College Smackdown

Hmm. Well, this sure changes some things. Take away the Wake Forest debacle and we would be in terrific shape.

The Miami game is one that always lingers on your schedule and no matter how good your team is or is not, you can never predict the outcome. I was truly back and forth on our chances. I really tried to play this game down in my last article and in my mind. Make no mistake, I have and always will feel as strongly about Miami losing as much as I do the other team that we play every year from Florida. I still cannot believe how well we played. Take away our long snapper — and I really mean take him away— Miami really never stood a chance. It was 24-3 at halftime; minus the 16 points he spotted them in the second half, this would have been a blow out.

My crew (conspicuously absent Mark P. who chose instead to participate in the local triathalon last week) headed out to Fayetteville once again for last week’s game. Their fans have become some of our favorites in the SEC, so even though Arkansas is having a tough year under first-year coach Bobby Petrino, we decided to make what is easily the longest trip in the SEC and head out to Arkansas. The Arkansas fans gave us rock-star status several years ago when we went to Fayetteville and though we ran into a little more resistance this time from a few rowdy Razorbacks, we still had a good time mixing it up with the locals on Dickson Street until the wee hours on Oct. 3.

Last week’s bye came at a much-needed time for me and the Dawgs. The open weekend gave me a chance to catch up on some work and also to rest my vocal cords after that first half debacle against Alabama. The open week hopefully gave the dinged-up Dawgs a chance to heal and, more importantly, to get their helmets on straight so the field isn’t littered with laundry the rest of the season.

Speaking of penalties, I was listening to the Gator/Hawgs game last week and it sounded like the Gators took our place in the infractions department, with five penalties in eight plays at one point. Is that stat correct, Eric?

A cool night game in Tallahassee; what in the world could be more perfect? Hmm. Maybe some offense and (not to push it) but a victory? I give up! I reached for my Blackberry a few times Saturday night to jot down some instant thoughts. Sunday morning I realized this was not a good idea. Acting on legal advice from my attorney, I have deleted all of those thoughts and opted to start fresh.

On a serious note, this one honestly hurt more than any since I have graduated. For a few years, I thought we were just sputtering and really did not care because you want to be the last great team. Then you just have to laugh for a few years. This year was different. We had made some major changes, Coach Jimbo Fisher was in control of his offense, we had some new recruits, and I was a believer again. However, the results are not there. Painful is the only word that comes to mind.

The Gators jumped on Tennessee early and often last Saturday then cruised to a 30-6 win in front of 106,000 plus (at least at kickoff) in Neyland Stadium. The Gators were given a short field after a spectacular Brandon James kickoff return to start the game. Tim Tebow led the Gators down the field and then threw a way-too-easy jump pass to Aaron Hernandez to cap the touchdown drive. Gators over pumpkins, 7-0.

Tennessee fumbled on their third play from scrimmage and after a penalty and an ill-conceived wide receiver screen, the Gators faced third and 18. Doing his best impersonation of Brett Favre, Tebow completed a desperation pass to Kestahn Moore setting up a legitimate field goal try for Jonathan Phillips of 39 yards which he easily made — thanks I am sure in no small part to his very valuable experience gained late against Miami. Gators, 10-0.

I always try to get my thoughts and feelings together before I get started on my articles. The first feeling is that we avoided a horrific upset from one of these cushion games. The other feeling was of excitement with the team and our fans. I was especially impressed with our fans this week. Just like our team, we are building up our momentum heading into the first test of our season.

While Chattanooga was a little more impressive then Western Carolina, they are nowhere near the caliber of teams we have on the horizon.

How and why teams like Chattanooga and West Carolina choose to play these games baffle me. It came to me when I saw a Chattanooga receiver get laid out by Kenny Ingram crossing the middle of the field. I am just not sure what they have to gain from these games except for some potential injuries to some key players.

Whew! The Dawgs pulled out of Columbia Sept. 13 with 14-7 win over the game chickens, and game they were! South Carolina’s defense packed their lunches Saturday, but came up a chicken salad sandwich short by the time the fourth quarter ended.

With the Dawgs holding on to a 14-7 lead late in the game, Carolina’s offense — after being stymied most of the game — put together two would-be scoring drives, the first ending in a fumble in the end zone on a monster-Dawg hit by linebacker Rennie Curran as S.C.’s running back attempted a goal line dive. The second and final drive ended when the Dawgs safety, Rashad Jones, nearly intercepted a pass attempt, then, on the next play, got another chance and successfully intercepted quarterback Chris Smelley’s pass on the 3-yard line and took a knee to seal the win.

The Gators enjoyed an early bye last weekend to prepare for the Volunteers of Tennessee and for the long grind of the conference schedule. After watching Tennessee play Alabama at Birmingham this weekend, I hope the Gators are up for the challenge.

Tennessee took a while to get going against UAB, and were even booed by the home fans as they went in to the locker room up 14-0 at the half. But in the second half, they easily pulled away and satisfied the fans with a 35-3 win. Somehow, I think the fans will be back behind their team this week as the hated Gators come into town.

Minutes after the game ended Sept. 6, my wife squealed “Even Hawaii scored 10 on us!” I think that pretty well sums it up. Our defense could do no wrong, so the Gators defeated Miami 26-3 at home in front of a record crowd in The Swamp.

The game was considerably closer than the score would indicate, though, for most of the game. It took three quarters to get the offense in gear, but fortunately the defense came to play and they were able to shut Miami down by limiting them to just 140 yards of total offense. I didn’t do any research per se, but I can’t immediately recall a more complete defensive ball game since the Ohio State game to cap the 2006 national championship season. In fact, the defense is drawing some comparisons to that 2006 squad, though I believe those comparisons are a bit premature.

Zzzzz. That is about all I have for last week’s game. What a game: a bit of a rain delay and then an instant lead. I have to admit all the empty seats was no mystery to me. So anything after this sentence is just a bunch of extra thoughts to fill up an article (of course I am only kidding).

The game, while being mainly a glorified scrimmage, was still an awesome show of power. While it started out slowly, I ended up being highly impressed with both sides of the ball. The players are playing with a nothing-to lose-attitude and the swagger is starting to show. Sure, Western Carolina probably could not beat most of the great high schools in Florida — and to any Western Carolina fans that might read this I mean this with the utmost respect. However, FSU still put up the kind of numbers you would expect in a game like this.