SB Nation - Deonte Thompson

If College Football Had a Playoff: #12 Penn State NIttany Lions @ #5 Florida Gators

Jeremy Mauss — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:00:26 -0000

Continuing the new break out hit of the season "What if College Football had a Playoff" returns for game three of the playoff. Before we get to game three the previous matchup of #9 Georgia Tech at #8 Ohio State was a hotly contested matchup with the fan vote going to Georgia Tech upsetting the higher seeded Buckeyes.

This current matchup of Penn State traveling to the swamp against the Florida Gators will be another good game in this bracket (you hear that BCS). After losing the SEC title game we will all see if Tim Tebow can will the Gators through another four games to repeat as national champions.

Penn State will use their defense that gave up only 11.8 points per game to try to stop the Florida Gators which will only hold up for so long.

Penn State on offense will be the problem they will do their typical clam up into a shell and try to run against Florida. The Gator defense is too much, and will be able to stop the Nittany Lion offense. Neither offense will do much in this game as both have been spotty all year, but as mentioned above the Gator defense will be the key.

To give some help to those who are not sure who would win I turned to What if Sports to simulate this game. The outcome was as I expected which was a low scoring affair with Florida coming from behind to win 16-10. Florida scored the last 13 points after being behind 10 - 3 at the half. From the play by play the Gators were able to run the ball a little more effectively to pull out the win.

The What if Sports is not the decider in this game, you yes you! The readers of this site decide who moves onto the next round.

So gather your friends to stuff the ballot and check back daily at 12 PM eastern time to vote for the next matchup, and voting is only open for 24 hours. As they say in Chicago vote early and vote often.

Penn State Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Daryll Clark	12	93.0	214	337	63.5	2787	232.3	8.3	23	10	73	191	15.9	2.6	7	-	-
Matthew McGloin	1	0.0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
Kevin Newsome	8	70.0	8	11	72.7	66	8.3	6	0	0	20	95	11.9	4.8	2	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Brandon Beachum	8	24	113	14.1	4.7	1	3	29	3.6	9.7	0
Brent Carter	5	13	46	9.2	3.5	1	0	0	0	0	0
Daryll Clark	12	73	191	15.9	2.6	7	0	0	0	0	0
Curtis Drake	5	3	27	5.4	9	0	7	86	17.2	12.3	0
Stephfon Green	10	64	284	28.4	4.4	3	5	79	7.9	15.8	0
Derek Moye	11	1	-3	-0.3	-3	0	45	732	66.5	16.3	5
Kevin Newsome	8	20	95	11.9	4.8	2	0	0	0	0	0
Chaz Powell	10	9	76	7.6	8.5	0	27	355	35.5	13.1	3
Evan Royster	12	188	1104	92	5.9	6	16	187	15.6	11.7	2
Devon Smith	6	4	33	5.5	8.3	0	4	30	5	7.5	0
Joe Suhey	12	19	59	4.9	3.1	0	21	186	15.5	8.9	1
Shaine Thompson	2	3	14	7	4.7	0	0	0	0	0	0

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Brandon Beachum	8	3	29	3.6	9.7	0
Brett Brackett	3	3	13	4.3	4.3	1
Justin Brown	3	5	78	26	15.6	0
Curtis Drake	5	7	86	17.2	12.3	0
Stephfon Green	10	5	79	7.9	15.8	0
Derek Moye	11	45	732	66.5	16.3	5
Chaz Powell	10	27	355	35.5	13.1	3
Andrew Quarless	12	33	448	37.3	13.6	3
Evan Royster	12	16	187	15.6	11.7	2
Mickey Shuler	9	11	89	9.9	8.1	2
Devon Smith	6	4	30	5	7.5	0
Joe Suhey	12	21	186	15.5	8.9	1
Andrew Szczerba	1	1	6	6	6	0
Graham Zug	11	42	549	49.9	13.1	7

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Collin Wagner	12	-	-	-	-	-	11	18	60.0%	45	45	100.0%	78

Florida Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
John Brantley	6	113.0	36	48	75	410	68.3	8.5	7	0	13	67	11.2	5.2	0	-	-
Tim Tebow	13	103.0	182	279	65.2	2413	185.6	8.6	18	5	203	859	66.1	4.2	13	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Andrew Blaylock	1	4	6	6	1.5	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Brantley	6	13	67	11.2	5.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Vincent Brown	2	3	1	.500	.300	0	0	0	0	0	0
Riley Cooper	13	1	14	1.1	14	0	44	780	60	17.7	8
Mike Gillislee	5	26	189	37.8	7.3	1	1	6	1.2	6	1
Aaron Hernandez	12	1	16	1.3	16	0	59	729	60.8	12.4	4
Emmanuel Moody	11	50	364	33.1	7.3	1	4	26	2.4	6.5	0
Chris Rainey	13	85	548	42.2	6.4	4	6	90	6.9	15	1
Christopher Scott	1	9	26	26	2.9	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tim Tebow	13	203	859	66.1	4.2	13	0	0	0	0	0
Deonte Thompson	9	1	-2	-0.2	-2	0	19	280	31.1	14.7	3

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Riley Cooper	13	44	780	60	17.7	8
Mike Gillislee	5	1	6	1.2	6	1
Frankie Hammond Jr	5	4	57	11.4	14.3	1
Aaron Hernandez	12	59	729	60.8	12.4	4
Omarius Hines	5	14	172	34.4	12.3	1
Cade Holliday	4	6	102	25.5	17	1
Emmanuel Moody	11	4	26	2.4	6.5	0
David Nelson	10	23	254	25.4	11	2
Chris Rainey	13	6	90	6.9	15	1
Deonte Thompson	9	19	280	31.1	14.7	3
Justin Williams	4	6	50	12.5	8.3	2

