Muschamp expects Kitchens to be OK, Gators struggle big time against FSU

[travisduncan]

Will Muschamp said in his post-game press conference that he expected LB Darrin Kitchens to be OK following a collision on the opening kickoff of the second half.

The collision left Kitchens motionless on the ground in what was perhaps one of the scariest moments in recent memory at the Swamp. He was eventually taken off the field and place on a stretcher, then transported to a local hospital.

The news from Muschamp that Kitchens' will be OK should help Gator Nation temper the disappoint in the way the Gators played Saturday night. It's far from a tragedy. The fact Kitchens reportedly will have no long term injuries is all that matters coming away from Saturday's 21-7 loss.

In terms of football, the Gators offense in 2011 was a failure in so many ways.

John Brantley's final game at the Swamp was disheartening. The senior threw three INTs before he was taken out of the game with concussion like symptoms.

Brantley's frustration in this game, is indicative of his entire senior season, the injuries and the lack of any real shining moments. Muschamp said after the game that he really hurts for what Brantley and what he has been through this season.

Against FSU, the Gators offense generated 184 yards of total offense and just 54 yards of that was on the ground.

Freshman quarterback Jacoby Brissett didn't fair any better than Brantley, passing for 27 yards on 4 of 13 passing with an interception of his own and a TD pass to late after the game was all but over.

Defensively the Gators had the type of game that normally leads to a celebration. They limited the Seminoles to just 57 yards in the air and 35 on the ground.

After the game Muschamp said that his team was a "soft" football team. He said the Gators were not mentally tough. He also said some players had a hard time listening and learning which he said had to do with the youth of the team.

Where do the Gators go from here?

To a Bowl game. Reportedly the Gator Bowl against Urban Meyer's new team the Ohio State Buckeyes in Jacksonville Jan. 2.

Wherever they end up they'll try to end the season on the proverbial positive note. But even a solid postseason game can't really make the 2011 season come anywhere near expectations many had for this team.

 

[Escambia94]

No ****ing comment. Go Gators.

 

[Andre Majors]

No ****ing comment. Go Gators.

I'm just at a lost for words after reading this hopefully we'll end the season off on a good note, If we have to play Ohio State in the Gator Bowl so be it we just need to get this season under our belt and keep moving on.

 

[DRU2012]

Look, it wasn't "expectations" that made this season, well, SICKENING ("disappointing" was the word that would have normally belonged there, when talking about "expectations--but the fact is that our expectations weren't generally unrealistic for most of us here, and the truth is we undershot even those by, as our Head Coach put it, "being soft", and paid the consequences for it repeatedly throughout the season). In fact, what made this one so painful and disturbing was the way failure unfolded in such a varied yet regular fashion. Besides the two big losses back-to-back against what turned out to be the two best defenses in the SEC (AND the two "best teams in the Nation", as far as the BCS-rankings are concerned), our dismal slide since was marked in truth be a succession of "games we whoulda/shoulda/coulda won". Our "D", for all its youth, mistakes. and injuries, had us IN every one of them, held them ALL to winnable-low scores, but our offense, faced with the exact same problems, just never got it done.
Our Coach is right: this IS a "soft" team, but the defense did improve--even as they got thinner, they got better: the ones with attitude, motivation and discipline problems were given the word: they either smartened up and buckled down, got with the Program or were pushed aside. Somehow that never happened on offense, and it showed. Sure, our vacuum at quarterback was a big factor (and one that has hardly been resolved coming OUT of the season and heading into next spring, as it could and SHOULD have been, given the circumstances), but that "softness" on the "O" line, with the decisions made by the OC in the backfield, in scheming, game-planning and play-calling, sealed our fate. We all had to watch as our Senior QB, with no one ready behind him, was knocked around all over the field, and our once-fast-but-small RBs were reduced to fragile cripples who no longer had that "extra gear" that was their trademark. Our chances at victory were frittered away, while meanwhile we had healthy, talented players with demonstrable heart, drive and self-discipline left on the sidelines, while the OC stubbornly stuck with his "original plan".
I mention all this in order to remind us exactly how frustrating the season (after the 4 wins in September) really was, and WHY. It isn't just that we were BAD. It isn't just that we LOST. This season was FRUSTRATING to watch because we WERE bad, but didn't HAVE to be: even with all the injury and personnel problems, the defense got better. This season was SICKENING to witness, game by game, because we DID lose, but WE DIDN'T HAVE TO: a more flexible approach to the game plans and play-calling, more imaginative and varied use of the people that we had, mixing in the different players, their capabilities, and the plays we've SEEN them run and packages we long KNEW they had mastered, all together might well have swung some or ALL of the games AFTER "Tide'n'Tigers".
THAT is why this season was so damned painful, so damned AWFUL, so slowly tore out your guts: Except for those two games in October, while we couldn't stand the play of that team on the field wearing our uniforms, it sure didn't feel like their opponents were really any BETTER. We lost because we were LOSERS. I have never felt that way about a Gator-team before. Even during that woeful 1979 season ("Oh, 10 and 1..." --so bad we made fun of ourselves), we knew we were WAY under-manned, we knew WHY, and we knew THAT was going to change. Until these last few games, especially the VERY last, I would have said the same about THIS team; now I'm not so sure. It's that last part, whether we know it will CHANGE, that worries me. It's all on the offense, and THAT brings it all down to our OC: will he adapt and evolve, CAN he create and build? Or is he one of those guys who can only ride on the backs of great players? To win consistently, year in and year out, in OUR league, you've got to play the hand you're dealt from season to season, regardless of disappointments, defections and injuries. Coach Boom will have us in practically every game from now on with the defense HE is overseeing, the special teams, not to mention the pride, passion, self-discipline and general toughness he will make a part of the whole team's preparation and outlook; he has entrusted the practical details of building a tough, efficient pro-style offense to Weis--and it is that offense, and whether Weis can actually deliver what is required, what he PROMISED, that will make or break us now.

