Thinking that we could have beaten any team isn't harsh; thinking that we could have beaten any team "easily" (a term the poster I quoted used) in a year where we were: A) breaking in a new starting QB who was still very raw and inexperienced B) breaking in a brand new offense C) breaking in a brand new head coach is delusional, and it's kind of arrogant for fans to believe we're at a level where we can look down on other teams as "easy wins" as if we're this loaded team that's rife with elite talent all over the field. It's not the late 2000s anymore and those annual 40-point beatdowns we used to enjoy over teams like Vandy and UK aren't going to happen consistently anymore, at least for now until we recruit back to back to back to back elite classes. This is why I'm amused that so many fans are flustered and frustrated at a QB who was a first-time starter having the nerve to not perform consistently under the conditions I listed above.
For whatever odd reason, he simply isn't given the grace and understanding that raw, inexperienced, first-time starting QBs in a new offense usually get. I keep hearing about his infamous dreadful performances in those same 2 games, but what about his performances in those other 9 games he started? Was his performance up and down last season, and did have games where he looked like the young, raw, inexperienced QB he was? Absolutely. But those growing pains should have been the reasonable, realistic expectation from fans, instead of expecting double digit wins and a trip to the SECCG.
LMAO! I see that worked well for you! You’re trying to make sense to someone who clearly thrives on arguing for the sake of arguing. Consider the hypocrisy of: 1) arguing that no QB could have won with our team last season, and then 2) arguing how talented our team was last season based on our players getting drafted. This kind of BS works great back in his (or her?) stomping ground over in THFSG, where they trip all over themselves trying to out-virtue-signal each other. Here it’s easy to see what that game is. By the way, your comments regarding AR are spot on. Go Gators
I love AR. I think he is a great kid and representative of UF. I hope he goes on to have an amazing nfl career, and I was one of his biggest advocates when EJ was starting over him. I’m extremely happy for him. That being said, I had high hopes for him here which is my own fault. At the end of the day he’s a grown man and his priorities are his alone, but it was evident in some games he was saving himself/holding back on his physical talents. I wish him all the best and I hope Gator nation doesn’t make him resent his school and become one of those players who reps his hs instead. There are plenty of Gators who had nfl careers but did very little here. It’s nice to see them still represent us. I’ll always be an AR fan and choose to remember the great plays he made here.
^ What a bunch of nonsense. Clearly you need to work on your reading comprehension skills. I'm not talking about how good or bad the team was as a whole, I'm just talking about one game. At this point I am convinced you didn't actually watch the Kentucky game and you just want to keep putting words in everyone's mouths. ^ I love AR, and I have said repeatedly that he was the best player on the team last year. You jokers are just hearing what you want to hear.
We weren't talking about the other 9 games. YOU were talking about the UK game and made this ridiculous comment.......
Actually I mentioned his performances against both Vandy and UK, is there a reason you left out Vandy?
Wrong I was talking about both the Vandy and UK games, you’re the one who changed it to only hone in on his bad performance vs Kentucky.
Because Vandy was 100% a team loss. They played down to their opponent. The whole team looked flat and played soft that day. Kentucky was a completely different story. The entire defense played very well, the offensive line played very well, but AR just didn't have it that night. And that's fine! We all knew there would be growing pains. But saying we still would have lost with Stroud or Young at QB that game is absurd.
Upon what do you base this assertion? Young's and Stroud's similar inability to hit RBs coming out of the backfield or short to intermediate routes? Young's or Stroud's similar throwing the ball directly to defenders (ala the Kentucky game)? Young's or Stroud's similar unwillingness to run when they were dared to by the defense? Here are some interesting apples-to-apples comparisons that make your secondary conclusion equally questionable, i.e., that AR would have performed similarly to Young or Stroud had their teams been swapped. It appears AR would have performed like AR no matter what team he was on. Folks can decide for themselves: In case anyone wants to read more, the site is at: QBASE 2023: Why Bryce Young Tops C.J. Stroud AR had a "bust" (<0 TDYP/A) of a staggering 80.5%. 13% of his attempts were only "adequate" for a starter. Upper Tier is at 4.9% and Elite only at 1.5%. All of that is consistent with what Gator fans lived through last Fall. I found it interesting that Young and Stroud were compared to each other directly but AR was so far behind both of them in his performance stats, he is compared to Will Levis (Kentucky) instead. I think @believer nailed it for many of us:
How long have you been following the team? You don't remember all the negative things that were said about Doug Johnson, Jesse Palmer, Jeff Driskel, Appleby/Del Rio, and Feleipe Franks when the team was WINNING? Yet you talk about how "interesting" it is that fans had the gall to criticize our QB during a .500 season in which he single handedly contributed to at least one of the losses.
They got criticized for their play but none of them got accused of quitting or giving up like AR did.
Scouts get “bust” projections wrong all the time, interesting site nonetheless. I base it on supporting cast, I believe if AR was on Ohio State or Bama his team is not losing to Vandy or Kentucky. All hypothetical scenarios and opinions, course.
I love AR. Even bought some of his merch. But he IS the only QB in UF history to willingly sit out a bowl game. He did stop running the ball in lots of crucial games. Fact of the matter is that he's got his own QB trainer (Denny Thompson) in his ear throughout last season and nobody knows if any of that is a factor in why he didn't perform the way we would have expected. All that adds up to people having doubts about AR. It's not unreasonable. On the flip side, I don't think Billy's offense is suited for what AR can do. So both parties may be better off without each other.
A QB sitting out a bowl game is a common practice in todays era of college football, game, so I’m not sure the distinction means much. People have their doubts about him because to their surprise, a raw, inexperienced QB didn’t meet the lofty expectations they placed on him. I do agree that the offense may simply not have been the best fit for him, I suppose time will reveal the answer to that.
To be clear I have never accused AR of quitting or giving up... But none of those QBs you mentioned were 4th pick of the draft. IMO people saw the potential flashed in the Utah game and are understandably frustrated we didn't get that AR in many other games.
