Game Day Thread: Game 2, Sat. Sept 8 @ Kyle Field, College Station

More missed tackles after contain breaks down. Ball is down from our defense. This is turning into a complete disaster, with 1st stringers dropping like flies. If this season goes the way I'm starting to think it is heading in a hurry, we will be starting all over with a whole new coaching staff next year. I can see that this team is giving up--and that's COACHING--yeah, it's going against us, but we are the GATORS! Where is our pride, our fight? By the time they pull it together this one's gonna be out-of-reach, you can see it coming. I may have to pack it in after this score, friends...call my girlfriend to PLEASE come get me, hell, I'll ride around with her while she SHOPS, fer Christ's sake..we can't stop them, and now I've got happy, drunken Aggies howling at me from over the fence
(instead of 3rd and goal, another STUPID roughing penalty late after the play, and 1st and goal--God, what a loser's mentality this team has!). One thing that is depressing is that their redshirt freshman is looking a LOT better than our much-heralded sophomore "formerly best in the nation" guy...do we see Brisset in 2nd half? Don't know if that is any answer here, or even good idea--sadly, it is our defense that has really lost it here today...and with all these injuries they aren't going to be "back" 'til mid-season at the earliest. Any chance at ALL of us coming back here, making it close, at LEAST? Only way now is a shoot out, which is just the worst-case scenario...Got to ride the pass, now, even with Gilly back in there, banged up.
I just can't get over the collapse of our defense. Despite the irritating commentary by these two, I have to go along with their questioning our toughness. We ARE still just a collection of "talented individuals"--you can see that they can do good things, but we are NOT "playing together" on either side of the ball, really. Neither am I impressed with the play-calling on offense: they're just trying to pull big plays out at this point. there appears no larger plan since that first drive. Now our only hope here is a big kick from Sturgess to get us within a TD--when our only HOPE is to hit on some long TDs and get the lead back, shut this crowd up and put SOME element of doubt in the minds of the opposing team--who until now have basically had their own way. 51-yard FG GOOD! Well, we are sort of still "in it" with that kick--but with a banged up and shaken defense and a less-than-impressive thus far offense, I doubt we'll get much closer than that today.
Can this Gator defense get a stop here, the first one today?!!

You're right--we've seen our supposed "strengths" completely let us down: O-line not getting it done, and whole defense left standing around, missing tackles, failing to make ANY plays...we have let this little QB get away again and AGAIN--for big ydg. and big plays. Here we go again: We just cannot stop him or them. With a suspect defense, this Gator team won't even go .500.
And I'm sorry, but this coaching staff has had enough time now with these guys, O and D, so that the kinds of mistakes, and more importantly in my view, failure to really improve and evolve--way obvious in the cases of both QBs, by the way, contrasted with what we're seeing this little freshman do for the Aggies...look at what that 3rd-string receiver almost accomplished for them, how hard he went up for it: I haven't seen a Gator work that hard on EITHER side of the ball this SEASON...All in all, though, we are LUCKY to be down just one TD; Driskill has NOT made any plays himself, though he's supposed to be the mobile one, and his failure to recognize the free man downfield, his penchant for holding onto the ball for way too long, and strange LACK of anticipation AND "mobility" when the situation calls for it has repeatedly put his offense in the hole at crucial points in drives.
Given what has turned out to be the apparent WEAKNESS of our defense (it sure looks like what BG did to us last week was no "first game fluke"), I don't see how this Gator team can come back and win this game, or indeed beat any but the maybe 3 remaining relatively "weak" teams on our schedule--and frankly, I am beginning to think teams like Ky. and CERTAINLY the two teams in Tennessee can break their negative streaks against us.
You think this staff will be back after a 3-win season?

Am I losing it? Or better Q: Is there anything that I said there that ISN'T true, or conclusion that is THAT far off? Please tell me where I've got it wrong? I WANT to be wrong...

I HATE to admit it, but this DOES begin to have that "Zookish" aroma about it...

Driskill fails to hit the open guy on the run...

Even hurt, Gilly is our best ground threat--but he runs out of bounds WAY early: he is hurting. He won't be 100% 'till mid-season, earliest. Mack Brown better have more than he's shown thus far--and our two RBs converted from elsewhere are gonna have to contribute too.

First and goal: we HAVE to tie this thing up here. HAVE to. This is the pivotal play, 2nd and goal...got too fancy there: Now 3rd and goal.

DAMNIT--Hammond missed it--it was a good throw, and he was open.

That's how it goes with this team--he's been the go-to receiver, but when they REALLY needed him to step up and make a play, an easier one than he's made at other times this season, it bounces off his hands:L How many times have we seen that since the start of last season? This is a team FULL of guys wo DON'T come up big, who DON'T "rise to the occasion". We may in fact lose a "close one" after all, but just couldn't do the things that counted, when they counted...