GameDay: Gators at Seminoles Saturday, Nov.24 (@Doak/Campbell--Tallahassee)

[DRU2012]

OK, Gators, THIS IS IT...As always, the last game in our season's scheduled games, played annually over Thanksgiving Weekend, and for the first time in a dozen years it really MEANS something--"The Florida Championship", yes, but for us even more than that. I don't have to elaborate on everything that's on-the-line for us here today...Hell, just beating "them" would be enough, shutting up that "bowl'o'losers" in Tallahassee even BETTER. The rest is just gravy--but what "gravy" it IS and could BE.
Even with all the warning-signs that we'll get shafted no matter WHAT happens (even as I say this, "Michigan Desmond" is on "SportsCenter" at 8am ADMITTING that "Florida's resume is unsurpassed--they DEFINITELY are the most deserving of the 1-loss teams to move in there if Notre Dame loses, but I just CAN'T support an all-SEC Championship that NO ONE wants to see AGAIN...I'd vote against 'em, but I'm not so sure enough folks would do what needs to be done to avoid it..." Hint, hint), we get our Sugar Bowl BCS-berth for sure with a win--and I'll be watching and rooting for SC(west) tonight if/when we do.
So now we put that all aside (as we're hoping our TEAM can do: I was satisfied to hear that there was no "denial" at work in the offices or locker room in Gainesville this week, where all of this was acknowledged, addressed, and openly discussed among the players and Coaches early on--before they "moved on", which by all accounts they have done--and practiced sharply ever since) and turn to the game itself. Personally, I'm as tense as I've been all year. I have no idea of how our team will hit the field, but given their slow-starts the last few weeks at home, I can't see how anything but the noise of a hostile road-crowd could likely slow our offense for the worse in the early going--and we can shut that up in fairly short order just by shutting THEM down and moving the ball.
I'm not asking for (or counting on) some sudden early-burst of scoring, only that we weather that ridiculously overblown (and offensive to my small-portion of Native blood) and phony hype of the tourist-quality "Indian-on-a-Horse-Throwing-Burning-Spear-at-Ground" once again laughably displayed. I can skip that, BUT...if only I could somehow strip out of the soundtrack the hateful "Tomahawk Chop theme chant" that will be constant unless and until we CRUSH them on the scoreboard! In a close game, as this one is likely to be, we'll be hearing it throughout the game.
It's almost enough to turn off the sound completely, which I just may end up DOING by the 2nd half unless we can get and KEEP a decent lead. Well, I'm starting to go around in circles here, so it's time to wrap up this intro.
(With this GameDay crew, somehow all the close wins, last minute and overtime, against less-than-mediocre teams is somehow "the luck of the Irish", but that one "escape miracle"/blocked-punt-TD-to-win against La-La in our case they hammer on repeatedly as "proof of being undeserving"--I'm tellin' ya, this is "groundwork for the Shaft")
Here's my "closest thing I've got to a pregame prayer", granted going IN that no Creator favors a particular player, fan, team or Program in any particular contest--even if He IS a Gator! (Please remember, You gave us a sense-of-humor, after all...)
OK, here goes:
"Oh Lord, please see fit to protect all players-on-the-field today (but Gators a bit MORE).
Help ALL these young men to live up to the talent and hard work they've invested, and reward the righteous with success (but Gators a bit MORE).
Most of all, bless the best of them with a great Victory--"the best of them" being an easy determination for You, Lord: GATORS A LOT MORE!!!"
Alright, let's go kick some "Semi-Hole" @$$!!!

 

[Escambia94]

As I do for each game, here are the keys to win based on warfare and/or statistics:

• Score more points than the dirty Semi-holes.
• Don't suck as much as the Criminoles.
• Just win, baby!

Yes, stats go out the window with this game. Logic goes out the window with this rivalry. Watch for bad penalties, cheap shots, and dirty tricks.

