SB Nation - Louis Murphy

SEC Championship Autopsy

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

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

- 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.

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.

National News and Notes

Year2 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:59 -0000

More photos » by Mike Stone - AP

Rejoice! Finally, a sell out in Fort Worth.

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Because we're all playing for bowl positioning now, and that only goes so far.

Congrats to the Frogs.

You may recall a couple weeks ago that I pointed out that TCU, despite playing big time football, hasn't been drawing fans like a big time program. Well as a follow up to that, I'm pleased to report that the Horned Frogs have their first sell out in three years coming up in their showdown with Utah on Saturday. It still floors me that a program just outside the gigantic and football-crazy Dallas area can't find 44,000 people to show up to watch really good football, but I guess that's the nature of the beast in the mid-major ranks.

Mack Brown at least has a sense of humor.

Texas coach Mack Brown freely admits that he doesn't understand everything about how the BCS works, and he often has someone come in to explain things to him. When asked this week about if he was worried about falling to third in the BCS standings, he replied that someone told him that if the Longhorns keep winning they're in, and that's all he cared about. He also slipped in a little zinger too:

Brown was asked if the computer elements to the BCS standings don’t like his team as much as the human polls.

"I’ve called the computers. They haven’t called me back," Brown said. "I’ve invited them to our games. I don’t think any of them have shown up."

Nice. I wonder though if anyone has told him that it's the humans, not the algorithms, who have USC above Oregon.

The other choice is the Ghost of Christmas Past.

With Tommy West out at Memphis, speculation has arisen as to who will replace him there. If ESPN is to be believed, it could look a lot like Auburn's past in Graceland as Tommy Tuberville and Terry Bowden are the top two candidates. According to a website called FootballScoop.com (yeah, I haven't heard of it either), ~~former~~ current Auburn assistant Trooper Taylor is also on their list. Who knew Memphis scouted the Tigers of the Plains so closely? Also, it says look for Phil Fulmer's name to come up, but personally, I think Fulmer (and Tuberville for that matter) could get a much better job. (H/T CFT)

Apparently his copy of Phil Steele's season preview magazine just arrived.

Urban Meyer says he knows what is ailing the Florida offense. For one thing, it's a lack of big plays and defenses showing his team new looks. Beyond that though, he says it's a combination of transitioning to a new offensive coordinator, the losses of Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy at receiver, and the losses of last year's starting offensive tackles Phil Trautwein and Jason Watkins. Apparently, it only took him nine games to put that together.

It is telling though that Florida hasn't turned the ball over in the past two games and each one resulted in a 24 point margin of victory. I think a lot of people undervalued the role of turnovers in the Gators' struggles with teams earlier in the season.

Vultures.

Okay, so maybe not everyone is playing for bowl positioning. Tennessee is playing for recruiting positioning, of course. Did you know Charlie Weis is in trouble? And that Notre Dame has not just one, but two quarterback commits? Rocky Top Talk says watch for the UT coaches to swoop in on those guys should Weis be shown the door.

UF Against The World

mlmintampa — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:35 -0000

Win or lose, the Georgia game can make or break Florida's season. In a year of no dominant teams (well, TCU and Cincinnati excluded), one beat down can restore the shine to Florida's crown, kill the distractions and put them back on a straight path to Atlanta and Pasadena. Another mess of a game just continues the heartburn. A loss, and you can kiss the BCS goodbye.

Distractions come with being the defending champions and they keep piling up. First, it is losing Percy Harvin, Louis Murphy and Dan Mullen. Then, it's Lane Kiffin and Tim Tebow having to do too much. Now it is that Charlie Strong is Teflon and Steve Addazio is toxic.

But Urban Meyer is circling the wagons.

"There's going to be negative," Meyer said, reiterating his message to the team. "Whether it's right or wrong, the way it is people want to see people fail. That's the way it is. Our job is not to change human nature. Our job is to control the football team and each other and continue to have a very close family atmosphere, family chemistry. And we have that."

That the players are feeling the same heartburn as the fans is a good thing. But Meyer is turning around the press clippings and blog posts that says this Gators team isn't good enough. In the past, Meyer was willing to keep telling the team they weren't good enough. Now, he has to do the reverse to inspire the team. If Meyer does it and Florida starts winning they way they should be winning, it is the finest coaching job of his career. At this point, no one is expecting Florida to roll up 40 point wins like last season. But we do expect Florida to finish their opponents, which they would have done against Mississippi State had they not had Tebow throwing from inside his end zone.

Florida needs to perform well against Georgia and show the finish that they did last year and in 2006. Maybe this time around, it will take pats on the back from Meyer to do it.

