The way too early 2012 game breakdown predictions

[Escambia94]

2012 will be Coach Will Muschamp's second year as head coach of the mighty Gators. He has his first full recruiting class, only a handful of spread offense players, a near complete 3-4 defense, and yet another new offensive coordinator. Meanwhile, FSU has looked good in recruiting, South Carolina has become better than expected, and even Vanderbilt is scary at times. What should We expect in 2012? Here is my game by game breakdown of what I think will happen.

Bowling Green: Home-opener, easy win. Fans get first peek at the Pease offense. Will it be better than the Weis offense? I think so, for various reasons.

@Texas A&M : Very tough road game. This will set the tone for both teams seeking an identity. I see a close win by the Gators, but do not be surprised if we lose to a highly motivated Aggie team in Kyle Field.

@Tennessee : Tough game in Knoxville, but the Gators should win.

Kentucky : UK has not changed much in 30 years. Gators win barring serious injury.

LSU : Do the Gators take back the Swamp? I have no idea what happens here. Expect another home loss, but a much closer game. Trying to muster more optimism here.

@Vanderbilt : The fiesty Commodores will keep it close and make us pay for mistakes, but the Gators will win this one. Or I will burn my television.

South Carolina : I am tired of losing to the Gamecocks! I went to school here before transferring to Florida. Until recently we were the big team everyone looked up to. Time to get back to that. Gators win ugly.

Georgia : If you do not hate losing to the Leg Humpers then something is wrong with you. Gators need to destroy UGA and take their muscular cheerleader to examine. We need serious toughness if their cheerleader is tougher than our players.

Missouri : I will not know what to really expect here until I see the aTm game and some high ranked SEC games. My guess now is Gators win, based only on better defense.

UL-Lafayette : Gators cruise to triple digit win. I do like Ragin' Cajun fans. Fun bunch.

Jacksonville State: Maybe a close win if their coach is out to prove something.

@FSU : The losing streak needs to end here. I will try this optimism thing that I have been reading about and predict a win. Call me crazy. Honestly, if we handle aTm, SC, UGA and Mizzou, we can handle these clowns. Obviously if I was wrong about those other teams then I will be wrong about this one.

I see seven definite wins, one nearly definite loss, and four toss-ups. We will likely end with at least two losses, but no more than four.

 

[Leakfan12]

I thought that muscular cheerleader was their best DB LOL.

 

[DRU2012]

I'm with E-, here: I KNOW we'll be better overall, with a stronger, more balanced offense and a defense that will keep us in every game, and I too see a similar ultimate outcome: I'm on record as predicting a 9-and-3 regular season, "plus-or-minus the proverbial one game". In other words, also like E-, when I look at the actual schedule and take the games one-by-one, I realize I have far too little idea at present of how good we will in fact be ourselves, let alone in relation to these other teams, least of all our new foes "formerly-of-the-Big 12".
That first SEC-game on-the-road against the Aggies in College Station will tell us a WHOLE lot (they'll be "rockin' the 12th-man" at Kyle Field--and I plan to be there in Orange & Blue...in the Gator-section, of course; I know it's asking a lot, but our young team can use as large'n'loud a crowd as possible for that one). Win it, and the zap of confidence and energy could propel us into and through a challenging SEC-schedule with very few setbacks; lose, and we will likely have to struggle mightily in order to hit the low-end of that "plus-or-minus" scenario--though I believe we'll get stronger and better as a team as the season goes on, regardless. Barring the kind of across-the-board injury bad-luck we saw last season, we should be a dangerous, even formidable team by the end of November (and speaking of optimism, that team-to-be should be in position to shock the 'Noles by then, too).
(As for Georgia, whom I see us beating handily this time, I say it's THEY who should wonder about being noted for their cheerleader's muscles--awww, that picture alone just gives me the creeps, so I won't bother pursuing this line of thought, even in jest...I mean, "DAMN...")

 

[totenkopf13]

A 9 win season is very doable. I too am optimistic. We should have a pretty good idea of the direction things are going after ATM and UT.

