Eliminating the QB Position

Kurt Roper finally figured it out: Florida has no quarterback.  And what do you know? When the Gators eliminated the QB position from the game plan, they actually won a game - and over a ranked Georgia team with playoff aspirations.  I like Jones and Taylor.  Before the game I kept reading about the return of the ground and pound offense, and I kept saying to my dad that Jones and Taylor would get a lot of touches in the game.  But even I didn't expect what I saw.  They combined for nearly 400 yards rushing, and Treon Harris finished the day completing 3 of 6 passes for 27 yards.  And it was glorious.

So that was amazing, and I still can't believe it happened.  What I also can't believe is that for the second straight year, Rutgers was blown out at homecoming in its first homecoming game in a new conference.  Last year in the AAC vs Houston, and this year in the Big Ten vs Wisconsin.  The weather was terrible.  It was cold and rainy and when I left the game I couldn't feel my toes and I was covered in mud.  But I was glad I went - and I was glad I got to enjoy a fat sandwich!

And the Huskers, of course, won.  That Auburn game was nuts, and Mississippi State looked lethargic.  It will be really interesting to see how the SEC West shakes out.  People are getting ahead of themselves in the SEC East.  Right now, Missouri is the clear favorite to head to the SEC Championship and lose.  Yes, I understand that if Missouri loses to Tennessee and then loses one more conference game, and if Georgia loses one more conference game, and if Florida beats Vanderbilt and South Carolina...Florida would go to the SEC Championship game.  That's a lot of IFs.  So Gator fans, don't get your hopes up.  We'll probably win another game or 2 this year, head to a meaningless bowl game, and Muschamp will get another year to prove himself.  But as I keep telling people (because it's still true for now), Muschamp is undefeated in Tallahassee as head coach of the Gators!

So, this weekend...

Oklahoma vs Baylor should be an interesting one.  I think the Sooners will squeak out a victory, but it should be a close one.  I'm pulling for Kentucky to beat Georgia...because, well, to hell with Georgia! I'd like to see Texas beat West Virginia.  I think Arizona State will knock off overrated Notre Dame.  Kansas State vs TCU should be another good one, and I'll take TCU.  Oregon needs to be careful at Utah.  One comment on the Ohio State-Michigan State game: Go Green, Go White.  Ohio State won't win this without cheating, which I wouldn't put past Urban Liar.  I think Alabama will beat LSU.  Auburn beats the Aggies.  Ole Miss and Miss State will win their cupcake games.  Rutgers and Nebraska both have bye weeks, so they can't lose.

Most importantly, Florida plays at Vanderbilt.  The streak was ruined last year, but I'd like to start a new one this year, and I'd like a chance at a bowl game this year. So come on Florida, just win!! Beat the Vols!!

Either way, Vanderbilt already got Gator'd

GO GATORS!!


Also - I watched the Florida vs. Barry exhibition basketball game last night.  I'm VERY excited for basketball season, which officially starts for the Gators in one week!! Lots of work to do on defense, and definitely need to develop more chemistry, but I can't conclude too much from an exhibition game.  This team will be much different than last year's group.  But there are some positives: Horford looked alert rebounding, Carter looked healthy, Chiozza seemed okay handling the ball, Robinson showed some shooting range, Hill still has remarkable speed, Frazier will of course still be awesome (despite an ice-cold second half last night), and we should have Walker for almost a full season this year - if he can stay out of trouble.  We'll see Chris Walker make his season debut November 21st against Louisiana Monroe, and I look forward to seeing his shot-blocking abilities help our team defensively - and hopefully he'll add a spark on offense as well.  Florida basketball! FANTASTIC!

Sometimes You Just Need a Bye Week

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!!!!

Gator Nation Misses Dan Mullen

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!!!!!!!!!!

Gator Nation Has Seen Better Days At Quarterback

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!

Why are there no prostitutes in Tennessee?

...Because they're all Volunteers.

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.

GO GATORS!

Emmitt Smith, There's No Need to Apologize.

Many people saw the news over the weekend that Emmitt Smith took to Twitter to express his frustrations with Jeff Driskel: "Put Jeff Driskel on the bench please, I have seen enough." I don't know any Gator fans who disagreed.  Unfortunately, he followed that up with a political move: he apologized.  Emmitt, there is no need to apologize for saying what all of Gator Nation is thinking.  We also saw Robinson retweet (and then un-retweet) a picture of Will Grier and Treon Harris that expressed his interest in seein a new QB on the field for Florida.  Not for one second do I buy the "that was an accident" excuse.  He just knew Muschamp would get on his case about bringing down team morale.  But here's the bigger problem: Jeff Driskel is bringing down team morale by being absolutely terrible at football.  And no, I'm not going to apologize for saying that.  I'm sure the kid works hard and tries his best, but at the end of the day, Will Muschamp needs to recognize that Driskel is not a solution to Florida's woes.  He's actually making things worse.

Which brings me to my next point...seriously, how many more games does Muschamp have to lose before Foley gives up? Foley has now said he will evaluate everything after this season.  Hopefully that means after this season he'll realize how terrible Muschamp is and fire him - and hopefully Driskel will leave with Muschamp.

As we watched Florida embarrass itself in Tuscaloosa

Besides Driskel keeping his starting position, other surprises last weekend included Missouri managing to look worse than Florida, Lucky Les not being lucky enough to come back and beat Dan Mullen....and Clemson apparently being paid off to lose that game.  No other explanation.  To those of you thinking I should mention Utah-Michigan as a surprise, well, I wasn't surprised by a Big Ten team looking terrible.  But Rutgers and Nebraska won! And I ended up winning 4 bets on the Nebraska-Miami game.  Sweet, sweet victory!

