SB Nation - Joe Haden

Alligator Army All-Decade Team: Cornerbacks

mlmintampa — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:15:09 -0000

While this list contains Joe Haden and Keiwan Ratliff, it is not nearly as deep as the safety positions.

Keiwan Ratliff (2000-03): Keeeeeeeeeeeeeewan! 2003 First Team AP, Walter Camp, Football Writers, Sporting News All-American. 2003 AP SEC Defensive Player of The Year. 2002 and 2003 First Team AP All-SEC. 133 total tackles, 17 passes defended, 12 interceptions. 4 catches for 58 yards and a touchdown in 2002. 860 punt return yards.

Reggie Lewis (2003-06): After spending his first two seasons at Florida as a receiver, Lewis moved to corner. 38 total tackles, 17 passes defended, 5 interceptions.

Ryan Smith (2006): Next to Dan Mullen and the Spread, this was the best thing Urban Meyer brought from Utah. He played only one season, thanks to the NCAA rule of earning a year of eligibility for grad school. 2006 Second Team AP All-American. 2006 First Team AP All-SEC. Stats at Florida: 54 total tackles, 16 passes defended, 8 interceptions.

Joe Haden (2007-09): 2009 First Team AP, Football Writers, Sporting News All-American. 2009 Sporting News SEC Defensive MVP. 2009 First Team AP, Coaches All-SEC. 182 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 33 passes defended, 8 interceptions.

Janoris Jenkins (2008-09): 2008 Football Writers, Sporting News Freshman All-American. 63.5 total tackles, 16 passes defended, 5 interceptions.

Brandon James Out For Sugar Bowl

mlmintampa — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:57:00 -0000

Cold Blooded's career will end on the operating table. From Jeremy Fowler;

Brandon James will not play in the Sugar Bowl after having surgery on his foot, coach Urban Meyer said Monday. The prolific kick returner injured his right foot against Alabama on Dec. 5 on what is believed to be a re-aggravated stress fracture. James also had surgery in February to repair a stress fracture on the same foot.

Meyer said running backs Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps will handle kickoffs while possibly sliding cornerback Joe Haden to punt return.

Florida has the horses to get past this, but it is a sad end to the best returner in UF history. James has 4089 yards as a returner (first in SEC and UF history) and five return touchdowns in his career.

SEC Power Poll All-SEC Team Ballot

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:56:05 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2009, file photo, Alabama running back Mark Ingram (22) runs past Mississippi defenders for a second quarter 36- yard touchdown run during an NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss. Ingram won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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No frills or arguments here, just the ballot. It's pretty straightforward and will be compiled amongst the other blogs ballots to reach an SEC blogosphere All-SEC squad. Comment and criticize our selections, please.

QB - Ryan Mallett, Arkansas

HB - Mark Ingram, Alabama

HB - Dexter McCluster, Ole Miss

FB - Tim Tebow (lololololololol), Florida

WR - Shay Hodge, Ole Miss

WR - AJ Green, Georgia

TE - Colin Peek, Alabama

OL - Ciron Black, LSU

OL - Michael Johnson, Alabama

OL - Mike Pouncey, Florida

OL - James Carpenter, Alabama

OL - Maurkice Pouncey, Florida

DE - Carlos Dunlap, Florida

DE - Antonio Coleman, Auburn

DT - Terrence Cody, Alabama

DT - Jerrell Powe, Ole Miss (why the hell not?)

LB - Eric Norwood, South Carolina

LB - Rolando McClain, Alabama

LB - Brandon Spikes, Florida

S - Eric Berry, Tennessee

S - Chad Jones, LSU

CB - Joe Haden, Florida

CB - Patrick Peterson, LSU

K - Leigh Tiffin, Alabama

P - Drew Butler, Georgia

RET - Javier Arenas, Alabama

We're All Americans, But We're Not All All-Americans

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:51:28 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa's Pat Angerer (43) celebrates with teammates Allen Reisner and Dace Richardson, right, after Iowa blocked a Northern Iowa field goal on the final play. Iowa won 17-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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As is usually the case after a 10-win season, the accolades are beginning to pour in for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Everyone and their mom has an all-conference or All-American team, but the two that actually matter--Walter Camp and the AP--are now out. And for the 33th year in a row, the unanimous selection for player of the year is Frank Stallone*.