Know Your Opponent: Florida Gators

jeremyflint — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:45:30 -0000

Now that we are back into SEC play, it is easy to find qualified bloggers that will do a Q & A about the upcoming game with you. To prep for the match-up against the Florida Gators this Saturday, I sent a few questions over to fellow SBNation blog Alligator Army. Here are their answers.

Note: When my answers to their questions are posted, I will update this post with a link.

1. After racking up big points in non-conference play early in the season, the Gators have had low scoring games against a terrible Tennessee team, as well as at LSU and against Arkansas. Is this just the offense running up against stiffer defensive challengers as Florida gets into the heart of SEC play, or is it a lack of play makers on offense aside from Tebow?

It is a lack of guys who can catch the ball and an offensive coordinator who is in over his head. Tennessee and LSU have very good defenses and Arkansas forced four fumbles, but Florida was never comfortable in those games. That's the biggest difference. I think a lot of Gator fans would take an Alabama-style beatdown (win by 21 but allow less than 10) because Alabama looks damn good even scoring less than 28 points.

2. Speaking of offense, Percy Harvin left a pretty big whole in the Gator offense after his departure to the NFL. Who has stepped in to fill those shoes and how are they measuring up?

Tim Tebow has stepped up. Seriously, they knew UF would be in trouble without Harvin and Louis Murphy, 2008's top recievers. WR Riley Cooper has played well in spots and TE Aaron Hernandez is an NFL-ready tight end, but that's it. When you promote your 3 and 4 men to 1 and 2, with no one to fill in at 3 and 4, you are in trouble. Florida still has great backs in Jeff Demps, Emmanuel Moody and Chris Rainey, but they are not pass catchers. RB Brandon James has been used in the slot, but he is struggling as he has gone from a game changing returner to nothing on special teams.

3. Brandon Spikes is one of the most terrifying defensive players I have seen in this SEC this year. He suffered an injury in the game against Arkansas. Will he miss the Mississippi State game and what effect will that have on your defense.

He is reported to be healthy enough for the Miss State game. Spikes has struggled with Achilles' tendonitis and now a groin pull, but he should be fine. Aside from guys out for the season, Florida should have a full staff. But Florida is deep on defense, unless the offense puts the ball on the floor four times and they have to take the field every two minutes.

4. Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen has worked with Florida HC Urban Meyer since he was at Bowling Green. Does his familiarity with the Gator's offense give the Bulldogs an advantage going in to this game?

Huge advantage, especially that Florida's current offensive coordinator, Steve Addazio, calls games like an eight-year old on Madden. I'm sure the signals have changed as Meyer is detail orientated and would guess Mullen would try to get the signals. But Mullen's familaritity makes this less of a blowout possibility.

5. The Gators are 0-4 in their last 4 trips to Starkville. Will the Gators break that streak or will the Bulldogs push Florida out of the #1 slot in the polls?

I think Florida wins. Compared to the other trips to Starkville, Zook was an unfocused dumbass and Florida's other losses were not with teams as good as this one. Yes, Mississippi State could win, and I think Mullen will build a decent program. But they won't beat Florida this season.

The SEC East One Month In

Year2 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:00:17 -0000

More photos » by Phil Sandlin - AP

Still in charge of the division for now.

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Divisional Preseason Storyline

The SEC East is down. It's Florida and the five little brothers. Okay, Georgia might be good after all, but South Carolina will still struggle, Tennessee's ceiling is seven or eight wins, and Kentucky and Vandy are still Kentucky and Vandy (though improved from past years).

One Month In Reality

There's not much to suggest that the division isn't still Florida's personal fiefdom, but the division doesn't look as behind the West as thought. Georgia has weathered its personnel losses all right, and they could be a very good team if they stop turning it over so much. South Carolina showed some potential in its big inter-divisional win over Ole Miss. Kentucky is still a work in progress, and Vandy has regressed.

Preseason Storyline

The Gators are going to be very good. They have a chance to be the best team ever. Sure they have to replace Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy, but you know that team's loaded. The defense will atone for any offensive shortfalls, and look for them to run roughshod over their schedule again.

One Month In Reality

The Gators may be good, but they aren't the best team ever. Tennessee's defense exposed major deficiencies in Florida's passing game and especially in the banged up UF receiving crew. The Gators' response was basically to become the best service academy ever, using a variety of option looks to roll up 362 rushing yards on Kentucky. The defense has been nearly as good as advertised so far, and it has made up for the offensive deficiencies. Now, the only real question left is what will become of the team if Tim Tebow misses any games. John Brantley may be good in practice and in the fourth quarter of blowouts, but he's never started a game.

Preseason Storyline

(January) Hey, have you heard of Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno? Stafford and Moreno? Moreno and Stafford? They're gone, and this team is doomed. Doooooooomed! (Roughly May, and onward) Hey, this Joe Cox guy is a fifth year senior. The offensive line also has a lot of experience. Wow, I didn't realize how many people who missed time with injury last year are back. Watch out! This is a bona fide sleeper team!

