Not gonna try fooling myself or blow smoke up anyone's butt, BUT--
I DID "warn" one and all (stealing mySELF too, lets face it) about that "reality" bout to bite us last Saturday. For 3 and 1/2 quarters it played out pretty well like most of us feared....then Will Grier seemed to loosen up when he and his mates had just bout nothing left to lose but a game it looked like they'd already bumbled away, started making the throws on 4th and long he COULDN'T MAKE TO SAVE HIS LIFE on ANY down earlier, all game in fact. What that might mean to him, his team, all of US, in the future, well, maybe THIS week's a bit early, among other reasons, to judge...
On the other hand, as a contrarian, well, I also consider myself a realist, but even I'm getting a little sick of how certain EVERYONE is how badly we're about to get steamrolled. Shoot, I was saying the same thing even AFTER the Tennessee game. But now it's gathered momentum as a "done deal" among those very fallible "experts" who get paid a LOT of money for a very low percentage of correct prognostications.
So. Am I suddenly hopeful of a win against Ol' Miss? No, can't go that far.
I don't dare: I'm not gonna set myself up for THAT kind of pain potential. We haven't seen Grier or any other component of this team show anything like consistency or composure throughout a game, from the very start, yet--not even close. But they just showed THEMSELVES what they might be capable of, and MUST be starting to think their coach has a point, begin to at least imagine what playing that way for 60 minutes could accomplish.
Not saying they'll win this thing. Not even saying "They MIGHT...". But I no longer feel its a forgone conclusion we get buried in the 1st quarter, or even the first HALF. They spend this week getting ready, not reading their press and patting themselves on the back, begin to get serious and determined to simply get better, hey, I'm thinking they may not embarrass themselves after all.
That's as far as I'll go, as specific as I can manage, for now. But it means I've come a long way since last week--and we're all hoping that's similarly, even more true of these Gators.
I DID "warn" one and all (stealing mySELF too, lets face it) about that "reality" bout to bite us last Saturday. For 3 and 1/2 quarters it played out pretty well like most of us feared....then Will Grier seemed to loosen up when he and his mates had just bout nothing left to lose but a game it looked like they'd already bumbled away, started making the throws on 4th and long he COULDN'T MAKE TO SAVE HIS LIFE on ANY down earlier, all game in fact. What that might mean to him, his team, all of US, in the future, well, maybe THIS week's a bit early, among other reasons, to judge...
On the other hand, as a contrarian, well, I also consider myself a realist, but even I'm getting a little sick of how certain EVERYONE is how badly we're about to get steamrolled. Shoot, I was saying the same thing even AFTER the Tennessee game. But now it's gathered momentum as a "done deal" among those very fallible "experts" who get paid a LOT of money for a very low percentage of correct prognostications.
So. Am I suddenly hopeful of a win against Ol' Miss? No, can't go that far.
I don't dare: I'm not gonna set myself up for THAT kind of pain potential. We haven't seen Grier or any other component of this team show anything like consistency or composure throughout a game, from the very start, yet--not even close. But they just showed THEMSELVES what they might be capable of, and MUST be starting to think their coach has a point, begin to at least imagine what playing that way for 60 minutes could accomplish.
Not saying they'll win this thing. Not even saying "They MIGHT...". But I no longer feel its a forgone conclusion we get buried in the 1st quarter, or even the first HALF. They spend this week getting ready, not reading their press and patting themselves on the back, begin to get serious and determined to simply get better, hey, I'm thinking they may not embarrass themselves after all.
That's as far as I'll go, as specific as I can manage, for now. But it means I've come a long way since last week--and we're all hoping that's similarly, even more true of these Gators.