Gator Gameday: Vols at Gators, in the Swamp 09/21/13

[Escambia94]

I jus got a free minute to catch up. No matter what happens today, we are in a pickle here. Murphy looks good against UT and he will probably look good against UK, but he puts himself in danger too much for a team like LSU, USC, or UGA and we know nothing of Staver and Morhinweg.

 

[DRU2012]

(Meanwhile, Rutgers has come roaring back against Arkansas to take the lead late, after falling WAY behind early..."Off year for the SEC", indeed.)

 

[Ufgatorfan]

Our offensive players are soft. Why year after year do we have so many players hurt. .????????

 

[DRU2012]

Well, here we go again--Lest anyone forget just how far a once mighty offensive juggernaut has fallen, and how at this point we're dealing with severely lowered expectations, we blow our chance at points with a fumble, then a miss on what SHOULD have been an "automatic" 3 pts...D sets it up for 'em, they do little with it. Don't know what else to say about this team. I can't stand it: When do we start thinking about what we'll do about all of this??? Here's an offense that has LET this team stay in a game the defense did EVERYTHING to BURY a LONG time ago.
Why are we still sweating this OUT???!!!

 

[DRU2012]

Our offensive players are soft. Why year after year do we have so many players hurt. .????????

Good Q--and it IS an annual, weekly deal for us...

 

[awebbf5]

Ugly but a win over Tennessee is always good. Murphy from now on out , I think with some read options mixed in we will be more productive. Go gators

 

[Escambia94]

Driskel is out for the year, so let us rally behind Murphy. This kid waited behind Brantley, Burton, Reed, Driskel, and Brissett, then looked like an absolute stud when Coach called his number. Even Brissett was rooting for Murphy in social media.

 

[DRU2012]

D makes another big stop. We CANNOT win ANYTHING with this offense. All Kudos to Murphy, but HE isn't enough, nor are the players AROUND him enough, nor is the coaching staff and their non-existent gameplans enough to win the SEC...So let's deal with the above IN THAT ORDER:
--Start looking at/practicing with BOTH young QBs , even if and WHILE Tyler Murphy is able to "manage the offense well-enough to get by": We're gonna HAVE to upgrade there to win THIS year, and we need to be thinking about NEXT season's "run" as well ("Hey Coach, you'll be EXPECTED to win big next year...You like it here?")
--Either Pease somehow turns loose the "flexible pro-style offense, with wrinkles" he supposedly has developed in Gainesville, or the Head Coach will have to "pull the trigger" and start over a THIRD time: Again, worth at least considering doing it soon, THIS season, if this is "par"--and for the same reason as beginning to seriously prepare the young QBS: 'Cause you BETTER have things fully switched-over and ready-to-roll by the time 2014 BEGINS, if you wanna win AND keep your job
--And ALL of that depends on seeing efficient and imaginative gameplans, something we HAVEN'T seen thus far from Pease: If he has 'em, bring 'em on NOW--and if he can't, well, there's the convicting piece-of-evidence, time to move him out of there and go thru' the whole re-boot now, or "sooner rather than later", at the least.
Game ends, and the word from Chomp is that JD's "out for the year"--and anyone counting on him for NEXT year is missing the point here, right?
OK--Tyler's our starting QB for now, just as our Head Coach says at the end walking off the field...but "for the rest of the year"??? Automatic assumption/move the moment he/they are told JD is out for rest of season. See, THAT'S the "circle-the-wagons" mentality that will have us trying to "grind out" every game. Prescription for mediocrity, in my view--and hideous to watch, too. Come ON, guys, how about we grow a pair on the OFFENSIVE side of the ball, too? On D, the cry is "Release the Kracken!", and it's friggin' awesome what they can do when they are healthy and whole. Alright, we DON'T have the "horses" for that kinda ride on the O-side, but that's where attitude, scheme and PLANNING come in--and again: It's at least as important what that all says to your players, as how logical or inevitable it is from a PRACTICAL POV.
Let's get cranked UP! This ISN'T Chess--It's Balls-to-the-Wall rumble in the alley!

 

[DRU2012]

Btw--kept wondering where our @Escambia94, commentary disappeared to today...Everything OK, man?

 

[Escambia94]

Btw--kept wondering where our @Escambia94, commentary disappeared to today...Everything OK, man?

The kids had a karate tournament in Ventura, so I had bad cell phone reception.

 

[Ufgatorfan]

Why do we have such a hard time getting QB's , WR's and basically the whole offensive line motivated to play? Why do we not have a solid WR who can catch? We have had some 3 and 4 star recruits at WR and they never have panned out. I just don't get it????? What is DR problem, suspended on the day of a big game? Zero catches by DR. As much as I hate to say if this falls on the coaches. I look at other teams even smaller schools and they at least have a solid WR. Just don't get it!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ga8or22]

It all comes down to recruiting - our HC is a reflection of his philosophy - DEFENSE. Offense is a secondary thought. As long as we have that type of mindset we are screwed in recruiting.