As for this week: Florida can't lose! (Gators have a bye)  So...Let's go NC State!!! Former Gator Jacoby Brissett has a chance to make all of Gator Nation smile by beating the tremendously overrated FSU.  So please, Wolfpack, I'm begging you.  Beat those gross Noles.  I'll be watching Tennessee-Georgia to see what Florida is in for next week against the Vols.  But I think Georgia wins today.  A note about Thursday's game - I expected UCLA to win, but Arizona State...wow.  That was rough.  Wisconsin will win against the USF Bulls.  Wisconsin played one SEC team to start the season (and lost) and now they play no one the rest of the season because they're in a joke of a conference.  They could end up with 1-2 losses and have to play another SEC team in a bowl game.  And guess who I'll pick....  I'm not sure why some people think Arkansas is "back" all of a sudden, but I think they're going to get blown out in Arlington.  Rutgers will beat Tulane.  Nebraska will beat Illinois.  My upset special this week: Stanford loses at Washington.  

And Driskel won't turn the ball over today.  GO GATORS!

Some People Never Learn

Jameis Winston, I'm looking at you.  I may not know you personally, but I know enough to know you're an entitled moron.  Rape accusations.  Soda theft at Burger King.  Crab leg theft.  And now yelling vulgar nonsense while standing on a table in your student union? Clearly you don't get it.  It has been made clear to you about a million times that you will be held to a higher standard - as you should be - than other students because you're a public figure at FSU.  But here's the problem: Your corrupt football program/university let you get away with stupidity with seemingly little consequence.  I have said before that I respect the FSU baseball team a lot more for not letting you play after the crab leg incident.  But man.  You're just an idiot.  You personify the FSU culture that every Gator fan loves to make fun of.  You're not invincible.  You're not important.  Get over yourself and grow up.  I could go on and on about this.  You deserve the suspension (took long enough for something to actually earn you a suspension), and I sincerely hope Clemson runs up the score in the first half.  GO TIGERS.

On to other overrated things in the ACC...Virginia Tech! Thank you for proving that you're not good.  It just makes the fact that you exposed Ohio State so much sweeter.  No offense to the I still don't quite understand Arkansas State's distraction attempt against Miami.

So Rutgers disappointed me in its Big Ten home opener.  Penn State just isn't good.  But then again, neither is Gary Nova.  At least it was a close game, I guess.  Nebraska looked great on the road.  Hopefully they snapped out of that funk that made them almost lose at home to McNeese State....but luckily in college football, almost doesn't count.  USC proved to be way overrated, and Tyler Murphy actually showed some potential.  It was surprising, but I did enjoy seeing the upset.  Georgia was Georgia.  Their kicker set a new SEC record for most consecutive field goals, and then he ended his streak.

The game I cared most about last weekend turned out to be much more dramatic than I had hoped.  Kentucky may be improved, but there was no reason for that game to go to triple overtime in the swamp.  Completely unacceptable.  Muschamp better turn it around fast or Foley won't be supporting him much longer.  But at least Jojo Kemp can shut his mouth now.  28 victories in a row for Florida over Kentucky.

Supporting the Gators during the Florida-Kentucky game 9-13-2014

Obviously this weekend is a huge game for the Gators.  I only wish I were more excited.  I think we have a lot of offensive talent on this team - including Jones, Taylor, Robinson, Dunbar, Debose - but I don't think it's being utilized well at all.  I'm not sold on Roper just yet.  Still definitely not sold on Muschamp, needless to say.  Alabama is a 2 score favorite, and I actually wouldn't be surprised if Alabama is insulted by that after seeing our game.  However, Alabama's game against West Virginia did expose vulnerabilities.  Thought I think Saban has had a plan all along to confuse SEC opponents. I think Saban has known all along he wants Coker as QB.  Sims will play, but only for specific plays that were designed for him or in games/situations where Saban feels no threat from the opponent.  That said, we may see Sims this weekend if Alabama runs up the score early.  But if you've ever watched a Lane Kiffin team play, you know Coker fits Kiffin's style of offense better than Sims does, so I think Alabama is just trying to throw off SEC opponents with this "we don't know which QB to play" nonsense.  Florida, please surprise me.  Please pull off a huge upset.

Some picks for this weekend...

Rutgers will redeem itself with an upset win at Navy.  Missouri will beat Indiana - and it won't be close.  Michigan State will beat Eastern Michigan by less than 65.  Wisconsin will beat Bowling Green, but it will be closer than people expect, at least through the first half.  Auburn will beat Kansas State.  LSU will beat Mississippi State, but it won't be a blowout.  Oklahoma will be challenged by West Virginia, but will win by no more than 10.  Oregon will beat Washington State.  Hoping for Clemson to beat FSU, though I haven't been impressed with either team.  Of course I'm picking Nebraska over Miami.  That's a given.  Clearly this isn't a classic Miami-Nebraska matchup, though.  Miami couldn't handle Louisville, and even though Nebraska had a momentary lapse against McNeese State, I still don't think Miami can win this game in Lincoln.  People who know me love that I know to make bets on games.  I have 3 bets riding on this Miami @ Nebraska game, so come on Huskers! Go Big Red!! I can't bring myself to pick against Florida, no matter what logic tells me.  I'm sure Muschamp is checking the weather in Tuscaloosa hoping this game will be canceled.  But come on Florida...shock the world!  Beat Bama!

GO GATORS!