to whether my analysis of our play is based solely on the final score, I don't think you pay very much attention. I am critical of us in many areas. I know football and was an assistant coach for several years. I am certainly not one to stick my head in the sand. Far from it actually, and I am one of many who really miss our old Sun Beat writer Jack Hairston. He was damn sure a gator, but he would cast criticisms when warranted.

In any case, Saturday was not a good game in any facet. Offense, defense, special teams and coaching all let us down.