More importantly, the AP named three Hawkeyes to their All-American teams. While nobody made it onto the first team, thanks to Ricky Stanzi's ankle injury--come on, you know if he stays healthy and Iowa goes 11-1 and finishes at #5 or so, even the guys on defense get a little bit more of a bump--both Bryan Bulaga and Pat Angerer made it to the second team, while Tyler Sash made third-team AA as a sophomore. A fine moment for all three players (two of whom, as we insular and provincial types are quick to point out, are native Iowans).

Meanwhile, the Walter Camp Foundation agreed with the AP, naming Bulaga and Angerer to their second team as well and effectively establishing the two as the de facto MVPs of their respective sides of the ball. We have a little beef with each designation, but for wholly different reasons.

First, though Bulaga is by far the best pro prospect on the line as of right now and was utterly dominant in 2008, the reality is that even notwithstanding the 3-week absence as he recovered from thyroid issues, he struggled in 2009. Brandon Graham and O'Brien Schofield manhandled Bulaga. And while those are two very good defensive ends, so was Aaron Maybin, the 11th pick of the 2009 by the Buffalo Bills and Bryan Bulaga's personal prison bitch after Iowa-PSU 2008. There was a substantial dropoff in play by Bulaga in 2009, and voters just didn't notice it when it came time to hand out awards.

Meanwhile, Dace Richardson was actually very good in his return to the line, and he got a fair amount of media attention when mid-season awards were being handed out. Then his ankle was rolled up on against Michigan State, and he disappeared from both the depth chart and voters' attention. But why should he have been punished for an ankle injury while voters looked past Bulaga's absence of a similar length? It's all past reputation, and that's not really fair to guys who come from nowhere and work their butts off--especially in their senior year, where there's no chance for any payoff in the "rewarded in Year X for play in Year X-minus-1" system that's come to be when it comes to honoring offensive linemen.

What this comes down to is that if the AP were to select an Iowa lineman for All-American this season, we'd have preferred it be Dace--though we'll certainly "settle for" Bulaga instead. If both men are playing their last game for Iowa next month, as lots of speculation suggests, then they've both had stellar careers in the black and gold and we wish them well.

On defense, on the other hand, Pat Angerer didn't really establish himself as the most dominant player for that Iowa defense, but that's hardly through any fault of his own. After all, one usually does so by being simply better than his teammates, and the talent level on the Iowa defense this year was both so high and so consistent that it was hard to see Angerer as someone who was the best player on defense. After all, you could always come back with, "well why not Sash? Or Adrian Clayborn? Or Amari Spievey? Or A.J. Edds? Or, hell, Jeremiha Hunter?" We're not saying that Angerer was the 6th best player on the Iowa defense by any means--just that ranking the top 5 or 6 or so would be impossible, because the gaps would be so miniscule that personal preference could easily mean a 3- or 4-spot swing here or there and it wouldn't even be objectionable.

Angerer's accolades, then, come from two areas: 1) his name, which is everything you could ever hope for times infinity; 2) and his stats, which sort of sneak up on you for the same reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. As mentioned before, he was 5th in the nation in tackles at 11.3 a game. That's pretty outstanding, especially since--as TRE noticed during the season--Angerer's real strength might have been in pass coverage, not run support.

Still, absent game-changing plays, it's somewhat difficult to notice the overall impact a player has on a game. And all of those game-changing plays seemed to happen to other players--most notably Sash and Clayborn, and to a lesser extent Spievey.

Thus we have a weird ambiguity about how we look at Angerer's standing as the most highly-lauded member of the 2009 Iowa defense. It's not that he didn't deserve it--far from it--but with a defense like Iowa's, you could basically pick a name out of a hat and feel relatively confident that you made a good choice. It was that kind of year. Effectively singling out Angerer for praise, then, seems unusual and almost a little unfair. Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

Full AP All-American teams are after the break.