One Month In Reality

This is one of the least predictable teams in the country. One week, they're playing defensive slugfests; the next, they're doing an offensive shootout. It's almost as if their offensive output is positively correlated with their miscues. Against Oklahoma State and Arizona State, they committed a combined 13 penalties and scored a combined 30 points. Against Arkansas and South Carolina, they committed a combined 27 penalties and scored a combined 93 points. The only thing consistent about them is the three turnovers a game. That they've managed exactly in each of their four games so far.

Preseason Storyline

Kentucky has been a better Kentucky over the past few years, but can they make a leap forward? The defense should be pretty good again, but it was pretty good last year and that didn't save them from having to sneak into bowl eligibility at 6-6. It should be interesting to see how they use Randall Cobb, but are they conceding another mediocre year by sticking with Mike Hartline at quarterback?

One Month In Reality

Kentucky appears to be a rough sketch of what it was last year. It can hammer the truly bad teams, as we saw with the win over Miami University. However, the Wildcats have been mistake prone, nearly giving away their game against Louisville and falling apart in every way early against Florida. Hartline has looked marginally better, and Cobb is indeed a great player. Whether UK can do better than 6-6 again against a schedule that is looking tougher now than it did in the off season is still in doubt.

Preseason Storyline

It really depends who you ask as to what South Carolina's preseason expectation was. Phil Steele was the leader of the Gamecock doubters, citing a lack of experience on both sides of the ball. According to that crowd, which included Athlon and Football Outsiders, a rough year was coming. A few others, like the Sporting News and most Gamecock fans themselves, saw young talent ready to step up and a quarterback ready to fulfill his potential. For them, a top three finish in the East was possible.

One Month In Reality

South Carolina is like Georgia: still a mystery despite being 3-1. The Gamecocks looked awful in their win over NC State, a bit shaky in their loss to Georgia and win over FAU, and dominant for three quarters of the win over Ole Miss. Inconsistency is to be expected from a team that is, as the preseason detractors pointed out, still relatively green. The potential is definitely here for that top three finish in the division, but, as it always goes with the Gamecocks, the matter of whether they can put everything together consistently will determine their fate.

Preseason Storyline

The Vols should be back this year. Back to bowl eligibility, that is. With Lane Kiffin's offense replacing the complex and ill-fated Clawfense, a lot of the issues on that side of the ball should be fixed. If Jonathan Crompton can stop turning the ball over, it will be even better. Defensively, they should still be a terror thanks to Eric Berry and the top shelf scheming of Monte Kiffin.

One Month In Reality

The offense at least is more coherent, with a lot less apparent confusion. Unfortunately, Crompton is little better than he was last year, if at all, and that will probably hold Tennessee back all season. The offense has looked okay in the games against Sun Belt and MAC opponents, but in two games against BCS teams (with, to be fair, pretty good defenses) it's averaging 209 yards a game. The defense has been as good if not better than advertised, as it locked down Florida's offense and forced two turnovers in the Lane Kiffin Bowl. You can't really go wrong with Berry leading the way, but the defense wasn't the problem last year either.

Preseason Storylines

Everyone was happy for Vanderbilt having made a bowl for the first time since the Reagan administration and winning one for the first time since the Eisenhower administration. Despite that breakthrough, most folks predicted that Vandy would return to its customary place near the cellar of the SEC East. The defense was expected to be good again since most players were returning. The coaches tried to fix the offense by installing a hurry up spread scheme similar to what new starter QB Larry Smith ran in high school.

One Month In Reality

The offensive transition hasn't gone quite as smoothly as hoped. The Commodores have scored 10 offensive points combined in two SEC games, and while a lone touchdown against LSU is understandable for this team, managing just a field goal at home versus Mississippi State is not. The defense is holding up its end of the bargain, allowing just 7.25 points a game with seven of the 29 given up being garbage time points by Rice. Regardless, Vandy (for now) appears to have returned to its role of worst team in the conference, and it's going to take some real growth to get back to a bowl.

The Last Time No. 1 Visited Commonwealth Stadium ...

Ken Howlett — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:44:33 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

Beating Florida will get more than a yell out of UK coach Rich Brooks.

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... the LSU Tigers limped back to Baton Rouge with an "L" in the column that counts. Oh, how sweet it would be to witness (Saturday) a replay of UK's epic performance against Les Miles' national championship squad. Not because I despise Gator quarterback (and choir boy) Tim Tebow, or his sometimes pompous head coach Urban "What Were His Parents Thinking?" Meyer, rather, losing to the Gators has become an unfortunate rite of passage for UK fans under the age of, well, any age actually, and it's time it stopped.

