Another trip to Lexington, another Florida win. I don’t know if Florida fans realize how hard it is to beat a team 27 straight times in anything. You kind of take it for granted after a while.
But Florida’s win Saturday night was another example of the talent gap between the two programs. I asked Will Muschamp after the game if his penchant for running the ball in the second half was an effort to shorten the game and get out with the win.
“No, I was standing on the sideline and I was watching a surge of three or four yards on every play by our line,” he said. “Why throw it?”
Florida fans spoiled by Steve Spurrier may have an answer for him but nobody should be complaining about a win.
Time for Four From The Field:
1. As we watched USC’s defense give up 62 points to Arizona State Saturday night/Sunday morning, we wondered if the total indifference displayed by Lane Kiffin on the sideline would hurt him as much as another bad loss. Whatever the reason, college football won’t be the same without Kiffin to kick around. Now he can take a job that he is truly qualified for instead of being handed great jobs without ever winning anything.
2. You have to give credit to Aaron Murray, who bounced back from that opening loss to lead his team to a pair of high-profile wins. And the Georgia quarterback, who had a knack for turnovers in big games, is suddenly right in the middle of the Heisman race. But the thing that I took from that game was how poorly LSU’s safeties played. How many wide-open receivers did Murray get to find for touchdowns? Maybe LSU is what we thought the Tigers would be in the preseason — a young defense that will take time to be any good.
3. I know that every game is its own game but one thing that bodes well for Florida’s run-first offense is that Arkansas gave up 262 yards rushing to Texas A&M. It’s kind of weird that the Gators will face three new SEC coaches in three straight weeks when they welcome Bret Bielema to town.
4. Alabama looked like Alabama again against Ole Miss. AJ McCarron was efficient, the Tide was able to run the ball and the defense was impenetrable. I think a lot of us thought this might happen, that Alabama was going to revert to form and that the stage would be too big for the Rebels. Well, at least I did.
