Mark Wheeler grades the Gators - D for dismal. Says pump the brakes on Mertz over his stat line. He can’t be faulted for taking what Utah gave him. But at 24-3 Utah was going to concede the dink and dunk the rest of the way. Mertz was 14-18 for 105 yards the last two drives with only one pass going 15 yards in the air. WR’s and LB’s a bright spot. Didn’t realize that Utah DL was missing three starters and they still mauled our OL. Safeties continue to underwhelm. ST issues remain after 14 games. Overall, this one’s on Billy … Grading the Gators: An all-around failure – Inside The Gator
Yeah, they are missing 7-8 their best players and they trashed us until they went preventive i n the 4th Q. Our D made adjustment at the half, that's positive and give some hope on that side. The O is a totally different story
Disagree completely. Norvell went to the transfer portal and got good players to transfer in because he couldn’t/can’t recruit at a high level. They will have a good 2023 but 2024 is going to be a revert to norm for them
You're right. He's definitely better at the portal than HS recruiting. But, what happens if his portal success continues?
I think most of us are realistic there would be growing pains but damn….it was beyond sloppy. As for my biggest last season and off season issue…special teams. It’s like it is not even apart of our plans. Maybe you don’t have to work on it if all you do is fair catch everything but it is really important as Urban showed us so well. Honestly I didn’t think we could do any worse than last year but wow…I would say worst performance I’ve ever seen from special teams in 40 years of Gator football. Quite frankly it likely single handedly cost us this game. Either it is aggressively addressed and in an urgent fashion (hire a fn special teams coach) or we have a coach too stubborn to adapt…in which case I’ve seen this show already and know what happens….
He could, I just think at some point it will backfire. A lot of the guys he has this year will be gone in 2024. His recruiting has been stank. I think this year is going to be one off and fans will think they are back, then reality will come crashing down.
No Norvel can recruit and coach a offense, he had our number last year and he will dismantle us again and again, unless, someone who knows offense, get the reigns. CBN continues all through this year, FSU will get what they need. Right now they and other rivalry teams are at the bar-b-que eating us out of house and home. Young athletes aren’t patience, like us Gator fans are being told to be. Oh well, let’s be patient and watch us get hammered by the media, rivals and young recruits.
We weren't any good last year and took them to the wire. Dropped 38 on them with a QB that a lot here (not me) thought was a liability. Our recruiting class is currently better than anything we have had in a long time. Norvell can't recruit anything to that school. There is a reason that seemingly every transfer that goes there immediately starts. I have said it before, without a portal the Noles are 3 win football team and their prestige (or however you would frame it) would have already gone the way of the Dodo.
You're starting to see posters build the narrative that we are building for the long term while our rivals are short-sighted. This is hogwash. Plugging in holes with the portal for short term success helps the long term prospects of the program. I'm not anti-Napier but I also don't have my head buried in the sand.
Why do Florida fans deserve better. Are they so special that immediate satisfaction is an entitlement?