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Caleb Sturgis	12	-	-	-	-	-	21	28	80.0%	38	40	100.0%	101
Jonathan Phillips	3	-	-	-	-	-	0	1	0	14	16	90.0%	14

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

Florida Gators

91 votes

Penn State Nittany Lions

109 votes

200 votes | Poll has closed

The Fatal Flaws

mlmintampa — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:17:50 -0000

More photos » by Dave Martin - AP

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Hopefully, we are far enough out from the SEC Championship Game that we can take an level headed look at the 2009 Gators. As fans, we have seen a team that either was destroying people or not meeting our expectations. Considering the history of college football, 14-0 was a challenge unlikely to be met, especially with the bonus of three outright championships in four seasons. But we thought our boys could do it. Here's some things that I thought were never addressed or fixed and ultimately led to the Gators' fall. As always, tell us where we're wrong. Let's get the hard one out of the way first;

Tim Tebow: In each of his first three seasons, Tebow improved as a player. The problem was that as a senior, he was the same as the year before. Every team he faced knew exactly what he was doing. You saw the strategy Alabama used of daring Tebow to throw to receivers he never trusted behind a line that nearly killed him. Against Tennessee you saw how an NFL-style scheme (even without the talent to do it) could confuse Tebow. There are two reasons for this; either Tebow plateaued as a player or the loss of Dan Mullen impacted Tebow's preparation and chemistry with the offense.

Tebow was pulled in more directions this season. He wasn't just Tim Tebow, quarterback, Florida. He was a missionary, preacher, charity leader, university representative, oh and this was his senior year of college. Everyone is stretched thin in their senior year of school either because of school demands, the pressure of post-graduation or relationships. Tebow had all of that plus everything listed above. The problem is that Tebow wouldn't have it any other way. This season, I have a hard time thinking that everything else surrounding him didn't contribute to his actions on the field. He was still a college senior and no senior ever has a perfect year. Here's hoping that at least he doesn't knock a brick off Century Tower. (If you don't get that, look at the last urban legend listed here.)

Lack of a Go-To-Guy: Tebow needed a running mate this season and no one stepped up to fill that role. Aaron Hernandez had uneven performances and Riley Cooper could never get open before Tebow got in trouble. Cooper might have been the most well-rounded player on offense, but even he got the drops. Jeffrey Demps and Chris Rainey still struggle catching the ball and Brandon James was never going to be the solution at the Harvin position. Emmanuel Moody lived in Urban Meyer's doghouse all season. Carl Moore and Andre Debose never saw the field. That Florida ran the same offense as 2008, without a go-to-guy, is a failure of the coaching staff. Like Donald Rumsfled said, "You go to war with the Army you have. Not the Army you might want or wish to have." Meyer and Steve Addazio knew what they had in front of them and treated them like Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy with Jason Watkins and Phil Trautwein at the tackles. Which brings us to our next point...

Never figuring out the passing game: If yards and rushing yards stay relatively flat, how do touchdowns scored go from 75, 82 in 2008, to 56 this season? I pin the blame on not having a secure 3rd and 4th receiver and not securing the offensive tackle spots. I thought Xavier Nixon and Marcus Gilbert got it together, but it was late in the season before that lineup change was made. I don't blame the line for the 36 sacks (only 2 more than last season) because too often they had to face 5 and 6 man rushes. Teams could afford those blitzes because Florida's receiving options were Cooper, Hernandez and a bunch of nobodies. David Nelson had his best game against Alabama (4 catches, 53 yards, TD). That's nice, but Nelson was supposed to be a number 3 guy behind Cooper and Hernandez, but his output was no better than 2008 (23 catches, 254 yds, 2 TD in 2009; 12 catches, 228 yds, 5 TD in 2008). Deonte Thompson was supposed to explode this season, yet nearly had the exact same numbers. Demps still thinks run first, catch ball second. Rainey is skinner than I am and James was getting too many touches as a returner (62) to be fit enough to be a permanent player (20 rushes, 24 catches). We trusted that Meyer, Addazio and Billy Gonzales would see any red flags and immediately turn the Gators into Georgia Tech South. But they kept calling plays like they had four reliable receivers and two experienced tackles.

Steve Addazio, Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach: It does not matter if you liked Addazio's play calling or not. The fact is that he cannot do both jobs and I would be surprised if anyone could be o-line and coordinator. Offensive line is hands on, requiring the coach to be on the sidelines. Offensive coordinator is a mad genius, sitting in his box and designing plays like a chess player thinking three moves ahead. It didn't help that Florida's play calling by committee was like cooks spoiling the broth. Last year, the offense went through Mullen. You never knew who it went through this season.

A light defensive line: Just the presence of Terrence Cody kept UF away from the precious dive play. UF does not have a monster run stuffer like that (Omar Hunter may get there one day). Plus, Jermaine Cunningham and Carlos Dunlap are long and lean. They can run around you, but not through you. Were it not for Brandon Spikes, A.J. Jones and Ryan Stamper, UF would have been screwed at the front. The Gators got by like this until they ran into an old-school big ugly offensive line at Alabama. Like any great defense that relies on speed, a big line can always win. There wasn't much UF could have done here, aside from eight in the box, and Greg McElroy was too good for that.

The Fans: No one is escaping this. Every college team has good and bad fans, unemployed fans who stalk message boards all day, and the locker room stooges who get off on revealing who was tanked on Monday night and who has the girlfriend sleeping with half the defense. Every college team has jackasses who write blogs, guys who have only played video game football and claim they know what they are talking about, and old men trying to live vicariously through college kids. But we wore the crown, so we fall the hardest. It doesn't help either that we seemingly lost the ability to lose with class. I include myself in this because while this seems very mature and composed, during the game I was screaming obscenities at Nick Saban, my friends, Mark Ingram, "Sweet Home Alabama" (song, not the Reese Witherspoon movie), Tim Tebow, and the band Alabama. I was also figuring out how UF could win in the fourth quarter, when a rational person would have turned off the game and waited for Texas-Nebraska.