First team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Colt McCoy, senior, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Texas.
	   Running backs -- Toby Gerhart, senior, 6-1, 235, Stanford; Mark Ingram, sophomore, 5-10, 212, Alabama.
	   Tackles -- Russell Okung, senior, 6-5, 301, Oklahoma State; Trent Williams, senior, 6-5, 318, Oklahoma.
	   Guards -- Michael Johnson, senior, 6-6, 305, Alabama; Mike Iupati, senior, 6-6, 330, Idaho.
	   Center -- J.D. Walton, senior, 6-3, 305, Baylor.
	   Tight end -- Aaron Hernandez, junior, 6-2, 250, Florida.
	   Wide receivers -- Golden Tate, junior, 5-11, 195, Notre Dame; Jordan Shipley, senior, 6-0, 190, Texas.
	   All-purpose player -- C.J. Spiller, senior, 5-11, 195, Clemson.
	   Kicker -- Leigh Tiffin, senior, 6-2, 212, Alabama.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jerry Hughes, senior, 6-3, 257, TCU; Derrick Morgan, junior, 6-4, 272, Georgia Tech.
	   Tackles -- Ndamukong Suh, senior, 6-4, 300, Nebraska; Terrence Cody, senior, 6-5, 365, Alabama.
	   Linebackers -- Rolando McClain, junior, 6-4, 258, Alabama; Greg Jones, junior, 6-1, 228, Michigan State; Eric Norwood, senior, 6-1, 252, South Carolina.
	   Cornerbacks -- Joe Haden, junior, 5-11, 190, Florida; Javier Arenas, senior, 5-9, 198, Alabama.
	   Safeties -- Eric Berry, junior, 5-11, 203, Tennessee; Earl Thomas, sophomore, 5-10, 197, Texas.
	   Punter -- Drew Butler, sophomore, 6-2, 201, Georgia.
Second team
	   Quarterback -- Tim Tebow, senior, Florida.
	   Running backs -- Ryan Mathews, junior, Fresno State; Dion Lewis, freshman, Pittsburgh.
	   Tackles -- Bryan Bulaga, junior, Iowa; Chris Marinelli, senior, Stanford.
	   Guards -- Rodney Hudson, junior, Florida State; Mike Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Center -- Maurkice Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Tight end -- Dennis Pitta, senior, BYU.
	   Wide receivers -- Mardy Gilyard, senior, Cincinnati; Danario Alexander, senior, Missouri.
	   All-purpose player -- James Rodgers, junior, Oregon State.
	   Kicker -- Kai Forbath, junior, UCLA.
Defense
	   Ends -- Von Miller, junior, Texas A&M; Brandon Graham, senior, Michigan.
	   Tackles -- Gerald McCoy, junior, Oklahoma; Jared Odrick, senior, Penn State.
	   Linebackers -- Pat Angerer, senior, Iowa; Brandon Spikes, senior, Florida; Sean Weatherspoon, senior, Missouri.
	   Cornerbacks -- Perrish Cox, senior, Oklahoma State; Kyle Wilson, senior, Boise State.
	   Safeties -- Taylor Mays, senior, Southern California; Rahim Moore, sophomore, UCLA.
	   Punter -- Zoltan Mesko, senior, Michigan.
Third team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Kellen Moore, sophomore, Boise State
	   Running backs -- LaMichael James, redshirt freshman, Oregon; Jacquizz Rodgers, sophomore, Oregon State.
	   Tackles -- Dennis Landolt, senior, Penn State; Ciron Black, senior, LSU.
	   Guards -- Brandon Carter, senior, Texas Tech; Jeff Byers, senior, Southern California.
	   Center -- Chris Hall, senior, Texas.
	   Tight end -- Dorin Dickerson, senior, Pittsburgh.
	   Wide receivers -- Freddie Barnes, senior, Bowling Green; Demaryius Thomas, junior, Georgia Tech.
	   All-purpose player -- Dexter McCluster, senior, Mississippi.
	   Kicker -- Hunter Lawrence, senior, Texas.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jeremy Beal, junior, Oklahoma; Brandon Sharpe, senior, Texas Tech.
	   Tackles -- Brian Price, junior, UCLA; Dan Williams, senior, Tennessee.
	   Linebackers -- Sergio Kindle, senior, Texas; Cody Grimm, senior, Virginia Tech; Navorro Bowman, junior, Penn State.
	   Cornerbacks -- Brandon Harris, sophomore, Miami; Alterraun Verner, senior, UCLA.
	   Safeties -- Tyler Sash, sophomore, Iowa; Mark Barron, sophomore, Alabama.
	   Punter -- Matt Reagan, senior, Memphis.

*Did you know he was in Tombstone, a.k.a. the SINGLE GREATEST MOVIE IN HISTORY? And in a phenomenal scene, to boot.

All-SEC Ballot: Draft

Gamecock Man — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:04:08 -0000

The SEC Power Poll is hosting an All-SEC poll. Here is a draft that reflects my first impressions--let me know what you think, and we may revise a bit if necessary.

