GameDay: "The Cocktail Party" Gators vs Bulldogs Sat.Oct.27

[DRU2012]

Well, it IS "Game Day" and I decided to put this up before, well, before "anything else", so it will be here for early-risers/late-coming-homers later on in the wee-to-dawn hours...I don't have THAT much to say here now, though, having made my point (and THEN some, in my inimitable way) over on the "pregame/week-of-game" thread. I'll just repeat once more my biggest concern--what MAY be the major story, and possibly biggest factor in affecting the game's outcome: Gusting winds up to 30-to-60 MPH, along with "intermittent showers and bursts of squalling rains" at gametime and throughout the afternoon/evening, all courtesy of Hurricane Sandi, a slow-moving storm which is supposed to be off the Fla./Ga. coast, moving north today...if we're lucky, it gathered some speed overnight and has moved/is moving further north than expected by this aft, but I'm not counting on it--and it will have its effect regardless. We just don't KNOW how much, when and on whom, of course--which is the very part, its complete unpredictability, that worries me. I HATE chance or luck to play anymore of a part than it normally does--and that goes a HUNDRED-fold in a case such as this, where I truly believe we are the better, more balanced AND talented team on-a-roll: This makes the game more of a "crap-shoot". Well, our Gators will just have to MAKE it an advantage, in some way, right?

 

[Escambia94]

I would not say we are more balanced. I think we are getting credit for finding a way to win. On paper, UGA can win this one. Good thing the game is not played on paper--it will be played on a windy, neutral field.

It's 6 AM Pacific. Can't wait for kick-off! In all kinds of weather...

 

[totenkopf13]

Since we are not much of a finesse team so far, I think any inclement weather during the game will not be so much a factor for the Gators as it might for the the leghumpers. It may be to the Gators advantage. Aside from special teams (kicking), I don't think the weather will have much of an impact on the way they approach the game today.

I do acknowledge the fact that sometimes Lady Luck shows up in these types of circumstances, but there are a lot of other games for her to attend today.

 

[Escambia94]

In all kinds of weather we'll all stick together for #Florida! Go #Gators! Fear no hurricane!

 

[Escambia94]

Rushing offense:
Florida 277 ATT/ 1269 YDS/ 4.58 YPA/ 211.5 YPG/ 14 TD // advantage: Gators
Georgia 188 ATT/ 881 YDS/ 4.69 YPA/ 176.2 YPG/ 13 TD

Passing offense:
Florida 77-113/ 68.1%/ 819 YDS/ 7.2 YPA/ 7 TD/ 1 INT/ 148 RAT/ 136 YPG
Georgia 102-158/ 64.6%/ 1329 YDS/ 8.4 YPA YPA/ 3 INT/ 155 RAT/ 266 YPG // adv: Leghumpers

Rushing defense:
Florida 2.96 YPA/ .67 TD per game/ 97 YPG //adv: Gators
Georgia 4.02 YPA/ 1.4 TD per game/ 168 YPG

Passing defense:
Florida 5.4 YPA/ 0.5 TD per game/ 1.16 INT per game/ 93.2 RAT/ 178 YPG //adv: Gators
Georgia 7.6 YPA/ 1.4 TD per game/ 0.8 INT per game/ 131 RAT/ 213 YPG

Odds & ends:
Florida 3DO 41%/ 3DD 28%/ RZ offense 98%/ RZ defense 85%/ TOP 34+ minutes //adv: Gators
Georgia 3DO 43%/ 3DD 34%/ RZ offense 89%/ RZ defense 76%/ TOP 30 minutes

Summary:
You can see why I worry about that UGA passing offense. The Gators have performed well in all other phases of the game and match up well against Georgia. As long as the Gator secondary is disciplined, hard-hitting, and downright nasty, the Swamp Things will prevail... especially in hurricane-like weather.

Fear no hurricane! In all kinds of weather... the Gators will win 14-3 if the weather affects the game, or 27-10 if weather is not an issue.