We've been spoiled the past four years and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we have some realistic expectations for the Gators. Eventually, Tennessee, FSU and Georgia will get good. Florida may actually lose consecutive games to these teams. Losing these games, if it happens, should not require you to threaten the lives of anyone or throw the Gators under the bus, via your facebook status or twitter. However, all bets are off if Urban Meyer becomes Ron Zook, but I don't see that happening. We need to be rational again, but mediocrity can never be tolerated.

The Confidence and Complacency of Champions: When the Yankees were losing Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS to the Red Sox, Aaron Boone asked Derek Jeter why he was so calm. Jeter said, "The ghosts will come eventually." The ghosts did show up and Boone hit a game winning home run to send the Yanks to the World Series. The next season, the Yanks blew a 3-0 ALCS lead, and the Red Sox won the World Series, defeating the Curse of The Bambino in the process.

When you are defending champion, even if you are not considered to be the best team in your league the next season, there is a certain level of confidence in your team and what they can do. The Gators had won the SEC and National Championship twice in the last three seasons. There was no reason to doubt that they couldn't do it again. With that confidence also comes enough of a lack of drive that it can impact you negatively. You don't want to take those extra reps or spend 15 more minutes running routes. Sure, you can go to the party/Bible session/hookup with that chick from Plants, Plagues and People class, you'll just end your film study five minutes early. What's a few minutes anyway?

It all adds up eventually and for the Gators, it was 19 points in Atlanta. 19 points does not happen in one week of preparation, but over the course of the entire season. It's the reason why guys take extra sprints in August or lift more weights in April. Over the course of 11 months, the Gators were confident they could win no matter what and complacent enough to not put in more time. As for the party that ended Carlos Dunlap's season that included other teammates, let he who never took the edge off an upcoming test by drinking or fooling around with a lady cast the first stone. As for me, I think you got me confused for a better man.

Besides, Alabama played a perfect game. They had one penalty, were 11 of 15 on 3rd down, Bama held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, McElroy was 12 of 18 passing, and Marquis Maze's five catches for 96 yards made up for Julio Jones two catches for 28 yards. Florida could have spent the week in the football complex and St. Augustine's Church and they still would have lost. Give Alabama some credit.

As we said on Saturday, everything sucks now, but this still your team. You have to take the good with the bad and accept that sometimes, the other guy is better and you are not good enough. Time to look forward to next season and put your faith and trust in Urban Meyer. Especially that he finds a new defense and offensive coordinator. And say a prayer that John Brantley and Omarius Hines become the next great duo in Gainesville.

SEC Championship Autopsy

mlmintampa — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:36:36 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

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- Urban Meyer checking himself into Shands for dehydration after the game was just another paragraph in this incredibly bizarre season. It could be the flu, it could be food poisoning, it could have been throwing up because of the game, and it could have been his brain cyst acting up. It could be anything, which was the only consistency UF had this year; anything could happen.

- Educated Florida fans know that when UF runs the ball, they win. Yet, one of the glaring stats coming out of the game was the four non-Tebow carries UF had. They were losing the whole game, and big comebacks do not happen with 4-yard dive plays. But, there was no desire to grind some clock, keeping the Gator defense on the field even longer.

- Focus is the easy excuse for the Gator defense's awful play. From Charlie Strong's next job, to Carlos Dunlap's DUI, to Florida's front seven getting knocked off the ball every play, it seemed as if no one was ready. I don't believe focus was the problem because that is an insult to the team and Alabama. Of course, some guys thought UF would win because they won last year. There's also the complacency of champions in that they think they can flip a switch and win. But losing 32-13 is not Florida losing because of a lack of focus. It is Alabama winning because they had a superior game plan. On offense, it was spreading UF out and pounding the line. Greg McElroy is an efficient quarterback and has been winning games since he was 16 years old. Bama was the guy at the poker table who everyone is scared of because you never knew what his cards were. On defense, dare I say, they wanted Tim Tebow to throw the ball. I don't believe Tebow has regressed, but I think he has not improved. With Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy (or David Nelson in SEC and BCS games), Tebow could afford to not be perfect. With Riley Cooper, Aaron Hernandez and Deonte Thompson, he had to be perfect (how many incomplete passes this season hit guys in the arms?). The interception to Javier Arenas was an example of something else; Tebow still struggles with reading coverage. Remember, he threw a similar pick (where an hidden defender gets in the way) against Oklahoma.

- Panic was a large reason why Florida lost Saturday. While Tebow stayed calm, Cooper and Hernandez were in panic mode after every near miss. Brandon Spikes and the rest of the defense were getting caught running themselves out of plays. It got to the point where guys were diving for tackles and not breaking down. That's not a lack of focus or lazyness; that's being so desperate to make a play that you ignore your fundamentals.

- People who should be blamed for Saturday's loss;

1. Whoever picked the white helmets.

2. My friend Hanson for not wearing his lucky shirt.

3. Charlie Strong

4. Steve Addazio

5. Urban Meyer

10. Carlos Dunlap. The kid made the mistake of his life during one of the biggest weeks of his life. He is a huge dumbass. But now he has to live with the possibility that his mistake cost the Gators a shot at a National Championship. It didn't. Jevon Kearse could have replaced Dunlap and it would not have made a difference. Sometimes, the other guy plays better than you could and wins. I hope Dunlap comes back and plays well enough. If not, I don't blame the guy for going pro.

