What Do You Think Our Chances Are Of Beating One Of These Teams This Year?

It still boggles my mind that we (any school) would commit to that kind of buyout for an unproven coach . I guess the prove yourself and then you'll reap the rewards went out the window a long time ago.

 

The wildcard is Mertz. He was a highly rated recruited

There is a chance, although not likely, that he makes a huge leap equals AR.

Then if the D becomes average (which should be relatively likely) we are a borderline top 25. If the D becomes good then we are a top 25 team

But if Mertz remains Mertz and the D only makes marginal improvement we are a 500 team at best, probably well under 500….then Napier enters 2024 with a ton of pressure

 

My expectations have gotten so low, at this point I’d settle for a QB who honors his scholarship and shows up to bowl games.

 

You are correct and can put that at the top of the list. Purveyors of kiddie porn need not apply.

 

Napier might know more about our talent/team than these prognosticators think they know. I can tell you from what I have read that our defense will NOT be the crappy problem they were last year. But I also do NOT expect perfection, especially in the early part of the year.

And I doubt Utah's QB will be 100% healthy from the ACL he suffered in the Rose Bowl. I don't wish him ill, but I would be surprised if he even plays in that game. If he doesn't play then the difference between their 2nd string is like night and day. They might even be relying on a former walk-on... or one of 2 red-shirt freshman. Not ideal for Utah.

But what really makes me laugh out loud is how some of these said prognosticators rank our chances to beat Kentucky... I can tell you that we had the worst defenses in forever these last 4 or 5 years and that's the only reason why we lost to them 2 years in a row. As I said our defense will be on a different planet of skill level and scheme/s compared to the last few years.

The 2 hardest game will be UGA and LSU. I just hope we work out all the kinks as a team by the time we play LSU.

 

Have you seen fpi? Not to be a gloom & doomer, but . . .

@ Utah - 29.7%

TN - 51.7%

UGA - 13.8%

@LSU - 18.5%

FSU - 50.3%

You were close!

 

Someone order up some esophageal spasms for Kirby, stat!

 

Beating Kentucky, and South Carolina is never a miracle. That just means we are average.

 

Okay we need to save this thread... Mods, can we get some help here. Lol.

If Utah's QB Rising gets well they might beat us, but if he's not ready to play? Forget about it. It's either a former walk-on, or one of two red-shirt freshman.

 

Hope you're right, but remember the Utes puking at the Swamp last Sept? That' might be our guys gasping for air this go round. Utah is a good team. And I'm just reporting the fpi. Take it fwiw.

 

It does sound good to get over there Monday and get a few practices in first.

 

The offense will probably take a slight step back but I just want to see defensive improvement this year. The offense was ~32.5ppg last year so it was enough to win games if our defense would just show up.

Improve the total defense this season to a ~ 40-55ish ranking from the ~70s-90s that we have been in recent years and we'll look alright.
Hopefully they're on the path to be ranked back up in top 20-30 range next year since that's where UF has usually sat when they had competitive defense.

 

It's a sign of the times...a bad sign.

 

I think it's been a long time since we are supposed to consistently beat the good teams no matter where the game is played. Just being honest here.

If a "good team" is one with nine or more wins, going back a decade, Florida is 9-35 (.204) against good teams.