 

[DRU2012]

Escambia94, totenkopf13
My original reaction to your posts as I got up, hit the "space" key and glanced at our site was GOING to be something thoughtful along the lines of "Hmmmm--I think we ARE more balanced, E-, more balanced than the stats show, but including plays called-back, not-quite-executed successfully, and of course the vaunted 'in practice, according to my back-channel source', that even our supposed missing piece, the passing game, is ready to be unveiled in varying degrees at any time", and my "inclination" to agree with you about the relative effects on the two different teams' strengths, tk13--except that THESE likely more extreme effects, as the Fla./Ga. border-coast take a glancing hit from Hurricane Sandi, will be unpredictable in terms of timing, intensity, etc.--and along with what it could do to the passing game, what about our superior kicking game? (not just FGs, so important in a possible close game, but with PUNTING--look at what Christy did for us last week?)...
That's where I WOULD have headed (OK, went there anyway, but this was cut short, TRUST me, because...)
...GEEZ, this morning there is a definite backlash/rethinking of what HAD seemed a growing consensus of the Gators deserving greater support among the sports media pundits--not that we need or even especially WANT their approval or support (we've done quite fine without it since last summer when the first mags came out and gave us "no love")--but this seems to have somewhat evaporated overnight. Today's early commentaries range from college GameDay's more lukewarm/non-committal revisionism, to that one "kid-with-the-big-ears" on-SportsCenter's college football coverage coming right out and picking "Georgia to win--despite..." and he proceeds to list every evident advantage he (or myself, for that matter) could think of that we seem to have over them in this game, acknowledges all of it yet concludes by picking "Georgia ANYWAY--I just think they are going to come out determined and play their best game of the year to BEAT Florida and put themselves back in the SEC and BCS discussion!" Look, really, in ALL these cases, it's just "another guy with an opinion"--worth no more or less than a million plus OTHER such declarations--they've just got this enormous "reach" when they speak, and THAT'S WHAT GETS ME!!! I guess the superstitious/"quantum forecaster" (choose one? both?) in me would like to see that balanced to SOME degree--so keep it up, guys: I DON'T get the impression of either "blind faith" OR "wishful thinking" in your arguments...
Sorry--are you watching these SportsCenter goofs in their "Coach-masks", supposedly "channelling"/stepping-into-the-role-of what I THINK are "four of the Top Coaches"? Pseudo-"Muschamp" is one of them, as each tries to talk over the other...Btw, this time it is Corso who is the only one who has stuck with the Gators, picks them STRONG saying, "They win ugly, but they WIN, and win TOUGH!"--at which point Herbstreet cuts in saying, "Yes, and they'd be my top 1-loss team" (now ASSUMING they'll lose one, maybe even today?)"...especially if they played all their games at HOME!" (WHAT?!!)...This, after saying all that positive stuff about us being about to "make a big BCS statement" less than 2 days ago.
OK-- Here come The PICKS: The guest-commentator (I GUESS he's some celebrity-athlete?) is the only one to pick UGA ("Florida ISN'T going undefeated-I just don't see it...", Corso strong ("Not-so-fast, my friend..."), Herbstreet now kind of wishy-washy ("I think Georgia comes out really fast, fired up, but don't have quite enough to beat this Gator team over the course of a whole game--but it'll be close...")
OK, I'll get off of this foolishness--just felt like sharing it with you as it went by here.

(Btw, you want to see HOW "strong" our defense is in relative terms, just watch a few minutes of this same USCe team ripping through Tennesee's defense on their opening drive this morning..the Vols are FAST enough on D, but you can just see how the Gamecocks this week have the edge--Touchdown. Maybe we WILL be OK after all...)

 

[Escambia94]

I got the kids saying BOOM all day long in the car. Boom, MFer!

 

[Escambia94]

Today's checklist to victory:
[ ] Dominate the line of scrimmage. UGA has a similar size LOS, but they have been bullied. The Gators need to establish air and ground superiority.
[ ] Attack the Puppy Center of Gravity (COG). Disrupt the receivers as they attempt to seal the edges for a running game, or bump them as they try to break into deep routes. Deter the offense from gaining momentum. Deny access to red zone.