- While I will criticize a college player for the way they play, I have a hard time doing it after a loss in a championship game. As fans, we get upset and bitch and moan about blown tackles and dropped passes. But we get on with our lives. College athletes don't. Of the 44 starters yesterday, very few will be successful NFL players. That means the most dominant memory of their college career will be a blowout loss and a season of a division title. That stays with you forever. Some jackass who was a student, donates money and writes a blog has no authority to talk about how they are hurt by this loss. The guys in that locker room just worked 11 months to finish second place in their league. Consider their pain before you think about how much you were hurt.

- My pick for best Gator performance Saturday? Chaz Henry.

- I always use death as a metaphor for a season ending. The loss was like watching a loved one get a stroke, start rehabbing, and getting another stroke and slowly dying. It sucked. You keep thinking if they had stopped smoking, or Jeff Demps caught that ball in the first quarter, or if he ate healthier, or if UF stopped a few more third downs, that things would be different. You'll go crazy thinking that way. One or two plays in a 19-point deficit will not make a difference.

- Speaking of death, my friends and I finished Saturday night in the only acceptable way for Italian and Irish Catholics; by going out and eating and drinking until we felt a little better. Our first toast of the night was to John Brantley, we screamed curse words at Colt McCoy, wondered if Les Miles was running Texas and Hanson was working women like he was Tiger Woods. It was also nice to see so many people in Gator clothes. Like I told my 13-year old sister after the game, after she insisted she could never go to school again, you never turn your back on the team. If you're willing to be for the team in good times, you have to be there for the bad times too. She will be wearing her Gator jacket to school Monday.

- We'll be back later when Florida is officially announced for the Sugar Bowl, likely playing Cincinnati.

Three Keys for Florida

Year2 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:00:17 -0000

Stop the run without sacrificing play action coverage.

Florida can afford to spend some extra effort in stopping Alabama's running game thanks to having a clearly good pass defense. The trick though is to do that without allowing Alabama play action game to get going. Too little attention has been paid to Bama TE Colin Peek and how he's one of Greg McElroy's favorite targets after faking a hand off. He can do some damage.

Florida will probably go to man coverage when loading the box, which means a linebacker will likely have to recognize Peek on a pass route and cover him. Brandon Spikes will be in run support far more often than not, so how Ryan Stamper and Brandon Hicks cover Peek will be vital to stopping the Tide attack.

Be able to find someone other than Cooper and Hernandez on third down.

The scouting report is crystal clear at this point. On third down, Tim Tebow generally goes through three progressions: look for Riley Cooper, look for Aaron Hernandez, and then take off. Alabama knows this, and so do the Florida coaches through self scouting.

Last year, little used targets Carl Moore and David Nelson caught touchdown passes on third down. Nelson is back, and Deonte Thompson is pretty good too. Florida has to be willing to go to those guys on third down because it's unlikely that the excellent Bama secondary will leave Cooper and Hernandez open. The primary targets are primary targets for a reason, and they'll get their shares of the third down throws. However, those two alone won't be enough to defeat the Tide.

Win the fourth quarter again.

There is a reason why Florida is a dominant fourth quarter team. Tebow just doesn't wear down over the course of a game as you might expect, and everyone goes through Mickey Marotti's hellish yet extremely effective off season conditioning program. Not only that, but depth in key places like defensive line allow the coaches to rotate liberally and keep players fresh.

It's very unlikely either team will put this one away after 45 minutes. It almost certainly will come down to who wins the fourth quarter again, and UF would appear to have an advantage in that regard once more. They will need to do what they do best: finish stronger than the other guys. That's no small feat against Alabama, but it will need to be done.

What will it take to pull off the upset?

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:53:47 -0000

On Friday during game weeks I generally post a preview of the upcoming game, but I've decided against that this week. Both Alabama and Florida are already well known commodities, and in general everyone is aware of the key players, so I see little need in recapping something that most already knew in the first place.

Instead, I want to take a look at the things that we must do in order to pull off the upset. Florida knocked us off a year ago in Atlanta, and despite another 12-0 start by the Tide, the general consensus is that the Gators will send us to New Orleans once again. And unfortunately, I'm afraid to say that the general consensus is indeed probably the correct one. We're fighting an uphill battle here, and victory will not come easy for the Tide. Let's look at some key things the Tide must do in order to pull the upset.

Avoid the slow start. Sluggish performances early have plagued the Tide all year, and truthfully did for much of the second half of last season as well. That continued last week against Auburn as we found ourselves down 14-0 before we could even blink. Likewise, we got off to a slow start last year against Florida. We received the ball on the opening kick-off, went three and out, punted, and Florida marched right down the field for a touchdown. Simply put, we cannot afford another slow start this year against the Gators. We don't necessarily need a blitzkrieg from the beginning -- like the Blackout two years ago -- but we cannot get ourselves in a hole early and still expect to overcome that and get the victory over a team like Florida.

Win the field position battle. Offensively Florida is still a juggernaut, and giving this offense a short field is almost guaranteeing a touchdown. Last year, for example, the combined average starting field position of Florida's four touchdowns was past their 40-yard line. Likewise, Florida is very good defensively and any offense consistently forced to drive 60+ yards against them to get points is likely to be very limited in point production. Given that, we must win the field position battle in this game.

Limit the big play from Florida offensively. You heard all that talk about how Florida cannot generate the big play? Don't buy the hype. They might not be producing them at the prolific clip that they were last year, but this is still a big play offense. Riley Cooper had a 51-yard reception against 'Bama last year, and has had four catches of 35+ yards in 2009 (not to mention averaging over 17 yards per reception). Aaron Hernandez and Deonte Thompson both have big play ability. Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey both average over 7 yards per carry, and have had several 40+ yard runs this year. Again, they aren't producing the big plays at the prolific clip they were last year, but don't interpret that to mean that they haven't generated big plays. They can still strike you at any time, and we must limit big plays for the Gators.

