Big KO for touchback--everyone's getting pumped now. Penalty on KO?!! Offsides, and bacl 5 yds to undo fine kick--geez, this is getting out of hand: we are piling up the sloppy-play penalties even FASTER than last year!
As I was saying, Brisset's big arm has yet to really offer any real advantage...even Driskel's bad miss on his first pass to Dunbar (ANOTHER "near interception" that should have been a pick-off--but 3-and-out) was a "learning experience, and he's been sharp since, in fact that 9 yarder on 3rd down back at the end of the first qrtr began to open things up. Brisset has NOT been able to do much: here's his chance on 3rd down. Fires a strike to Pittman: 1st down. Nice job. An 8 yarder to Dunbar. OK, here comes another 3rd down--bad play-call there with that run...if you want to find out what your QB's worth, you give him a chance to make a play...he might have done well to tuck it and run with the ball himself on that play, but that is Driskel's strength, I guess. ANOTHER penalty here to the Gators, a BIG one, a personal foul away from the play. I'm sorry but this is disgusting--gives them good field position late in the half. Between the penalties (the count already for 1 half is bad for a whole game--10 penalties for about 80 yards! ANOTHER flag! Another off sides...this is a fiasco! take away half the penalties and maybe hold onto ONE of those "near interceptions" and maybe we've already got this game well in hand by now...) Dropped pass by the Bowling Green guy or this game is tied up. Damnit! Missed tackle again by the Gators on 3rd down. ..and Easley's down again--looks like cramps, but this is all WAY too familiar...we are falling apart again now, everything falling apart at the end of the half, like a boxer holding on to make it out of the round. This is a confused, even disorganized Gator squad. Missed short FG saves us here--pathetic to have to say that at the half against Bowling Green.
I don't know what to say about the two "discipline and concentration" issues that are STILL plaguing our team:
When it comes to (1)the secondary's failures at holding onto picks right to 'em, and (2) the absurdly fast and steadily mounting penalties all over the field by both offensive and defensive squads, WE SAID IT ALL LAST YEAR! Man, the first is an individual thing ("Wake up! Take the damn ball--don't fight with it!"), and the second is clearly a team-wide thing ("Snap out of it, ALL of you! You've been playing this game since you were little kids, and you all know the rules!")--and as stated, they're BOTH a matter of both concentration and discipline, and you have to wonder exactly what is broke there, where is the disconnect between the coaches, who WANT disciplined self-control and awareness more than anything among their players, and the players themselves, who appear to be throwing all they've learned and practiced once they're out there in the heat of competition?
Finally, I am ready to say this concerning the "quarterback battle": PICK A GUY. I think it's Driskel, but hell, if y'all (the head Coach and OC) are seeing something I'm not, fine--just put a guy in the role and let him run the team, sink or swim...and if he sinks, you got the other one and at some point, well, he gets another chance. This flirting-with-both is "flirting-with-disaster", it becomes more and more clear. I'm not saying they were wrong to let things play out this far, this late in the process trying to settle the question--between injuries and how close they were in the months leading up to opening week, it looked like the way to go, but it's time to shift gears, pull the trigger. I don't know if they'll give Brisset another series to "be fair", but that's about as far as they can afford to go with this approach, way I see it: I'd just open the 2nd half with Driskel and tell him to go win it...but even if they do give Brisset one more turn, unless he lights it up, you name Driskel the starter and live with it--unless and until he blows it or gets hurt. Anyway, here we go.
