Yes, I took last week off from writing. After seeing Florida's/Driskel's performance against Missouri, I needed to join the Gators in having a bye week. I'm pretty sure that game was not an actual football game. It was something. It was on a football field. The participants wore football uniforms and had a football. But that, my friends, was not football. It certainly was not Gator football. I needed an extra week to recover from it.
So things have been shaking up in the top 25, and I really don't know who's good this year. TCU has a good offense, clearly. Alabama looks like it's finally shaping up, but I wouldn't be surprised if they lose another game. Mississippi State looks good. Ole Miss will lose again. Oregon...still suspect. FSU is awful Like really, really, really bad at football. Louisville killed me last night. They squandered every opportunity in that game. Honestly, I've watched FSU and I've actually paid attention. I'm SO sick of the media hyping the "undefeated defending national champions." Umm, wake up. FSU could easily be 3-5 right now if not for some bad calls and good luck. Yes, I said 3-5. Go back and watch the games vs Oklahoma State, Clemson, NC State, Notre Dame and of course Louisville. Could have lost all of those. And none of those teams are very good. So it's pathetic that they could have lost all five. But I'm supposed to believe FSU can contend for a national title this year? No chance. Sure, go ahead...say I'm biased because I went to Florida. Say my judgment is clouded because of the off-the-field issues. But WHEN (notice I didn't say IF) FSU loses, I will say back to you, "I TOLD YOU SO." Fun fact: Jameis Winston threw as many picks against Louisville as Geno Smith did against the Bills on Sunday.
So last weekend, one of my teams beat the other. I was win-win for me. But I'm hoping both Rutgers and Nebraska win this weekend. I'm going to the Wisconsin-Rutgers game tomorrow, and I'd really like to rush the field after a Scarlet Knights' victory.
Nebraska will have no problem with Purdue. I'll pick TCU to beat West Virginia. I'll actually pick Kentucky to win at Missouri. Mississippi State will definitely beat Arkansas (lock of the week). Stanford will give it a good try, but Oregon wins this year. I'm of course picking Illinois -- not because I think they're good, but just because I hate Ohio State. I'll pick UCLA at home over Arizona and Arizona State at home over Utah.
But more important than all of these....GO GATORS! TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!!!!
By now, I'm sure everyone has seen the new web sites popping up http://www.hiredanmullen.com/ and http://www.wewantdan.com. After watching how Muschamp handled the LSU game, I'm on board. Anything has to be better than this. Muschamp is awful. Driskel can't make decisions. The receivers can't catch. The defense is lazy. I give up. I need a break from this team, so I'm leaving the country.
Just kidding. Bust seriously. I am going on vacation tomorrow, so this blog will be short today since I have to get up early!
Baylor will win on the road, and it won't be as close or crazy as the TCU game. Hey Big 12 - defense, anyone? Oklahoma will beat Kansas State. Alabama will beat Texas A&M. Michigan State should win at Indiana. Upset special: Rutgers wins at Ohio State. Would you really expect me to pick the Buckeyes? Georgia will beat Arkansas by fewer than 10 points. Stanford vs Arizona State seems like a toss-up - I'll pick the Cardinal again, even after they disappointed me against Notre Dame. TCU will beat Oklahoma State by double digits. Nebraska beats Northwestern. Kentucky loses to LSU. I can't stand FSU, so I'm all about the Irish this weekend.
And of course... I stand by my team in all kinds of weather. GO GATORS. Beat Missouri. Make it a great homecoming!
And....THIRTY DAYS UNTIL GATOR BASKETBALL!!!!!!!!!!
No, I'm not just referring to Driskel's performance of 11 of 23 for 59 yards and 3 interceptions. Or the fact that he's thrown 5 interceptions over the last 7 quarters. Sadly, I'm also talking about Treon Harris being at the center of a sexual assault/sexual battery investigation and Skyler Mornhingweg ending up in the hospital after a fight with his own teammate over some shoes. Sure, we don't know the facts of Harris's case. He may be innocent. He may be guilty. I don't know what happened, and neither do you. We know a complaint was made and later was withdrawn. People keep making comparisons between this case and Jameis Winston's case. Sure, both men were backup QBs at schools in Florida at the time they were accused of wrongdoing. But that's about where I stop at comparing similarities. People want to make jokes about having Tallahassee's PD investigate the situation. I get it - no one wants to see Driskel on the field (including me). The complaint has now been withdrawn, but UF did the right thing by taking this accusation seriously.