 

[miltongator]

OK, Gators, THIS IS IT...As always, the last game in our season's scheduled games, played annually over Thanksgiving Weekend, and for the first time in a dozen years it really MEANS something--"The Florida Championship", yes, but for us even more than that. I don't have to elaborate on everything that's on-the-line for us here today...Hell, just beating "them" would be enough, shutting up that "bowl'o'losers" in Tallahassee even BETTER. The rest is just gravy--but what "gravy" it IS and could BE.
Even with all the warning-signs that we'll get shafted no matter WHAT happens (even as I say this, "Michigan Desmond" is on "SportsCenter" at 8am ADMITTING that "Florida's resume is unsurpassed--they DEFINITELY are the most deserving of the 1-loss teams to move in there if Notre Dame loses, but I just CAN'T support an all-SEC Championship that NO ONE wants to see AGAIN...I'd vote against 'em, but I'm not so sure enough folks would do what needs to be done to avoid it..." Hint, hint), we get our Sugar Bowl BCS-berth for sure with a win--and I'll be watching and rooting for SC(west) tonight if/when we do.
So now we put that all aside (as we're hoping our TEAM can do: I was satisfied to hear that there was no "denial" at work in the offices or locker room in Gainesville this week, where all of this was acknowledged, addressed, and openly discussed among the players and Coaches early on--before they "moved on", which by all accounts they have done--and practiced sharply ever since) and turn to the game itself. Personally, I'm as tense as I've been all year. I have no idea of how our team will hit the field, but given their slow-starts the last few weeks at home, I can't see how anything but the noise of a hostile road-crowd could likely slow our offense for the worse in the early going--and we can shut that up in fairly short order just by shutting THEM down and moving the ball.
I'm not asking for (or counting on) some sudden early-burst of scoring, only that we weather that ridiculously overblown (and offensive to my small-portion of Native blood) and phony hype of the tourist-quality "Indian-on-a-Horse-Throwing-Burning-Spear-at-Ground" once again laughably displayed. I can skip that, BUT...if only I could somehow strip out of the soundtrack the hateful "Tomahawk Chop theme chant" that will be constant unless and until we CRUSH them on the scoreboard! In a close game, as this one is likely to be, we'll be hearing it throughout the game.
It's almost enough to turn off the sound completely, which I just may end up DOING by the 2nd half unless we can get and KEEP a decent lead. Well, I'm starting to go around in circles here, so it's time to wrap up this intro.
(With this GameDay crew, somehow all the close wins, last minute and overtime, against less-than-mediocre teams is somehow "the luck of the Irish", but that one "escape miracle"/blocked-punt-TD-to-win against La-La in our case they hammer on repeatedly as "proof of being undeserving"--I'm tellin' ya, this is "groundwork for the Shaft")
Here's my "closest thing I've got to a pregame prayer", granted going IN that no Creator favors a particular player, fan, team or Program in any particular contest--even if He IS a Gator! (Please remember, You gave us a sense-of-humor, after all...)
OK, here goes:
"Oh Lord, please see fit to protect all players-on-the-field today (but Gators a bit MORE).
Help ALL these young men to live up to the talent and hard work they've invested, and reward the righteous with success (but Gators a bit MORE).
Most of all, bless the best of them with a great Victory--"the best of them" being an easy determination for You, Lord: GATORS A LOT MORE!!!"
Alright, let's go kick some "Semi-Hole" @$$!!!

Don't listen to the TV broadcast! Turn off the sound and tune your radio/computer to the Gator broadcast and listen to Mick ( OH MY!!!!)

 

[DRU2012]

As I do for each game, here are the keys to win based on warfare and/or statistics:

• Score more points than the dirty Semi-holes.
• Don't suck as much as the Criminoles.
• Just win, baby!

Yes, stats go out the window with this game. Logic goes out the window with this rivalry. Watch for bad penalties, cheap shots, and dirty tricks.

You're right--especially about the "Logic"-part...I EXPECT the "bad penalties", of course, but the "cheap shots and dirty tricks" DO concern me. We've seen it before, and I could really end up going after one of these post-Black Friday TV-deals after all if we start losing guys to injury because if it--Maybe I should go out and get some chicken-wire to protect my Sony from the crystal-decanter-full-of-cognac that is likely to be launched at it in the event...
Which raises the obvious question:
Will that long-standing Muschamp-Fisher friendship survive this rivalry? If Jimbo can't control HIS guys, and/or Coach Boom gets the slightest idea that he didn't do enough to stop what turns out to be a string of naked efforts to damage his young quarterback, for example, I suspect SOMEONE out there gets a really good deal on that Panhandle beach-house they supposedly share the mortgage on when it suddenly comes up for sale in the next few weeks...

 

[dmbjrgators]

LETS GO GATORS

 

[DRU2012]

Don't listen to the TV broadcast! Turn off the sound and tune your radio/computer to the Gator broadcast and listen to Mick ( OH MY!!!!)

