South Carolina - trap game?

[Mr2Bits]

The Gators are 17-1 vs South Carolina in their last 18 meetings. The Gamecocks beat the Gators in 2005 - and came very close again in 2006. Now South Carolina isn't very good and the Gator should beat them - but the Gamecocks did beat Ole Miss earlier this year and spent some time in the Top 25. It's no game to look past. Every team we play will be gunning for us with all they've got.

 

[O-town Gator]

Since Arkansas, it seems every game our guys play going forward is a "trap game". Frankly, I'm tired of hearing that.

 

[Swamp Thing]

I guess FIU would be a trap game too?

 

[GatorBa!t]

I guess FIU would be a trap game too?

omg have you seen them....dont underestimate them there total d is ranked 118th...and my boy Kasey Smith is on there d line...we could be in for an upset :helpsmilie:

 

[Escambia94]

I'm not falling into the trap game trap. This is not a trap game. Gators win, unless a meteorite lands on Tim Tebow's head in the middle of the game.

 

[O-town Gator]

All these silly "catch phrases" the media likes to conjure up get tiresome.

After this season, I don't want to hear or see either "trap game" or "moral victory" anymore.

 

[Swamp Thing]

All these silly "catch phrases" the media likes to conjure up get tiresome.

After this season, I don't want to hear or see either "trap game" or "moral victory" anymore.

I'll second that.

 

[Escambia94]

All these silly "catch phrases" the media likes to conjure up get tiresome.

After this season, I don't want to hear or see either "trap game" or "moral victory" anymore.

After this season, all you will hear is "National Champions." Optionally, you will be able to use catch phrases such as "Suck it, sports media!", "Three outta four years as National Champ ain't bad", "Who's Steve Spurrier?" and "Urban Meyer for President."

 

[O-town Gator]

After this season, all you will hear is "National Champions." Optionally, you will be able to use catch phrases such as "Suck it, sports media!", "Three outta four years as National Champ ain't bad", "Who's Steve Spurrier?" and "Urban Meyer for President."

Man, I hope so.

That, and I also hope Cheeseburger Charlie salvages his job to shut the rumor-mongers up once and for all. (If ND does can him, I hope they go after either Brian Kelly from Cincy or "Chucky" - Jon Gruden to those who didn't follow the Bucs while he was there.)

We Floridians could also say "Urban Meyer for Governor", too!

 

[Escambia94]

Man, I hope so.

That, and I also hope Cheeseburger Charlie salvages his job to shut the rumor-mongers up once and for all. (If ND does can him, I hope they go after either Brian Kelly from Cincy or "Chucky" - Jon Gruden to those who didn't follow the Bucs while he was there.)

We Floridians could also say "Urban Meyer for Governor", too!

Me, too. I wish I were truly confident in my words above. In actuality, I typed those out to maybe convince myself that we are fine. In actuality, I see that we are very closely matched to Alabama statistically, and that our stats have been plateauing as Bama's have been rising. We can't compare Ws, because we are both 9-0. Look at Texas--they match up to us well, their stats are rising, and they have the same number of Ws. Yeah, I'm worried on the inside.

 

[O-town Gator]

Me, too. I wish I were truly confident in my words above. In actuality, I typed those out to maybe convince myself that we are fine. In actuality, I see that we are very closely matched to Alabama statistically, and that our stats have been plateauing as Bama's have been rising. We can't compare Ws, because we are both 9-0. Look at Texas--they match up to us well, their stats are rising, and they have the same number of Ws. Yeah, I'm worried on the inside.

We were in the same predicament last year w/ Bama and Oklahoma, and still we prevailed.

 

[Escambia94]

We were in the same predicament last year w/ Bama and Oklahoma, and still we prevailed.

Disagree. I was more confident last year once we righted the ship after Ole Miss. I even predicted a close game with Bama. I foresaw squashing Oklahoma with our D when everyone else was looking for a shootout. I am a big fan of defense. Last year, Bama played us close in the SEC championship with a better defense, but mediocre offense did them in. Oklahoma had no defense, so they could not play us close once we exposed their team as being one-sided and offense-only. Check out 2008: we were well-balanced compared to Bama, Texas (just for comparison to OK) and Oklahoma.

2008 Florida #15 offense #9 defense
2008 Bama #63 offense #3 defense
2008 OK #3 offense #68 defense
2008 Tex #9 offense #51 defense

Compare that to 2009, week 10:
2009 wk 10 Florida #19 offense #2 defense
2009 wk 10 Bama #31 offense #4 defense
2009 wk 10 Tex #25 offense #1 defense
2009 wk 10 TCU #8 offense #3 defense
2009 wk 10 Cincy #3 offense #32 defense

Florida, Bama, and Texas all have the same balance, with a slight edge to Florida on offense. Parity comes into play this year. Look at TCU and Cincy--TCU is the best-balanced team in the nation! Assuming things go according to plan, Florida will be playing statistical mirror images of itself in Atlanta and Pasadena this year. Last year, the stats supported my level of comfort at the same point in the season.

Just for kicks:
2006 Florida #19 offense #6 defense (similar balance to '08 NC)
2007 Florida #14 offense #41 defense (no balance on defense, no NC)
2008 Florida #15 offense #9 defense (balance + defense = NC)
2009 wk 10 Florida #19 offense #2 defense (looks great standalone, but not compared to Alabama and Texas)

 

[nismodrift]

i like how u went far with stats but f stats imo, the gators seem to almost always have pulled it out in the past 3 years and at least tebows showing he can be clutch this year with the game winning drive against arky that right there lifted my shoulders even tho arky might be statistically bad it still shows he has more heart this year. anyways whether or not they win i know ill be dissapointed but at least we have other titles. so we cant be greedy, and just cuz the wins are not as flashy we shouldnt be greedy, cuz look at leak when he won title in 08 there was like 1-2 games scored over 30, in not sayin there offense that year wasnt efficient it wasnt as flashy and we liked it then cuz it was the 1st title out of the dynasty soon to come this decade. anyhow i do miss the passing game that leak had but tebow is in his last season and if he wants to be picked top 5 im pretty sure he'll win the nc. defense is jus too good to lose it now all the hard work.

 

[Escambia94]

I wouldn't put a lot of stock in stats, but I throw them out there to support my opinion. We are all sports pundits in the Information Age, so I prefer to back up my opinions with stats. I know stats don't always matter, but right now the stats are following reality. Stats can only go so far. They do point out that we are not as bad as the "professional pundits" are professing, but it does reinforce that we are in an era of parity and we need to be careful against any ranked team. What we need is a stat for "pulling wins out of our @$$es." We may not be #1 in that category, but we are probably near the top.

 

[stonythegator]

The only way the Gators could stop hearing those kind of words is if by some miracle, the Gators become a crappy team. As we all know, that's never going to happen, at least not in our lifetime.

The Gators have always been the dominate force in the SEC. I can'
t say anyone looks forward to playing the Gators. With a team that has always been solid, the press and everyone else outside the Gator Nation tends to get jealous. I really do think that the only reason the Gaors see this type of negative press is because nobody can figure out how to coach, play, or even be like the Gators have been for many decades.

I don't know if there is any team out there that has consistantly had more winning seasons than the Gators, but if there are, I'd like to meet em. Until then, I guess we'll have to hear "Moral Victory" or "Trap Game" for awhile. Maybe someday people will begin to see the Gators for what they are.....True Champions. Somehow, I highly doubt anybody outside of the Gator Nation or anyone that actually thinks sensibly will ever see the truth for what it is...the truth.