Get off the field defensively on third down. Last year, in many ways, the difference in the game was the ability of Florida to convert on critical third downs. And once again the Gators bring that reputation to Atlanta... they are one of the top teams in the country in third down conversion percentage. Simply put, we must get them off the field when we have the opportunity. A breakdown defensively on third down gives them new life, which with an offense of this caliber will more likely than not result in points.

Stop the dive play and control the interior run by Tebow. For all of the talk of speed and spreading the field, Florida relies heavily on the inside running game on the halfback dive and the draws by Tebow. It is of the utmost importance that our defensive line can stop this on their own. If they can shut down Florida in this capacity, that allows the linebackers to play sideline-to-sideline, and it allows the safeties to stay back and limit big plays. If you cannot do it in the trenches, however, linebackers and safeties have to come up to stop the run and that is what really allows all of the elements of their spread game to expose you.

Establish a consistent pass rush with the defensive line. Blitz packages can be great, but against a spread team -- one that will always have checkdowns to high end players at their disposal -- led by a senior quarterback they can be of limited effectiveness. If you have to rely heavily on them in order to rush the passer, much like we did last year, it will many times be ultimately futile because you get picked apart on the back end. And to that end, we have to be able to rush the passer with the defensive line. Florida is young at the tackle position (one of their few weaknesses), and we must take advantage of that. Along with controlling Florida's interior running game, our defensive line needs to get to Tebow. Simply put, they need to play the game of their lives.

Greg McElroy must be a game changer. Remember earlier in the year when we were saying that McElroy had transcended the game manager label and had turn himself into a legitimate game changer? Well, that hasn't been true in the past two months, and McElroy hasn't played particularly well since the Arkansas game. He has been checkdown happy, hasn't been able to throw the football vertically, has missed key throws, and has made a lot of poor decisions. That is acceptable enough against teams like Ole Miss, Kentucky, and Auburn, but that all must change on Saturday if we are to win. McElroy will have to be able to throw the football vertically, and will have to eliminate dumb mistakes, especially turnovers. There is simply no two ways about this one... if McElroy plays at the game manager level, we'll need an almost perfect performance by the rest of the team in order to win, and that is simply not feasible against a team like Florida.

Offensive line must get the job done in pass protection. Lost in the very low Adjusted Sack Rate that the Tide's offensive line has posted this year is the fact that our offense almost never throws the football vertically, and thus the ball generally comes out quickly on three and five step drops. That makes the offensive line's life very easy, but against Florida they will probably not get any such luxury. We'll have to throw the football vertically and in turn they will have to protect on long drops. And don't think the suspension of Carlos Dunlap is going to dramatically change things. Florida still has a ton of talent coming off the edge, and remember last year that the Gators clinched victory not with Dunlap, but with a key sack from Jermaine Cunningham.

Run the football relatively well. Injuries are really limiting our running game right now with Mark Ingram, Mike Johnson, and James Carpenter all being slowed by some ailment or another, but they must overcome that this week and still play at a high level. Florida has a great run defense in their own right, and as a result we aren't just going to run over this team. Much worse run defenses than Florida have been able to shut down our running game (see Arkansas and Auburn), and we cannot allow that to happen in Atlanta. Again, we aren't going to be able to run it down Florida's throat regardless, but we do need to be able run the football relatively well (and do it on a consistent basis).

The wide receiver corps must make plays on the outside. Julio Jones had a big game last year in Atlanta, and he will need another one this year. Likewise, Darius Hanks and Marquis Maze -- both of which had big catches in the Georgia Dome in the season opener against Virginia Tech -- will need to use the fast track of the Dome to their advantage once again. We haven't been able to get the football to our receivers consistently all year long, and that must change tomorrow.

Kick and punt return defense must hold up. It's going to be tough enough to control the Florida offense and move the football on the Florida defense as it is, but it's going to create an almost impossible task if we have one major breakdown in either kick or punt coverage. Brandon James is as good as any returner in the country, and we cannot afford to give Florida a cheap score in the return. Again, given how difficult of a task we face in the first place, giving up a cheap score on special teams will likely be the death knell for us.

All in all, simply put, we need to play at a very high level. We need to play our best game of the year in order to win on Saturday, and anything short of that will likely result in defeat. We cannot afford to play like we did against Virginia Tech. Or Kentucky. Or South Carolina. Or Ole Miss. Or Tennessee. Or LSU. Or Mississippi State. Or Auburn. We're going to have to take our game to another level if we truly expect to beat Florida.

In short, what we really need is perfection. Of course, a football game (not counting kicks) usually consists of 120-130 snaps, and that's just entirely too many snaps to not expect some breakdowns, particularly against a team of Florida's caliber. Thus, as with most things, perfection is an elusive goal in football, and it is one that we will not attain tomorrow. Nevertheless, the harsh reality is that we are going to have to come very close to that level if we are indeed going to knock of Florida. They are on the verge of a bona fide dynasty, they have one of the top three coaches in the country, they probably more talent and depth than any other team in the country, and they are led by a senior quarterback who will undoubtedly go down as one of the great college football players to ever live. A "good" performance will probably not bring down the mighty Gators, rest assured. We had a "good" performance last year and it was not enough. It likely won't be enough this year either. Perfection may be an unattainable goal, but Alabama will need to come almost as close as humanly possible in order to pull off the upset tomorrow night.

Hope for the best.

Lessons Learned from Last Year's Game

Year2 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:00:15 -0000

by Brant Sanderlin - AP

Just about everything's the same as last year. That must make it easy on the grounds crew since they can recycle the end zone patterns.

