Official Game Thread: #10 Florida Gators 41, #8 Michigan Wolverines 15, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl 12/29/18

[Escambia94]

My guess is that the Gators wind up ranked #7 at the end of the season.

1. Alabama (14-0)
2. Clemson (14-0)
3. Oklahoma (12-2) [Oklahoma replaces Notre Dame at #3 by scoring 30+ against Alabama]
4. Notre Dame (12-2) [Notre Dame drops to #4 with a loss to Clemson]
5. Georgia (11-2) [Georgia remains at #5 or #6 at least with a loss to Texas]
6. Ohio State (12-1) [should stay above Florida or UCF even with a loss]
7. Florida (10-3) [Florida is maxed out at #7 even if half the teams above lose]
8. UCF (12-0) [UCF moves up to #7 with a victory over LSU, drops to #8 or #9 with a loss]
9. Michigan (10-3) [Michigan is maxed out at #9, and could drop to #10 depending on Washington]
   
10. Washington (9-3) [Washington moves up to #9 with a victory over Ohio State]

Edited after the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl.

 

[DRU2012]

Couldn't tell for sure (camera was swinging around, capturing whole stadium and crowd I guess--which in this case was the right move, but I was unable to zoom in on scoreboard OR unis)... Was this clip between 3rd and 4th qtrs of FSU game?
LOVED it, no matter what--with everyone so into it, singing their HEARTS'N'GUTS OUT, it gave me chills!
I can't WAIT til we do this on national TV in 2nd half of our next National Championship Final appearance--show the nation and WORLD WHAT WE'RE ABOUT!

 

[DRU2012]

Wolverines end up as Gator bait!
[TWEET]https://twitter.com/espn/status/1079114930404708354?s=19
[/TWEET]

FINALLY. NEW SAYING:
"HE WHO WINS LAST WINS BEST."

 

[DRU2012]

My guess is that the Gators wind up ranked #7 at the end of the season.

1. Alabama (13-0) [Alabama drops no further than #4 with a loss to Oklahoma]
2. Clemson (13-0) [Clemson drops no further than #4 with a loss to Notre Dame]
3. Notre Dame (12-0) [Notre Dame drops to #4 with a loss to Clemson]
4. Oklahoma (12-1) [Oklahoma remains at #4 with a loss to Alabama]
5. Georgia (11-2) [Georgia remains at #5 or #6 at least with a loss to Texas]
6. Ohio State (12-1) [should stay above Florida or UCF even with a loss]
7. Florida (10-3) [Florida is maxed out at #7 even if half the teams above lose]
8. UCF (12-0) [UCF moves up to #7 with a victory over LSU, drops to #8 or #9 with a loss]
9. Michigan (10-3) [Michigan is maxed out at #9, and could drop to #10 depending on Washington]
   
10. Washington (9-3) [Washington moves up to #9 with a victory over Ohio State]

WELL, no "RULE" thay says that the CFP game participants are locked IN at "Top 4", though that HAS been the "trend" at least in the COMMITTEE'S "Final Rankings" so far in first couple/few years...I certainly do NOT support that unfailing pattern once the games are played and we SEE the relative strengths and ingame performance and actual outcomes of head-to-head competitions...but anyway I was thinking more in terms of "OUTSIDE THE COMMITTEE"-RANKINGS...
NO, I was thinking more about the Assoc Press and OTHER media and news org rankings... Those HAVE varied after the smoke cleared. Lets see what happens--Certainly Georgia will be looking for some vindication should they soundly beat the Longhorns, AND then meanwhile if the non-SEC competitors get overwhelmed in their playoff games...and I could see our Gators doing a little better than merely REPLACING Mich at #7...I could see us making it as high as #5, depending on what happens in and OUT of the CFPs...

