Well, as my relatively "late" posting of this thread indicates, there isn't much to really mark this game in a positive fashion going IN, except of course that it is "SENIOR DAY". Always emotional, this year there are some extra-special factors to be noted: Mainly, the great "roller-coaster ride" that this last 4-to-5 years has been--"ending" (for these seniors) on a huge "UP" that seems in every way a "BEGINNING" of what may well come one day to be known as a "Golden Age" of Gator ascendance. Regardless, these guys are the ones that stayed, stuck it out and saw things through, who weathered all the changes--not just IN the Coaching staff, but in their complete changing of the whole philosophy and approach to every phase of the game, who would stay, who would play, and what would be required of each of them every step of the way: From the locker room, through the practice field, to GAME DAY!
The most amazing and happy part of it all is HOW WELL IT HAS WORKED, at least as reflected in our record this season. The question that no one really wants to ask, for fear maybe that it'll just "fall away" with any close inspection, is "Has it all just been the 'good breaks' finally catching up and evening the balance for us?". Here's the thing, though: we HAVEN'T been especially "lucky" this season...any one of us could produce a lengthy list of crappy things we've had to deal with AGAIN this year. No, our "tenacity" and ability to "hang in there and seize the moment when things turn our way" is very real: This team, led by the seniors--who have seen it ALL, Btw--has made it's own breaks most of the time. As we saw last week, it's a two-edged blade...We can't afford to just "cruise" yet against ANYONE; we got into trouble there, as we have at times all season, only when we "relax the pedal", what is sometimes referred to as "playing down to the competition". We just aren't a deep and balanced enough team (especially as reflected in elements of our offense--almost EVERY element) to do that at the moment.
So: I don't KNOW if we can even "wake up" that early in the first place, BUT: This would be a REALLY good time to buckle down and play a whole 1st half of tight, somewhat (for us) balanced version of Gator Football--the kind of total effort that has always seemed right there just out-of-reach. We know it is doable: We see it in drives here and there that seem to come JUST as we're about to blow our brains out our ears! Put a whole HALF together like those clutch-drives though, guys, and we WILL find ourselves being ABLE to substitute freely by fairly early in the 3rd quarter, I guarantee it...
The most amazing and happy part of it all is HOW WELL IT HAS WORKED, at least as reflected in our record this season. The question that no one really wants to ask, for fear maybe that it'll just "fall away" with any close inspection, is "Has it all just been the 'good breaks' finally catching up and evening the balance for us?". Here's the thing, though: we HAVEN'T been especially "lucky" this season...any one of us could produce a lengthy list of crappy things we've had to deal with AGAIN this year. No, our "tenacity" and ability to "hang in there and seize the moment when things turn our way" is very real: This team, led by the seniors--who have seen it ALL, Btw--has made it's own breaks most of the time. As we saw last week, it's a two-edged blade...We can't afford to just "cruise" yet against ANYONE; we got into trouble there, as we have at times all season, only when we "relax the pedal", what is sometimes referred to as "playing down to the competition". We just aren't a deep and balanced enough team (especially as reflected in elements of our offense--almost EVERY element) to do that at the moment.
So: I don't KNOW if we can even "wake up" that early in the first place, BUT: This would be a REALLY good time to buckle down and play a whole 1st half of tight, somewhat (for us) balanced version of Gator Football--the kind of total effort that has always seemed right there just out-of-reach. We know it is doable: We see it in drives here and there that seem to come JUST as we're about to blow our brains out our ears! Put a whole HALF together like those clutch-drives though, guys, and we WILL find ourselves being ABLE to substitute freely by fairly early in the 3rd quarter, I guarantee it...