Que Sera, Sera

I do not consider myself an overly sentimental individual - and you don't either. However even I had a poignant thought about all the good memories I have had in the Swamp. Not to the point that I was one of the literally hundreds of flashes as Tebow led his final scoring drive in Gainesville (or the student mother who whined he did not score near our endzone seats the whole freaking game), but I still had the thought that it was the end of a era. Before the game I saw someone in a Jaguars #15 jersey with "Tebow" on the back (which Tebow had signed).

And wow, how the mighty have fallen. FSU is just terrible. We know damn well our offense is not that good. And when I watched their sidelines Bobby just stood around for most of the game. It has kinda taken the edge off the rivalry. I went the Tallahassee Democrat after the game they were pretty passive about a 27 point beatdown.

I did like the new unis, but not as much as the throwbacks from 2006.

QB: The Savior ran all over them, although on his longest run he fumbled while trying for more yards (and he was caught from behind by FOUR Noles). He made all this short yardage runs. He passed pretty well (Cooper had a big drop). I still worry about his awareness after he threw a forward pass on the option five yards downfield.
GRADE: B- (would have been an "A-" save he cried when he came onto the field)
NEXT SEASON: As I said last week, we won't know until Brantley has to do it himself.

RB: I think the injuries have slowed Rainey (3) down, he was caught from behind on his big 45 run. I'm a little surprised he and Demps (2) did not get more than 15 carries given they combined for 179 yards (11.9 average). Also props to Rainey for turning himself into a defenseback and preventing an interception when Tebow threw to him on a route when he was clearly covered.
GRADE: A
NEXT SEASON: Everyone comes back, save the fullback we have used a little bit in the last few weeks (Rick Burgess - 48), but it is okay because we have another FB we can barely play ((TJ Pridemore - 45).

WR: Omarius Hines (82) and Frankie Hammonds Jr. (85) were on the field early on, but just for a play. Cooper (11) had a couple of big catches, including a TD, but dropped one too. My favorite moment came before the game, when they introduced the seniors in their last game and listed Brandon James (25) as an "athlete" (for the ladies - that is what you put when you have a guy you don't know what to do with).
GRADE: B
NEXT SEASON: Big changes as David Nelson (83) and Cooper graduate. There is always a chance Deonte Thompson (6) gets better - he is a true sophmore, it might happen. If not there are Hammond and Hines. And don't forgot hotshot recruit Andre Debose (4) who was hurt all year. And Carl Moore (9) may get a medical redshirt. And it is a lock Meyer will recruit some speedster.

TE: Aaron Hernandez (81) had a great game, his second touchdown was a beautiful run right through their defense. Although as I said FSU is down - if you watch replay on TV you will see two Noles run into one another behind him.
GRADE: A
NEXT SEASON: Here we have to have a long conversation. The NFL player's union has a contract with the league, but it set to lapse next year. All the permutations of this are not clear to anyone (and remember I'm union), but the key part for UF is that there is a chance that the next contract will introduce salary limits for rookie contracts - when there are none right now. There is next to no chance a new contract will have closed by the draft, but it might be the last one without rookie salary cap (which means the last time that rookie's can get massive multimillion dollar contracts that are more than most veterans are paid). As a result many player agents are telling juniors to come out this year and there is a chance that many more juniors than normal may go pro. Hernandez would normally not be someone with enough buzz to leave, but he might now. I would say the odds are he stays, but if he doesn't our only TE will be Desmond Parks. Parks is a freshman who was supposed to be our second tightend in special two TE sets (originally designed for Cornelius Ingram, so we missed twice) but got hurt.

OL: While there were holes for the running game, but the passrush got there several times. Our new left tackle, Xavier Nixon (73) continues to be a work in progress. He got beat by the spin move a few times and on a run just raced downfield without hitting anyone. I think he had an assignment and just ran there - which is probably what he is coached to do.
GRADE: B+
NEXT SEASON: We have no seniors, but the Pouncey twins may go pro because of the NFL contract. I think they won't, but there is a better chance than Hernandez. If they go pro, our OL will in theory look left to right Marcus Gilbert (76) - flipping because Brantley is a righty, Carl Johnson (57) , Sam Robey (50) who has never started) Mo Hurt (74) - I think the staff is down on James Wilson (66) although I don't know why, Matt Patchan (71) - assuming he's health and the staff sees Nixon isn't quite ready.

