OGT 2025 - Week 11: Florida Gators at Kentucky Wildcats

[DRU2012]

Just peeked back in—Just in time for ANOTHER UK TD, and NOTHING from our “brainless trust” in response in terms of any kind of offensive “Plan B”…
Look, I’m not talking about any kind of “hoped for COMEBACK” now: I KNEW Billy-Former was essentially WEDDED to DJ, but wtf explains why THIS “Billy” refuses to sub-in the 4-star back-up sitting over on his bench? The same kid, by the way, who tore UP your first-string defense in the spring game. I mean, we’re WAY past worrying about “messing with psyches” at THIS point, are we not?
Not that I’m expecting any answers, now or later.
The question needed posing, that’s all…might be worth finding out what HE can do, given the circumstances.
But this game for me has been reduced to playing out on a muted laptop off to the side here—while I have moved on to other things entirely, only glancing at the screen bottom from time to time to monitor the score (and with bad deteriorating steadily into WORSE, I suspect we’ll dispense with even THAT before the 4th is in the books).

 

[Leakfan12]

I hate to say it's over but unless they win out, it's over.

 

[DRU2012]

I hate to say it's over but unless they win out, it's over.

Hey, it just keeps getting worse, bra':
Those (admittedly somewhat pathetic and inept) SEC Network announcers almost inadvertently let slip a late-arriving piece of news in the first quarter of this one:
In addition to all the injuries at WR, when VB III unexpectedly trotted out on the field, in the ensuing exchange regarding the surprise that he was available to play at all one of them happened to mention the game-time announcement that Tank Hawkins, who'd been expected to be in there subbing for one of the injured starters, had at the last moment "elected to protect his redshirt--He already has appeared in 4 games, and chose to opt out in order to not burn a future season of eligibility..."
Only then, in this sudden fashion after the start of the game did we learn we were even more short-handed at receiver than we thought.
In the absence of even our up-til-tonight fairly reliable defense, our catastrophically low-rated offense undershot its already embarassingly inept standard of performance thus far this season even further than expected: Aside from the one short-field drive, after recovering a muffed punt in the redzone in the first quarter to take their only lead at 7-3, they failed to even sniff the redzone again throughout the rest of te game.
DJ threw 3 Interceptions, and MISSED at least a couple of handfuls of open receivers over the course of all the rest of those truncated non-drives.
That doesn't mean that, were we to get back a sizeable portion of those injured starters, we might not (were we decently self-motivated and led) manage to rise up and exceed expectation, "SHOW THE WORLD, ONE MORE TIME"...
We DO still have the talent on this team to do just that...But we saw NO SIGN of any of that against an otherwise mediocre opponent tonight at THEIR place.
By now I'M more interested in who our next Coach is gonna be...Looks like the PLAYERS are feeling much the same way.

 

[DRU2012]

…AND, in following up in going through the final statistical tallies for the game once ended, I only now discover that Billy G and his play-callers finally DID sit DJ and turn to young Jones in the 4th quarter.
Bout TIME (more like OVERtime?). Not that it appears to have made any difference, but at least they eventually gave it a SHOT.
I thought they should have considered doing so from the start of their first possession in the 2nd half, but the question now becomes whether/if/when you decide to carry on with (or return TO) such a move in these last few games ahead?

 

[Escambia94]

This was the most winnable game in this part of the schedule. The team looked uninspired during the Gator Walk, and even worse on the field.

Statistic	UF	UK
1st Downs	17	24
3rd down efficiency	7-15	8-12
4th down efficiency	2-4	2-3
Total Yards	247	401
Passing	143	168
Comp/Att	20/37	18/23
Yards per pass	3.9	7.3
Interceptions thrown	3	1
Rushing	104	233
Rushing Attempts	32	44
Yards per rush	3.3	5.3
Penalties	2-20	1-10
Turnovers	4	4
Fumbles lost	1	3
Interceptions thrown	3	1
Possession	28:27	31:33

 

[DRU2012]

This was the most winnable game in this part of the schedule. The team looked uninspired during the Gator Walk, and even worse on the field.

Statistic	UF	UK
1st Downs	17	24
3rd down efficiency	7-15	8-12
4th down efficiency	2-4	2-3
Total Yards	247	401
Passing	143	168
Comp/Att	20/37	18/23
Yards per pass	3.9	7.3
Interceptions thrown	3	1
Rushing	104	233
Rushing Attempts	32	44
Yards per rush	3.3	5.3
Penalties	2-20	1-10
Turnovers	4	4
Fumbles lost	1	3
Interceptions thrown	3	1
Possession	28:27	31:33

I didn't see the "Gator walk" (and give you props for getting yourself involved enough emotionally to find and watch it yourself pregame, E--), but am hardly surprised to read your description.
As an info-laden transition between "game-WEEK prep" and "game-DAY" state-of-mind it can be an invaluable marker...
Considering the actual game and it's final score, is there anything further that needs noting here?
I HAD been thinking that, given the multitude of complexities before the whole Gator team, collectively and individually coming into the COMING week's game (ie. AT Ol' Miss, in front potentially of their NEXT Coach, in a game that (were we to win it) might well dramatically hasten his decision point (indeed, his very AVAILABILITY--at the very least shorten the timeframe regarding our wait to find OUT), there'd be much to consider and discuss in the observable lead-up to the next one...
Um, more like "much to DREAD", as it turns OUT.
The opposition will likely be HIGHLY motivated; the only remaining question is whether WE will just roll over and surrender.
After what we saw last night, at the moment I am uncertain as to how much I'll even be able to stomach.
Given it's clear state in last night's game, this Gator squad is currently making a pretty strong case for its being "among the worst teams in the 2025 SEC".