It was after I started writing this that I saw that the accuser withdrew her complaint, and I'm not sure what that means for Harris's future, but I'd still be surprised if he plays tomorrow considering he hasn't practiced all week, and I haven't heard any word on his reinstatement. I would ask that people put things in perspective with Harris, though. He came in for the end of a game and provided a spark that led to a field goal and a touchdown. I might credit Matt Jones a bit more than I'd credit Harris on those drives, but that's really not the point. The point is, everyone is so convinced that our QB problems were solved and that suddenly we'd be great at football again because Harris helped us score 10 points against a team that has just 2 wins this year and hasn't beaten the Gators since 2004. Bottom line: we beat an unranked team by one point. A little perspective, please.
When Tyler Murphy started his first game last year, many people (myself included) thought, "hey, this guy could be better than Driskel!" And maybe he was, I don't know. But he wasn't great, and he certainly wasn't up to par with the high standards set by Florida fans. He was not Spurrier. He was not Wuerffel. He certainly was not Tebow. And I'm sorry to put things in perspective for everyone out there, but neither is Treon Harris. He's short and he's inexperienced. He hasn't done anything to prove he's great. He's just proved he's better than Jeff Driskel, which I'm pretty sure I could do. Honestly, if you put me on a football field, I think I could complete 11 passes for 59 yards and throw 3 interceptions. I may even pass 60 yards. The point is, Harris's few successful drives against Eastern Michigan and Tennessee do not suddenly make him an elite QB. If none of this happened and he started against LSU, and UF lost, would everyone be screaming for Grier or - dare I say it - Mornhinweg?
Would I have preferred to see Harris play QB over Driskel? Absolutely. Do I think people are going nuts now with all the posts and tweets about starting Harris this weekend? Absolutely. He hasn't practiced all week. Are people forgetting that? Driskel will start, and he'll play most, if not all, of the game. I will add that I personally think Jeff Driskel should be on UF's baseball team rather than the football team. He seems like a hardworking guy, and he seems like he could actually be a good athlete. I just don't think football is the right fit for him. But I have respect for Muschamp (words I never thought I'd say) for suspending Harris amidst the serious allegations. Yes, I want my football team to win games. But do I want to win games so badly that I don't care at all about the character of the young men on the teams? Absolutely not. I lived on campus my first 2 years at UF. I've seen a lot of things. And honestly, I think they made the right choice.
I read Treon Harris's lawyer's statement about the situation, and one line in his statement seemed a little strange to me. He says that the accuser was the sexual aggressor with not just Treon that night, but also with another guy. I must be missing something. Why is it relevant if she was the sexual aggressor with another guy that night? If she had sex with five other guys that night, does that mean she's suddenly immune to rape for the rest of the evening? And no, I'm not looking for some pompous response to this from a legal perspective. I want to know why this lawyer felt the need to release a statement to the public telling us that this girl was somehow sexually involved with another guy that night. Whether she was lying, telling the truth or was simply confused when she made the complaint, I don't think an account of her consensual sexual activities with other men have any place here.
Yes, this is a sports blog, and yes, I'll make picks for this weekend. But with such a serious allegation made against someone on my alma mater's football team, I felt it was necessary to at least make mention of the matter.
Now, onto football.
Rutgers had a big win last week over Michigan - but I thought rushing the field was completely over the top and actually quite embarrassing. Nebraska didn't show up until late in the game last week, and it was too little, too late for the Huskers - especially when Armstrong sealed the game with a Geno Smith-type pass (read: he threw to the wrong team). But a lot of crazy stuff happened last week. TCU beat Oklahoma. UCLA lost to Utah. Alabama lost an October game. Mississippi State looked good, and I still think Dan Mullen is trying to get his resume together for a hopefully-soon-to-be-open head coaching job at UF. We'll see.
This week....