DL: Well their quarterback broke a few scrambles, but they did not run well. We got some, but not a ton of pressure - and their QB escaped a few times when he did. The coaching staff definitely needs to coach our guys about not jumping on hardcounts after all those offsides.
GRADE: B+
NEXT SEASON: No changes at DT, but DE Jermaine Cunningham (49) graduates, which is would not be a major problem as he is just a solid rotation guy/starter, but I get junior Carlos Dunlap (8) leaves for the NFL so we will be thin. Justin Trattou (94) will start and be a stud, but the other spot will be Duke Lemmens (44), William Green (96), or Earl Okine (91) who will be a senior, junior, and sophomore, respectively. All will be part of the rotation, but not have shown me much. Okine played a bit as a freshman, maybe he will develop.

LB: No notable splash plays, but no mistakes. They were in position to stop runs and knocked down a few passes. AJ Jones (16) was hurt.
GRADE: A-
NEXT SEASON: We lose our best two linebackers in Spikes (51) and Stamper (41) and solid rotation guy Dustin Doe (32) to graduation. But we have a Brandon Hicks (40) and Jones who are already well above average starters. The other starter/rotation guy - who will probably play in the middle, if not Hicks as Jones is small - will be a true sophomore either Jonathan Bostic (52) who was huge as an early enrollee in the Orange and Blue game and has looked good the few times he got on the field or highly ranked recruit Jelani Jenkins (43) who was hurt all year. Also while we are talking about juniors going pro I will point to Brandon Spikes who came back this year when he could have been a first round pick next year. He has been dinged several times this season and had bad press from the eye gouge in the Georgia game. Chances are he will be drafted lower than he would have been last year. I always say guys should go pro when their stock is high, football is too brutal of game to pass on what might be your only big contract.

DB: Ahmad Black (35) made a great pass break up, but Joe Haden's (5) pick was just an awful throw - he did have a good pass defense on another play. Halfway through the first quarter, their quarterback had completed two passes for 12 yards. Halfway through the THIRD quarter, their quarterback had completed two passes for 12 yards.
GRADE: A+
NEXT SEASON: We don't have any senior starters, but say goodbye to our nickel back Markhie Anderson (14) who is pretty consistent and the speedy Wondy Wonder (4) which is addition by subtraction. But there is a worry because I bet Haden goes pro - hell he might have even if the NFL contract situation was stable. He's gotten lots of good press and if looks at next season he will have to figure we won't be as good and there is nothing for him to gain in terms of draft status by staying. And he's probably right to go - while in truth he isn't NFL ready (he tackles well so he does not give up many big plays, but does give up passes and against receivers in the NFL, who are faster, some of those may become big plays), but I can't see his stock getting much higher. The only thing that might keep him is that his little brother is a verbal commit. If he goes we have no one with any experience to play opposite Janoris Jenkins (1). There is a chance Dorian Munroe (20) will be back if he gets a medical redshirt, but he's yet another safety.

ST: We gave up a big kick return and an awful blocked PAT, but also pinned them at the one on a punt.
GRADE: A-
NEXT SEASON: Brandon James is gone. He hasn't been getting huge returns lately, but that is because people have been avoiding kicking to him. Next year they will be giving us more chances, which means more big returns, but also more short returns and long fields for our offense. Jonathan Phillips is also graduating, so we roll with Caleb Sturgis live or die.

Play of the game: Aaron Hernandez running through FSU's Keystone Cops defense.

Alabama: Mark Ingram is a little dinged - it is overhyped, but it can't hurt us. The bigger news is that Auburn held him to 30 yards on 16 carries. I guarantee you that Charlie Strong is looking at the footage as you read this. Our defense is better that the Tigers. This is only the second undefeated regular season in UF history (but the last one ended in the Gators getting annihilated by Nebraska).

Just a quick fun moment about the strength of the SEC. Next week Georgia Tech will play Clemson for the ACC championship. Both lost to SEC teams this week - Clemson got hammered by the Cocks. Ten SEC teams are bowl eligible, and given that all are 7-5 or better (six total, four in the East) they will be playing yet.

