"Pickin' Thru' the Bones": Post Mortems On a Dark and Stormy Night

[DRU2012]

Will just keep it short and simple here now. Consider this as much the place to VENT your anger, frustration and disappointment as some opportunity for rational reflection or "objective analysis".

Starting it off for my OWN sake, I have to say the obvious: we did this to ourselves. Never mind the "what, how or WHY", what happened HAPPENED. We gave it away from the start, over and over again, yet we STILL had our chances, and we kept doing the same--we kept finding ways to LOSE. It just doesn't MATTER that UGA was and IS no better a team than us--in fact that makes it WORSE. They are a "pretty good SEC-team", and we basically showed the world that's all we are, too--at least at the moment. When we couldn't rise to the level of VERY good SEC-team, we put ourselves in a dog fight, and on THIS day, playing THIS poorly, we got beat. Let the "They are what we THOUGHT they were!!!"s begin.
But DAMN! We are closer than we looked by our play or the score today...That's both part of what hurts so much, and what is so absurd--about this day's outcome AND the APPEARANCE of things. Think about it: just ONE of the many little/LARGE things that could have gone differently--that INT in the endzone at the end of the half, then the stupid penalty on Easley to extend the otherwise-over drive that led to their TD, or even that squirt-out fumble by sure-handed Jordan Reed at the end, any ONE of those (and in fact there were probably at LEAST that many MORE that could ALSO be pointed to in the same way) puts us in a win-or-tie position at the end, and any TWO probably WINS the game for us--and the otherwise almost-exact same game is being written up/interpreted in totally opposite fashion...WE'RE the "Never-say-die heroes", the "tough team that never gives up and can beat you a thousand ways", how you "have to win one or two of these to win championships", and so on, AND THE WHOLE TIME WE'RE BASICALLY THE SAME STUMBLING/BUMBLING TEAM that in this case "just made a couple of plays, finally"...and then it'd be UGA and their fans who feel like sh*t, hanging their heads and kicking themselves, griping about how WE'RE not any better than them, etc. etc.

I've gotten away from my basic point AND intention, though...I just want to SCREAM,
"WE REALLY SUCKED TODAY! WE HAD ALL OUR CHANCES AND WE JUST REFUSED TO WIN!!! IT WAS AMAZING HOW WE KEPT SCREWING UP, OVER AND OVER AT JUST THE WORST TIME, FROM THE VERY START OF THE GAME WHEN WE FUMBLED TWO OUT OF THREE PLAYS, THROUGH TO THE END WHEN ONE OF OUR MOST RELIABLE AND SURE-HANDED PLAYERS DID THE SAME ON HIS WAY INTO THE ENDZONE FOR A CHANCE AT THE TYING TOUCHDOWN, IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING!!! WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT???!!!!!

I do not expect an answer. Next person up.

 

[DRU2012]

Just ran pretty quickly through the whole GameDay thread (glutton-for-punishment, I guess), and the main thing that jumped out again, though super-obvious, must be said here for just that reason:
That was not just the worst game we've played all year, that may have been the worst single game, start-to-finish, I have EVER seen from a Gator offense, no sh*t. I'd have to say that UGA sucked for not burying us, and doing it early, like in the first half...Not that I'm worrying about such things from here on out, but I can't see them doing much for our strength-of-schedule--the only possible bonus there is that if they have anyone half-decent in the SEC left to play, they could easily lose it and leave the east to us after all...we gotta regroup and return not only to "playin' 'em one atta time", outta the limelight and hype and "finishing right", but actually get back to trying to get better as a team--concentrate on learning and growing and let everything outside of US just go on by itself. Maybe things might turn up for us, not quite as flashy or "PERFECT" as before but we didn't deserve that anyhow, obviously, and if there's any kind of "next time" THIS time, we'll fly under-the-radar for REAL, let 'em cut us down and short-change us: Don't hardly talk about us at ALL. If there's gonna be a "2nd act", let it sneak up on us--let us sneak up on THEM, and maybe we'll do better with it than we did today.

