I was over at a friend's house earlier this evening, and he has recordings of just amazingly extensive variety and depth. This included a scouting overview of UAB last year, probably similar to what Charlie W. has been looking at the last few days at least, and it gave me pause as he took me thru' it: this team is well-coached, and gave a good account of itself in every game, it seemed, even though the record (4-8) might might cause you to overlook them. They gave at least 2 SEC-schools all they wanted, let me tell you: Tennessee--down, yes, but still talented and WE didn't exactly blow them off the field, if you'll recall--and MSU, who beat US in the Swamp (yeah, I don't like talking about it either, and I KNOW all the reasons we "coulda/shoulda" in that one), and they damn near beat them at THEIR place. Their coach has a Gator-connected background, and their staff knows what it's doing. All in all, I'm more well-informed than I was when I made my above prediction, and though I won't back away from it, I'm a bit more worried and cautious in how I approach this game. You can bet they'll try to take away what worked for us in Week 1--expect them to come up with a defensive scheme that tries to squeeze our speed in the running game. More than ever, I believe Brantley will HAVE to show he can throw it, and throw it long, in order to "stretch the field" and MAKE them back off...in other words, this time we may have to "throw to open up the run", at least to some extent early on. Now, there ARE different ways to do that, and a precision, rhythm medium-passing game can do the job, but can mean too many throws and too many opportunities for things to go wrong. It's OK as a change-up for a portion of a drive here and there, but nothing cracks this kind of "crowd-the-box" defense like a couple of well-thrown bombs. I think Weis is way ahead of this and it's in the game plan--and if it is and clicks, then my score still stands...but I'm more aware than I was of how and why this game is no "warm up with another patsy", but rather a good test for us at this point, just before starting SEC-play.
(PS--Added later:
Anyone who watched much of FIU/Louisville tonight will understand why on the one hand, beating FAU wasn't "nothing", and on the other, we DAMN well better not just assume UAB is beaten before they even GET to the Swamp...As we all know, Charlie Strong is a great defensive-minded coach who has his Louisville team "on the come" in the right direction, doing things the right way, but another young team came into their house looking for a "signature win", and GOT it tonight with composure, solid execution on both sides of the ball and one exceptional player that EVERYONE knew was their main weapon but who (for the second week in a row) "did it all" anyway. Now, FIU is MAYBE the SIXTH-best program in the state of Fla.?--seventh if you slot them AFTER FAU, which everyone would have until tonight, and still might. The obvious point here is, UAB comes into the Swamp in exactly the same frame of mind, with good coaching, more weapons than FIU, and having been aiming at this game for months. Now, we've got a "young" team too, but I trust our coaching, along with the way this whole team sticks together, works hard and takes care of business, to not fall into that trap. If they DO manage to smack us in the face, I expect THIS team to get up and smack 'em right back--then do it again...and again. That's one of the best things I saw from last week--and they may NEED it in this one, at least early.)
lol I'm not good with points. Close but no cigar.....
