STOP WITH THE LOGIC! Now, be nice and go find your pitchfork and torch and go stand with the rest of us.
I'm sure we could find a DC that can stop the dink and dunk passing offense that LSU employed. That used to be child's play in this league, but evidently not to us.... not anymore.
Two things stood out to me, talentwise. The first is on the front 7 defenses. They got to AR a lot and made him make some big plays. We did not pressure well, until about the middle of the 4th quarter. The other, which may be about the QBs than the talent, was their WRs versus ours. Theirs looked way better.
You need to watch and post. It helps. It helps to raise my Jack Daniels and Maalox investment stocks. Cha CHING!
The whole defense needs to start tackling students, teachers, people in the streets, their moms, coaches. They need to practice tackling every day until the next game. I've always had a peeve about tackling and catching. If you can't catch how can you play receiver? If you can't tackle, how can you play defense? If you can't throw how can you be a QB? The answer is you can't, not effectively. See game tape. Throwing and catching has improved. Tackling and positioning...not so much. 21 missed tackles! Yikes. I love the Gators. I love Napier. We just have a very long ways to go. Somewhere in our future is a complete game. That will be the start. I sure hope the recruits can see their place on this team. Regardless...It's great to-be a Florida Gator. I feel for the kids, they're the ones that carry the burden. Congrats to all the teams out there that were victorious. To put it in perspective. Buffalos rushed the field like Tenn. They won their first game. Go Colorado! Go Gators.
How many quality coaches would Florida attract if their entire tenure was based on LESS than 6 games . . . using other coaches' players? Because the calls to replace Toney came at least 2 games before last night. One poster, who I will not call-out, said in the first half of the Utah game: Florida would start 1-5 and Coach Napier's seat would be thermonuclear hot. "So, Coach so-and-so . . . come to Florida and turn things around in 2-3 games or you'll be fired by mid-season." We can always find another top-notch replacement. Oh really? Regardless, thank goodness that same standard wasn't applied to Urban Meyer and staff . . . of Florida would have two fewer National Championships.
Someone just posted a Twitter feed that explains more about our defense in a microcosm, yet direct, kind of way. It was gatormonk on post #303. I will re-post it for you. Tell us what you think about this, please.
It's exactly what I've been saying. It's NOT "Fire Toney!" It's change/adapt/re-tool some of the play calling to be more unexpectedly aggressive. Use more press coverage and send blitz packages to help the struggling DL.
Every offense has a break-out game against our defense. Last in 3rd down is simply not acceptable, we definitely don’t have lowest ranking players in the nation.
I think I have seen enough to know that Toney needs to be at the very least, reassigned, not fired. But he's not the guy that he's purported to be. This level of bad is almost philosophical.... and very deeply ingrained. You don't just flip a switch and change coaching philosophies. And we cannot waste one more year to figure that out. But right now? I think it's all hands on deck to help our defense in season. So, I do not think we can, nor should we, change the DC in season. But he needs some help.
I see what you're trying to do here, but it was Elam.... and NO one threw his way, so Marshall got more threats/reps and shined brightly. Now, this year is different. What changed? I see him having to play DB and Safety, because someone is not doing their job at Safety.
Are you actually You SPECIFICALLY said that he didn't develop players. What the hell is wrong with you? The words are right there in plain English.
You may be exactly right with the last thing . . . and I agree with everything else. If Toney can't use these 2-weeks to ingrain some more aggressive calls or can't tactically employ them, he may not be what Coach Napier thought. Remember, Coach Napier has coached at the top SEC program and the top ACC program and knows first hand what it takes, especially in the SEC. He has never impressed me as anything like former coach Mullen. Coach Napier coached side-by-side with Toney. We'll see.
If memory serves, the class that Brock Berlin was the number one class that year (1999?) Recruiting hadn't "fallen off" that bad and we were one 2 pt conversion from playing for the National Title in 2001 in Spurrier's second to last game. I'm sure Foley knew Zook was a good recruiter, but he absolutely doesn't get a call as a middling DC in the NFL from any AD for a Major Program. Call it friendship, panic, or whatever...Foley was the only person making that call.
I noticed the same thing about the LSU WR's. They were very physical and over powered the defenders at the point of contact. The same on the running plays toward and up the side line Either the LSU running back or the QB got around the end and upfield first and then overpowered the tackles. Too many yards before and after the initial contact. This issue created more first downs.
Not sure that's fair. The rationale for those saying fans are impatient is based on the supposition that we lack talent to compete. Three star talent can tackle. Are we practicing fundamentals, really? Are we so bad that our DBs have to play 10 yards off even if the other team's first down marker is more like 5 yards? Something beyond lack of talent has been exposed. Coach was "right" bringing assistants he trusted. That's okay. But he's going to have to part ways at some point for the good of his team. Here's a question about giving cushion: If our WRs are unable to get open in games- and I read they do not get separation- then how would our staff know our DBs cannot play man? Are our DBs slower than our slow WRs in practice? Do our top two QBs that can't seem to pass in-game burn our secondary for long passes in practice but we are unable to make those same plays in-game? We make those plays in practice against our secondary but were unable to do that against USF? Something's wrong with what we interpret as the reason for the staff's scheme choices. To the offense: What in the holy hell was that slant, with the game on the line? It was embarrassing as hell to see our staff force that play on AR. Do you really believe they thought he could make that? Does he make those throws in practice? That was NOT a game-on-the-line play call. I will be talking about that slant for a long time. That was very horrifyingly amateurish on our staff's part. Great post! Yep, other teams are just too good to intentionally play close games. NC teams have a close game once or twice a season, but never by design. This offense Billy runs is not going to win enough games nor attract players. We had better hope we land this WR class because if I'm recruiting against Florida I am going to ask our commits some tough questions The most optimistic take I can offer is that they just don't have enough installed in their play book to take the shots. The fourth down slant call tells me that their playbook is not deep. If it's not that, then our staff is still growing into their rolls. See my aboves. Seems to be true. They each get at least one more season. But why? I wish I knew the true reasons because I am really confused. The third down conversions against us are really inexplicable. Right on, unfortunately. Playing close is foolish. The staff so far does not have the right plays when we need them. I hope we hang on to this class. But no doubt, the offense is not going to attract players. RBs and OL, perhaps. WRs and QBs? What did you think of the slant with game on the line? I doubt that play is even 50/50 when they try it in practice and I felt terribly for AR when he threw that ball.