 

[Andre Majors]

Look, it wasn't "expectations" that made this season, well, SICKENING ("disappointing" was the word that would have normally belonged there, when talking about "expectations--but the fact is that our expectations weren't generally unrealistic for most of us here, and the truth is we undershot even those by, as our Head Coach put it, "being soft", and paid the consequences for it repeatedly throughout the season). In fact, what made this one so painful and disturbing was the way failure unfolded in such a varied yet regular fashion. Besides the two big losses back-to-back against what turned out to be the two best defenses in the SEC (AND the two "best teams in the Nation", as far as the BCS-rankings are concerned), our dismal slide since was marked in truth be a succession of "games we whoulda/shoulda/coulda won". Our "D", for all its youth, mistakes. and injuries, had us IN every one of them, held them ALL to winnable-low scores, but our offense, faced with the exact same problems, just never got it done.
Our Coach is right: this IS a "soft" team, but the defense did improve--even as they got thinner, they got better: the ones with attitude, motivation and discipline problems were given the word: they either smartened up and buckled down, got with the Program or were pushed aside. Somehow that never happened on offense, and it showed. Sure, our vacuum at quarterback was a big factor (and one that has hardly been resolved coming OUT of the season and heading into next spring, as it could and SHOULD have been, given the circumstances), but that "softness" on the "O" line, with the decisions made by the OC in the backfield, in scheming, game-planning and play-calling, sealed our fate. We all had to watch as our Senior QB, with no one ready behind him, was knocked around all over the field, and our once-fast-but-small RBs were reduced to fragile cripples who no longer had that "extra gear" that was their trademark. Our chances at victory were frittered away, while meanwhile we had healthy, talented players with demonstrable heart, drive and self-discipline left on the sidelines, while the OC stubbornly stuck with his "original plan".
I mention all this in order to remind us exactly how frustrating the season (after the 4 wins in September) really was, and WHY. It isn't just that we were BAD. It isn't just that we LOST. This season was FRUSTRATING to watch because we WERE bad, but didn't HAVE to be: even with all the injury and personnel problems, the defense got better. This season was SICKENING to witness, game by game, because we DID lose, but WE DIDN'T HAVE TO: a more flexible approach to the game plans and play-calling, more imaginative and varied use of the people that we had, mixing in the different players, their capabilities, and the plays we've SEEN them run and packages we long KNEW they had mastered, all together might well have swung some or ALL of the games AFTER "Tide'n'Tigers".
THAT is why this season was so damned painful, so damned AWFUL, so slowly tore out your guts: Except for those two games in October, while we couldn't stand the play of that team on the field wearing our uniforms, it sure didn't feel like their opponents were really any BETTER. We lost because we were LOSERS. I have never felt that way about a Gator-team before. Even during that woeful 1979 season ("Oh, 10 and 1..." --so bad we made fun of ourselves), we knew we were WAY under-manned, we knew WHY, and we knew THAT was going to change. Until these last few games, especially the VERY last, I would have said the same about THIS team; now I'm not so sure. It's that last part, whether we know it will CHANGE, that worries me. It's all on the offense, and THAT brings it all down to our OC: will he adapt and evolve, CAN he create and build? Or is he one of those guys who can only ride on the backs of great players? To win consistently, year in and year out, in OUR league, you've got to play the hand you're dealt from season to season, regardless of disappointments, defections and injuries. Coach Boom will have us in practically every game from now on with the defense HE is overseeing, the special teams, not to mention the pride, passion, self-discipline and general toughness he will make a part of the whole team's preparation and outlook; he has entrusted the practical details of building a tough, efficient pro-style offense to Weis--and it is that offense, and whether Weis can actually deliver what is required, what he PROMISED, that will make or break us now.

i will say i have t agree. spoken of a true fan haha

 

[DRU2012]

i will say i have t agree. spoken of a true fan haha

Thanks, bra...Sorry, but I just wanted to get it all OUT there, HOW we lost so often, and WHY--no self-delusions...

 

[miltongator]

I think it was a huge mistake for 3m to call the team soft during his post-game. Perhaps they are, but that wasn't the time or place for him to bring it up. I suppose that can be blown off as "never been a head coach so he didn't know any better". Hopefully he will learn. I'm thinking he didn't gain any loyalty from the few players he has left by publicly calling them out.