 

[InkedAdrenaline]

I'm really not excited about playing A&M 2nd game of the year....

 

[DRU2012]

I'm really not excited about playing A&M 2nd game of the year....

Know what you mean--mostly 'cause it's on the road to a tough venue, with a traditionally "good home team" in their 1st SEC-game. Then there are all the unknowns.
However, practically speaking, they are about where we were LAST year in their retool/reorganize-with-new-coach process; that gives us an edge, one of several. They'll be "up-for-the-game", for sure, but the same ought to be true for us. A good-sized Gator road-crowd wouldn't be unwelcome, but I think the team will arrive with the proper "us-vs.-them-AND-THE-WORLD" attitude, either way...and remember, it's only THEIR 2nd game of the year TOO.

 

[Leakfan12]

I'm really not excited about playing A&M 2nd game of the year....

Me neither especially on the road though Texas A&M are an inconsistent team though I'm not too sure about the 2012 Gator team.

 

[FrozenGator]

I hate everyone who plays against the Gators. I'm not from the area, so I don't have any childhood fondness for any of the other schools there.

If I had to cheer for anyone else in the NCAA, it might be either the Wolverines or the Sooners. I know a Wolverine, and I like the Sooner fight song.

Go Gators. Everyone else can feel free to suffer a rash of season-ending injuries.

 

[DRU2012]

(laughing) I too admit to harboring my own secret "satisfaction" at ANYTHING that makes another major program's team weaker. That's why I do NOT hypocritically wish those teams "health and success", though I generally don't wish ill on a particular individual--unless he dissed us, "played us" during the recruiting process, began a Gator but deserted us or got thrown off the team--or is just a big-mouth who's too damned GOOD!

 

[Escambia94]

The Gators absolutely must beat the Aggies. This game will garner a lot of national attention, and will set the tone for Gator football the rest of the year.

Just to rehash last year, here are my predictions from last year:

• FAU
  • Prediction: Easy win if Demps and Rainey have a good day and Brantley picks up the Weis offense. 1-0.
  • Result: Easy win with an efficient Demps and Rainey, and Brantley was efficient with the Weis offense. 1-0.
• UAB
  • Prediction: Easy win. See FAU. 2-0.
  • Result: Easy win, but lots of penalties were a bad sign. Red Zone Offense was poor, despite statistically impressive outing. 2-0.
• UT
  • Prediction: Gators should survive first SEC test despite a cocky Tyler Bray. 3-0.
  • Result: This game was way too close until the Gators broke it open. 3-0.
• @Kentucky
  • Prediction: It's Kentucky. 4-0.
  • Result: It's Kentucky. 4-0.
• Alabama
  • Prediction: 50/50 chance of Saban's protege beating his former teacher, but the Gators need to clean up penalties and get Demps and Rainey past that massive Alabama defensive front 3. Loss. 4-1.
  • Result: Brantley surprised everyone by tearing up the Alabama's defense statistically, but penalties and poor Red Zone Offense would not have helped even if Brantley were not injured. This game showed us where Florida is as a program...waaaay behind Alabama. 4-1.
• @LSU
  • Prediction: Given the injury to Brantley, nobody is giving Florida a chance. Before the Brantley injury I would have liked Florida's chances. Loss. 4-2.
  • Result: Florida had no chance. Lots of three-and-outs, and an ineffective wildcat offense. 4-2.
• @Auburn
  • Prediction: The Gators should not lose a third game straight, not to this Auburn team without a Cam Newton. Win. 5-2.
  • Result: ####! ####! ####! How did the Gators lose this game?! Loss. 4-3.
• Georgia
  • Prediction: This is Coach Boom's alma mater. The Gators can beat these leghumpers to end the losing skid. Win. 6-2.
  • Result: ####! ####! ####! How did this happen?! Loss. 4-4.
• Vanderbilt
  • Prediction: It's Vanderbilt. What's the worse that could happen? Win. 7-2.
  • Result: Holy crap. It almost happened. Whew! The Gators escaped a five-game losing skid. 5-4.
• South Carolina
  • Prediction: This SC team is nowhere near as scary as last year, and they are missing key players. Definitely winnable. 8-2 and take the SEC East.
  • Result: This is getting old. Shadow the stupid QB! That was a winnable game! Loss. 5-5.
• Furman
  • Prediction: Meh. 9-2.
  • Result: Meh. 6-5.
• Florida State
  • Prediction: Winnable game. Home crowd. Piss-poor QB. Brantley is back. 10-2. Get a nice bowl game.
  • Result: WTF? My grandma could have thrown fewer interceptions. 6-6. Crappy bowl game.