I always do--but while it eliminates the moronic (usually CBS, this time ABC-with-Musberger) chatter, this WON'T solve the problem of background "Chop-chant" I despise so much (it alone has made me a Braves-hater in MLB, just for lifting it as they've done)--and then there are those crowd-shots to go with it...No, the only real "solution" is some consistent Gator scoring, and that is difficult to count on, at least this year, ya know? (Oh, I am ready to be WRONG, believe me!)

 

[totenkopf13]

Getting mentally prepared for that incessant drone and repetitive chomping motion. While bad enough in the stadium, on the tv is worse I think.

Hoping for an uncharacteristic performance from the offense today.

Go Gators !

 

[Escambia94]

Don't listen to the TV broadcast! Turn off the sound and tune your radio/computer to the Gator broadcast and listen to Mick ( OH MY!!!!)

Excellent idea! I hope I can find the radio broadcast. My commander is an FSU grad. He will be looking for all his Gator officers as they report to work in the morning. If the Gators win, we get to Gator chomp him. If the Gators lose, he gets to tomahawk chop us and gloat.

 

[Escambia94]

Let's go Gators! I will go ahead and merge this into the official game thread.

 

[miltongator]

Excellent idea! I hope I can find the radio broadcast. My commander is an FSU grad. He will be looking for all his Gator officers as they report to work in the morning. If the Gators win, we get to Gator chomp him. If the Gators lose, he gets to tomahawk chop us and gloat.

Hope it's a "Chompin'" afternoon.

 

[DRU2012]

(Oh God-DAMN!!! I HAD to at least turn the sound off HERE on GameDay: Urban Meyer being featured actually "tear-ing up", snivel, sniff, at his claims of "long-standing loyalty, as a man-from-Ohio, knowing who the enemy was and finally being able to DO something about it...", even now referring to Michigan as "That Team Up North (TTUN)", and so on...Sound familiar? This guy really IS the biggest phony of all time! Remember when he ran us through this almost EXACT SAME routine?, "CHOOSING to move and STAY in Florida for the rest of my life...Now and ALWAYS a Lifelong Gator!", "making sure we beat that School out West (SOW)" Blah Blah Blah...As I recall, he was still making these sounds even as we discovered his ongoing negotiations for a contract at tOSU and backstabbing efforts to steal as many of our prospective recruits as he could (actually telling them "there're problems in that Florida locker room..."--problems HIS recruits were responsible for!) while he still had an OFFICE in the Gator Athletic Dept.--bestowed upon him by Foley "in acknowledgment of his service and loyalty to this program", ironic AND sleazy as it COMES! I mean it, I have come to just DESPISE this scumbag every bit as much as I once admired him...I just don't believe you HAVE to do things this way, just in order to get an "edge"--but given all we've come to learn about Mr. "Liar/Crier" (pick one, or both?), maybe HE knows he's GOT little else BUT his "talent" as a smooth-talking cheater...If so, he WILL get his.)

Sound back up for the "GameDay Picks" from these goofs, and (not surprisingly) they all line up against the Good Guys, even Herbstreet picking the Criminoles by a FG (which considering OUR kickers, doesn't make much sense at ALL, practically speaking)...Oh well, "Logic out the window", right E-? I would have been MORE worried if they HADN'T gone that way: Let's make it a clean sweep, with EVERYONE picking the 'Noles--and hope our guys get wind of it, if they haven't already, and it just ADDS to their "cool, calm and ANGRY" determination.
Here's the opening KO to and drive BY the Bulldogs to start their game: 7-0 UGA between-the-Hedges already...I don't know about any of y'all, but though I can't ever bring myself to ROOT for 'em, I have no real problem with Georgia beating Tech here to keep the SEC in general and our SOS in particular up there...Now, once we win OUR game later and get a bolt-from-the-blue result tonight, we'll see about things NEXT week in the SEC-Championship game--but I'll worry about all THAT "if and when..."
For now, "ENOUGH, DRU!"...I'm gonna do some "things" around the house and get ready to settle in here in an hour or two (I just KNOW you were dying to know all that--shoulda put it up on TWITTER, "Stop The Presses!")

 

[miltongator]

Being a half empty kind of guy, I think we're in for some trouble. The last game we played that was this meaningful, ended with a loss and an offense that played very jittery from the start. And, that was at a neutral site. I worry about how our offense will do in the hated (but noisy) confines of "injun" territory. Tighten up the chin straps and hold onto the ball, boys.