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Yesterday I watched the 2008 SEC Championship Game looking for things that could apply for this year's game. The squads are so similar to their former selves that the lessons from last year's game still apply to this year's. These are the top things that stuck out to me that might not easily come to mind when thinking about the events in 2008.

Watch Javier Arenas.

Arenas was a guy who kept coming up all over the place. He helped set up Alabama's first field goal with a great punt return. He also foolishly caught a kickoff and went out of bounds at his own four yard line, a field position nightmare that led to Florida's shortest scoring drive (a 57 yard TD series) after a punt.

He was also talking trash all game, nearly getting into fights on multiple occasions. If he's as hyped up this year as he was last, there will be plenty of times where his actions come to the forefront.

Field position is critical.

The two teams combined to get points every time they started a drive within 60 yards of the end zone except twice: Alabama started a fourth quarter drive at its own 41 and punted, while Florida ran out the clock at the end when starting at Alabama's 33. Every other punt came from a starting field position no better than a team's own 31.

Both of these coaches have been known to play for field position on occasion, and the two defenses are going to be fierce. The teams didn't take many chances when backed up a year ago, and while each was able to score on extended drives, they were money on shorter fields. Don't get antsy if your coach of choice plays conservatively for field position in this one. It will be even more critical than usual.

Can Alabama cover intermediate to long passes?

Three of Florida's five scores were set up by intermediate to long pass plays: a 51 yard pass to Riley Cooper on the field goal drive, a 22 yard strike to Aaron Hernandez on the second touchdown drive, and a 33 yard sideline pass to Louis Murphy on the final touchdown drive. None of these were screen passes where the guy got away either; in each case, the ball traveled at least 20 yards in the air. When Florida got close enough to miss a field goal on another occasion, the drive began with a 34 yard pass to Murphy.

A lot of focus on this game will be on Tim Tebow's rushing ability, and rightfully so. He often ends up with the most rushing attempts on the team each week. However, whether or not he will be able to hit on longer passing plays will be critical to Florida's offense. Florida's down a deep threat from last year's contest without Murphy, but Cooper is still there and Deonte Thompson has gotten loose on occasion. If Bama can cover long, Florida will be in great shape.

How will Greg McElroy handle the blitz?

Charlie Strong loves to blitz, and this weekend will be no exception. The experienced John Parker Wilson did a fairly good job of dealing with it for most of the night. When he couldn't find an open guy to throw to (which wasn't often), he still threw it away instead of taking bad losses. He didn't try to be a hero, and that was a big help to Bama throughout the game.

McElroy has not faced anything like Florida's blitzes yet, and for sure he'll see more corner blitzes on Saturday than on any day in his life. He was in the house for last year's SEC title game, but there's a big difference between standing on the sideline and starting. How McElroy handles things when some blitzer inevitably breaks through the protection will be a big factor in this year's game.

Who will win third down?

Florida converted on seven of 13 (54%) third downs, including all three Tebow touchdown passes. Alabama only converted on five of 12 (42%) third downs by comparison. I know between this and the field position argument I sound like a coachspeak spouting robot, but when the teams are this close, the essentials get magnified. The Gators were the better third down team, and that made a huge difference in the fourth quarter.

How will the officiating go?

I know the focus has been on bad calls by SEC refs this year, but we didn't have that last year, remember? Anyway, the tendency in the game was to let the teams play. There were borderline things on both sides that didn't end up in flags flying. In fact, only eight penalties were called in the entire game despite the teams combining to average 11 penalties a game last year.

How absurd will Gary Danielson be?

He's a great analyst, but Danielson can go off the rails sometimes. He made economy jokes. He referred to Alabama's head coach as just "Nick" all night. He talked about how he didn't play quarterback in the same style as Tebow does, even though that's been evident for years.

What will his new theme be for this year? Will he set himself up neatly for Verne to toss some zingers at him again? Will he feel the need to campaign for the SEC champ to go to the national title game even though it obviously will, or will he focus on making a Heisman campaign for either Tebow or Mark Ingram? There are few dull moments when Danielson's on the air.

Alabama & Florida Common Opponents: Tennessee

Year2 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:24:12 -0000

As a part of SEC Championship Game week, we're taking a look at Alabama's and Florida's common opponents in alphabetical order. In closing: Tennessee.

	Alabama	Florida
Game Number	8	3
Score	12-10	23-13
Passing Yards	120	115
Rushing Yards	136	208
Total Yards	256	323
Passing All.	265	93
Rushing All.	76	117
Total Defense	341	210
3rd Downs	5-14	8-13
3rd Down Def.	6-15	5-12
Turnover Margin	Even	Even

Alabama lined up against Tennessee as probably a tired team, as it was the Tide's eighth consecutive game and came the week before Bama's bye. It was a day for those who love kickers, as the teams combined for eight field goal attempts. Leigh Tiffin made all of his while Daniel Lincoln started just one of three, allowing Bama to build a safe-looking 12-3 lead. The Tide looked like it was simply going to run the clock out when the unthinkable happened: Mark Ingram fumbled, setting up the Vols 43 yards from pay dirt. Jonathan Crompton went 4 for 4 for 42 yards on the ensuring drive that pulled UT within 2. After recovering the onside kick, Tennessee played for a field goal but the try was blocked by Terrence Cody.

Florida faced off against Tennessee after winning two easy blowouts over Charleston Southern and Troy, but strangely not healthy for that early in the season. Deonte Thompson missed the game with a bad hamstring, while Jeff Demps and Aaron Hernandez were slowed by a flu-like bug that was beginning to sweep through the team. As a result, Urban Meyer put all the offensive burden on Tim Tebow, who passed or ran on 43 of Florida's 63 plays. UF was cruising up 23-6 when Tebow fumbled in the shadow of Tennessee's goal line. UT turned that into points, but an Ahmad Black interception with about two minutes to go sealed Florida's win.