Since 1986, the last time UK beat Florida, the Gators have out-shined the 'Cats by a cumulative score of 927 - 412 -- Average score: Florida - 42, UK - 19. That's embarrassing, or at least it should be. And making matters more despicable, the futility Kentucky has suffered goes back even further, for before UK's 10 - 3 victory in '86, one has to go back to 1979 to find another good guy win, this one a 31 - 3 Wildcat victory. So, if one is slow on the uptake, what that means is UK is 2 - 28 against Florida in their last 30 meetings. Hopefully, UK is exhausted from being the nail ... it's now time for Kentucky to be the heavy hitter (apologies to Darryl Isaacs).

Couple the fact that Florida is coming off an uninspiring 23 - 13 win over the Tennessee Vols in The Swamp last Saturday, with the Gators' death-dive defeats of Sun Belt power Troy (56 - 6) and Big South bully Charleston Southern (62 - 3), question marks abound where exclamation points are usually found. In other words, no one knows yet how good the Gators are, or can be.

Not helping the Gator cause against the Vols, along with several players exhibiting flu-like symptoms, was the absence of wide receiver Deonte Thompson to a hamstring injury (he's supposed to play Saturday), a loss which further exposed the gaping hole left by the graduation of pass catcher/running back (and 'Cat killer) Percy Harvin and wide-out Louis Murphy -- Evidence: Tight end Aaron Hernandez was Florida's top receiver on Saturday, with four catches for 26 yards. Yeah, you read that right, four catches for 26 yards. Uber-defensive back Eric Berry and his fellow Vol secondary members, along the youthful Gator receivng corps, limited Tebow to only 14 - 19 passing, for 115 yards (Tebow's longest pass went for only 18 yards) and an interception. Tebow's performance broke a string of 30 straight games in which the former Heisman Trophy winner has thrown a touchdown pass.

Holy Spurrier, has the Gators offense become a one-dimensional ground attack? If Saturday's contest is any indication, they might have become just that, at least for now -- Out of 63 offensive plays, Florida ran the ball 44 times for 208 yards (4.7 yards per carry). Of course, leading the ground charge was Tebow with 76 yards on 24 carries (3.2 ypc), followed by 5'9" running back Chris Rainey, with 64 yards on only nine carries (7.1 ypc). The old adage long held by Woody Hayes, seems to hold true here -- Why throw the ball, when you can run? Why indeed?

So, is it possible the 'Cats could stack the box with eight or even nine players in an effort to bring a halt to the Gator ground game? Or is that game-plan a recipe for a disastrous night for UK defensive backs Trevard Lindley, Paul Warford, and Winston Guy; the three players I would want covering the Florida receivers if UK goes with an eight man front. We'll probably never know the answer to my question, though, because I don't expect head coach Rich Brooks or defensive coordinator Steve Brown to venture that far outside of the box (and probably rightly so).

Whatever UK's defensive game-plan might be, a concerted effort must be made to contain Tebow. He's their Peyton Manning and Tom Brady all wrapped-up in one rather large 6'3", 245 lb package. And the last time he visited Lexington he threw for a personal-best four touchdowns, on 18 of 26 passing (256 yards), in Florida's 45 - 37 win.

"Contain Tebow, yeah right." I know that's what you're thinking, sitting there drinking your breakfast drink of choice. But my friends, that's how the 'Cats beat Florida -- DeQuin Evans, Corey Peters, Micah Johnson, Sam Maxwell, Collins Ukwu and crew must not only pressure Tebow, no, pressure only brings out the best in him, instead, they must terrorize Tebow with pancake hits, and brain-rattling sacks. Force him out of his comfort zone, and then make him pay the price for traveling into our back yard, and trying to push us around. Be men, do what men do: Beat the be-jeezus out of each other.

You see, Tebow is a winner. Probably always has been, probably always will be, but winners don't win all the time. Sometimes they lose, but they don't lose of their own volition, they need some help. And UK's defense must be the unit to provide the impetus for his defeat, via their persistent smash-mouth mentality, and aggressive pursuit of the enemy. There should be no letting-up in UK's determination -- If Tebow's nose is bloodied, bloody his mouth. If his mouth is bleeding, keep attacking until his teeth fall out. Don't stop ... ever. He's the enemy, and he prances onto our turf with the mindset of beating Kentucky for the fourth straight time. This time he should be vanquished, thankful he doesn't have to visit again.

Anything less is unacceptable. This team, this school, has embarrassed UK for far too long -- 63 - 6, 73 - 17, 65 - 0, 55 - 28. It's time the Gators paid. And who better to pay the piper, than the "Golden Boy" himself?