I had to undergo that rehash just to remind myself to be careful with my own predictions. We still do not have a proven QB or RB. We have underperforming WRs. On defense, we will be great. I cannot fathom us repeating a 7-6 performance. The aTm game will give us a good sign of whether we are on our way to SEC East, or another disappointing season. Hopefully, disappointment just means 8-4 or 9-3, maybe 10-2.

 

[DRU2012]

Aside from the teams that eventually played for the BCS-Championship (and even THOSE might have been at least competitive contests under other circumstances), the rest of the above losses were the result of an inept offense--"inept" every bit as much or more because of the OC as because of injuries at key positions, little depth and inexperience in the back-ups, and under-achievement among "playmakers" who WERE healthy.
Weis is gone, the new OC looks to be a real upgrade, and as for the rest, well, it's OK to be "cautiously optimistic" this time, going in. Our defense as you say will be very good, we will aim to dominate the line-of-scrimmage going BOTH ways and, with the basic tools to run-the-clock in a ball-control offense, we are likely to be in close games even against talented, top-rated SEC squads, with a real chance at winning them. As I've stated elsewhere, I project much the same outcome as you, E-: "9-and-3, plus-or-minus 1".
(...and I agree about the importance of that TAMU-game in College Station: we'll know a WHOLE lot more about our team and the kind of season it will be depending on (1) above all, if we win, and (2) to a lesser extent but still important, how we go about doing so.)

 

[Leakfan12]

I hate everyone who plays against the Gators. I'm not from the area, so I don't have any childhood fondness for any of the other schools there.

If I had to cheer for anyone else in the NCAA, it might be either the Wolverines or the Sooners. I know a Wolverine, and I like the Sooner fight song.

Go Gators. Everyone else can feel free to suffer a rash of season-ending injuries.

Another reason to like the Wolverines, TOSU is their rivals (enough said).

 

[DRU2012]

Another reason to like the Wolverines, TOSU is their rivals (enough said).

YES! Never a tOSU-fan (I don't even like that "dotting the i"-BS that Beano Cook has always had such a hard-on for) and therefore defacto pro-Wolverines in their annual tilt, I now have a more POSITIVE reason to root FOR Michigan, not just vaguely against the Suckeyes.

 

[Escambia94]

My hatred is reserved for teams worthy of my vitriol--UGA and Miami. I cannot hate the Suckeyes until they beat us. Same with Notre Dame or Texas.

 

[DRU2012]

Agreed: It would take a LOT more than we have against them so far (even WITH the Meyer-factor) to put them in the dark hole-of-hatred reserved for Miami.

 

[Leakfan12]

My hatred is reserved for teams worthy of my vitriol--UGA and Miami. I cannot hate the Suckeyes until they beat us. Same with Notre Dame or Texas.

Even though the Suckeyes took Meyer away from us?

 

[Escambia94]

Even though the Suckeyes took Meyer away from us?

We all knew that Meyer would wind up at tOSU, Penn State, or Notre Dame. We just did not expect it to be so soon. They did not take Meyer from us. He left us after the 2009 SEC CG. That guy we saw in 2010 was not Urban Meyer. Again, they did not take Meyer from us. He was already gone, waiting for a coach at tOSU to get fired or a coach at Penn State to retire.