Offense

QB: Ryan Mallett (Arkansas Razorbacks)

RB: Mark Ingram (Alabama Crimson Tide)

RB: Dexter McCluster (Ole Miss Rebels)

OG: Mike Johnson (Alabama Crimson Tide)

OG: Mike Pouncey (Florida Gators)

OT: Ciron Black (LSU Tigers)

OT: John Jerry (Ole Miss Rebels)

C: Maurkice Pouncey (Florida Gators)

TE: Aaron Hernandez (Florida Gators)

WR: A.J. Green (Georgia Bulldogs)

WR: Shay Hodge (Ole Miss Rebels)

Defense

DE: Cliff Matthews (South Carolina Gamecocks)

DE: Antonio Coleman (Auburn Tigers)

DT: Terrence Cody (Alabama Crimson Tide)

DT: Malcolm Sheppard (Arkansas Razorbacks)

LB: Eric Norwood (South Carolina Gamecocks)

LB: Rolando McClain (Alabama Crimson Tide)

LB: Rennie Curran (Georgia Bulldogs)

CB: Javier Arenas (Alabama Crimson Tide)

CB: Patrick Peterson (LSU Tigers)

S: Eric Berry (Tennessee Volunteers)

S: Joe Haden (Florida Gators)

Special Teams

PK: Blair Walsh (Georgia Bulldogs)

P: Drew Butler (Georgia Bulldogs)

RS: Javier Arenas (Alabama Crimson Tide)

You've got some explaining to do...

Many of these choices go without questions; nobody, for instance, will disagree with me about Mark Ingram, Rolando McClain, or Eric Berry. However, I do have a few bones to pick with conventional wisdom. Here's how I see such cases:

Ryan Mallett / Tim Tebow

As most people around here know, I'm a pretty big Tebow fan. The guy has had a great career, and although his sanctimonious, humble-but-really-not attitude can get to you sometimes, overall I don't have too many problems with him as a media phenomenon. It is what is. However, while I've been as guilty as anyone when it comes to giving Tebow confidence by inertia, I've come to believe it has to stop somewhere: Mallett was just better this year.

By the way, Ryan, if you're reading this, go to the NFL.

Dexter McCluster / Anthony Dixon

OK. I believe Anthony Dixon had a better year than McCluster at RB. However, I also believe that McCluster was one of the best and most valuable players in the SEC. I'm talking about on a par with Tebow, Ingram, you name it. So, I think we have to get him on the list somewhere. This is where I'm putting him. Unfortunately for him, McCluster was probably never used in the right way enough; this guy really was a minor Reggie-Bush-like talent.

Cliff Matthews / Carlos Dunlap

Dunlap is a jackass that showed his true colors when he signed with Florida instead of Sou...wait, when he drunkenly fell asleep at the wheel before the biggest SECCG ever. He failed his team. Despite his talent, that failure will always make him worse than Matthews in my mind.

Rennie Curran / Brandon Spikes

What can I say? I know it's surprising to see an UGA player on the defensive first team, but I think Curran is a great player. That might have something to do with his success against USC, but whatever. If this guy had a halfway decent DC, he'd be the talk of the nation. Spikes is a great player, but he's also a cog in a machine to some degree.

Well, that's a wrap on this draft. Let me know what you think.

Haden, Hernandez Are Your AP All-Americans

mlmintampa — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:25:47 -0000

The Associated Press All-American teams announced today included Joe Haden as first team cornerback and Aaron Hernandez as first team tight end. Maurkice Pouncey gets shafted and sent to second team at center. Also on the second team was Mike Pouncey at guard and Brandon Spikes at linebacker. Tim Tebow was named second team, behind Colt McCoy, upsetting the fanboys that worship at the altar of golden boy Jimmy Clausen and new Pac-10 poster boy Jake Locker. They must be really upset that Kellen Moore, another quarterback of a BCS team, was the third team quarterback. I guess winning games means something to the AP. Your unanimous selections were Mark Ingram, Toby Gerhart, Ndamukong Suh and Rolando McClain.

Friday News and Notes: Eric Norwood First-Team All-American, Steve Spurrier Meets Randy Edsall

Gamecock Man — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:39:14 -0000

Eric Norwood made Walter Camp first-team All American. The linebacking corp is all SEC guys: Norwood, Rolando McClain, and Brandon Spikes. There were another three SEC players at other defensive positions: Eric Berry, Terrence Cody, and Joe Haden. Anyone want to question the defensive integrity of the SEC now? Didn't think so. Now we can wait and see if Norwood makes the AP list.