Now, for those who are at this moment exclaiming, "Howlett wants UK to play dirty Saturday!" Don't. One of the great things about football is one can inflict great pain and punishment while following the rules of the game. Just ask Dave Ragone, circa September 1, 2002.

I feel confident in saying, we're in the midst of a sea-change in the Kentucky football program. We've seen improvement in the type of player now coming to Kentucky; we've seen improvement in UK's won-loss record; we've seen three straight bowl wins for the first time in the program's history; and we've seen victories, when losses were expected. UK has bounced back from the throes of probation, bounced back to be better than they've ever been: 25 - 16 over the last three years. But now, ripe is the fruit, ready to be picked. The next step in the evolution of Kentucky football is upon us, and that step has an orange and blue hue.

Not since 1984 ... No. 1 in the country ... Too good to be true quarterback ... A coach easy to hate ... At home -- The set-up is perfectly pristine for Kentucky to execute the heist. For this game can be stolen, but it will take a single-minded determination. A determination to destroy the enemy, and take what is ours. And if any of you guys (players) are bored enough to be reading my work; If you can't summon the strength and will to do it for yourselves, do it for Marty Moore, Pookie Jones, Billy Jack Haskins, Tim Couch, Craig Yeast, Rafael Little, Artose Pinner, Jared Lorenzen, Wesley Woodyard, Marlon McCree, Myron Pryor, Andre' Woodson, Keenan Burton, Steve Johnson, Dicky Lyons, and all the other Wildcat players unfortunate enough to be on a team not quite good enough to beat the bad guys. Okay, now back to studying game film.

My Best Prognostication

If the 'Cats keep 'em under 30 points, they have a chance to send No.1 back to the sunshine as a nice, matching, handbag/shoes combo Paris Hilton would be proud of.

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats, beat the Gators!

Recruits Need Not Be Concerned with the Spread Much Longer

Year2 — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:30:14 -0000

Courtesy of Chris Low:

"The only time I really see [Florida] lose kids is because kids want to play in a pro-style offense," Kiffin said. "It’s such a great place to play, and they do such a good job of coaching. But you see some kids that don’t want to play in that system because a lot of times it hurts them going to the next level for their draft status."

If there's one thing we've learned about Lane Kiffin, it's that he's all about recruiting. It's unlikely that recruits are getting this idea all on their own, and hey, who better to introduce it than a guy who runs a pro-style offense, right?

It may still have some merits, but it's not going to stay around for long. Why?

New England runs a spread offense, and the guy who catches more passes than anyone in it (and became a Pro Bowler) is Wes Welker. He played in Texas Tech's spread offense.
Michael Crabtree, for whatever his mania in relation with holding out, was a top ten draft pick from that same Texas Tech spread offense.
Three spread offense receivers (Crabtree, Missouri's Jeremy Maclin, and Florida's Percy Harvin) were taken in the first round of last year's draft. The only tight end taken in the first round (Oklahoma State's Brandon Pettigrew) came from a spread offense.
Both Harvin and Louis Murphy, from Florida's very spread offense, started on opening day for their teams and both caught touchdown passes.
Sam Bradford was predicted to be a top ten pick had he come out last year and is the top quarterback prospect for 2010. He plays in a spread offense in Oklahoma.
The top two offensive lineman prospects for 2010 according to ESPN (Oklahoma State's Russell Okung and Oklahoma's Trent Williams) block in spread offenses.
Jonathan Dwyer is one of the top running back prospects, and he plays in the spread version of the wishbone.
Despite what Mel Kiper would have you believe, Tim Tebow is probably going to be a high draft pick. Bill Parcells thinks he'll go top ten, Jon Gruden thinks he could "revolutionize the game," and Mike Tomlin thinks highly enough of him to compliment his quarterback by making a comparison:

It's true that spread offenses do some things differently than pro-style offenses do. You would expect that to be the case since they are two different kinds of offenses. However, all that means is that NFL coaches will have to do some, you know, coaching.

Spread offense principals are gradually infiltrating NFL offenses anyway. Both Super Bowl participants last year operated from spread sets more often than not, and the highest scoring NFL offense ever (the '07 Patriots) ran a spread offense. The Kansas City Chiefs switched to a spread offense in the middle of last year with a second year quarterback from Coastal Carolina and doubled their points per game.

I suppose if Kiffin wants to perpetuate, or at the very least, exploit the perception that spread offense will hurt draft position, it will work for now. He'd be a fool not to, but It won't work for much longer.

