It seems the coaches made a halftime adjustment because the running game was excellent the 2nd half. AR is just untrustworthy in the passing game. Our 3rd down defense remains horrible, but we escaped with a win and right now that's all that matters.
I don't think @malscott would have called for AR to be benched . . . although there were a LOT of posters that were.
People see the defensive issues and are worried. Some fans, myself included, were hoping for a different defensive scheme that played more aggressively, yet the defense, while being more fundamentally sound, looks much the same as it has looked under Grantham. Soft zone coverages giving up 3rd and long conversions.
Some of you see an elite defense, so who's seeing what they want to see? I saw one guy save the day and another trying his best to cover for an inept defense. How many 3rd and longs did we yield today? How many 3rd downs did Mizzou Heisman QB convert? I'll answer. He had almost as many 3rd down conversions as we had 1st downs. Shall we highlight those? I ask because you can ignore it if you want, but don't cry if that causes us to lose every game until Vandy. LSU is meh, but not much different than Mizzou. No room for error going forward.
That’s the problem with AR, he is too inconsistent. Just when the cries for him to sit reach beyond belief, he pulls off a great scramble or throw.
I believe that Ventrell and Jaydon are our 2 best players on D.. No one else even close. Had they both played against KY and/or Tenn we could have won both games. Against Tenn we gave up uncovered receiver TD's twice. Jaydon would have certainly helped our DB's. Against KY, we might have contained Hooker a little better. Ventrell wasn't moving like he is now against Tenn. So for anyone who thinks our D issues aren't personnel driven, look at the difference Jaydon and Ventrell make.
I think he's like that when he's hamstrung. When he is allowed to move around, run a few, he's very loose. He is not a pocket passer and it feels like Billy is forcing him to do that.
I agree. I see defensive issues but don't join the crowd already calling for the DC to be fired. I think the defense played much better overall today and it was against an SEC team. I think a lot of young guys are learning on-the-field since Florida needs that this year. So will they make mistakes? Yes. The DC is calling soft zone coverage for a reason (or several reasons) and he knows more about that than any of us. That last 3rd and long was an old Coach Spurrier play . . . and he used it at times because it worked. It still does!
In fairness, Shorter and Fraziers both dropped very catchable balls — both very good passes, the latter being a TD
Well said. It's time to sit all of the upperclassmen in the secondary and give the young guys the game reps. Way too many times I've seen lazy tackling or low IQ decisions or just selfish attitudes like showboating when they make a tackle for a 1st down. These kids are talented, but they are tainted by the prior regime. Maybe Billy can fix the younger guys who had some exposure to Grantham, but the guys not coming back next year need to sit.
Here's the thing, BN keeps saying we have work to do and yet, especially on D its the samo samo. It's a pitch and catch fest, it's one 3rd down conversion after the other, it's few 3 and outs, it's allowing our opponent nearly 40 minute possessions. To be blunt, Mizz is NOT a good O team. Yet once again they looked like bama vs us. I keep hearing its really bad players, there may be some truth in that but our D is not being put in a position to play winning football.
I don't know what you've been reading or listening to, but I haven't heard Florida Football and elite defense mentioned in the same sentence in years.
Really? Where have you been? It was the talk of the town all off-season. It was talked about even after Tennessee. At first, it were excuses, but as time went on and we kept showing we weren't even in the same breath as a Samford defense, you still had a few asking why is this happening? That's why I've said cut the fat and go with the younger guys. The upperclassmen have just too much Grantham stink. I'm not sure they can be saved this year and what good is it to keep bashing a square peg in a round hole if it doesn't matter? I've seen some really good things with the youngsters.