Finally if we beat Bama we play in the Rose Bowl. Is there anyone else out there who is fan enough to consider going to LA baby?

The best win five hundred thousand dollars can buy

I refuse to grace this game with a full writeup. In fact it shall barely receive one at all. Most of the hype was about John Brantley (12), but all he did was reconfirm he can throw the ball against mediocre teams after Tebow has softened them up. We won't really know about him until next year - I honestly have seen nothing to give me a firm feeling in either direction. It was amusing to see him run up the sideline for a dozen yards.

Most of my focus was on the offensive line. Maurkice Pouncey (56) sat this one out so Mike (55) slide over to center, but the really point of focus was our new left tackle true freshman Xavier Nixon (73). I was surprised that he got the start in South Carolina because Carl Johnson (57) had not been terrible. Nixon did not look that great against FIU, getting beat several times, setting a little to deep in pass blocking, and not punching well. In theory you want your best five lineman on the field and given the way he played against lowly FIU I am a little worried - but he was not chronically abused in Columbia. He hasn't looked better that Johnson, but maybe the coaches think the Johnson is better at guard (or the OL as a unit is better with him there). Or maybe Nixon has looked good in practice and they think with a little experience he will be the best option. Johnson does make the interior better, maybe the plan it is just better to have a weak LT an make the rest of the line the best it can be (which is not standard practice, but not irrational either). I'm hoping he will get better quickly, I will keep an eye on him vs FSU. When the starting OL was pulled because it was a blowout he stayed on the field to get more time.

DT Lawrence Marsh (90) played, which I was happy about because it means he was *relatively* healthy, but at the same time not happy about because there is no way he should have been playing in a meaningless game - especially not with our other starting DT Terron Sanders (92) out with a nasty back injury. If Bama beats us it will be by running right at the center of our defense. Justin Trattou (94) was briefly on the field as well.

Caleb Sturgis (19) is slowly invalidating himself as a weapon because while he can nail them from deep his accuracy limits how frequently I would be willing to go with him. I know he supposedly hasn't been great in practice, but Jonathan Phillips (38) only missed one all last year (and just one in '09) so why not use him if we are close? Admittedly Chris Hetland (39) had an 81% accuracy percentage in 2005 (which I bet you forgot), but you can just tell looking at Sturgis that his confidence has been shaken. How much do you trust him in a big moment against the Crimson Tide?

Football 101: When an offensive lineman "punches" he basically does just that: throws out both his hands to hit the passrusher (this is not a run-blocking move) in the torso. A good hit will break a defensive lineman's stride, giving you an extra precious second to pass. Punching also helps prevent the d-lineman from putting on a move, changing direction, or getting close to the o-lineman where it is much easier to slip past him (better to have him out a few steps so you can keep an eye on him). Lineman do need to be careful when they punch not to put too much interia forward or they will overextend, becoming off balance and an off-balance lineman is easy for a passrusher to put a move on and get by.

Yaaawn

Who lets these guys into the SEC? They were so bad even though it was a night game we were a very quiet crowd. It was the quietest night game I have ever been too, and everyone split quickly, the roads were shockingly clear afterwards.

NOTE: I did do a quick and dirty Georgia writeup, but not until Friday, so I did not send it. You can see it here: http://gatorknowledge.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-know-im-late-but-i-want-you-to-know.html

I’m also considering going to a high school playoff game Nov. 20 if there is any interest. I know you don’t care.

QB: The Savior was pretty efficient for him, but made no spectacular plays. He did better in vacating the pocket when it started to break down.
GRADE: B-

RB: I was pleased to see Chris Rainey was healthy enough to play, not that he did much. Moody got a little more time than usual and ran fairly strong. Demps did pretty well too, but on his big TD run it was just a blown defense (or someone got completely blocked out of the play – but I think it was just a screw-up). He caught the pitch on a basic option and when he caught it he was right in front of me and there was NO ONE there.
GRADE: A- (as a corps, including Brandon James, they had 21 carries for 121 yards)

