Week 4 Postgame: "NO Hangover" Sunday

[DRU2012]

Can't say I want or NEED that kinda performance on a regular basis, for the sake of our record, growth OR sanity, but DAMN!
Can that kind of growing frustration and hopelessness turned suddenly to determined waves of talent, execution and efficiency, CLASSIC "Victory snatched from the (closed-and-LOCKED) jaws of defeat" ending be matched for soul-cleansing relief and satisfaction?
Of course, we almost handed it all back, much like the last time the Vols actually won one of these:
"Hey Mac! Don't PULL that weak-ass, by now corny and not very effective last-tic time-out to supposedly 'ice' the kicker-crap!"
Not for super-long desperation tries to end it...MIGHT be worth a try for a seemingly sure-thing chipshot (kickers ARE a weird buncha headcases), but it seems to clearly work the other way when its a real long one by a guy who's never hit anything close. They're "cold" on the first try, by definition, in every way. Do NOT give them a "ranging shot" AND a chance to calm down, get familiar with field, crowd, reality of situation.
That was the last of several less-than-impressive coaching sequences by our guy yesterday. It was starting to eat at me earlier, and I said so.
But ultimate results of THAT nature transcend all the rest. Your team doesn't come together, rally so far, so well, so late by accident. Yes, the OTHER guys' Coach has to do a few things to help, leave the door open for you--but when was the last time a Gator team DID something like this?
I can't quite remember (E-? Someone? One of y'all will have to remind me), but if it was this century it musta been at least with a certain #15 there to keep us up and positive.
But PLEASE, we do not wanna hear about our supposed "ranking", entrance to the Top 25 or ANY of that horse dung. Yes, the teams we've played close (as in, all bit one) are all looking pretty good--but we are the proverbial "work-in-progress", and our guys CAN'T be reading their press, thinking they're ANYTHING but "potential parts of what MAY be a good TEAM, eventually"--not if they're ever gonna BE that, for real.
Anyway, again, wouldn't wanna go thru' the "preliminaries" that set us up for it very often, but there's no feeling quite like it. This is the first Sunday this season I have been watching the Sunday college post mortem shows... Hell, I've been catching every damn one!

 

[DRU2012]

(Later, Sunday evening)
Well, subsequent info this evening brings explanation, reassurance--and a chill of what-coulda-been:
Seems that Coach Mac WASN'T calling that late-TO to ice the kicker...seems they'd had to yank part of their special-teams package off the field 'cause they had 13 out there, and Mac had just noticed that it looked like they now only had 10. As he told it later, he normally WOULDN'T call the "by now predictable time-out" there, statistically can just as easily work against you, but he was afraid of getting caught short on a fake.
The "chill" comes by way of his next point:
As they lined up and snapped the 2nd try, he noticed something no one else seemed to, myself included (along with everyone in the Swamp AND subsequent analysts postgame):
THE OFFICIALS HAD RESPOTTED THE BALL (previously over on the left hash mark for the first try, where it belonged) AT LEAST 6 YARDS OVER TOWARDS THE CENTER OF THE FIELD FOR THE SECOND TRY! Coach says he'd juat noticed and was just starting to freak, start running out there screaming, when it got hiked and kicked--and BARELY missed right, like by 8 inches. Otherwise it's long enough, but almost in the same line "wide right" again...In other words, some strange, arbitrary and groundless "adjustment" by the officials almost cost us the game anyway.
Can you imagine how much different everything would have felt and looked today?
As it is, fuck it, didn't happen, our Coach turns out to be as smart, alert and involved as I'd thought and hoped--and even the likelihood of us gettin' creamed by the Admiral Akbars (one of the student-voted suggestions to replace the "Ol' Rebel" mascot coupla years back, when they took away the flag in a fit of PC--as in, you know, official head of rebel forces in, aw, well, y'all get it) doesn't weigh so dark and heavy at the moment.
(We WILL have to come down some, face facts and probably hope maybe if the Coach and his staff have their charges relaxed, healthy and ready to play fast'n'loose, MAYBE we can give 'em a game well into the 2nd half. But they just have too much depth, power, confidence, momentum and experience as a successful TEAM not to wear us down as the game wears on...Right at the moment, tho', well, won't say I don't CARE, but I'm still walkin' on a layer of air, and feel I can look for positives regardless in this one coming up, "long as we compete". Of course, I give that maybe a week, tops.)

 

[Escambia94]

College coaches have noticed that statistically kickers will miss more often than not after a re-kick (due to penalty or last-minute time out). In this case, Coach Mac was fully justified in taking the timeout, because the Gators had 12 men on the field and he did not want to give the kicker 5 yards. As it turns out, the referees DID move the ball almost to the center of the field, which is a big no-no.

The ranking does not matter, and it does not mean that anyone likes what they see. The Gators just happen to have beatable opponents this early in the season. Starting in 2017, the Gators will have serious competition in week 1, and we will only be ranked this early if we belong there.

This team is unlike any team I can recall in recent memory, so it will be interesting to see how they grow. Keep in mind that we still have some depth issues and behavior issues, so do not get too excited yet. So far, I am okay with the current coaches. I do think it was an upgrade over the last regime, but I want to see some creative playcalling in the next couple weeks to confirm my suspicions.