Big Picture Bad News

[DRU2012]

Gonna just keep it simple, “short and (not at ALL) sweet”:
With the additional evidence coming in now week-by-week as to what “Elite Teams” look like, how though they are few, they are not only WIDELY talented, but DEEPLY so...
What it portends for US is THIS:
I project that it will take Mullens & Co. AT MINIMUM THREE STRAIGHT YEARS OF “Top 5 or BETTER” recruiting classes to step up INTO that category.
I don’t doubt that he will KNOW what to do with it, that they’ll do fabulously with that kind of roster—but, as I say, even WITH that kind of outstanding build-out period we are STILL looking at being YEARS away from a solid and TRUE “return to greatness” and the kind of dominance we see elsewhere and expect in ourselves. The various “other factors” that our Head Coach in particular has been able to cleverly exploit as they’ve become available has helped to mitigate some of our shortcomings, kept us “close here and there”, but it hasn’t been, ISN’T ENOUGH.
And remember: As we grab more of that top-echelon level-of-talent all over the field and develop it, it isn’t just that OUR team gets stronger, but the current “elite teams” are denied a certain portion of their current advantage—in general AND head-to-head play when we DO eventually meet them directly (likely in Playoff games in the case of non-SEC teams).
But the point is, that’s where we have to get to, and that’s what it will TAKE:
TIME and TALENT, pure and simple.
Oh, it will be fun watching us get there, if we can get to work properly, promisingly and successfully—and it WON’T be some “single-season bust out” (a la Orgeron’s 2019 LSU “surprise”) either: In a more solid/less brittle result all around than what even Meyer’s efforts produced when HE was here, I think we can reasonably hope for, even EXPECT an extended run at the very top (the likes of current Saban and Sweeney regimes, not coincidentally) once such a consistent streak of “build and coach” has been begun and sustained.
But THAT is what will be required.
“A good portion of ALMOST the best, under a great coach“ might get mostly “really good years NEAR the top”, and MAYBE “a place in the Play Offs now and then”, BUT...
Do I need to go on? Let’s not fool ourselves. I doubt our Head Coach does—I sure as HELL hope not, anyway!

 

[Leakfan12]

I still think it's too soon to say. It would probably depend on the Mizzo game next week. Then it will be on a game by game basis. However, I wondering if I should be worried about Mizzo since the Gators won't start practicing until Monday plus the rust would be there since it's going to be three weeks between games.

 

[DRU2012]

I still think it's too soon to say. It would probably depend on the Mizzo game next week. Then it will be on a game by game basis. However, I wondering if I should be worried about Mizzo since the Gators won't start practicing until Monday plus the rust would be there since it's going to be three weeks between games.

I pretty well see it the same way—How we look at this team AND SEASON at the present time depends ENTIRELY on how we come out and show against Mizzou.
As for our pending “REstart” and whether we will show “rust”, well, I’d be more concerned about it (AND better understand it, if it turned out to be the case) IF we HADN’T preceded this with that opening string of games that showed our strengths (passing offense) AND weaknesses (ANY defense) ENTERING the season, it seems...
In retrospect, our best potential takeaway would be that we NEEDED just such a “pause and reshuffle” right about then and THERE!
If we come back now with a strong and balanced performance, a little more in our running game on offense and especially a WHOLE lot more out of a sharper executing, cleaner hitting and tackling D, and we will I think be able to begin to envision at least a more promising and enjoyable rest-of-season.
I’m still not necessarily expecting us to WIN OUT to elbow our way into the Play Offs and rejoin the current “College Football Elite”, but a solid victory display in the above areas of improvement might at the minimum mark a return to our (slowed but still) steady upward “TREND” as a program. With a continued parallel rise in our recruiting (as projected and noted elsewhere by myself and others), that at least keeps us ON TARGET AND ON SCHEDULE, year-by-year when you consider and take into account not just the gap we had to close between ourselves and even the “just SHORT of elite”, but the various obstacles and circumstances that the Pandemic have realistically placed before ALL of us. Let’s just get through this season from here relatively smoothly and in good health, without too much additional strife, disappointment and underachievement (even if that included at worst a CLOSE loss to UGA), and (after what we saw those first few games) I for one will “accept with optimism our future” (more than I can say about our “world outside of College Football”—but I’ll say nothing further on THAT, this being the place where we can and SHOULD be able to GET AWAY from all that!).