WR: Brandon James and David Nelson actually made a few plays, but let’s not get too excited about beating up on Vandy. Deonte Thompson continues to be MIA, which is a major disappoint, and really hurts as he was suppose to be the big play guy. Riley Cooper had one short grab, although made a good block on a special teams return. On the deflected TD he was the one who did not make the catch – and, while it was a cool play, it was TERRIBLE route combo. The reason that Nelson was there for the rebound was because he and Cooper we running the same route, Cooper to the goalline, Nelson five yards deeper. Actually he was open because the DB on him jumped towards Cooper because the play was right in front of him (as he should have). Hammond and Hines were again briefly on the field (with the starters).
GRADE: C

TE: The 64 yarder was great to watch, but it came after the game was over against a tired defense just waiting for the gun to sound. Still he had 6 catches for 56 yards before that, which isn’t too bad. He did not make any great plays, but made the routine plays keep our defense off the field.
GRADE: A (he led the team in catches, put up solid numbers for a TE (if not perhaps his standards), and you can’t deny he looked great bouncing off half a dozen tacklers).

OL: Before Matt Patchan (71) blew out his knee, he and Carl Johnson (57) alternated at left tackle, with Johnson the guard when Patchan was tackle and James Wilson (66) was guard. But how when Johnson the entrenched RT, Mo Hurt (74) plays right guard (Mike Pouncey has flopped to the right). When Carl Johnson briefly got hurt, Mr. Hurt moved to RT and Wilson came in. We don’t have much depth besides Wilson – freshman center Sam Robey has gotten press, but barely played. Also on one play Tebow got blown up by a blindside rusher, and when that happened I realized how good the blindside protection has been for most of the year so I want to give props to our RT Marcus Gilbert (76), who has been quiet all year – and a quiet OT is a damn good OT. Even before the season started I remember saying he looked good and I was not worried about that tackle spot. He’s a junior, so he’ll flip next year and protect Brantley’s back so that will help his development. However while Gilbert has been consistently solid, the OL did not do anything special this game – and it was Vandy.
GRADE: C+ (did average 4 yards a carry)

DL: Limited passrush without the blitz, their halfback averaged 5.4 yards a carry – many of those yards coming right up the middle. Trattou (94) played at little without much affect, Marsh (90) did not. Carlos Dunlap deflected two passes, on one smartly realizing the play as to a back in the flat and falling back into the passing lane.
GRADE: C+

LB: With Spikes out Stamper (41) moved inside and Doe (32) started outside. I had missed this, but Brandon Hicks (40) was out with a hammy. Doe was out there even with the scrubs. Stamper had a great interception (the game’s only turnover unless you count the punter dropping his need to catch a bad snap). He is a smart player, so that he was in position was no shock (he undercut a short route to the outside) but he displaced some great hands – it was a beautiful, receiver quality, catch. AJ Jones had a least one good blitz to force an early throw.
GRADE: B+ (you need more big plays if you want an “A” vs Vandy)

DB: Our reputation evidently preceded us, because they never challenged our corners. They had just two – 2!!! – pass attempts over 15 yards, and both were about 20 yards. One each at the end of each half when they were in their own end and time was winding down so they had to try unless they just wanted totally give up. They average 3.4 yards a pass – why not just run every play? Pretty pathetic. It wasn’t because of our swarming passrush (of course all the quick dumpoffs made it harder for our DL too), they never even tried. Their game plan involved lots of screens and work for their tight end. Jenkins jumped for a chance at what would have been an amazing catch but was not really close.
GRADE: Incomplete vs. Captain Checkdown

**As an aside for those who have given me grief for saying Jenkins is better than Haden check out this article talking about how Jenkins as true freshman last year helped teach Haden (as highschool QB) how to play corner. http://alligator.org/sports/football/article_6973c8e6-ca6e-11de-9cc1-001cc4c002e0.html

ST: Punter Chaz Henry (17) remains a weapon. Teams continue to work to not give Brandon James any opportunities, but he almost broke one. They have a hot returner to, who we shut down pretty well. I was in the endzone again and noticed instead of Jenkins it was Haden crossing to the left on kickoffs.
GRADE: A-