I called the Alabama-Tennessee game boring at the time, and received a bit of flak for it. True, I don't appreciate defensive struggles as much as some folks do. In any event, this would have been a much different game had Lincoln made his field goals throughout. Cody actually blocked the final two of Lincoln's four attempts, and he didn't even leave the ground on the last one. That's a sure sign of a guy kicking it too low. Anyway, Tennessee wouldn't have had the chance to win it at the end without the first fumble of Ingram's career. Nick Saban said it best: "You're controlling a game, even though you may say it's winning ugly. We're still ahead 12-3 and totally controlling the game with 3 minutes, 29 seconds and the ball. That's how fragile a season can be."

Florida's game with Tennessee looked like it was going the way of the 2008 game. Tebow was about ready to put the Gators up 31-6 at the time of his fumble, a shade off of last year's 30-6 final score. Tennessee, and especially Crompton, was clearly not comfortable yet in its new offense, opting to go for a low risk, game-shortening strategy of heavy running. Florida's defense was ready for it, allowing just one drive of more than 50 yards and only three points that didn't come off of turnovers. We didn't know it at the time, but this game revealed what would become Meyer's strategy all season long: get a lead, play it conservative, and let the defense win games. It's worked out well so far.

Hard as it is to deny a moment that will forever be remembered in Daniel Moore's brush strokes, Florida had the better game against Tennessee. Bama was outgained by nearly 100 yards and needed heroics at the end to pull out the win. Florida allowed some points late that ultimately were cosmetic, making the score look better for the Vols, but the Gators outgained UT by more than 110 yards. Florida-Tennessee might have played out differently later in the season once the Lane Kiffin offense was fully operational and Crompton had regained his confidence. On the third week of the season, it was not to be for the Knoxville contingent.

Better performance: Florida.

See also: Arkansas, FIU, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina.

A New Season Begins

mlmintampa — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:35:12 -0000

There are only three games in front of the Gators now. Today's 62-3 win over Florida International was merely a practice, a diversion before the most important games in Florida history.

If there is something to take away from today it is that nine UF players had catches. While Cade Holliday and Justin Williams won't soon be getting in the lineup, David Nelson and Deonte Thompson got involved enough to get them into a rhythm for next week. Tim Tebow is loyal to a fault in that it took Aaron Hernandez getting limited action for our boy Timothy to look at other options. Following the game, Urban Meyer referenced the notion that perhaps Tebow should have been removed much earlier. But this time, the decision was a good one, as Tebow was able to reconnect with some long lost guys and his head didn't explode on an offensive lineman's knee. At 11-0, Urban is still the smartest guy in the room.

Florida State is next. It was interesting to note that several times today, the 1997 UF-FSU game was referenced, between pre-game and in-game promotions. That year, an undefeated FSU was stunned by a rebuilding Florida team. The tables are turned for this season. But there is no way in hell Tim Tebow loses on Saturday.

Dropping The Ball

mlmintampa — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:07:06 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

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During training camp this past spring and summer, two things were supposed to happen on offense; Tim Tebow's throwing motion was finally going to be fixed, and the receiving corps would pick their 3 and 4 options after Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez went up the ladder.

Neither of those things have happened.

Tebow is even more lazy now with the ball, nearly starting his wind up from his hip. At this point, Tim Wakefield has a quicker release than Tebow. There is no excuse for this. In his fourth year, he should be committed to doing things the right way, not his way. It doesn't matter if he is still completing more than 60% of his passes. Anyone can throw an accurate ball short, which is what UF has been doing. This team is never going downfield, despite Deonte Thompson sliding across your TV the past few weeks with his hand in the air. If Tebow had a quicker release, he could execute his decisions quicker, which is desperately needed since everyone is blitzing and stunting UF's line into submission.

Scot Loeffler was supposed to turn Tebow into Tom Brady or Chad Henne, but a few months was not going to change 20 years of a bad throwing motion. He should have been better council for Tebow in terms of checking his emotions as a quarterback. The interception that Mississippi State returned was a throw Tebow thought he could make because he is Tim Tebow. It had no chance. While those plays are few and far between, taking off after the first read is covered is another example of Tebow's emotions getting to him. He thinks no one else can do the job, so he has to. Loeffler was supposed to be the voice of reason and stepping into the pocket, and he has not done his job.

Steve Addazio and Billy Gonzales deserve a large share of scorn too. Addazio has done a servicable job in putting together an o-line without last year's starting tackles, but the unit looks lost on some plays. As offensive coordinator, he could protect these guys more, but has not chosen to do so. In addition, it took until last week for Addazio to finally move his line around, with pulling guards providing a nice convoy for UF's backs outside the tackles. This is an example of how Addazio lacks the creativity to be a coordinator. He is not using plays that stretch the limits and plays that should work, are not working. (Why is no one open on playaction passes?) Gonzales shoulders the burden too for running a receivers unit that has given UF two studs and a bunch of bums. It is not his fault Carl Moore and Andre Debose are injured, but he's had all year to figure this out. He's also conspired with Addazio in setting Florida's offense back to 1979. If he has as much authority with red zone offense as Addazio with the rest, then he is just as guilty of crapping the bed as Addazio is between the 20s.

Of course, Tebow, Loeffler, Addazio and Gonzales are members of the conspiracy while Urban Meyer is the leader. I think Meyer was aware that this was not going to be easy. But instead of demanding more accountability from the major actors, he seems willing to pass everything off as part of the process. I appreciate him taking responsibility while being delicate, but if you were like me, you were excited to see him yell at Addazio in the first half. Meyer has to stop being his coaches' friend and make them figure this out. You don't win National Championships by assuming you have the most talent or that eventually you'll play better. You do it by working harder than the other guy. Judging what this group has done since the spring, you have a good reason to doubt if they've been putting in the necessary work.