Post-Spring Previews: Florida Gators

Gamecock Man — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:37:28 -0000

More photos » by Phil Sandlin - AP

4 months ago: Florida quarterback Tim tebow (15) and coach Urban Meyer, left, talk during the teams first practice in Gainesville, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

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After taking on Arkansas in Fayetteville, the Gamecocks return to Columbia to round out the SEC slate against the Florida Gators. The Gators, of course, are near-consensus picks to repeat as SEC and national champions. Therefore, even if we're playing well at this point and even though the game is at home, we can expect to be a sizeable underdog. With good reason, too: the Gators return the vast majority of the significant contributors from last year's dominant group. They do lose a few key players, such as all-purpose threat Percy Harvin, but those losses should be negated by greater overall experience and depth and the infusion of young talent Urban Meyer has brought to Gainesville in his past few recruiting classes. The Gators may not be unbeatable, but they're the closest thing to it that we'll see all year, and better teams than us will probably lose to them by multiple touchdowns. That being the case, this is obviously going to be a tough upset to pull.

Let's take a look at the Gators.

Offense

The Gators run Urban Meyer's famous spread-option offense. Fellow Gamecocks blogger Photon Torpedo Tube put up a good breakdown of this scheme last year before our game, so I would suggest you take a look at it if you want to know more about Meyer's offense and how to defend it.

Quarterbacks

Florida returns Tim Tebow for one final season. Tebow, of course, needs no introduction. I have little doubt he'll go down in history as one of the very best college quarterbacks ever. Obviously, the Gators have a huge advantage in this department, as they do against every team not located in Austin, TX or Norman, OK.

Verdict: Strong advantage Florida

Running Backs

Florida led the SEC in rushing last year despite not using a traditional running game and not playing a true running back on most plays. Typically, this involved running the option with Tebow under center and a group of hybrid receiver / tailback guys like Harvin, Jeffrey Demps, and Chris Rainey running out of the backfield and breaking off long runs with their speed. Expect the Gators to continue to run the ball well, but also expect them to run out of more traditional sets this year, as Meyer has claimed that he plans to run out of the I at times this year in order to get Tebow ready for the NFL, to utilize the skills of more traditional tailback Emmanuel Moody, and to generally mix things up. The Gators will likely shift between these sets and their spread formations, which best utilize the skills Tebow, Demps, Rainey, and highly recruited speedster Andre Debose bring to the table.

I'm tempted to only give the Gators a small advantage here, as I am beginning to firmly believe that we will rise into the upper half of the SEC in rushing yards this year. However, I just can't do that at this point; what we know for sure is that Florida was unstoppable on the ground last year and that we were one of the conference's worst.

Verdict: Strong advantage Florida

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

The Gators lose some key contributors here due to the departures of Harvin and Louis Murphy. They will rely on star junior tight end Aaron Hernandez to carry the load. Luckily for the rest of the SEC, Hernandez will likely be gone after this year, as he's a prime NFL prospect. The Gators will rely on guys like David Nelson and Riley Cooper to help Hernandez fill the void left by Harvin and Murphy.

I only see a slight advantage for Florida here, mainly due to the fact that these Gators are untested. However, there's plenty of talent around and we can probably expect someone we haven't heard a lot about yet to make a big contribution. Plus, the Gators have a good enough quarterback and all-around offense to negate the lack of experience here. The passing game will be fine for Florida.

Verdict: Slight advantage Florida

Offensive Line

Offensive line is what's getting a lot of attention as a potential concern for the Gators, who lose both tackles and are still trying to settle on a rotation. Finding competent replacements at those positions will be key for the Gators if they want to win another national title. Florida does return a talented guard duo in brothers Maurkice and Mike Pouncey. The Gators may play Carl Johnson at left tackle. The other positions are up for grabs between a group of unprovens.

I give Florida a slight advantage here. The Gators certainly have cause for concern at offensive line and will be tested right away when they take on Tennessee's formidable defense in week three. (I actually think this game will be much closer than most people if--and this is a big if-Tennessee plays safe on offense and doesn't allow Florida's formidable defense to blow the game open with turnovers.) However, as usual, the talent is there. Like last year, this line will probably be playing well by the time Florida plays us, as they will have had time to figure out a good lineup and establish chemistry.

Let's take a look at defenses after the jump.

Defense

As most Carolina fans know, former USC defensive coordinator Charlie Strong heads up Florida's defense. Strong has done a great job leading the Gators, as he did while at Carolina. Strong tends to run out of the 4-3 and nickel back sets. He's known for being agressive.

Defensive Line

The Gators return all their starters at defensive line. That includes end Carlos Dunlap, one of the country's best. The tackle positions go to Lawrence Marsh and Terron Sanders, while Jermaine Cunningham plays opposite Dunlap. As if this group of starters wasn't good enough, the Gators are very deep here, too, and should be able to rotate frequently and weather any major injuries.

I give the Gators a slight advantage here. I like our starting defensive line a lot, but Florida's depth gives them an adantage, especially with this game coming late in the year.