 

[DRU2012]

(It isn't that big a deal, obviously, but also not "irrelevant" or "insignificant" either: There's Georgia's "annoyance" and pride, as noted, not to mention the general pride and honor about "relative strength-of-schedules" on the part of all of us who play "SEC Schedules" too! To HELL with all this "sick of the SEC"-thing, ANYWAY! We really ARE "BETTER": If y'all don't like it, instead of whining about it, time to start working at "GETTING BETTER" yourSELVES!!!
Fact is, mid-level SEC programs probably really ARE better than most of the teams in YOUR Leagues--MOST of them in SOME of the so-called "Power Conferences" now...The whiners out there want it both ways: They voice support for the "underdogs" getting more attention and chances at Championship competition--but only insofar as it might dent the SEC's dominance, NOT THEIR schools' room as far as "shots at the top prize".
For our part, most of us in the SEC aren't asking for any such "reserved space"--We just wanna do it our way, keep our level of competition HIGH--and NOT SEE the value of each game in the REGULAR season devalued in any way! If the rest of them played in a league as good as ours, with talent, spirit, following and support as strong and vital as ours has LONG been, they'd understand--and not wanna see it f'ed with EITHER!)

 

[DRU2012]

...Anyway, we "WIN" if only all this just gets TALKED about in this way: That would more or less accomplish what I'm hoping we'll gain from this win today: Added attention and credit to our Coach, and program's, "dramatic upward trend"--the spreading overall widespread impression that we are ateam "on the way UP":
"Don't just see us as we've been, but as where we're on the way to BEING--with or WITHOUT you, lad...But imagine yourself a PART of that, the attention, the ride, the FUN of it all!!!"

 

[DRU2012]

(Later the same evening, early in 2nd qtr of Bama vs Sooners...)
Am LOVING THE SEC dominance around the Bowl season so far--only Gamecocks have disappointed/"let down the side" so far, but that's on "The CHIEF OF Under-Achievement" himself, Will Muschamp, if anyone, and fairly predictable going in--Obviously, I am no big Tide fan, but we'll worry about dealing with THEM when the time comes (hopefully NEXT season); for now, I just wanna see the Sooners be humiliated as ANY no-D Big 12 team DESERVES...I AM SICK TO DEATH of this style of all-Offense/no Defense football that has proliferated throughout all levels of late...They say "The FANS demand it that way"...Well, I'M "a fan", and hardly the only one who is generally disgusted by these gutless, no-cojones displays all OVER the place.
Blow them ALL away! Only way to put an end to it anytime soon.

 

[DRU2012]

If you are watching the Tide/Sooners game, you can SEE that a good deal of the time Bama completely outclasses Oklahoma in EVERY WAY--But then they have lapses, sequences of screw ups that are typical of ANY college-level team, no matter HOW well-coached...and we just saw a long string of BOTH: They embarked on and beautifully executed a long, time-eating GRIND of a drive designed to end the half with a TD and a 25 point lead--and as I say, did a near perfect job of it until the very end...THEN suddenly broke down in startingly flawed fashion, stumbling, bumbling and stopping THEMSELVES with a STRING of mistakes and dumb, careless penalties...Even scored and had THAT called back along the way... They DID finally settle for a successful field goal attempt after that, to finish the half up 3 touchdowns anyway--but it was a flawed let down of an ending to an otherwise mostly dominant half. I doubt they are in much danger here, even from this high-scoring Sooner offense, but it sure seemed a relatively messy performance in place of what had seemed earlier to be on its way to being smoothly put away EARLY.
Much as I just HATE witnessing self-destructive imperfection from an otherwised well-drilled and coached unit, in truth when I step back and consider it honestly from a GATOR P.O.V., these last few minutes have been strangely REASSURING: We CAN (eventualy, when the time comes) BEAT this team. They are NOT "perfect", their Coach HASN'T honed them to invulnerability--HE has his weaknesses and flaws, and I now see that they are somehow INHERENT IN that VERY "cold, inflexible, intolerant of imperfection ITSELF"-approach. THAT is what is inherently different between he and Dan Mullen, who is much more a "WORK with you" rather than "DICTATE to you" sort of guy. When it finally comes down to us vs THEM, THAT is eventually how our Coach will beat him, I think.

 

[DRU2012]

In fact, right now Oklahoma is doing just that--using Bama's "fear to be imperfect" AGAINST them. A tighter, more complete unit might well have been ABLE to come back on this Tide squad from 3 TDs down in the 2nd half. As it is, though, even the Tide can still win this by biding their tine, employing a "bend but don't break", at least not quickly nor often, approach.
Alabama's eventual victory won't LOOK so dominant as it might have, SHOUKD have, but it WILL get them to the FINAL--AND Saban WILL have LOTS to bully and demean his players' imperfections and failures with--and that is what he's all about. He is the quintessential "benevolent dictator"--he gets results, but at what cost, longterm? His teams WIN--But "joy" and "fun" are irrelevant at BEST. Beats LOSING, of course... but wait and see how it contrasts with the FUN we'll all share in when Mullen's Gators finaly start reliably and constantly winning at a similar pace...

