A team could survive with one or two mess ups on special team a game, anything more than that, it’s likely to be a loss.
You might be grading individual execution a little harsh since we didnt see multiple offenses in the game and the season is only 1 game long(ie missed poor kicking), the FG defense looked to be confusion between safe and block teams, watching the game live it looked like The DC was playing for the fake. The punt returner fielding inside the 10 happens, hell the one he setup on the 20 that was a great catch inappropriate in hindsight, how many have we let bounce from the even further out for terrible field position the last 10 years? I welcome the athleticism of the FR lets coach him up and turn him loose. For those harping on ST coordinator or lack of its overblown and a way to pad the coaching staff. The most important facet to ST is placing the proper emphasis, technique and coaching on those situations and demanding buy-in by the skill players like urban did with perks/recognition for their effort. The game has evolved in the last 10 in the name of safety. KO now is kick away and cover (exception is onside kick) and that even is dictated by rule wrt maximum alignments KOR is fair catch and start at the 25 yd line. I would say unless receiving after a penalty setting a return is a wasted effort. Onside situations demand practice, clearly. Punting defending the block attempt and a couple of fake plays not complicated. Punt block schemes and defending the fake is a natural extension of defense. FG is extension of offense see above for Punt team. This should fall under R Sale. FG block DC responsibility. See above for punt block. The most critical aspect to all is communication about evolving situations a possession before hand or at least down and distance related. Its the anticipation of the unexpected that enables a team to be successful here. The HC still has to ok the play selection. Even with the proper emphasis, practice , personnel, and communication you still are subject to failure. (ie missed kicks or lack of execution, think of Les Miles and LSU punking us under Meyer) crap happens Lastly, execution is a by product of fundamental practice. You practice individual skills daily snapping, holding, punting, kicking, and catching/fielding. You then introduce formations and weekly plays/wrinkles during opponent overview with points of emphasis. Then each day there is dedicated team practice time for the whole phase (not every phase daily), lastly you incorporate into the team segments the various kicking scenarios to ensure various players are anticipating personnel substitutions and are able properly execute their assignments based on various factors (field position, opponent tendencies, fake scenarios, opponent substitution/personnel, and points of emphasis). A lot of the above is installed in team meeting rooms and execution polished on the practice field. Im sure i omitted some nuts and bolts for moderate brevity. It isnt rocket science but it does take a commitment because time isnt unlimited during the week.
I saw a lot of young players playing a good quality team. They were eager to show their talents and maybe played over their skis a bit. Trying to make play where it wasn’t there. I hope they calm down. A cupcake directional school would have been nice, at home. It is what it is.
I also don’t like the entire defense looking to the sideline while the offense was getting set. They need to send plays in faster. Utah was set and had a false start on one play and the entire defense was still looking to the sidelines. Gotta stop that krud.
It’s a must win. This is part of our problem right now…every game should be thought of as must win, especially when you are where we are.
I think 90% of post coverage of the UF game is highly negative and plastered everywhere. With that being the main game on Thursday, and most people watching, the avalanche of negativity is everywhere. I do not think what is posted on this board is anywhere close to the onslaught of bad publicity. It's not that we lost but how we lost. UT will be a significant game, its home, UT has a quick scoring offense, we have a slow prodding offense, one that seems not to have urgency or the ability to catch up. A lop sided win by UT at home I'm afraid would be beyond devastating. I am hoping BN will get things ironed out by that game. One thing I know is that the fanbase isn't happy losing to our rivals and if the appearance is that we are going backwards.
My thoughts: I didn't read all the responses, only the first and last page but could tell it was excessively harsh towards our Gators. Most pundits and even most fans had this game in the loss column for the past 6 months or more. Now everyone wants to pile on them for losing. Yes I know: "it's how we lost and all the miscues and such..but read on!" There was a glimmer of hope that Cam Rising's absence gave the Gators a shot, but you had to know that Utah was preparing to play without Cam all the way and they had a game plan to go without him I only watched about 2 and 1/2 quarters. But in the that time I noticed our defense made several stops which was rarely the case last year. We could have tied or had the lead at the half if a couple of things had gone our way. Wittingham is in year 100 at Utah, has established players in all positions. We on the other hand are still breaking in our staff and culture here a Florida with a bunch of new players. So I give them the edge there. They 're Playing at home and we're in a hostile environment with a new QB playing from behind from the get go. I'll go back and watch the rest of the game but I don't think the sky is falling. The QB looked ok to me, the pick was more on Pearsall IMO than on Mertz, although we probably shouldn't be throwing that kind of pass so close to our own goal line.
Regarding tight end play: Boardingham is now healthy. We need to see him and Livingstone on the field at least 50% of time. I would be OK with Hansen or Odom on the field in some passing downs to give extra help to our right tackle in chipping the defensive end… If you’re watching the Tennessee game which I’m hoping the gator staff is I’m also hoping that they will understand they have to give helped you out right tackle. I’m thinking Lyndell Hudson gets a bunch of snaps this week. Hansen and Adam need to be used as an extra blocker more and I think we all know Livingston and Boardingham need to be used as our receiving tight ends.
If UF will clean up the self inflicted wounds in conjunction with the offensive line doing a little blocking, this team has a chance to compete for W's every game, going forward. If they don't, expect more of the same.
Think we are going to be Allright We have a good defence and UTAH could be better then any other team we play besides Geo maybe LSU. OL needs to play better and we have some good WRs to go with 2 NFL RBs. I still see 8 wins maybe 9 George, LSU, FSU could be losses we win the rest. Don't think we ever have beat George .
I guess it’s how you determine a must win. Yes we should play like it’s the last game of our life every single game, but there is no consequences to Napier’s job for finishing five and seven when you are expected to finish five and seven.
I felt like Utah was the more winnable game by far - even on the road. Now I just hope i was wrong, but I’d be surprised if we held the Vols to 24. The offense sure as hell needs to help the D a little to keep t the game from getting ugly. D probably isn’t where it needs to be either, but we need at least competent offense to at least show some progress from last year.
Bling, if our O can't run against UT's front, and we end up throwing horizontal passes or short passes we will get stomped. Until this OL proves it can run block our O will not work which depends on play action passes. To me, right now our O resembles a lot of Muschamp's style O, ball control and we know how well that worked. It seems teams with explosive offenses are those that succeed. To be honest, I'm scared that our record will be the same as last years or worse and I'm not sure BN will give up his play calling or style of O. It may work where he was at previously but I doubt it will work against the big guys. Even Saban has adapted to a more explosive style O.
Nice, three disagrees, and I will bet on my mom’s life that he does not get fired for going five and seven this year
First of all, not many Gators expected this team to finish 5-7 in year 2, so that's some revisionist history. Still hoping for at least 6-6. Secondly, not getting fired isnt the same as saying "no consequence to his job". Sure, he isnt likely to get fired in that scenario due to our recent coaching turnover, but his job security will be shaky, and the job will get even tougher.