Coaching: Pretty uninspired vs. a two win team. The defense only let the Commodores cross the 50 twice and had a mere one play over 20 yards. Our offense did not play nearly as well, with just two drives longer than 45 yards against going three and out a trio of times. As I said, the Georgia mauling was misleading, our offensive troubles are not solved. We were 4 of 13 on third down (Vandy was a surprising 7 of 16, given they had just 200 yards of offense.
GRADE: B (it was a 24 point win)

Play of the game: We went against type for one play, rolling both our corners to one side of the field when they doubled their receivers over there. Vandy had a good call, running a screen to the back side. It looked bad, the back had a lineman in front him with just safety Will Hill between him and the endzone. The lineman locked on Hill and I was screaming at him to get to the outside to force the RB back into the defense and give up a big gain, but not six. Instead Hill, again a defensive back, stood up the OFFENSIVE LINEMAN, twisted back and forth on him to watch the back, shed the block, and MADE THE TACKLE!!! Vandy got just 12 yards on the paly. Now I have another reason (besides Hill being better in coverage) I would rather he start over Major Wright (21). He actually did “start” (as did Emanuel Moody at RB) in that he was on the field for the first defensive play from scrimmage, but the truth is he and Wright split time (as do the backs).

The Bottom Line: South Carolina continues to make me look foolish as they got dropped 33-16 at Arkansas. Although FSU got rocked blowing a fourth quarter lead to end up losing by 16 as they fell to 4-5.

More importantly three-quarters of the way through the season this is the team we have, we are not going to suddenly wake up on offense. We are a defensive team. That is okay – it is how we won in 2006 and defensive teams win more often. But it will make for two tight games if we are going to repeat as champions. My bigger concern is actually our health on the defensive line. I have been waiting all season for DT Lawrence Marsh (90) to get healthy, and we may have to face the reality that he is never going to be fully healthy this season. He is our best defensive lineman and the lynchpin to our rush defense. Without him healthy teams have been able to run up the gut on us. We know as fact now we are playing Bama in Atlanta (thanks for nothing Jordan Jefferson) and have watching them comeback against LSU I’m not worried about their quarterback or our offense being able to get SOME points on them. But Ingram can run hard and that game will be decided by if he can run inside on us. Ironically if we win that Marsh will have a month to rest up for Texas (they have remaining schedule that is as easy as ours) – who doesn’t run well and we match up better with. I would like to see Marsh rested for the next two games and then get just a little time vs. FSU to avoid getting rusty.

I know I'm late, but I want you to know the Georgia game was not the win you thought it was

I went up to Jacksonville again, but won't do a full writeup for the game. It was a busy week and I am only writing this the day before Vandy and apparently now that I am in my thirties my memory doesn't work so well and I can't remember many of the points I wanted to make. Or maybe just the ninety plus humidity fused a few synapses. Either way I am sorry, but not that much given that I am freely handing out great wisdom.

I was high in the endzone which is a view you never get in the student section of the Swamp and it was only the second time I had watched a game from this angle (the first being the Georgia game last year). I did notice a few different things, such as that on kickoffs Janoris Jenkins lines up to the right of the kicker and runs behind him to over balance the cover ageto the left - where the kicks are angled.

Also Georgia's uniforms were ugly (of course I did not mind Tennessee's) and pretty stupid in my eyes. Alternative uniforms are usually just a chance to sell more apparel. I don't see how that would inspire the Bullpuppies to play better.

Anyway this was a nice win, but realize this was not quite the blowout ah la 2008 we have been looking for. Georgia hung around for a while and made it feel that it could become a game. When they closed to 14-10 the Georgia fans were belivin' in the stands. We won by a big margin because we wore them out and got four turnovers, not because we dominated the whole way - although starting with two solid touchdown drives was nice before that attack petered out a bit. We only had 90 more yards of offense than UGA. This was not a complete game and that's an important distinction to make. Still it was our best team game since Kentucky (other than Arkansas the defense has been consistently strong, as they were at LSU and Mississippi State).

Offense: Tebow ran well, but that was in part because of our formations ((more on that later). That was fortunate, because our backs had a nondescript game. And Rainey got hurt again. The OL did its job pretty well, there were some rush lanes and The Savior had time to throw. And I will give credit where it is due and admit I was wrong - Riley Cooper has elevated the last few games and is playing at a level I never thought we would see out of him. Hernandez is still our best receiver, but we have another solid option now. Also Omarius Hines (82) and Frankie Hammond Jr. (85) were on the field a little bit - not that they did, you know, anything.

