(1) We are gonna have a KILLER-D for years to come. "Good-and-getting-better" next year, "great and relentless" from about mid-season on--and then THAT for who-knows-HOW-many-seasons?
(2) We are filling "needs" as well--and doing it in quiet-but-amazingly-efficient manner--picking off rivals' commits, AND (for eg.) grabbing that top-rated JUCO OL that a BUNCH of both SEC and Big 12 teams were after (he'll enroll come January--submitting papers on Monday--so that he won't even COUNT as part of this class, btw) to fill-out our class just rounds out what will be, even with some attrition--and again, the feeling is there'll be less this time than the last 2 years, AND our people are working like mad behind-the-scenes to both get as many as possible enrolled early, and "extras" they'll have to either fill THOSE spots OR "creatively juggle" if, "worse-comes-to-worst" and (oh darn) we get EVERYONE we have lined -up and "leaning", we should have either the #1 class , or close enough not-to-matter.
*(3) OK, WHAT ABOUT THIS "Oh, By The Way"-Game IN JANUARY? Don't look now, Gators, but we DO have ONE more game here this season--Those "OTHER guys" sure are aware of it, have a good coach and EVERYONE PICKING AGAINST THEM...We should know how THAT feels--and how it can motivate a decent team--and whatever else you think about the relative talents of these two teams, the strengths and weaknesses of each this season up 'til now, they ARE a "decent team", with a VERY good defensive coach and all KINDS of motivational edges. In relation to that, the one thing that really worries ME about this game is how the "EXPERTS", who I think, feel and SEE are wrong about EVERYTHING ELSE, it seems, are uniformly picking US not to just WIN but WIN BIG. It ISN'T just the emotional factors that worry me here, it is simply that singular observational one: I HATE that the same people who know so little and are clearly so wrong (imo) about everything else, are choosing NOW to line up uniformly in their sudden confidence at OUR dominance--something they have denigrated all season before THIS.
We SHOULD beat them--but we have "played down" to teams all season...Frankly, I like this team's play and hence their chances against a team that WE would have been more "jazzed" about meeting. This is sort of a "worst case scenario" for this Gator team, BCS-Bowl-wise: A team JUST good enough to give us a game, trust me, but NOT high enough-placed in terms of ranking OR image to excite ANYONE (least of all US)--except the OPPONENT THEMSELVES! Now we are DEPENDING on this Head Coach's passion, along with he and his staff's ability to rekindle the sense of pride, self-discipline and determination that carried them through this season, and will motivate them NOW to take NOTHING for granted, to care about finishing this season RIGHT. Approach this game like we know we could LOSE, as we did our toughest games before now, as we would have against the Oregon, KSU or even OU teams we expected to play, and we win this one going away--anything ELSE will mean trouble, unexpected difficulty and perhaps even EMBARRASSMENT: In case anyone hadn't noticed, we either show-up-to-play, or DON'T and have to SCRAMBLE to pull-it-out. Aside from our Head Coach and the various qualities he chose for and/or nurtured in the young men who play on this team, there is the pride and deep desire among them to "finish-what-they-started" REGARDLESS OF THE OPPONENT--bring that with them across-the-long-break and, even more than "getting healthy", will be how much difference it makes in the likely outcome--but until then NOTHING is guaranteed.
Look, I AM "the Voice of Doom", but that doesn't mean I'm necessarily wrong. We have just ONE MORE GATOR GAME to watch this season, and I for one would really LIKE to be able to sit back on the evening of January 2nd and ENJOY IT, the exclamation point of a fine season.