Verdict: Slight advantage Florida

Linebackers

Like Eric Norwood, Florida's Brandon Spikes is a defensive leader that decided to come back for one more year. Spikes will be flanked by Ryan Stamper and Brandon Hill. Dustin Doe and A.J. Jones will also see time outside.

The Gators get another slight advantage here. I'm inclined to believe that Eric Norwood is as good as any linebacker in the league, including Spikes. I also think Rodney Paulk is fully capable of holding his own. However, depth is again an issue for us here, especially in comparison to Florida.

Verdict: Slight advantage Florida

Secondary

The Gators return a talented, deep secondary that will be one of the nation's best. Major Wright and Ahmad Black will start at safety, while Janoris Jenkins and Joe Haden will line up at corner. The Gators have plenty of guys on the depth chart that can fill in if injuries occur or in packages that have more defensive backs. Just think; Matthew Stafford ripped this group a new one only two years ago. That seems long ago now.

I've gone on record many times this off-season saying that I think we'll have problems at secondary. Reports out of August practice are that we might be better than expected, but I still don't think we'll be as good as this group.

Verdict: Strong advantage Florida

Special Teams

Senior Brandon James is likely the nation's best return man; he's certainly the best for punt returns. Florida's talented depth chart gives them plenty of guys on coverage units that would start for most teams. Punter Chas Henry is a good one. Kicker Jonathan Phillips was accurate last year but was very rarely asked to kick longer field goals, so his range is a question mark if the issue ever comes up. Overall, a really good group.

I'll give Florida a slight advantage here, mainly due to James and their greater experience at kicker.

Verdict: Slight advantage Florida

Head Coaches

You know, the days when people were favorably comparing Steve Spurrier to Urban Meyer seem like they were just yesterday but at the same time seem so far away now. You remember: we beat Florida in 2005, completely outplayed them in 2006 but lost due to Jarvis Moss's special teams heroics, and were riding high early in 2007 while Florida struggled out of the gate. Then the bottom fell through on Spurrier's program: five straight losses to end 2007, including a blowout loss to Florida in Columbia, and a mediocre 2008, including a huge blowout to the Gators in Gainesville in a game where Florida really made us look like an FCS team. Now, most say that Spurrier is washed up and that Urban is the best coach in the land. I would disagree that Spurrier is washed up--and I think others may too after couple of years of improved offense with Stephen Garcia under center--but I won't disagree that Urban is a fantastic coach. Whatever you want to believe about his professional ethics, the guy is an offensive genius and an amazing recruiter. Personally, I think he's supplanted Pete Carrol as the country's best coach. I'll go ahead and give Urban the big advantage here; he's at the top of his game, while Spurrier comes into this year with a lot to prove.

Verdict: Strong advantage Florida

Overall

As these predictions suggest, I don't at all like our chances in this game. Florida is simply going to be very, very good this year, and even if we end up being pretty good ourselves, I just think the Gators have more going for them across the board than we do. I do think this game will be closer this year than it was last year, but that's probably partially because last year's game should have been closer than it was; we weren't as bad last year as we played in the final three games. I think that we'll make this one interesting at times, but Florida will pull away for a comfortable victory in the end.

Prediction: 17-point Florida victory

Poll

The Florida game will result in a (elaborate in the comments)...

Blowout Carolina victory...

3 votes

Close Carolina victory...

3 votes

Close Florida victory...

13 votes

Blowout Florida victory...

64 votes

83 votes | Poll has closed

SEC 2009 // Meet the New Gators, Same as the Old Gators

Year2 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:30:09 -0000

More photos » by Phil Sandlin - AP

Florida safety Dee Finlley pulls in a pass in the rain as the Gator freshman football team opened their season practice. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

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Had I written a roster post for Florida last year, it would have made this one heck of a lot easier. I could just copy and paste it, delete the sections on Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy, and then be done, right?

Well, yes and no.

Of course Florida has a lot of guys back from last year. That's where the whole "consensus preseason No. 1" stuff comes from. Seven offensive starters return, and the top 22 from the defense come back. Some will say top 21 and point to the transfer of DT Torrey Davis as the missing one, but I'd ask you when you were taking the depth chart snapshot. He registered all of five tackles before the bowl and spent much of the year in the coaches' doghouse.

The quarterbacks are set. We know that. Tim Tebow is starting with John Brantley backing him up. About the only thing worth mentioning here is that Urban Meyer says Brantley has a package of plays and will get spot work in meaningful situations. I doubt he'll do as much as Tebow did in 2006, but he's going to get non-garbage time minutes.

Speaking of 2006, that leads to the receivers.