 

[Escambia94]

 

[DRU2012]

One thing IS being made PAINFULLY clear--to us Gators in particular:
Tua shows us what an ACCURATE passer can do. If WE had one, WE'D be running away with every game TOO!
Sigh. I'd go as far as to say that the cold, stark TRUTH is that Franks ISN'T "BAD", per say--but his inaccuracy and lack of touch is essentially the difference--between 3 losses and an also-ran-Bowl, as we got, and maybe NO losses and a shot at a Championship run, as we mighta had. All the OTHER personel gains will strengthen us, lend depth and consistency...but really only a true STAR at the QB position separates us from ANNUAL National Championship runs now.
And I don't KNOW if Mullen thinks he OR us have time to "wait and see", but personally I just do not believe that Filipe Franks will EVER be that guy.
Sorry, Filipe: Cry, shush and resent the fans, and/or threaten to move on all you want--but you just ain't "The Man". Maybe if you'd redouble your efforts to get better (IF you even have it in you to get there if you did--more and more it appears that you won't try, so neither you nor US will ever likely know), it might have been different.
So far Mullen seems not to be sure he yet has a definite alternative in hand--but the moment he is, we'll know: That player will be on the field, taking the starting snaps under center. With our Coach and staff and the REST of the team they are putting together, have already got even now can win a LOT of games without a complete QB, it's clear--and our Head Coach is EMMINENTLY ADAPTABLE, can and WILL "work around" anyone's, even FILIPE'S flaws...But now's as good a time as any to step back and consider: "Imagine what we can be, what we WILL be with a truly "right fit" at QB..." Meanwhile, we merely "make do"... But we gotta BELIEVE: He's still OUT THERE--and our Coach and staff WILL somehow eventually FIND AND LAND HIM.
(Meanwhile, you can COUNT ON the fact that they will damn well find OUT for sure if Emory Jones is or can BE THAT guy before opening the season next fall. If not, well, they'll get what they can with what we do have already.)
THE GOOD NEWS:
We are CLOSE.
Onward!

 

[Escambia94]

 

[DRU2012]

(Have watched the Peach Bowl replay now a COUPLE of times--and EVERYTHING I've had to say about Franks has been well-reinforced. OK, fine, we EVENTUALLY asserted our superiority of talent AND coaching over that Michigan team (we are so much better on BOTH counts that it was inevitable, it seems now in retrospect)--but even a "decent" QB (say, a Chris Leak) would have had us up COMFORTABLY before the end of the first half. Wuerfel or Tebow in their primes woulda had us partying before the FIRST QUARTER was over!
Of course, that's one of the PROBLEMS playing QB at UF: The standard has been set. The bar is high. We do have high expectations--another reason these last 9 seasons have been so excruciating; less room for patience watching Filiepe, with his cannon arm and shotgun "accuracy"--but worst of all, his molasses-slow learning curve--bumbling through his still-glacial checkdown process, then STILL NOT making it to the way-open guy breaking clear for 6 at "#3"...or outright MISSING him if/when he does. That (plus our moribund kicking game--our punter is all-American quality, but the unit can be downright lackadaisical: We had TWO blocked kicks in this one--unconscionable) kept us from cashing in early opportunities--which could KILL us at the next level up: Chamionship-level competition, which we aim to and are on target FOR matching up with SOON. Like NEXT YEAR. That game reel is replete with "teaching moments" for Mullen, Grantham and the rest of the staff. Lots of work to do OFF the field as well as ON for this Gator team, across the board.
"...but we won't back down..." Right?

 

[DRU2012]

ANOTHER point well-made in this one was watching these Mich players "dropping like flies" throughout the game--more and more as the game went on, too:
This is what it's like, week in/week out playing in the SEC, boys. Big Slow Ten, Dwarf 12, Pac-Count-'em-again--NONE of 'em hold a candle to our league. It's a testament to our return to proper strength and conditioning as well, true, but NONE of these teams have any idea, face anything LIKE what EVERY SEC team faces over the course of a season. And NOW is when it shows.

 

[Leakfan12]

Would have been better if MacLair was still there at UM.