Gators now are putting power into the spread offense

Hey W.D., I have a multiple choice question for you: What was that “beep … beep … beep” sound we all heard emanating from T-Town Saturday night? Was it
a) The moving truck (paid for by boosters) backing up to Saint Bobby’s house;
b) The ’Noles backing out of the Top 25 one week by losing to Wake and into obscurity the next week by losing to the Hurricanes;
c) Coach Bowden backing out of the lead for all-time D-I coaching wins;
or d) all of the above?
You guessed it! It was d) all of the above. Congratulations. You win another disappointing season.

Even I was rooting for the ’Noles this week. It is, in fact, the only day all year long that I admit to rooting for the ’Noles. After my trip to the Orange Bowl in 2003, I decided I disliked the ’Canes fans worse than I disliked the ’Noles fans, so every year since I have rooted for the dreaded enemy one, and only one, day per year. Alas, the ’Noles imploded again and another game/season slips away.

Maybe the boosters bought out the wrong Bowden last season. Keeping Bobby in T-Town with that team and those fans’ expectations is tantamount to elder abuse. Seriously, enough of the talk of Bobby Bowden going out on his own terms. If he wants to retire as the winningest coach of all time, he ought to consider retiring this week or possibly next week after the Duke game because he currently holds the lead by only one game over Joe Pa and Joe Pa is gaining ground with every FSU loss.

But enough about the ’Noles (though that was a lot of fun) — the Gators played this week, too. The Gators went on the road to play a higher-ranked team coming off the biggest win ever in its own stadium. Still, the Gators were a touchdown favorite. Why? Because Vegas knows, baby, Vegas knows. Actually, the game wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated. The Gators covered the spread by winning 45-37, but really, UK was playing from behind by between 11 and 18 points for most of the second half and scored the last TD only after time had expired during the last play that ended up a meaningless touchdown pass.
Caldwell had the breakout game I called for last week, but still had a couple of drops. Harvin and Tebow were both their dominating selves and Louis Murphy re-established himself as a threat. Ingram and Moore were both complementary and basically the defense did what it had to do: slow down, but not necessarily stop, the UK offense.

In the end, the Gators won this week the way I thought they should have won every game this year, by scoring lots of points. The Gators (and everyone else) knew the defense would be porous this season after losing nine starters, but we also suspected we’d see the spread offense really blossom now that Urban had “his guy” running it. In most of the games — those where the Gators put the “spread” back into the “spread offense” — they’ve scored lots of points. I hope they keep it up for the rest of the season.

The Dawgs are up next. By the time this is printed, I am sure half of Fernandina will be crawling with red and black-clad fans in town for the annual showdown with our rivals to the north. I can’t wait. Not for the game, but for my wheelbarrow ride down Centre Street after another Gator victory. Trey and I technically haven’t discussed it yet, but I assume the bet still stands — loser carries the other down Centre Street and treats the other to lunch at the Marina. See you there, Trey. Wear comfortable shoes. My prediction: UF 38, UGA 21.