What's Wrong With Florida?

Year2 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:15:18 -0000

More photos » by Phil Sandlin - ASSOCIATED PRESS

It's been a frustrating season in Gainesville.

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Poor red zone play.

UF came into the game against Mississippi State at eighth in the SEC with just an 80% red zone conversion rate, and they blew two more chances with a missed field goal and Tim Tebow's 100-yard pick six. A year ago, Florida was deadly inside their opponents' 20 yard line, more often than not getting touchdowns. Predictable play calling has turned many of those touchdowns into field goal attempts, and poor execution has turned some of both into...

Turnovers.

Florida was +22 in turnover margin last season, and it was +24 in its wins. This season, Florida is -1 and turnovers have played a huge role in the Gators' close scrapes over the past two weekends. They lost three fumbles in Arkansas territory (two in the red zone), and 13 of Mississippi State's 19 points came on interception returns for touchdowns. It's extremely difficult to win games by the big margins that Florida did last year when you turn the ball over multiple times per game.

A depleted receiving corps.

Last season, Florida lost Cornelius Ingram for the season in August and lost Percy Harvin for a game and a half. That's it for the front line players, and the receivers were a strength for the team. This season, Florida lost Carl Moore and Andre Debose for the season in August, and each was projected to be a starter. Deonte Thompson missed some games. Riley Cooper has been slowed sometimes by various injuries.

For Florida's offense to operate at its highest level, it needs to have at least five legitimate receivers. UF only has four this year thanks to losing Moore and Debose, and even they've got even fewer when guys miss time or are slowed. That means that running backs have had to moonlight out wide quite a bit. Whenever that happens, it means defenses can rush Tebow with abandon because they only have to seriously cover three of the five guys on the perimeter.

Tebow has not been great.

Tim Tebow is getting a lot of Heisman poll votes because he's the quarterback of the No. 1 team and because they are doing it out of habit, I suppose. He hasn't been playing like one of the most outstanding players in the country though, as he's been one of the primary sources of turnovers and red zone struggles. He doesn't go through his progressions enough, and he doesn't throw it away when no one is open enough.

To be fair, he hasn't been helped out by the deficiencies of the receiving position. Playing quarterback is harder when you don't have a lot of great options. He also hasn't been helped out by...

A crisis of offensive strategy.

Things looked great in the first two games against the cupcakes. They went downhill against Tennessee's great defense, where the offense went overly conservative in response to it. With Thompson out and Cooper slowed, the offense went extremely run heavy against Kentucky, and that ended up the most coherent offensive game of the conference season. They went back conservative against LSU thanks to Tebow's concussion and being on the road, and now against Arkansas and Mississippi State it had problems finding balance and a good mix.

Part of it is undoubtedly growing pains under first year offensive coordinator Steve Addazio. During the Kentucky telecast, Bob Davie (who employed Addazio on his Notre Dame staff) mentioned that the Gator OC's background has a lot of wishbone in it. That fact would explains why the option-based bonanza against the Wildcats was the most fluid the offense has been all conference season. Addazio has struggled re-integrating the passing game post-LSU, though things would look a lot better without the turnovers.

Spotty offensive line play.

Florida's offensive line didn't play all that well at the beginning of 2008, and it showed. It didn't gel until late in the '08 Arkansas game, which uncoincidentally was the point at which the offense as a whole took off. It has yet to gel this season, and until it does, we're not going to see a lot of fireworks from the Gator O.

Addazio is not just the offensive coordinator; he's also the offensive line coach. It's probably now time to ask whether his expanded role as coordinator has taken away from his ability to coach up the line. He's not done it many favors either since two of the five positions have been revolving doors for reasons other than injury, and he keeps begging for it to be overwhelmed with blitzes with his play calling (i.e. going five wide with two running backs at receiver). Addazio also used to have an associate offensive line coach to help him out in John Hevesy, but he left to follow Dan Mullen last off season.

They're feeling the pressure.

The team just looks tense on the sidelines. Meyer looks the most tense of anyone. He keeps calling each win a "good win" (no matter how ludicrous it may sound in situations like after the Arkansas game) to try to help take some pressure off, but the burden of trying to repeat appears to be getting to them. They better find some other way to deal with it because it's only going to grow with every passing week.

A regression to the mean.

I already mentioned the Gators' outrageously good fortune in the turnover department last year. They also aren't blocking nearly as many kicks; they had three blocks in the '08 Kentucky game alone, but they've gotten to just two this year.

Even when they weren't necessarily taking the ball away from their opponents or blocking kicks, someone in 2008 always came up with big plays when it counted (except against Ole Miss, of course). Percy Harvin broke off big runs. Louis Murphy would catch long passes. Ahmad Black would come up with improbable interceptions. Brandon Spikes would flatten somebody. When a game could break in favor of either team, someone always made a play to break it in Florida's favor. Good luck and good timing are fickle, and you don't get them in spades two years in a row.

Definitely not the defense.

It has allowed four touchdowns all season, and one was on a 31 yard drive after a fumble by the offense. Only two teams have cracked 240 total yards on it, and one was Charleston Southern in a game where the coaches emptied the bench in the second quarter. It has allowed 20+ points once—and it was exactly 20 points—and that was the game with the 31 yard TD drive. It has been doing all of that despite a plague of injuries on the defensive line and Brandon Spikes out or limited in most games.

Say what you want about the offense (and most of it is true), but you can't fault the defense. The Gators could easily have two or three losses if not for the play of the Charlie Strong's men.