Mr2Bits
Gator Fan
It wasn't as pretty as we were all hoping for, but the Gators beat the Miami of Ohio Redhawks by a final score of 34-12. Everyone was amped up and excited to see John Brantley in this new era of Gator football. Unfortunately, it wasn't John Brantley lighting up the scoreboard that was the big story. Bad snaps were the talk of the game on Saturday afternoon in the Swamp. Mike Pouncey, senior center, must have snapped a dozen balls either into the ground, over Brantley's head or off to the side. It was horrible, and thankfully didn't result in many turnovers.
I said on the Gator Envy Forums that the key to victory for the Gators was to just avoid turnovers. The Gators fumbled the ball several times in the first quarter ... it seemed everyone who touched the ball started to cough it up. The Gators couldn't get anything going early on, and in fact were losing to the Redhawks 0-3 at the end of the first quarter. Despite the horrible play on offense, I was never worried the Gators might lose.
A Janoris Jenkins interception return for a touchdown sparked the Gators a bit in the second quarter ... Brantley went on to pass for a touchdown to Hines and then Trey Burton ran in a ball from 2 yards out. The Gators put up 21 points and looked in good position to put up another 30+ in the second half. I thought Urban Meyer would light this team up at halftime and they would come out firing in the second half.
They didn't. The Gators went scoreless in the 3rd quarter ... having a turnover on downs, missed field goal and a punt. UGHHH. The Gators didn't look good at all. Then in the fourth quarter we got another spark. Jeff Demps took a ball 70+ yards to the endzone putting the Gators up 27-12. The Gators would finish up the 4th quarter with a 25 yard touchdown pass to Chris Rainey.
Like I said, it wasn't pretty at all. Not sure if the Gators just stumbled because of all the hype and couldn't deal with the pressure - or if maybe this team isn't as good as we thought they'd be? I have to believe that if Mike Pouncey didn't snap so many balls into the ground, then Brantley would have been a lot more confident and the Gators would have score 2-3 more touchdowns.
I said on the Gator Envy Forums that the key to victory for the Gators was to just avoid turnovers. The Gators fumbled the ball several times in the first quarter ... it seemed everyone who touched the ball started to cough it up. The Gators couldn't get anything going early on, and in fact were losing to the Redhawks 0-3 at the end of the first quarter. Despite the horrible play on offense, I was never worried the Gators might lose.
A Janoris Jenkins interception return for a touchdown sparked the Gators a bit in the second quarter ... Brantley went on to pass for a touchdown to Hines and then Trey Burton ran in a ball from 2 yards out. The Gators put up 21 points and looked in good position to put up another 30+ in the second half. I thought Urban Meyer would light this team up at halftime and they would come out firing in the second half.
They didn't. The Gators went scoreless in the 3rd quarter ... having a turnover on downs, missed field goal and a punt. UGHHH. The Gators didn't look good at all. Then in the fourth quarter we got another spark. Jeff Demps took a ball 70+ yards to the endzone putting the Gators up 27-12. The Gators would finish up the 4th quarter with a 25 yard touchdown pass to Chris Rainey.
Like I said, it wasn't pretty at all. Not sure if the Gators just stumbled because of all the hype and couldn't deal with the pressure - or if maybe this team isn't as good as we thought they'd be? I have to believe that if Mike Pouncey didn't snap so many balls into the ground, then Brantley would have been a lot more confident and the Gators would have score 2-3 more touchdowns.