 

[Escambia94]

@Ga8or22 is right. The recruiting focus has been on defense for quite some time. I will go back to the recruiting threads and show who else was on the radar in past years. I avoided posting that before, because the tendency was for fans to point at players like Sammy Watkins and say, "See? The Gators whiffed again on athlete X that I like and think will be a good fit for Florida". When I make those changes, it will not be to show that we the fans are smarter than the coaches, but to illustrate what the coaches considered to be priority in those years. For every Sammy Watkins they whiffed on, the Florida coaches won a Mike Gillislee or Matt Jones.

Just using Sammy Watkins as an example... The fans assumed we were a lock to win Sammy Watkins because we snagged his cousin, Jaylen Watkins and Sammy was from the state of Florida, and obviously any kid from Florida should consider the University of Florida. This is not always the case. Sammy, for some reason, made a conscious decision in high school to attend college outside the state. Perhaps he wanted an escape from home. Recruiting services do not consider this, and Florida fans certainly never do. However, the Gators did recruit two decent WRs instead of Sammy Watkins who did not pan out--Javares Mcroy and Ju'Juan Story. Was that a whiff? I think not. Both of those kids became troublemakers. Where did the coaches win that year with recruiting? Louchiez Purifoy.

 

[DRU2012]

@Ga8or22, @Escambia94,
(...Speaking of whom, anyone have any detailed info on Purifoy's injury, and the prognosis re recovery and when we'll have him back near full-strength? He's a beast, and KEY to this season all over the field...Along similar lines, how does the REST of that D-secondary look for the coming weeks? We were down to 5 of the defensive starters in the 2nd half last Sat., and it showed--otherwise they never SNIFF the goal line again.)

 

[Ga8or22]

(...Speaking of whom, anyone have any detailed info on Purifoy's injury, and the prognosis re recovery and when we'll have him back near full-strength?

Loucheiz Purifoy has a thigh contusion but is expected back this week. according too Champ on his briefing yesterday

 

[Ga8or22]

(...Speaking of whom, anyone have any detailed info on Purifoy's injury, and the prognosis re recovery and when we'll have him back near full-strength?

Further injury follow up:
Injury Update

• Jeff Driskel will have surgery to attach a metal plate to his fibula on Wednesday.

Leon Orr hurt his left shoulder against Tennessee but is expected to be back at practice on Tuesday or Wednesday.​

• Marcus Roberson reportedly ran well yesterday on his injured knee and will run in The Pit today at practice. Muschamp hopes to get him back this week.
• Valdez Showers is doubtful for the game Saturday with a knee injury.
• Jon Halapio needed three stitches under his eye but he will be fine and is expected to play this week.
• Tyler Moore will not practice Monday but is expected to be back Tuesday.
• Colin Thompson has a stress fracture in his foot. It’s the same foot that he had surgery on last season but a different injury. He’s expected to miss one or two weeks.

 

[DRU2012]

...But now there's a BIG one to add: "Easley tweaked his knee in practice" (accord. to Coach M) turns out to be possibly MUCH more serious: His dad is saying "he might be out for the season--don't assume anything just yet."
YIKES--THAT would be a HUGE loss to a D-secondary just starting to get near full-strength.

 

[DRU2012]

...so it's official now: Easley out for season with the ACL...and as I've said elsewhere, that hissing is the sound of our once-shining chance-for-greatness-in-2013 sinking into the Great Ocean of Disappointment in the West:
Which, in my view, was ALWAYS mostly a long shot in ANY event, and sets us up for turning seriously and completely to what always WAS a more realistic deal: A TRUE Championship Run in 2014--IF we now begin the process of "retrenching", and doing what needs to be done to get there.
So, put together what we'll have coming up, coming in, and coming BACK next year, with the various things we need to do THIS season to prepare (especially on Offense, ESPECIALLY at QB), and that begins to look more like a gathering storm, or a snowball gathering mass and momentum on its way downhill, than a "vain hope for retribution". More than anything else (and I have a LIST of "moves" in this regard), of course, the most important is to get Mornigweg SERIOUS reps, a real look in-game, and unveil Grier himself--with an eye even to possibly taking the "red shirt" off and getting HIM out there--I think we saw enough so far to know that any real Championship isn't ours for the taking until we have a quarterback who is ready to come into his own, make this team his own. We've got to find and begin to settle in with "that guy".

 

[Ga8or22]

Also teaches you how much to trust what Champ says

 

[DRU2012]

Also teaches you how much to trust what Champ says

I'm afraid I am beginning to feel the same way: Where I once excused our Head Coach's stonewalling as "Keeping the media and haters guessing", I am now starting to wonder, "Who ARE 'the outsiders', anyway? When did the rest of us, the die-hard fans, end up in that category?"