How bad has it gotten? After LAST week's 4th quarter I was thinking, "Well, lets try and make it through the rest of this season with Franks, win the very WINNABLE games ahead, finish the regular season strong and get lots of attention in a high-profile Bowl, make it a strong recruiting class and take The NEXT Big Step, and IF we get the right transfer-in at QB and/or Jones develops strongly and quickly, STILL seriously compete for a playoff spot in 2019 from start to FINISH"...BUT:
After TODAY'S debacle, in fact BY THE 3RD QUARTER I found myself actually thinking, "...imagine what this Coach might have been able to do with Brantley or Brisset still here when he arrived..." (!!!). That's right, By now I'm way past the wistful "mighta beens with GRIER": I in fact found myself thinking about what Mullen might have managed with guys who did so LITTLE for us themselves when they WERE here--but in various ways showed more (potentially MUCH more) skill and toughness than Franks has ultimately managed--and even THAT managed only with ALL of Mullen's time, patience and deserved reputation for pulling the best in growth and eventual performance from a long LIST of by now PROVEN "Success Stories" showered upon him for long months now.
The media yappers were fooled by the wins, the scores, the highlights--but most of us who cared enough, who looked closely enough HAD to see and know: Thanks to Mullen, Franks' few strengths (mostly in the running game--both his own and handing it off or short-passing it to the outside where our talented RBs were set up to block and/or get clear around the edge, and in general managing/RUNNING that kind of offense) were focused on, exploited, even magnified, while his weaknesses (he can't really throw the ball med-to-long with ANY kind of accuracy or "touch") were purposefully somewhat hidden-by-omission in the overall gameplans...WE knew it put our "success" on a shaky foundation; we just HOPED we wouldn't NEED him to throw much, certainly not LONG, the more we saw of THAT part of his game...And the moment we did, we were screwed: We got beat by it to SOME extent against UGA--and there was NO DOUBT ABOUT IT AT HOMECOMING against Mizzou: It sure looked like Mullen and staff FIGURED they needed Franks to make some throws early, made that and getting up early a big part of their gameplan against a Mizzou defense that coukdn't stop anyone ELSE'S passing game--and he proceeded to PROVE once again HE JUST COULDN'T DO IT.
NOW, I don't know if he MAKES those throws in practice, at the very least often enough to make them THINK he'd do it maybe what? Half the time or so in practice? SOMETHING musta made them think they could grab some quick-strike points that way--though everything WE saw prior to that on-the-field in GAMES told us that that WASN'T ANY PART OF HIS GAME! It sure seems like it SHOULDN'T have taken more than a half in today's game to remind and fully prove to ANYONE that this was so. But FORGIVE me if I find myself comparing him (and UNFAVORABLY so, to boot) to other previous "failed hopes" at that once-prized Gator Quarterback position. How did it become more like "The Kiss of Death"???
Amusingly enough (if darkly so), you'll find a point near the end of one of my late game posts on the Gameday thread my noting (and quoting some of) the game-announcers' discussion of this very conundrum re "the long, unexplainable draught at the QB position for the Florida Gators since TEBOW"...WE don't have to be reminded: WE'VE lived AND wondered at it now for nigh on TEN YEARS!
But now I find myself wondering if it is about to go ON, even if/when there may be alternatives. Then again, it has LOOKED exactly that way before, that we had alternatives--only to see those "alternatives" ultimately FAIL ONCE AGAIN.
I am CERTAIN our Head Coach knows more about building and coaching a winning college football program in general, great quarterbacking and QUARTERBACKS in particular than I will ever begin to even imagine EXISTS; I'd rather just entrust him with the headaches, assorted problems and complexities of adapting and changing according to whatever is thrown in his path in building that elite program, and then keeping us there, year in/year out, for a generation if he can. That's all that we expect, after all. But I reserve the right of any and ALL of us to question an impression we get of plans or moves that seem useless, misguided, and/or just plain WRONG. Whether true or not (and I hope it is) I, like many, have gotten the impression that THIS Head Coach is OK with all that, indeed welcomes fan opinion, strong and passionate.
After TODAY'S debacle, in fact BY THE 3RD QUARTER I found myself actually thinking, "...imagine what this Coach might have been able to do with Brantley or Brisset still here when he arrived..." (!!!). That's right, By now I'm way past the wistful "mighta beens with GRIER": I in fact found myself thinking about what Mullen might have managed with guys who did so LITTLE for us themselves when they WERE here--but in various ways showed more (potentially MUCH more) skill and toughness than Franks has ultimately managed--and even THAT managed only with ALL of Mullen's time, patience and deserved reputation for pulling the best in growth and eventual performance from a long LIST of by now PROVEN "Success Stories" showered upon him for long months now.
The media yappers were fooled by the wins, the scores, the highlights--but most of us who cared enough, who looked closely enough HAD to see and know: Thanks to Mullen, Franks' few strengths (mostly in the running game--both his own and handing it off or short-passing it to the outside where our talented RBs were set up to block and/or get clear around the edge, and in general managing/RUNNING that kind of offense) were focused on, exploited, even magnified, while his weaknesses (he can't really throw the ball med-to-long with ANY kind of accuracy or "touch") were purposefully somewhat hidden-by-omission in the overall gameplans...WE knew it put our "success" on a shaky foundation; we just HOPED we wouldn't NEED him to throw much, certainly not LONG, the more we saw of THAT part of his game...And the moment we did, we were screwed: We got beat by it to SOME extent against UGA--and there was NO DOUBT ABOUT IT AT HOMECOMING against Mizzou: It sure looked like Mullen and staff FIGURED they needed Franks to make some throws early, made that and getting up early a big part of their gameplan against a Mizzou defense that coukdn't stop anyone ELSE'S passing game--and he proceeded to PROVE once again HE JUST COULDN'T DO IT.
NOW, I don't know if he MAKES those throws in practice, at the very least often enough to make them THINK he'd do it maybe what? Half the time or so in practice? SOMETHING musta made them think they could grab some quick-strike points that way--though everything WE saw prior to that on-the-field in GAMES told us that that WASN'T ANY PART OF HIS GAME! It sure seems like it SHOULDN'T have taken more than a half in today's game to remind and fully prove to ANYONE that this was so. But FORGIVE me if I find myself comparing him (and UNFAVORABLY so, to boot) to other previous "failed hopes" at that once-prized Gator Quarterback position. How did it become more like "The Kiss of Death"???
Amusingly enough (if darkly so), you'll find a point near the end of one of my late game posts on the Gameday thread my noting (and quoting some of) the game-announcers' discussion of this very conundrum re "the long, unexplainable draught at the QB position for the Florida Gators since TEBOW"...WE don't have to be reminded: WE'VE lived AND wondered at it now for nigh on TEN YEARS!
But now I find myself wondering if it is about to go ON, even if/when there may be alternatives. Then again, it has LOOKED exactly that way before, that we had alternatives--only to see those "alternatives" ultimately FAIL ONCE AGAIN.
I am CERTAIN our Head Coach knows more about building and coaching a winning college football program in general, great quarterbacking and QUARTERBACKS in particular than I will ever begin to even imagine EXISTS; I'd rather just entrust him with the headaches, assorted problems and complexities of adapting and changing according to whatever is thrown in his path in building that elite program, and then keeping us there, year in/year out, for a generation if he can. That's all that we expect, after all. But I reserve the right of any and ALL of us to question an impression we get of plans or moves that seem useless, misguided, and/or just plain WRONG. Whether true or not (and I hope it is) I, like many, have gotten the impression that THIS Head Coach is OK with all that, indeed welcomes fan opinion, strong and passionate.