[ ] Prep the battlefield. Brent Pease and Dan Quinn have made great adjustments at the half. Last year the Puppies out-adjusted the Gators and scored twice in the second half after a near-stalemate in the first half. Will Muschamp will bring the BOOM!

 

[DRU2012]

With Kicking game (at LEAST somewhat) neutralized, GOT to cut down on penalties this week--canNOT give away yds of field-position, possession changes, and even POINTS as we have done so far (it was Christy that offset much of that in the first half with his clutch punting last week).

 

[DRU2012]

(PERFECT eg. in this Vols/Gamecocks game--you could ARGUE whether it was really a valid call, but the hand WAS up in the collar, grabbing it to yank the runner down--they call it and undo the big fumble that would have given them the ball instead of continuing this SC drive...as Gators, we will CONTINUE to get the "raw" end of the calls, and HAVE to be even MORE careful...Opens the door to--yep, another Gamecocks TD pass from Shaw.)
Alright...no more game-flow discussion of these early games.

 

[NaffGutts]

Guys, guys, guys, calm it down lol

Here are some of my "non conventional" factors that will win us the game. I feel like I'm kinda on a roll with some of my mentions on previous games. Especially the "excitement factor" I called vs USC with kick-offs. Anyway .....

1) Play Calls; A few threads ago, a few of us were on the same thinking that Brent Pease hasn't opened up the playcalling, because there was no need to. Like I keep reminding everyone, we "cant" pass until we pass lol, which means if it aint broke don't fix it. But to everyones comfort, our game vs USC showed us some playcalls that we have not seen all year. Count on Brent having plenty of creative ways to get the ball into playmaker hands. All season he has been creating them, running them in practice, everything. It's like poker, if your opponent folds, why give them a chance to see your cards?? He is thinking long run, and how limiting a working formula can help us, and not help the next team we face that is attempting to watch plays. They can't see what we havn't run.

2) Passing; Dunbar is starting to separate himself a little more as THE... go-to receiver, this isn't too surprising and I count on him getting quite a few more looks. I think Driskel reads him perfectly and I count on a few opening drive short passes to get his confidence up, and then he'll start spreading it out around the field to more of our players. If Debose gets his motivation back in the receiving game, we'll have an awesome duo

3) Defense; Need I say more? Some will blame Lattimore not being 100%, some will say its USC road game blues, but some will say its an under-rated Defense that is probably the best in the country. We've held two Top 5 running offenses to their lowest yards of the season, and basically ineffective. We've only allowed THREE plays for 30+ yards all season, and we are one of the best SCORING defenses in the nation. My biggest fear of last game was the physicality of it might take its toll on some of our big players, but that didn't happen. I count on our defense stepping up yet again, they are getting better every game, and now they are starting to see how much it's contributing to our success, and they want to taste blood.

4) Special Teams; We've got the nations BEST kick teams. Even with the wind, a force that would effect both sides equally, we are still the better. I don't expect a once in a season performance like last game. But I do expect minimal return yards, and still being able to flip the field when we have to.

5) The X Factor; Georgia right now has some locker room issues that aren't coming to light. Maybe the South Carolina thrashing took a deeper toll than what we expected, maybe it's egos clashing off the field, but there is something there. Even fans are hoping for a loss in a chance to see their head coach fired, for reasons unknown, but he seems to not have that little bit of extra that every successful coach in the SEC needs. I think our teams will be polar opposites in this game, I expect a fired up Gator team, burning its hottest on Defense, and I expect a flat, bland Georgia team, only flickering a bit on Offense. In this case, our Defense will surely NOT leave the light on.



Prediction: I expect Gilly to have another 130+ game, and Driskel having a good passing game because of it.

