Games You Think We Would Have Won In 2022 If…

I don't know the premise is sound (provable) but for sake of this discussion will accept it. So I'll start with Vanderbilt since I was there. Much different perspective than you get on TV.

 

I think he played injured more often than we all know. I saw him get jacked in the knee on what looked to be purposefully in two games in the Kentucky game on the first or second play of the game, and in the LSU game early in that game. I wonder if we had the same referee in both games because that jackwagon was watching the plays I mentioned and did NOTHING about these egregious and flagrant plays by those dirty DBs.

And I do think he might have had "other" reasons why not to run... especially in the Vany game where it was clear that he looked like he was sandbagging on easy undefended plays.

 

Whether you believe it to be true or not, this kind of thread reflects poorly upon Gator Nation. AR is a top NFL draft pick, who is by default now an ambassador for the University of Florida. His career did not pan out here the way we had all hoped, but I wish him nothing but the best and appreciate what he tried to do here, and for representing us with class and dignity.

 

I thought he was injured a time or two also. Sometimes he looked like he was trying to win from the pocket instead of using his legs. That could be injury or saving his health but it could also be because he knows he has to win from the pocket to be successful on Sundays. If he can’t beat Vandy from the pocket, he has a ways to go. I hope he gets a couple years to develop instead of getting thrown out there . Who knows though, maybe he picks it right up and is a top qb within the first couple years. He’s a great kid, would be happy to see him winning games. It would give me a reason to watch the nfl.

 

That may be a bit unfair. As others have stated he was probably nursing injuries.

I attribute his inconsistent play to inexperience as well.

The defense did not help his cause either.

Finally Gator Nation's expectations for AR were over the top unrealistic.

 

I'm re-watching the season now- as I do each summer. I just finished LSU so I'm halfway through.
Since I know the outcome, I can concentrate on the player's performance and what really went right or wrong.

From re-watching, IMO AR was doing his absolute best (at least up through LSU.)
He was wildly inconsistent- missing easy throws or lacking touch to making some of the most amazing and jaw dropping plays in UF history.
But again IMO, he was (is) just young and inexperienced. Not distracted.

I also want to say there were times our offense was just clicking. Beautiful playcalls. That encouraged me as it related to CBN.
Our offense last year was not the problem except for UK and Mizzou. (And those were due to AR's poor and inconsistent play.)

 

I agree. I wasn't sure the "given" was valid to start with . . . and so we could just as easily be discussing "games Florida wins if the defense had been better (average)."

 

A good defense and special teams may have vaulted UF to 9 wins.

But it's clear (to me) that UF had neither the talent or depth to compete at a high level.

This is a touchy subject, but anyone with eyes saw that Mullens 21 team just did not show up for the bowl game and in the later stages of the 21 season, didn't show much effort. Sanford dropping what? 50 on UF? Really?

Sooners putting an epic beat down on UF in the bowl. (Not on Kyle) he showed up to play.

I think we saw some Mullen (legacy) effort against Oregon State to.

That crap MUST STOP.

 

The only game anyone can really pin on AR was Kentucky. And that L wasn’t from a lack of effort.

The rest of those losses were on the defense.

 

A bit off topic but what are the clearest indicators that something was "off" with recruiting under Mullen and Grantham?

When Mullen / Grantham showed up, I think it's very fair to say one of the strengths of UF was the defensive line. Sure we had problems under Chump and Mr. PB&J but Defensive Line was not one of them.

IN FACT, one could say Mullen parlayed UF's defensive strengths into the success of the 10-3 and 11-2 years.

One of you recruiting gurus can break it down, but isn't it true that D-Line recruiting began to stagnate almost immediately? Yes UF was helped with the transfer portal (Greenard) but lord have mercy, by 2020 a dive play against UF averaged 8 yards........and it was worse in 2021.

How the heck does UF go from consistently having good to great defensive lines (historically) and then becomes a high school team on defense, especially run defense. I mean UF was putting D linemen into the NFL on a regular basis until Mullen and Grantham.

It just keeps pointing to recruiting dosen't it?

 

Did this really need to get revisited again? Let the man move on and hopefully have a great nfl career. He will represent us well if we let him.

 

It’s pretty lame to make this assumption. Offense, defense, injuries, coaching all played a part in the losses. AR has been nothing but classy the moment he set foot on campus. Leave him be.

 

Frankly, at this point it seems like time to move on. Postmortems on hypothetical situations serve little constructive purpose in my opinion. And the fact that the point being submitted for discussion amounts to blame assignment for a disappointing '22 season is more than a bit unseemly. Truthfully, I don't claim to hold AR in the same regard I have for the Wuerfels, Spurriers and Tebows of the world. Those Gentlemen were champions and leaders who left nothing on the field - ever. But agonizing over stuff I can't do anything about is a waste of time and energy and a disservice to the concept that teams win AND lose as a team. But that's just me.

 

I think AR did all he could. Would have helped to have a Pitts type TE or a receiver other than Pearsall.

Let's switch up the thread title a bit:
How many more games would we have won if the defense held everyone to less than 20 points. Hell, even if it was 30 points we would have one 3 more games.

 

Show me his trophy case...either CDM and CBN had no clue what to do with him or he held himself back to secure a good draft placement based on POTENTIAL alone. Is he an ambassador? I have my doubts on giving him that distinction. NOBODY is coming to UF because he was on the team.

 

The Vandy game is probably it, but SO many factors went into that disaster.

 

Exactly. I tried to steer it in other directions. Like @nawlinsgator wrote . . . so many things combined for last year. Look at how many players either left or were encouraged to leave. So leftover culture itself played a large part in 2022. A lot goes into the dynamics of a team. It's not just one very athletically gifted player's performance.

 

A bigger question with more impact was this - what if Kitna avoided child porn charges? He was way ahead of AR in progress and was set to take over the reins of the team. AR is still anomaly that most likely will result in the biggest bust since Tim and will malign every single Gator QB from this point on...or he won't and becomes a pretty good QB. That's for a whole different thread. So many what-ifs with AR last season. What if he never got hurt? What if our other 2 star-studded receivers stayed rather than ditch the team like so many players before them?

 

Trophy case? What's the relevance? We have a lot of Gators who don't have championship hardware that we are proud of and root for.

Anyways, yes he will be an Gator brand ambassador. He will always be associated with the University of Florida and will be a part of the community. He's a local Gainesville native, no less. A true hometown Gator. I disagree with you that nobody would come to UF because he was there. The more successful he is in the NFL and more popular he becomes, it will have some type of positive effect on recruiting.