I've been bouncing around, checking out the comments on different sites...between that and the comments on the RUF-stream, it is clear that (not so surprisingly) we have a LOT of Gator fans who, like that "individual" who joined us today and just wouldn't let go of his one obsessive point, just really want, maybe NEED to blame the Top Guy, the Head Coach, for all our troubles.
The rest of it, the Dawgs howling about the "good win" (come ON), the 20-20 hindsight from the TV "experts", is easily dismissed and ignored, but his carping about the Coach, while predictable, is troubling. This is a bigger job than any of us thought: the problems systemic, deeper and more entrenched in the fabric of the team than anyone knew until well into this losing streak. In addition, we have SO MANY injuries at key positions, ones we don't find out about until AFTER the games. This time it was Sturgess and Gillisley that turned out to be hurt coming INTO the game, unbeknownst to anyone but the coaches. Then we had a few more along the way here in the game itself. We need to just SURVIVE this season now; Foley will stand by his Head Coach, and he WILL get his chance to rebuild the team in his own image.
We had NO running game at all. Brantley could do nothing but stand there (he was less mobile than ever with his bad leg) and throw it to receivers that kept dropping crucial passes right in their hands. With all of that, the penalties (14 of 'em!), the usual mistakes and no depth left at ALL, it was all on our defense--who might well have been ABLE to win it IF Rainey and Hammond hadn't made HORRIBLE "unforced errors" at crucial points in the game. With all the mistakes and injuries, even with those terrible give-away TDs, we STILL might have pulled it out if we could have scored a TD there starting at THEIR 26 late in the 3rd qrtr.; instead we had to settle for the FG.
The big project now, all of our hopes and efforts riding on it for this season not to be a COMPLETE disaster and set-back, is to win two more games and get to a bowl...Otherwise, we lose that last 5 weeks or so of practice and eventual play against decent competition--a HUGE set back for us, if it comes to pass.
I don't claim to know enough about the health OR psyche of the various players on our team to confidently recommend to coaches I respect and believe in as to what they ought to do to "fix" what may not be fixable. Take the penalty-problem, for eg.: you gotta believe the coaches are coaching their @$$es off trying to get that solved, but what are you going to do with linemen who keep jumping no matter what you do or say, what drills you run or approach you try to instill in them? What about all those Delay-of-Game penalties? And the outright stupidity of someone like Ronald Powell, right at a most crucial point in the game? What can the coaches do about THAT kind of selfishness, cluelessness, befuddlement and personal lack-of-discipline?
I don't think there's anything for it BUT to GO OUT AND GET NEW GUYS! If we're lucky, there are enough gems, rough or otherwise, among the current roster to act as "cadre" in the forming up of a new look and feel to the whole team, a whole new Gator ATTITUDE and REAL STRENGTH going into NEXT season. All the more reason that getting those 6 wins and a bowl-game extension to our season is so important.
One more thing: I happen to think that at this point, we have to start giving our "Next year's QB" more and more reps and in-game experience, even WITH the six-win mark out there to be grabbed...and I just don't agree with Weis' preference for Brisset. For some reason, he has become "Charlie's guy", and the first clear crack in my confidence on our OC's clarity of thought. I think he is enamored of his "big arm", and hasn't put as much stock in the two freshmen's overall relative mastery of the JOB of quarterback as field-general and team leader as he ought to. Still, I have great respect for his knowledge, skill and insights as an offense-minded coach to really second-guess him--I'm just concerned. The thing that I try to bear in mind is that we can't really fully evaluate ANY of the QBs with the way our WRs continue to perform: they just don't make plays for their QB, go up after the ball. Our defensive secondary is similarly guilty, but they are really young, and that may be coachable, at least to some extent. I'm afraid that when it comes to our WRs, though, this is it, as "good" as they will get, as far as the current crop goes.