I got 33-10 Gators

 

[DRU2012]

I think Lattimore just MAY have had his RIGHT knee DESTROYED..Last time it was his left knee--but THIS one may be a career-ender--one of those sickening injuries, way it happened (not designed to GO in that direction) then when lying on field as play ended, was obviously bent in wrong-angle...after almost 10 minutes they are taking him off the field on a cart, crowd giving him standing ovation, as Tenn. players come over and shake his hand--they KNOW he is DONE...AW, man, that was one of the worst I've SEEN of those, as bad or worse than the infamous LT-on-Thiesman hit in the pros back like 25 yrs ago (Lattimore's own reaction was one of the most disturbing, too--first he lay there for a moment, then he threw off his helmet and began to writhe around on the ground, by which time the coaches and trainers had run out and were crowding around him, trying to get him to lie back, calm down...the cameras then switched to a long zoom-shot from-the-endzone (I think to get a clearer shot than the normal sideline angle offered with everyone around him)--he turned his head and suddenly it was as if he was staring RIGHT INTO THE CAMERA (possible, I suppose, in that adrenalin-soaked hyper-perception of trauma-shock, but unlikely considering the distances involved, and to a single guy-with-a-camera at ground level among a crowd of folks onfield), his wide-wild-but-pain-filled-eyes seemingly locked with whomever was watching at that moment, actually SEVERAL moments, a VERY strange segment of "hanging-time"...

 

[Dale J. Rodriguez]

Hey Fellas!

My Thoughts about what we need to do win:

Offense: No mistakes, turnovers, and solid consistent Florida Football. Whether that be running/throwing/wildcating one or a combination of all three. We must score on all RZ chances, and keep our defense rested. The WR corp of Florida are my X factors for today, they will step up in a big way.

Defense: Gator Secondary, I am not as a big of a hater as Escambia(Joking!) but he has a point with all due respect, you guys have not played to your potential and with all due-respect, UGA is trying to kill you today. Hit hard, play coverage well, and you will be the make or break of our game today.

LB/s & Dline - Pressure Sacks, and everything else that you do well is needed. I have the dline with at least 4 sacks on the day.

Special Teams - If we can get some turnovers that will be awesome! Other than that, you all are playing superb, I pick Andre Debose to run one back today. No mistakes guys.

Coaching - Coach Boom and company, you have managed to defeat two of the best coaches in all of College Football in Les Miles and Steve Spurrier. Today is not an easy task either Mark Richt, is not a Saban, but he is not a slouch either. Keep these guys energized and coach your game, and you will be fine.

Prediction - With Weather - 21-14 Florida

Without Weather 35 -7 Gators.

 

[totenkopf13]

Going with 27-10 Gators.

 

[miltongator]

Coach Boom was asked about the windy conditions and he said "I love the wind". Damn, he DOES have a sense of humor after all.

 

[DRU2012]

OK--I have to agree with Dale's bottom-line (literally!) score predictions--and (unfortunately) since there IS gusting wind, though little rain right now, this is likely to be a closer game, probably a MUCH closer game than might otherwise have been expected.
(Gotta say, guys: This is as tense a feeling I've had going into a game all year--like those games in the 90s, going up against UGA, or FSU with SO much on the line. Someone's gonna screw up...we'll have to endure some bad calls from the Stripes...aw, it's almost too much--for those games I noted back 15 years ago, I used to get so worked up I couldn't watch, couldn't wait 'til the end of the game, and I'd end up going out somewhere by myself, swim in the Springs if it was warm enough, play a round of short-course golf or even go shopping, if I needed something--ANYTHING to pass the time and somehow not have to LIVE it the way I do...Here we go--and I'm here for the duration...)

 

[mjfan23]

the worst start we could have possibly had.

 

[DRU2012]

F*CK! We fumble to start!!! NO! NO! No! Big loss...OK--nice completion to Burton to settle things down...OH NO--THEY gotta get an incompletion here! And that guy hit the QB illegally! They are gonna rule against us--you watch...We are screwed to start, here...

 

[Leakfan12]

Driskel went forward, imcomplete!

 

[mjfan23]

son of a b. TERRIBLE WAY TO START THIS ONE