Steve Spurrier and Randy Edsall Pre-Bowl Conference. A few interesting quotes from the coaches:

I think it's a great bowl, it's a great setting, and we're looking forward to it. We hope it can be a little colder than it is today. We kind of like that snow if they want to have some snow.

We'll pass, Coach Edsall. We don't do snow in the SEC, other than maybe at Kentucky. We do speed.

Stephen has improved a lot. He's improved tremendously from where he was last year. He's played about every snap the whole year, so he's durable, and he's improved a lot.

I suppose I hadn't thought about this until I saw it here, but we actually started the same quarterback each game this year. That's a first under Spurrier, and it's certainly a far cry from what we've seen the past three years. It's also notable how much Spurrier is gushing over Garcia. You can hear the confidence Spurrier has in his quarterback. Again, a first.

Should Eric Berry win the Thorpe Award?

Will — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:17:00 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

2 months ago: Auburn's Tommy Trott (5) is tackled by Tennessee's Eric Berry (14) during the first half of a NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

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Yes, yes he should. Because he did. WOO!

In 2008, Eric Berry turned in one of the most impressive seasons we've ever seen at Tennessee. He was the lone bright spot in a season of despair, the team's lone highlight reel star who positioned himself to earn national recognition even though the Vols went 5-7. Berry was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a first team All-American at strong safety, and was a finalist for the 2008 Thorpe Award, given annually to the nation's best defensive back.

Berry was joined by Taylor Mays of USC and Malcolm Jenkins of Ohio State as award finalists. Vol fans quickly pointed out that based on statistics and overall value to the team, Berry should've taken the award easily. However, it would be Malcolm Jenkins' name that was called when the award was announced, and Berry was denied.

Take a look again at the statistical comparison of Berry and Jenkins from 2008:

Eric Berry: 7 INT, 265 ret yds, 2 TD, 72 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 3 sacks
Malcolm Jenkins: 3 INT, 7 ret yds, 0 TD, 57 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 1 sack

This was an injustice, we said. Berry was clearly the best defensive back in college football in 2008.

This year, Eric Berry is once again a Thorpe Award finalist. He joins Joe Haden from Florida and Earl Thomas from Texas, and the winner will be announced during ESPN's College Football Awards show, live tonight from 7-9 PM EST. Berry's Heisman campaign fizzled, and thus far his quest to become the NCAA's all-time leader in interception return yardage has come up short, with EB just eight yards away from the record. In Monte Kiffin's defense, Berry has been moved closer to the line of scrimmage in a safety/linebacker hybrid role (which Berry likes to call "sacker"). This move, combined with opposing quarterbacks' knowledge of his presence and efforts to keep the ball out of his airspace, have kept Berry's interception numbers and opportunities down this season.

So as Berry journeys to Orlando once again to await the announcement of the Thorpe Award winner, one year after we all raised our fists over an injustice...is it fair for Berry to win it this time around?

Let's compare Berry's 2009 numbers to the other two finalists (note that Thomas and Haden played an extra game):

Eric Berry: 2 INT, 7 yds, 0 TD, 83 tackles, 6 TFL, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries
Earl Thomas: 8 INT, 149 yds, 2 TD, 59 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 1 forced fumble
Joe Haden: 4 INT, 20 yds, 0 TD, 62 tackles, 5 TFL, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles

The statistical gap between Earl Thomas and Eric Berry isn't as wide as the one last year, where Berry had a significant edge on Malcolm Jenkins in every major statistical category and still lost. In fact, Berry and Thomas have become two very different types of players, making this award somewhat about style preference. If you go the traditional safety route and like interceptions, Earl Thomas is clearly the choice. If you want to emphasize tackles, then you lean towards Eric Berry.

I think if you removed the names and just showed the numbers, the vast majority of voters would give this award to Thomas. He is second in the nation in interceptions (no invite for UCLA's Rahim Moore, who had nine picks and got Jon Crompton twice?) and joins eight others as the only players in college football to run two back for touchdowns this season. If you included the fact that Thomas plays for 13-0 Texas and Berry plays for 7-5 Tennessee, it would further help his cause.

