Week 10: #8 Florida Gators 44, #5 Georgia Bulldogs 28 - 11/7/2020

[DRU2012]

(@Leakfan12, )
Missed ya today, bra’!
Hope you got a chance to see SOME of game...if not, try to see as much of the replay as you can. It was WILD—especially that first half. The second, after Pitts went down, was more nerve-wracking. But also exciting, in its own way (we actually had to depend on our DEFENSE—and THIS time THEY CAME THROUGH!). Sure you’ll have your OWN thoughts.
Contrary to seeming projections,
Our season is still “INTACT”, at least, after all. We live to fight another day, right?

 

[Leakfan12]

(@Leakfan12, )
Missed ya today, bra’!
Hope you got a chance to see SOME of game...if not, try to see as much of the replay as you can. It was WILD—especially that first half. The second, after Pitts went down, was more nerve-wracking. But also exciting, in its own way (we actually had to depend on our DEFENSE—and THIS time THEY CAME THROUGH!). Sure you’ll have your OWN thoughts.
Contrary to seeming projections,
Our season is still “INTACT”, at least, after all. We live to fight another day, right?

I know, I usually don't talk until after the game. I worked today and didn't get home until halftime. Saw the second half. I hope it's not serious with Pitts. Happy with the improvement on the D. Also, Trask has to be a strong contender for the Heisman now and the running game needs to be fixed.

 

[DRU2012]

I know, I usually don't talk until after the game. I worked today and didn't get home until halftime. Saw the second half. I hope it's not serious with Pitts. Happy with the improvement on the D. Also, Trask has to be a strong contender for the Heisman now and the running game needs to be fixed.

Well, the various shows have certainly sat up and started taking real notice now, at least. He’ll likely be invited, at the very least...but he will have to “keep it going”, and us win out, to be in it for real at the end. Same for ALL of us, our whole team and program (though now TAMU looks to be in our way, according to how the pundits are talking about them; They probably need to lose a game, no matter WHAT we do from here, for us to jump them now, no matter WHAT—but all WE can do really is look after our OWN play from now till the end of our Schedule.)
Which brings us back to Pitts:
For Trask’s AND the whole OFFENSE’S sake he had to be healthy snd OUT THERE, ASAP and onward for the stretch run. (A real “Master of the Obvious” moment for me, I know!)

 

[DRU2012]

PS. And the running game, like the defense, appears to be coming along:
Our Playmakers clearly need to be fed the ball in our running game, and the D simply needs to keep “playing-into-shape” it seems! If we can just keep winning and getting people back and our younger guys keep improving with onfield/in game experience, by the end of the year we should be formidable in every phase of the game.
In fact: YES...we might even be among “the elite” by then after all.

 

[Escambia94]

It is too early to talk about the CFP, but here is what the big pundits are saying:

• Texas A&M is out of the playoff unless they win out and Alabama loses to Auburn. Go ahead and scratch them off the already crowded list.
• Notre Dame and Clemson can both get in if Clemson wins the rematch. Most pundits assume Clemson will win the rematch with Trevor Lawrence back in the lineup, so put this option in backup for now.
• Alabama is in if they win out or lose a close one in the SEC championship. Most pundits agree that Alabama is in no matter what, since they are 99% likely to get in with 1 or 0 losses and it is unlikely that another team will knock them off other than possibly Florida. To reiterate, even if they lose a close one to Florida they are in.
• Florida is only in if they beat Alabama in the SEC championship, but there is a very remote possibility that they could also get in with a close loss to Alabama in the SEC championship plus a lot of chaos—a lot of chaos, I reiterate. Assume this is highly unlikely.
• Ohio State looks unstoppable and without any B1G challenges they will likely lands a CFP slot.
• Cincinnati could slide into the CFP if they keep on track.

Pundits will put some asterisks on this Gator victory, but it is a victory nonetheless. Consider this the Gators’ unofficial CFP qualifier, but try not to get your hopes up until the defense improves.

 

[Leakfan12]

I wished that Clemson would have won since it would have meant Gators moved ahead of the Golden Domers. I don't see Clemson falling that far.

 

[DRU2012]

I wished that Clemson would have won since it would have meant Gators moved ahead of the Golden Domers. I don't see Clemson falling that far.