 

[DRU2012]

Let's go Gators! I will go ahead and merge this into the official game thread.

Good catch...Thanks--Again!

 

[DRU2012]

Being a half empty kind of guy, I think we're in for some trouble. The last game we played that was this meaningful, ended with a loss and an offense that played very jittery from the start. And, that was at a neutral site. I worry about how our offense will do in the hated (but noisy) confines of "injun" territory. Tighten up the chin straps and hold onto the ball, boys.

I take your point, mg (being a "half-empty" guy from WAY back)--but I think we're ALSO seeing that this Georgia team is a pretty GOOD one--better than FSU, and remember:Against THEM we had our worst game by FAR, giving the ball away SIX times altogether, rolled up MASSIVE penalty yardage with the officials stopping OUR drives and extending THEIRS again and AGAIN, were FLAT the rest of the time, yet even THEN were about to tie the game inside-the-5 at the end when one of our most sure-handed guys gets stripped-going-in by the one Bulldog having a great game...SO: We play like we did in our earlier "Big Games" against tougher competition than these guys (ie. LSU and USC), and we WIN this one, I GUARANTEE it!

 

[Escambia94]

Being a half empty kind of guy, I think we're in for some trouble. The last game we played that was this meaningful, ended with a loss and an offense that played very jittery from the start. And, that was at a neutral site. I worry about how our offense will do in the hated (but noisy) confines of "injun" territory. Tighten up the chin straps and hold onto the ball, boys.

There's that logic again. I am watching the Ohio State-Michigan game, and so far it is not going according to team tendencies. Both teams are playing much better where they have been weak, and are playing weak where they have been strong.

I am not saying that the Gator offense will explode for 500 yards, but I am saying that this game should not look too much like the past few sloppy Gator wins, nor should the overall game look as BAD as it did last year.

 

[miltongator]

And

There's that logic again. I am watching the Ohio State-Michigan game, and so far it is not going according to team tendencies. Both teams are playing much better where they have been weak, and are playing weak where they have been strong.

I am not saying that the Gator offense will explode for 500 yards, but I am saying that this game should not look too much like the past few sloppy Gator wins, nor should the overall game look as BAD as it did last year.

And that is based on ??? I certainly hope you're right but I just don't see the tendencies in our offense to make me believe they can consistently move the ball. Damn, I hope I'm all wet.

 

[Escambia94]

FYI I have noticed that the tOSU players that were once Florida targets as recruits are good, but undisciplined. Florida can beat FSU with disciplined football.

 

[DRU2012]

And

And that is based on ??? I certainly hope you're right but I just don't see the tendencies in our offense to make me believe they can consistently move the ball. Damn, I hope I'm all wet.

You're not "all wet", mg, you're just WORRIED, concerned like all the rest of us, but reading things the worst way possible--which is either how you really FEEL, OR, if you're like THIS "half-empty kind-of-guy", maybe you PROTECT yourself, "steal yourself for the worst-case scenario just-in-CASE" by trying to get yourself "prepared for disappointment"...As I said in this regard on other threads, other Game Days: "Show me a cynic and I'll show YOU a disappointed idealist", for whom another might say, "You protest TOO MUCH!"
(Takes one to KNOW one, I guess.)

 

[DRU2012]

FYI I have noticed that the tOSU players that were once Florida targets as recruits are good, but undisciplined. Florida can beat FSU with disciplined football.

THAT is an interesting observation, and certainly an important consideration AND distinction among the players who come here and thrive under Will Muschamp--That is the way Coach Boom wants it, plans it, and coaches it!

 

[Escambia94]

I have to admit that it is hard not to be cautious, given the way these games have gone in recent years. Try to enjoy the beginning of an era. It was easier to guess at the outcome when we had a couple years under Urban Meyer to know what to expect. This is only year two of the Will Muschamp era, so we do not know what to expect from his teams.

Here are some hints. The Orange and Blue Debut hinted to us that the offense was going to look ugly all season, and it has looked ugly all season. The Debut also hinted that the team would adjust well in the second half, and has done so all season. All season we have seen that the number of penalties is proportional to the number of substitute players. The Gators have no depth. The second team may be fast enough or strong enough to start in place of the injured first team, but they lack the maturity and discipline. Some still lack the skill, but they are the best available.

That being said, if the Gators have all their starters back, the Gators will probably win this game. It probably will not be a blow-out. None of has has enough historical data to make an educated guess as to how the game will go, so let's just enjoy the victory--however we get it.