They are the biggest question mark on the offense, what with Harvin and Murphy gone. The unit is probably going to approximate the one that Meyer had in his first championship year down to the man. David Nelson will be Dallas Baker, the tall guy. Deonte Thompson will be Andre Caldwell, the speedy guy. Carl Moore will be Jemalle Cornelius, the possession guy. Freshman Andre Debose will be Percy Harvin, the slash guy. Aaron Hernandez will be Cornelius Ingram, the receiving tight end. Riley Cooper will be, well, Riley Cooper.

The biggest difference is that Hernandez is a known quantity from the beginning, a playmaker waiting to break out. Ingram was still adjusting to being a tight end, having come in as a quarterback, but Hernandez will be ready from Day 1.

The running backs are in much better shape this time around compared to '06 though. Jeff Demps, when he's not moonlighting in the Percy Position, will probably be the primary back. He's fast and hits holes with authority despite his size. Chris Rainey is exciting with his ability to make people miss, but he dances around too much to be the top guy. Emmanuel Moody will be the biggest beneficiary from the new I-formation sets, but he's not guaranteed to get many carries. It'd be a big boost if he could be the big back playmaker that Florida has lacked since the time of Ciatrick Fason, but he hasn't put it all together yet.

Moody and Rainey also tend to get hurt, which further solidifies Demps in the top spot. Return man extraordinaire Brandon James and freshman Mike Gillislee are in the mix as well, but I don't know how many balls there will be to go around.

The offensive line will be the key to everything. The Gator offense didn't take off last year until it gelled around the fourth quarter of last year's game with Arkansas. Three fifths of it are rock solid with Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, and Carl Johnson back from starting in 2008.

After that, some combination of redshirt sophomore James Wilson, sophomore Matt Patchan (who played defense last year, like Mike Pouncey did in '07 before moving back to offense in '08), and redshirt junior Marcus Gilbert will fill the other roles. Redshirt freshman Sam Robey made some noise in the spring, and true freshman Xavier Nixon has impressed in fall practice. All of those guys except Robey were four or five star recruits according to Rivals, so it's likely that no matter which five take the field, it will be a good group. It better be, if UF is to repeat as champs.

The defensive line is in flux a bit, as it has been every year since most of the excellent 2006 line graduated. All the starters are back, but only Jermaine Cunningham looks set in his job. Tackles Terron Sanders and Lawrence Marsh are getting pushed hard by Jaye Howard, and this may be the year that Carlos Dunlap gets the starting role over Justin Trattou. Dunlap led the SEC with 9.5 sacks last year, but uneven effort kept him behind Trattou on the depth chart.

The linebackers are two thirds set. Brandon Spikes and Ryan Stamper are every bit the senior leaders and performers that any team would want. The final spot is currently a revolving door of A.J. Jones, Brandon Hicks, and, when he gets back from suspension, Dustin Doe. All three of those guys have started games, so whoever ends up there for good (if anyone) will be quality. Young bucks Jon Bostic and Brendan Beal are pushing for playing time as well.

The secondary is perhaps the strength of the entire team, something that would seem impossible during 2007's burnfest. The corners are right now Joe Haden and freshman All American Janoris Jenkins, a formidable duo. Wondy Pierre-Louis, Markihe Anderson, and Moses Jenkins are good enough as backups. The one to watch though is redshirt freshman Jeremy Brown, who missed last season to injury. Meyer has lamented that at the time of his injury, Brown was actually ahead of Janoris Jenkins on the depth chart.

The safeties are loaded. The two starters are back, the big hitting Major Wright and the ball hawking Ahmad Black. Wright struggles in coverage though, and Black can't lay the wood. As a result, sophomore all-everything recruit Will Hill has been impossible to keep off the field since the spring. Also in the mix are senior Dorian Munroe, who missed last season due to injury but has played well in the past, and newcomer Dee Finley.

The special teams will look exactly the same. Dangerous return man Brandon James is back (his last year I promise, Tennessee fans), and so are P Chas Henry and K Jonathan Phillips. Phillips missed just one field goal and one extra point (the fateful blocked one against Ole Miss) in all of 2008, but his longest made FG was only from 40 yards. The big-legged Caleb Sturgis might get a chance to kick the longer ones. The tradition of key players contributing on special teams will continue as in past years, most notably with the addition of Demps as the gunner on punt coverage.

The depth across the board is much to Florida's advantage, and the coaches are delighting in the ability to replace underperformers in practice with another quality guy. If you want to nit pick about the receivers, two O-linemen, and the third linebacker go ahead, but just about any coach in the nation would trade his roster for this one.

MONDAY: Florida's Song Remains the Same, Florida's Heisman winners

TUESDAY: The Underdogs Florida Will Face, Don't Miss Tebow's Last Year

LATER TODAY: Coaching Changes

THURSDAY: Predictions

FRIDAY: Conclusions