And look...I don't like Texas. At all. I'm still not a fan of Chris Simms, beating them in basketball didn't help, and everytime someone calls them "the real UT", I want to remind them that they're actually the "would be speaking Spanish if not for us UT". They are the non-conference team I want to play the most, now that Virginia Tech is on the books.

But shouldn't Thomas win this award?

And based on last year, shouldn't we expect Berry to walk home with the prize tonight?

Thomas, like Berry last year, is a sophomore. Berry is a junior and is destined for the Top 10 of the NFL Draft in April. And if this becomes a career or seniority award as it did for Jenkins last year, Berry has the edge. What's more, Berry has the greatest advantage over both Thomas and Joe Haden in name recognition: with over 100,00 votes, EB is currently running away with the Thorpe Award poll on ESPN's SportsNation.

If Berry wins, I'm going to be incredibly happy for him, and for us. The Vols haven't had an individual award winner since John Henderson brought home the Outland Trophy in 2000, and watched Travis Stephens get robbed of the Doak Walker in 2001, Berry get robbed last year, and we've made it this far in this post about defensive backs and individual awards without bringing up our friend from Michigan. This would be a great thing for Berry and for Tennessee.

And Berry has sacrificed his individual opportunities for the team this season, moving to a position on the field where his interception chances are very low, and still making an incredible difference for this defense. He has more tackles than any other defensive back in the SEC except Sean Richardson at Vanderbilt, who gets more opportunities to make tackles because he plays for Vanderbilt. Eric Berry is a once-in-a-generation talent who should go on to do incredible things in the NFL.

Should he win? I don't know. Will he win? I hope so.

Random Musings From the SEC Championship Game

outsidethesidelines — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:00:31 -0000

It's a bit late in the week for musings on the SEC Championship Game, but with the BCS Championship Game still one month away, I figure we have plenty of time to fully dissect the victory in Atlanta. With that in mind, here are a few random musings I had from watching the SEC Championship Game:

Florida ran their combo option / shovel pass play on the opening play of the game, and Eryk Anders chased down Hernandez from the backside to make the tackle for a minimal gain. Anders followed Hernandez the entire way and we were obviously prepared for such a play, but the interesting thing of it was that Florida never went back to that play the rest of the game. That really surprised me, especially given how successful that play has been for them the past couple of years.
A large degree of Florida's lack of point production in this game can be traced back to three key offensive mistakes on the Gators' part, namely two costly drops and a terrible throw by Tebow. The first big mistake came on the opening drive when Jeff Demps dropped a pass out of the backfield that was destined for big yardage (Florida ultimately went three and out on that drive), and the second was Hernandez dropping a pass at the goal line after he left Cory Reamer in the dust (Florida had to settle for three points there). Finally, Tebow made a terrible throw on the interception to Arenas... it was an easy touchdown pass with the proper arc on the throw, and instead it ended up being the dagger through their hearts. I'm not saying Florida would have won had they capitalized on these three plays, but the game would have certainly been much closer.
Speaking of that throw by Tebow... it's throws like that why he'll never be a legitimate NFL quarterback. Call him the greatest college player ever if you want, but he has a slow wind-up in his delivery and he doesn't throw the football vertically very well. You can get away with that, combined with the rest of the positive things he can do for you, when you are playing the SEC East, but the NFC East? That stuff doesn't fly up there. Tebow will probably be a first round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, and he may be an outstanding player in some type of a hybrid role or at another position, but in terms of his potential as a traditional NFL quarterback, his prospects aren't much better than mine.

I found our defensive strategy pretty interesting. We had some blitz packages and mixed up our looks, as per usual, but it certainly seemed like our strategy was to make Florida throw the football vertically down the field against six or seven defenders in coverage. We wanted to take away the interior run and the short passing game, and from there we wanted to make Florida beat us by having Tebow sit back in the pocket and throw the football down the field into tight windows. That was a fairly different strategy than what we used last year in this game, and if nothing else the end result was a lot better.

Only allowing 13 points to the Gators looks impressive on paper, but in all honesty we didn't exactly stop them, hence why they averaged almost seven yards per play. They are an elite offense and they had a lot of success against our defense. Fortunately, though, they shot themselves in the foot just enough at critical times, and our offense scored so many points that they were forced to push the envelope later in the game when they would have otherwise taken easy points. Combined, that kept them to only 13 points, despite the fact that they generally moved the ball well.

And speaking of that latter point, the game on Saturday reinforced the long-held notion that the best defense is a good offense. That was on display all afternoon in Atlanta.