I was thinking EXACTLY THE SAME THING—in fact at probably the exact same time as you as they came back at the end of that game!
I tend to almost ALWAYS root against Notre Dame ANYWAY (don’t get me started), and this time we Gators had those ADDITIONAL reasons to feel that way, as you note.
In fact, it may be moot if we don’t win out (INCLUDING the SEC Championship Game against The Tide), but the fact remains that “as things stand” the Irish are INDEED “in our way” now above us in the “beauty pageant” that is the run up to the media show that the choosing of “the Football Final Four” has become—and it sure SEEMS like the Clemsen game was their best chance to get bumped aside during the regular season.
However, there is a pretty good chance that even if Notre Dame now wins out, with their being “officially in the ACC for this season alone” means they would have to face a presumably healthier Clemsen squad as the SECOND PLACE team in the ACC Championship Game at season’s end—and if we win-out AND beat Bama, well, I can’t speak for the Committee, but I gotta figure that would land us AND at LEAST one other SEC team in the FFF—plus SOMEONE’S fan base furious when, depending on OTHER results between now and then, THEIR one-loss team is “left out”.
Typical of so much ELSE in 2020, this is all shaping up as a hugely, closely contested race to the finish—and one where not EVERYONE can POSSIBLY be satisfied. Some sort of “play in” game would seem to be a potentially “preferred addition” this time, but there is no provision in place for such a thing.
So instead, we may be stuck with controversy and angry recriminations.
Sound familiar?

 

[Leakfan12]

It is too early to talk about the CFP, but here is what the big pundits are saying:

• Texas A&M is out of the playoff unless they win out and Alabama loses to Auburn. Go ahead and scratch them off the already crowded list.
• Notre Dame and Clemson can both get in if Clemson wins the rematch. Most pundits assume Clemson will win the rematch with Trevor Lawrence back in the lineup, so put this option in backup for now.
• Alabama is in if they win out or lose a close one in the SEC championship. Most pundits agree that Alabama is in no matter what, since they are 99% likely to get in with 1 or 0 losses and it is unlikely that another team will knock them off other than possibly Florida. To reiterate, even if they lose a close one to Florida they are in.
• Florida is only in if they beat Alabama in the SEC championship, but there is a very remote possibility that they could also get in with a close loss to Alabama in the SEC championship plus a lot of chaos—a lot of chaos, I reiterate. Assume this is highly unlikely.
• Ohio State looks unstoppable and without any B1G challenges they will likely lands a CFP slot.
• Cincinnati could slide into the CFP if they keep on track.

Pundits will put some asterisks on this Gator victory, but it is a victory nonetheless. Consider this the Gators’ unofficial CFP qualifier, but try not to get your hopes up until the defense improves.

A&M even if they win out falls short especially if Clemson does win a rematch against Notre Dame which both teams will get in because the NCAA will make sure Notre Dame gets in (unless one of them loses twice including the ACC title game). I wonder if the same can be said if the Gators beats Bama in the SEC title game if Bama only loses that game. Ohio State though could they be punished for the Big Ten's (14's) late start. It would be hilarious if Cincinnati leapfrogs them.

 

[DRU2012]

A&M even if they win out falls short especially if Clemson does win a rematch against Notre Dame which both teams will get in because the NCAA will make sure Notre Dame gets in (unless one of them loses twice including the ACC title game). I wonder if the same can be said if the Gators beats Bama in the SEC title game if Bama only loses that game. Ohio State though could they be punished for the Big Ten's (14's) late start. It would be hilarious if Cincinnati leapfrogs them.

Hard to say—Fun to WATCH, though.
But it still leaves US in “one-game-at-a-TIME”-mode, of course.
WE just gotta go into each of these as separate and discrete challenges:
It seems clear that my first impression upon SEEING “the revised ALL SEC schedule”—that our season INSTANTLY “got a whole lot tougher”—was fairly prescient: Between that (a RESULT of the pandemic, at least indirectly) and the more direct effect of Covid on our subsequent play (OUR health AND that of our opponents—missed games AND missing people) has affected our season dramatically overall...Has and still IS.
I’ve given up trying to anticipate events; Here’s hoping our Coaches have the players just dealing with what they can control and with what’s right in FRONT of them.
Go GATORS!!!