I don’t know what to say; we did everything to lose this game in the first half; then about HALF what we needed to do to take it BACK in the SECOND half. I KNEW that last long pass was the killer when it happened: Our best chance was to nip them at the end—but all they needed was one more key first down once THAT happened.
I give Kyle Trask all kinds of props for his poise and steadfast work, hanging in and coming back regardless of the misplays and lack of support; his calm, unflappable attitude is contagious and helps to keep his teammates on an even kiel—but that isn’t enough to gather a National Championship.
No, you wanna see that, there is possibly only one QB on our squad who MIGHT deliver on the full promise of the Mullens Playbook AND his abilities as that “quarterback whisperer”—and he’s the only one we haven’t really SEEN, the one Gator QB who’s yet to GET the full benefit of Coach Dan’s attention and “mystic talents”...and meanwhile very likely the ONLY QB who may well HAVE all the skills truly required to bring it all together and make it all work.
It means backtracking a year while installing Emory in the “Number 1” role—but it’s ok because it’ll mean some rebuilding, recasting and rethinking the rest of that offense as well...
Ironically, we’ll probably win out from here and APPEAR to have improved, to be “developing”/“evolving TOWARDS” a better team; Certainly we will likely get an “even better also-ran Bowl” (for whatever THAT’S worth ) and end up with a slightly better record than last year—but if we settle for THAT, if THAT amounts to our goal, well, that’ll be all we’ll ever BE—“BEHOLD!: OUR HIGH-WATER MARK!!!”
I SAY NO!!!
I say we cannot accept it—and I doubt our COACH intends to accept it either, so get used to the idea that things will HAVE to shake up from here; We’ll begin to see the changes rest of this season, then more and MORE SO INTO SPRING, SUMMER AND ON INTO NEXT SEASON:
Chances will have to be taken, changes will have to be made...it won’t always be pretty or smooth. Not everyone ON The team will like what happens; some “favorites” will find themselves in lesser roles. “CHANGE” is always hard for some—but unless you are content with being “pretty good”, “almost good enough”, “ALMOST AS GOOD AS THE BEST”, then you, me , right ALONG WITH DAN MULLENS MUST EMBRACE THAT CHANGE.
Period. “Change is GOOD!” If you’re not the best already, it is your only hope on the way to getting there. That is what Coach Dan Mullens promised when he came here, and what he has CONTINUED to espouse ever since. You may disagree with the Who’s and the How’s, but fact of CHANGE must be embraced. I only hope he is willing to do all that he see’s fit, and that we fans have the sense to support him IMMEDIATELY and THOROUGHLY as I suspect will be required in order to TAKE that “Next Step”. As I say, I suspect it will require a bit of a controversy-producing “step back” next season before paying full and obvious dividends in the great success and victories in seasons to follow.
We KNEW we weren’t “THERE” yet, KNEW we weren’t yet among the Elite—but make no mistake: Neither was that team we faced out there today, either. They weren’t even “Better than US”!!!—they were just better than WE were TODAY (Kirby wouldn’t have been so giddy at the end if that weren’t so—and he KNEW IT—He KNEW that had we gotten the ball back one more time we woulda scored—and then beaten them somehow in overtime...we are ALREADY that kinda team: the kind that comes on late that you just can’t stop; I’ll take a relentless Gator team over a buncha arrogant “hold-on-for-dear-lifers” from Georgia ANYTIME, ANYWHERE!)
But my point remains:
We knew we weren’t “THERE” yet no matter WHAT happened today. We just wanted to move up to the NEXT LEVEL OF COMPETITION—maybe another shot at LSU, face the big bad monster from Tuscaloosa, GET TO THAT STAGE, see how FAR we REALLY HAVE TO GO!!! But we stalled early. Beat ourselves—and that’s what REALLY hurts.
So we lick our wounds, make the best of a bad situation—and hope we can still reach a handful of those “goals” even now—at the very least meet another of those bigtime competitors come New Years...but the main thing is to begin positioning ourselves for NEXT SEASON NOW, right? And to face all the ways THAT means facing, and WELCOMING, CHANGE!!!