Defense: Lawrence Marsh played, but is still not right as you witnessed by Georgia repeatedly being able to gash us inside. And despite all the hype you are hearing about Dunlap and Cunningham we were not able to get consistent pressure - especially not in the first half. In the second half when we started getting a little more rush (especially once they were trailing and thus throwing) more mistakes came - that is not a coincidence (more on that later too). Janoris Jenkins has had by far his worst three games ever the last three - which is a shame because he was one of my favorites. I don't think he is hurt, something has happened to his head because he just keeps making the occasional boneheaded play where he drifts away from his man. Hopefully he will figure it out. Overall the secondary had a solid game. We ran a fair amount of zone mixed in with man. Their receivers found some space., but thankfully Cox was not on target much of the day - I swear every catch AJ Green made involved him making a great play to jump high in the air and reach way up and back behind his head to pull the ball down. Some of that may have been Cox making too extra sure to get the ball over shallow linebackers. And let the record show that even if he had hit Green in stride while he would have gotten more yards there were defenders behind him and in position to make the tackle.

Special Teams: While our defense is better than our offense you could say our special teams are best of all, or at least close to as good as the defense. The SEC has figured Brandon James out to an extent (and just don't kick to him as much), but our coverage has been excellent and conveniently as the offense as sputtered, Caleb Sturgis has emerged as a weapon to pick up some of the slack. His accuracy remains shaky, but by kicking a 56 yarder that forces opposing teams to have still another worry about stopping us. He can become an extension of the offense just as Chaz Henry has been for the defense by forcing most opponent drives to start deep in their own end.

Coaching: Early on we mixed in a bunch of new formations (double our WRs on the right and running left for one) and plays that surprised even this veteran Gator observer. They surprised Georgia too and helped us jump out 14-0 in the first quarter. The we got away from it, but the first quarter remains the best and most creative play calling I have ever seen from andUrban Meyer coached team. I was quiet pleased several stories up.

Player and play of the game: No surprise here, linebacker AJ Jones and specifically his tipped interception to himself on the blitz. If you don't watch much football you don't understand how hard it is to do that - lots of guys tip a pass up, but can't get under it. To start the second half that way (including the ensuing TD) was a killer for Georgia because there is a world of difference having to make up three TDs in half as opposed to two. The next time Georgia got the ball they scored, but they had to move the ball quickly and their three following possessions each ended with an INT. One of those was Jones's second of the game. I have always said he is good in coverage, but this time it was easy for him as Cox threw up a duck as he crumpled on one of the few occasions we go pressure.

The Road Ahead: Last time I did this South Carolina made me look idiotic by promptly going out and struggling to beat freaking Vandy at home and them getting pushed around by the Volunteers. They have averaged 11 points in their last three games. So given that they appear to be on their traditional late season swoon I am not particular anxiety-ridden about this game. It will be our toughest, because two win Vandy and FIU here won't do it, nor will a limping FSU that is a shell of its glory days (they may not even have a winning record when they arrive). So let's talk SEC Championship. Assuming Jordan Jefferson remains Jordan Jefferson we'll have another showdown with al-ah-BAMA. I have some worries about this matchup, remember they played us well last year - leading at the start of the 4th quarter. We are good, but were clearly a notch better last year. Because our defensive line has so many injuries (we were healthier last year too) we have been gashed a few on the ground times which worries me about Ingram who had some success against us last time. Hopefully Lawrence Marsh will be fully healthy by then. I'm less worried about Julio Jones just because I have not been impressed with this McElroy guy. Think about what we just saw: AJ Green is a good receiver, but Cox limited him. Jenkins and Haden are rarely matched up on a single receiver all game - usually they just take a side of the field (they don't even cross if both receivers line on the same side). Haden gives up more catches, but always closes and tackles his guy while lately Jenkins has not been in position to take the WR down (he is a great tackler - I would say the best form tackler on the team). Lord help us if either gets hurt and Meyer puts Wondy on the field.