I sincerely hope that Aaron Hernandez goes pro, and he's a fool if he doesn't. In terms of pure match-up issues, I think he probably gave us more issues than any other single skill position player we faced all year long. I hope he's playing somewhere in the NFL next year when the Gators make the trip to Tuscaloosa.

You know the corner blitz from Javier Arenas that we see all of the time? For whatever reason, I don't think we saw that a single time against Florida. Again, I think it was clear that we wanted to force Tebow to throw the football down the field into tight windows.

The play of the game... from P.J. Fitzgerald? If he doesn't make a great open field tackle on Brandon James, undoubtedly James will score and Florida will take a 10-9 lead and have all of the momentum despite 'Bama having controlled the first quarter. That play didn't get much attention, but it was absolutely critical.

As great of a player as Julio Jones is, I think it's clear at this point that it is in fact Marquis Maze that makes our passing game go. Jones is a great player in his own right, but he draws so much attention from opposing defenses that it really limits his production. He always draws the opposing team's best cornerback -- Joe Haden followed him around the Georgia Dome like he was his shadow -- and opposing defenses usually have either a linebacker or a safety giving assistance of some form to the corner. All in it all, it really just limits what he can feasibly do, and from there it is really all up to Maze -- who is usually isolated on the second or third corner -- to make plays. And notice that Maze's best games (Virginia Tech, Arkansas, LSU, and Florida) have been the best days for our passing game as well. I highly doubt that is a coincidence.

Brandon Spikes was absolutely abused in this game. Josh Bynes may have had a career day in the Iron Bowl, but we beat Spikes to a pulp in Atlanta. Far from the career day that I feared he may have, that was probably the worst performance of his collegiate career.

Could there possibly a more inconsistent player than Greg McElroy? I tell you, that guy has been all over the board this year. He has played perfect (Florida), extremely good (Arkansas), good (Virginia Tech), decent (Kentucky and LSU), poorly (Tennessee and Ole Miss), and ungodly terrible (South Carolina). Pretty much anywhere along the performance spectrum, McElroy has been there at some point throughout the year. In terms of variance, I don't think I can ever recall a 'Bama player who has been as all over the board as McElroy has this year.

Speaking of Greg McElroy's performance against Florida, if that was not the best performance of my lifetime by an Alabama quarterback, I don't know which one could legitimately be considered better. He played at an extremely high level against an elite defense, and made plays with both his arm and his feet. Personally, that was the best performance I have ever seen by an Alabama quarterback.

As a closing thought, could there ever be a bigger SEC Championship Game than this? Considering that both teams came in undefeated, #1 v. #2, and a rematch of last year's game, I really don't think you could ever have a bigger SEC Championship Game, even as a theoretical matter. Tim Brando mentioned something to that effect on the CBS broadcast Saturday afternoon, and I think he is right. For all intents and purposes, this is as big as it will ever get.

The Dream Dies

mlmintampa — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:05:19 -0000

More photos » by Dave Martin - AP

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I was 11 when Tommie Frazier ran over Florida hearts, so Mark Ingram's 190 yards of offense and three touchdowns are the worst thing that has happened in my life as a Gator. Tonight's 32-13 loss by Florida to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game is the worst loss in Florida's history. Not because it's a blowout, or because Tim Tebow cried (Goddamn I did not want to see that), but because Florida's only accomplishment this season was a division title.

There is no one to blame for today. When you play in a Championship Game, sometimes the other guy will just hit harder, get every bounce and call, and win. You can make the case for a lack of focus (Carlos Dunlap's mistake, the poor tackling, dropped passes), but these are 18-22 year olds. You can never expect a college athlete to be perfect. And that is perfect in the sense of actions, not record.

I feel sorry tonight for all the little boys and girls with number 15 jerseys, who are asking their parents why Florida lost today. It is a hard thing to watch your hero not come through. Tebow is still the best player in Florida history, Brandon Spikes is still the best linebacker, and Joe Haden is still a future pro. This was one night and it will hurt for a while. But it is still one night of many. In the eternal history of Florida Football, there will be epic wins and epic losses. There will be seasons that end with crystal balls, Outback steaks and coal. There are as many blades of grass on Florida Field as there have been days of Florida Football. Not all of those days will be good.

In the Spring, life will begin again with John Brantley. As for now, it all sucks. But the Dream will begin another day.

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