 

[Escambia94]

Too drunk to type.

 

[Leakfan12]

Oh man, hear it goes. Honestly I don't know where to go with this. The Gators you would think be ready against a top ten team (though weaker), you think that the offense could have done damage against that D, and the Gators D could shut down our O. Well 2 of the three didn't happen. Before I lay blame on others (AKA THOSE F'ING REFS) The Gators did shoot themselves in the foot with six turnovers, and not blocking Driskel and that running game against a questionable defense (though guessing then one of them who called his teammates they responded sadly for the Gators). Also didn't Driskel throw an INT in the endzone? However, that Jordan Reed fumble really cost them. If he didn't fumble that, they would have gotten a TD and a two point conversation and that would have been a tie game give the Gators a fighting chance to win. WHAT THE F--K WAS REED THINKING? HOLD ON TO THAT F'ING BALL. THE DUMBEST FUMBLE I'VE SEEN SINCE REGGIE BUSH BACK IN 2005 TITLE GAME AND DON'T GIVE ME STARTED WITH THOSE REFS. DRISKEL'S ARM WENT FORWARD IN THAT FIRST "FUMBLE" AND DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAYS, THAT WAS AN INCOMPLETE PASS. ALSO THAT BS HOLDING OR PASS INTERFERENCE CALL THAT GIVE THOSE LEGHUMPERS A FIRST DOWN AND LATER ON A TD. WHAT DO UGA USE TO PAID OFF THOSE REFS AND HOW CAN THE UF BOOSTERS GET INTO THE ACTION?

 

[miltongator]

To put it simply, we just got exposed for what we've been all year. A team with a pretty good defense, great punter, and a great FG kicker. But, no reliable offense. Our O line was, and has been most of the year, completely man-handled. We've had offense by "smoke and mirrors" most of the year and it finally caught up with us.

 

[totenkopf13]

Game was soberingly similar to the FSU game last year.

 

[miltongator]

The only upside I see is that we won't have to get embarrassed by Alabama. From what I've seen of them, there's no way we could hang.

 

[Escambia94]

The only upside I see is that we won't have to get embarrassed by Alabama. From what I've seen of them, there's no way we could hang.

The Dallas Cowboys might have problems hanging with Bama!

I do not think that Florida deserved to win the WLOCP, but neither did Georgia. That game should be declared a no-contest, and all the referees admonished for blowing calls. The SEC championship game should be cancelled, since the referees have tried to impact the SEC East with questionable calls involving Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. Those three teams are so close in skill and talent that a few bad calls affected the outcome of those games. Only Alabama has set itself apart from competition irrespective of the referees.

 

[Escambia94]

Be sure to go to travisduncan 's article [here] to see some discussion on where the Gators go next.

 

[DRU2012]

Escambia94
Same recommendation for you re that latest from travisduncan, E-: I play off of YOUR post, bro'

 

[DRU2012]

UM, beg to differ--and just because you put "Gator Fan" under your handle, doesn't make you one. In fact, if you AREN'T a craven troll, you can just go and join the crowd of simpering fools who aren't fit to call themselves "Gator" in ANY event. Free country? Sure, and on OUR site I will exercise MY right to "free speech". Jerk. No, I'll go one step further: LEG HUMPING IDIOT. Who's with me?

(PS To Gator Envy Regulars:
Not interested in "dialogue" with the likes of this one. Unless my friends and fellow TRUE Gators at GE make clear they feel otherwise, there is no point in him trying to start one with us here--not a poser without even the guts or class to admit it...and as I implied above, if he really IS a UF fan, which I couldn't more seriously doubt, he's the lowest kind of whining, embittered self-hater with for some reason his own pathetic axe to grind. Regardless, I suggest he go to barely-literate Bulldog blogs to get his mangy belly rubbed among the rest of his kind.)