FSU has a conference game against the mighty Syracuse Orange... and I don't see any way Syracuse comes away with a home victory. Sorry, Orange faithful. I love Charlie Strong, but Oklahoma rebounds this week with a win. Georgia wins at Missouri. Wisconsin wins at home. Miami wins at home. Georgia Tech wins - but by 10 or less. Baylor beats TCU. UCLA beats Oregon. Alabama beats Arkansas. I want to believe Ole Miss will be prepared and beat Texas A&M, but they may still be flying high after last week. Something tells me Auburn will squeak past Mississippi State, but I'm honestly pulling for Mullen in this one. Auburn destroyed LSU last weekend. And that gave me hope for the Gators this week. It's a night game in the swamp, and LSU is not as lucky as in past years. But if last week taught us anything, it's that anything can happen. GO GATORS! Beat LSU!
So I must say - last weekend the Gators looked almost as good as they did Labor Day weekend. Gave up no yards, had no incomplete passes, no turnovers... Ah, the beauty of a bye week.
Jacoby Brissett...you came so close to being a hero to the Gator fan base. But alas, you and your team choked and disappointed football fans everywhere. However, you did expose FSU, and they are no longer ranked first in the coaches' poll. So thanks for that, I guess. Nebraska had no problem with Illinois (as expected). Rutgers looked good against Tulane (as expected). Honestly, I expected a bigger win from Texas A&M. I know Arkansas is supposedly an improved team, but I'm still not sold on the Razorbacks. Stanford pulled away from Washington in the 4th quarter and I was disappointed. Wisconsin did not look good in its victory over USF, and I'm honestly still not sure why Wisconsin is ranked - or why they're ranked ahead of undefeated Nebraska. (Yes, I'm biased - but aside from the cupcake games they've each played, I'd argue that beating Miami is more impressive than losing to LSU)
Georgia and Tennessee played yet another close game that came down to the end, and Georgia won again - but Tennessee does look better, which has me on edge for this weekend. And after seeing a breakdown of Jeff Driskel, I'm really not sure why Muschamp isn't giving Harris/Grier a chance.
At a certain point, Muschamp has to realize that if Driskel doesn't improve, Muschamp is going to lose his job. It's one thing to stand behind your QB and try to give him confidence. It's another thing to keep a guy on the field who just plain doesn't understand the game. I'd love to see Driskel improve and become the great QB analysts have said he could be. But honestly? I don't expect it. Hey Jeff, please surprise me. I'm begging you.
After seeing Tyler Murphy beat USC and after seeing Jacoby's stats vs FSU, I wonder how Driskel might perform at an ACC school. And I find myself wondering...Is our coaching really just that bad - or is the ACC just so awful that these guys suddenly look decent? Hmmmm....
The biggest upset this week may have already happened. Oregon, what happened?? Bear down...good win for Arizona. I only watched the beginning of the Houston game, but O'Korn looked pretty bad before being benched, so I'm not entirely surprised they lost to UCF.
I hope TCU beats Oklahoma, but I haven't seen enough of TCU to really say if I think it'll happen. TCU's best win in 3 games was over Minnesota. Given the quality of Big Ten football, I really can't make any guesses based on that. The Buckeyes travel to the state of Maryland for the second time this season, and I think this time they won't be so lucky. GO TERPS! I'll also call for Stanford to win at Notre Dame. No particular reason - I just think this one is a toss-up.
The SEC West is looking kinda crazy right now with 6 of 7 teams being ranked in the top 25. We'll get 3 ranked vs ranked games this weekend with Alabama @ Ole Miss, LSU @ Auburn and Texas A&M at Mississippi State. I'm picking Alabama and LSU on the road and Mississippi State at home. The LSU @ Auburn game will be close, but I think Les comes out on top. This Tigers vs Tigers matchup consists of the 2 luckiest teams in the SEC, so I expect something close with a strange ending. I think Ole Miss has looked decent so far, but I don't see Nick Saban losing this early in the season. Mississippi State seems focused to me. Texas A&M didn't impress me against Arkansas, so the Bulldogs get the edge this weekend in my eyes.
I think Rutgers will get back on track in conference this week with a home win over a very down Michigan team. I really hope Nebraska plays well enough to win on the road at Michigan State. This will likely be the hardest road test for the Huskers this season, and it would be nice if they could remain undefeated! But more importantly...
Florida hasn't lost to Tennessee since that awful ending in 2004. I won't tolerate a loss to the Volunteers. So come on Gators. Be prepared to play football, and be prepared to win. Let's go for ten wins in a row over Tennessee.
