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 To Panic Or Not To Panic?To panic or not to panic? That would seem to be the question after Miami's butt-whipping of Florida in the once feared Swamp on Saturday. The Gators played the Hurricanes close during the first half, but in the second half, the defending national champions scored again and again en route to a decisive 41-16 victory. Or is it the question? After all, many Gator fans anticipated that 2002 would be a rebuilding year for the Gators: a new offensive system, a new defensive system, depletion at offensive line and wide receiver, and a mostly-returning defense that has struggled against the run in recent years. These factors, coupled with a toughest-in-the-nation schedule that includes the always tough SEC slate along with three legitimate national champion contenders (Tennessee, Miami, and Florida State), led this expert to forecast an 8-4 campaign, with 7-5 not out of the question. The optimistic Gator and the pessimistic Gator might wrangle with these questions something like this: OPTIMISTIC GATOR: So Florida lost: they lost to the defending national champions, they lost to the number one team in the country, they lost to what could very well be the best team in the history of college football. PESSIMISTIC GATOR: Yeah, that's what we like to say down in Gainesville. Our losses are proof of our tough schedule. When we lost to Nebraska in the 1995 national championship, the answer was that they were the best team in the history of college football. I will grant you Miami is a great team, but it is pretty circular logic to rate them based on one game against UF - now a real unknown. The scary thing is that there may very well be two other teams on UF's schedule that are just as good as the Hurricanes. O GATOR: But really, even though the final score was a blow out, it really was a pretty close game. Florida had the lead for awhile, and were looking to pull within a touchdown when Miami, in a manner reminicent of last year's Boston College game, ran back a 97-yard interception that represented a 14 point swing. Then they tacked on a couple of late scores. P GATOR: Not quite. First of all, the Gators didn't come close to battling Miami the way a mediocre BC did last year. Second, the late scores were hardly tacked on; UF had virtually the whole fourth quarter to narrow the gap and it only widened. Third, Miami was the victim of a couple of phantom penalties earlier in the game, or the score might already have been a blowout. And fourth, UF's defense was so porous in the second half that even had UF closed the gap to 7 or 8 points, it is really not correct to presume that without the back-breaking interception, that all Florida needed was a momentum swing to go its way. There's an argument that the final margin wouldn't have been any different, that Miami could have added 14 more points if they needed to. O GATOR: But there were signs of hope... UF really ran the ball well, something they've often struggled with in big games. And this against a pretty vaunted front 7. Earnest Graham looks like the real deal, and the offensive line can run block for a change. P GATOR: This is the most reasonable point you've made so far. But if I had to play Devil's Advocate, let me point out that UF got an awful lot of yards on draw plays. Now, I don't mind that too much; I thought a characteristic of the great mid-90s Florida teams was the ability to effectively use the draw, but it is something of a gimmicky play, especially against Miami's 2-deep safety defense. That is, UF took what Miami gave it, but it is unclear how much of the running game was intrinsically generated. But I will grant you that Graham's touchdown run was one tough effort, and the Gators did gain yards on some traps and off tackles. O GATOR: And besided, Rex had an off night. We need him to be in top form for UF to win big games. P GATOR: I'm not sure what your argument is. Great teams can win when their quarterback has an off night. Dorsey on the other side was adequate but not particularly at his best. No, Grossman is the one real playmaker UF has, with the possible exception of Taylor Jacobs and Kewan Ratliff (Ratliff played particularly poorly as well). In fact, one of the most depressing things about the Miami game was that we learned that Rex isn't perfect, he can't save us every time. That's the worst lesson we had to learn. Sure, he was harrassed, but that's my point: he usually plays well despite that. When has Florida ever protected its quarterback? O GATOR: The defense made some big stops. P GATOR: Wow, you're really stretching now! I kept having flashbacks of Mississippi State's 400 rush yard performance a couple of years ago. We've seen this porous run defense before, and it makes no sense. The UF defense is senior, is experienced, and yet they get blown off the ball and give up 10 and 15 yard runs all the time. Is Miami really that good? Maybe, but it's hard to believe. Miami should be able to run for 100, 150 yards, but shouldn't be able to do what they did on Saturday. O GATOR: You know, you're a real pain in the ass to talk to. P GATOR: I was hoping you'd convince me to have hope... Webmaestro: Well, you guys forgot that it's a long season and anything can happen. Teams have made comebacks before. Let's see if Ron Zook and his staff can make some adjustments. That may be a place where the new staff can be better than the previous. And let's assume Miami is amazing: they'll move past Texas on my ballot this week. It just takes a win a Doak to make the whole season worthwhile... |
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